Bionicon are always a company that like to do things a bit differently and this year is no different…

The whole idea of an electrically assisted mountain bike is something that most riders can’t stand the idea of, but on the other hand there are some people who love the idea. For those people Bionicon seem to have come up with a pretty neat solution that they’re hoping you’ll be able to fit to any bike with ISCG tabs. It’s still at the development stage, but the basic idea is that the motor weighs 1Kg (a lot less than other systems), the battery pack weighs 2Kg, and the system will give you 1 hour of ‘support’. By support they mean that this isn’t a twist and go system, instead it puts in power relative to your own input.

In order to keep the weight of the bike respectable you simply carry the battery in any back pack. It didn’t feel as cumbersome as you might think.

The other thinking outside the box idea from Bionicon was this ‘B-Post’ adjustable seatpost. The unique aspect of it is that it’s integrated into the frame, and as a result weighs just 300g. Again this is just at the development stage, but the idea is to open up the design so that any frame manufacturer can use it. It’s air sprung with a simple mechanical release mechanism, so if it did take off it should be reliable. Of course being integrated does mean that the seat height can’t be easily adjusted. You have to cut the upper part of the post to size and then clamp it in place. Perhaps not ideal, but there are several road and XC bikes with integrated rigid posts that require similar accuracy in initial set up. Is it all worth it for the sake of saving a little bit of weight? I’ll leave you lot to answer that…