While everyone involved in bringing products to the Eurobike trade show has the best of intentions, you can't account for all tastes.
With that in mind, we trawled the halls in Friedrichshafen for a selection of hits and misses. From the stunning ultra lightweight Stevens Comet carbon race bike to the toe curlingly over-the-top 007-inspired video for Mario Cipollini's new Bond bike, here's our rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly of Eurobike 2012.
The Good
Stevens Comet
Perched on scales to reveal its staggeringly low total weight of 5.07kg, the Comet is an absolute beaut. It's not going to be seen in the pro peloton anytime soon at this weight, but this 9,990 Euro number is going to be the pride of weight weenies everywhere. It comes complete with full SRAM Red groupset, Ritchey Super Logic cockpit components and Xentis Squad 2.5 Tubular wheels.
Gore Alp-X AS Light jacket
Gore rarely produce products anything less than technically excellent, but this lightweight mountain bike windproof jacket is also a looker too. It weighs just 107g (large) but feels substantial when you have it on. It costs £140 and comes in orange, red and black.
Mule Bar Jimmy's Choc Orange
Trawling the vast space here in Friedrichshafen is hungry work, which means we’re always keen to stop by stands such as Mule Bar’s. Their new Choc Orange energy bar went down an absolute treat and for us sits alongside their liqorice bar as their finest work to date.
The Bad
Mario Cipollini as James Bond
While Cipollini’s new Bond bike looks mighty impressive, the 007-inspired video that accompanied its launch at Eurobike was cringe-worthy. A stack of cash was obviously thrown at the short film, but the story line - Cipollini on the run from a shadowy organisation before making his escape with bikini-clad women on a speed boat - was low on originality and high on cheese.
Sugoi Lumberjack jersey
We’re big fans of checked shirts, but as a Lycra cycling jersey?! And if the front was bad enough, the bottle of beer sticking out of the rear pocket was even worse.
Carrera Foldable helmet
For the sake of creating a bit more space in your suitcase, we're not sure being able to fold your helmet is such a good idea, despite this 79 Euro lid from Carrera meeting the required safety standards.
The Ugly
Giro Empire road shoe
Based on the custom shoe specially designed for Taylor Phinney to race at the Giro d’Italia and Olympic Games, the Empire road shoe – available to buy this autumn for $275 – isn’t all that pleasing on the eye in this sky blue colour. The shiny black version is a different story, however.
Corratec CCT Pro
We didn't think anything could top Corratec's blue and yellow version of their CCT Pro bike (£5,099.99) in the ugly stakes, but the red version of the same bike runs it pretty close.
