While Eurobike feels as much like an industry conference as a tech showcase, and Sea Otter is often the place to go to see new bikes, Rouleur Live is the home to all that is premium in the world of cycling. Within the walls of the Truman Brewery, I spent a good few hours hunting out all the shiny bits: custom paint, hyper-expensive carbon, pink shoes, and a vintage Volvo team car. While other galleries I've made have a natural focus on what is new, novel, or noteworthy in terms of tech, this one is primarily on what is beautiful. That's obviously a subjective judgement, but on the whole, I think you'll agree with my choices.
Settle in, scroll down, and hopefully, you'll get a feel for what it was like to attend, and you'll probably, like me, spend a good portion of your morning daydreaming about owning some of these bikes.
It wouldn't be an upmarket bike show without at least one vintage Colnago. This one, a gold-plated Mexico Master, was one of a short run, one of which was given to the Pope following Eddy Merckx beating the hour record.
The new Lotus Type 136, a £20,000 e-bike was on show, surrounded by yellow strip lights. Based on the Team GB track bike the rear stays are set super wide, but the cockpit is extremely similar to that of the Cervelo S5.
More interesting to me was the Type 108 on the floor next to the brand's new e-bike. This was the machine that took Chris Boardman to the hour record, and the front end is horrendously low.
No foam padding for the forearms here, only embossed leather.
The bars are only just above knee height, truly a position only achievable by the most dedicated pros.
On the Pirelli stand, in addition to tyres of course, was Mads Pederson's eye catching Project One Trek Madone from his Tour de France campaign.
The paint itself is easily a few thousand pounds in its own right, and impossible to repair should it ever get chipped.
This beautiful, berry coloured Standert featured on the Fizik stand, with some complimentary coloured shoes beneath.
Not to be outdone in the gold bike competition, the Canyon stand held Annemeik van Vleuten's Speedmax, with the lower portion covered in gold leaf.
Unlike the mirror polished, electroplated Colnago Master, the use of gold leaf here gave depth and texture to the frame.
Naturally for a bike such as this a gold chain also is evident.
It does seem an awful shame to cover any of the frame, but every bike needs a race transponder so a strip of inner tube on the fork leg is used for the job here.
The Cervelo stand featured the bikes of all three Grand Tour winners, one pink, one yellow, one red.
The hype is very much real - will we see GC Kuss again in 2024?
In addition to the three winning bikes, a commemorative S5 was also in place, with a paint scheme that weaved together all three colours.
The extremely new Bianchi Specialissima was on show at the Italian brands stand, a bike I've just finished testing as it happens.
The all-aero Oltre, complete with UCI-illegal heat tube scoops was also on show
In the bespoke bikes antechamber I spotted this extremely handsome bike from Meteor Works. Rim brakes, external cables, and a radially laced front wheel are all things that are becoming increasingly rare, but what really caught my eye was the carbon Campagnolo rear mech and segmented solid cable housing, complete with one gold segment to compliment the gold chain. Details matter on custom bikes and this is top notch work.
In addition to silver spokes and gold nipples, there was also a set of EE rim brakes on show too.
While the Dogma F and the new F series are Pinarello's race bikes, the new Dogma X, here in a Dura-Ace build with Princeton wheels drew the crowds.
While Cervelo swept the grand tours this year, the Colnago V4RS was still a prolific winner under Tadej Pogacar.
It also wouldn't be a premium cycle show without a bit of titanium action, in this case from Reilly Cycleworks. The welds have been beautifully smoothed down to create an utterly seamless finish.
It's only a seat clamp, but it is a premium purple Pembree one.
Ribble had a handful of new, one off, or custom bikes on show. This RAF-inspired Ultra SL-R caught many an eye.
As well as the paint job, and extremely severe tube profiles, and no bar tape, the CeramicSpeed aero rear derailleur shroud was also another aero feature.
J. Laverack Bicycles has been working in collaboration with Aston Martin to create a titanium and carbon machine that claims to be "the worlds most bespoke bicycle". The website doesn't list the price, so it's safe to assume you probably can't afford it.
Why use off the peg carbon cranks when custom ones work just as well?
The 3D printed stem blends seamlessly with the carbon bars to create an integrated cockpit.
Back at the Canyon stand, the Tekkers team bikes showed off a beautifully disjointed paint scheme.
Lightweight wheels, with extremely fragile looking hubs, are a hell of a flex.
The new BMC Teammachine R drew the crowds too with its wide-set fork.
BMC won't call it an aero bike, but it's an aero bike, and it's one we've tested too.
Legendary designer Paul Smith worked with Factor to create a custom paint scheme for an Ostro VAM
Tom Pidcock's extremely successful MTB was on show too, despite being primarily a road and gravel show.
The Dura-Ace track crankset is perhaps my favourite crankset of all time.
Lake were showcasing a new pair of shoes, with a custom pink set commissioned specifically for the show.
I think this creamy Standert was my favourite bike of the show. Everything matched, and the tanwall Challenge Getaway tyres were the icing on the cake.
Plus, it had this chainsaw kitty on the top tube.
I've always got time for a candy fade paint scheme, and Enigma had this truly sensational steel bike on show.
Colour-matched Enve finishing kit is a real bling touch.
The 3T Torno is, apparently, the thinnest crankset in the world, so as to maximise aero benefit.
At the back of the space, on the SRAM stand, Demi Vollering's yellow Tour de France bike was on show with a beautiful marbled front end
This 160mm FSA stem I spotted on Wout van Aert's Cervelo R5 team bike.
A spotty Trek Madone, it could only be Giulio Ciccone's KOM bike from the Tour.
Cinelli has just begun making steel bikes in-house in Italy again, and this model features a system extremely reminiscent of the Head Shok system seen on vintage Cannondales.
The TT extension on this Scott Plasma are modular, allowing them to be extended or shortened bu adding or subtracting little blocks on the arms.
Finally, parked outside, was the Tekkers team car, a vintage Volvo touring racer. Extremely cool, and one imagines woefully unreliable.
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