mercoledì 30 novembre 2016

Cannondale Hooligan 2

 Dopo circa 6 mesi dall'acquisto è giunta ormai l'ora di scrivere una breve recensione della mia ultima acquisizione, la Cannondale Hooligan 2:
 La Hooligan è una minivelo che decisamente non passa inosservata.
Ho sempre avuto un debole per questo modello, il telaio Delta V e la forcella Lefty Solo le conferiscono un'estetica molto particolare.
Qualche foto dell'unboxing e della bici appena montata:
Dettaglio del mozzo Lefty:
Test su strada:
Durante l'estate ho avuto modo di provarla a fondo e sono rimasto abbastanza soddisfatto.
Purtroppo negli ultimi tempi l'utilizzo è stato alquanto sporadico ed inoltre mia moglie se ne appropria regolarmente durante i weekend.
 La posizione di guida è abbastanza comoda e aerodinamica (almeno per me che sono di statura media). 
La Hooligan è stata costruita per soddisfare al meglio le esigenze della giungla urbana e si comporta benissimo anche fuori dall'asfalto; l'interasse da 1056mm abbinato ai cerchi da 406mm  rendono la guida stabile, scattante e maneggevole.
Ulteriormente è possibile montare i parafanghi (esistono modelli adattabili alla forcella monobraccio) ed il telaio è predisposto per il portapacchi posteriore.
 Il disegno del telaio permette una comoda impugnatura della bici, utilissima per salire agilmente le scale fino a casa.
In sella le sensazioni sono molto buone ed ogni spostamento pur piccolo che sia diventa un'occasione per divertirsi.
Sviluppo metrico e componenti:
A differenza della Hooligan 1 (versione con cambio interno al mozzo),
 la Hooligan 2 monta una trasmissione con cambio esterno tradizionale a 9 rapporti:
Lo sviluppo metrico è adeguato per la città (da 3 a quasi 7 metri per pedalata),
 ma in futuro vorrei montare una guarnitura con due corone  53-39T abbinata ad un cassette da 11-32T.
Clicca per ingrandire
La trasmissione è abbastanza basica,
cambio posteriore Shimano Sora 9Speed, comando trigger shifter Acera, cassette Sunrace 11-25T
e guarnitura a perno quadro FSA Tempo City da 48T.
 I freni sono degli entry-level  Shimano M375 ad impianto meccanico con dischi da 160mm.
Comunque sia trasmissione ed impianto frenante se ben regolati si comportano egregiamente.
Per il resto si tratta di componenti robuste ed affidabili, cerchi a doppia camera Alex Rims da 32 raggi, serie sterzo Tange integrata da 1,5" e movimento centrale Tange a cuscinetti sigillati.
In futuro come dicevo in precedenza vorrei migliorare un po' la trasmissione e magari montare anche dei freni a disco idraulici.
 Per il momento ho sostituito soltanto le coperture ed i pedali di serie con delle Schwalbe Shredda 20" x1.75" e dei Wellgo M142. 

Scheda tecnica dettagliata:
Frame: Hooligan Delta V Urban Compact 20 wheel 1.5" Si head tube
Fork: Cannondale Solo Rigid OPI 1.5" steerer
Rims: Alex DC 5.0 double wall 32-hole
Hubs: Cannondale Lefty SL front Formula DC22 disc rear
Spokes: Stainless XD Black 15g
Tyres: Kenda Kwest 20 x 1.5 (Schwalbe Shredda 20x1.75 718g per la coppia)
Pedals: Cannondale Urban 6point3 (Wellgo M142 229g per la coppia)
Crank: FSA Tempo City single ring dual Alloy chainguard 48T
Bottom Bracket: Tange Cartridge
Chain: Shimano HG-53 9-speed
Rear Cogs: Sunrace CSR91 11-25 9-speed
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Sora
Shifters: Shimano Acera Rear
Handlebar: Cannondale Urban 6061 31.8 620mm
Grips: Cannondale Urban lock-on
Stem: Cannondale C3 1.5" 3-D forged 12 Deg
Headset: Tange Custom 1.5"
Brakes: Shimano M375 mechnical disc 160/160mm
Brake Levers: Cannondale C3
Saddle: Cannondale Hooligan Urban
Seatpost: Cannondale C3 2 bolt Alloy 31.6 x 520mm

Il peso attuale della bici è di 11.220kg

Considerazioni finali:
La Cannondale Hooligan è un mix tra una MTB ed una BMX, un'ottima bici compatta, robustissima e leggera.
Una minivelo di questo tipo è l'ideale per chi  vive in un piccolo appartamento in città e non ha la necessità di una bici pieghevole.
 Rispetto alle pieghevoli migliora il rapporto qualità/prezzo ed inoltre non avendo snodi offre prestazioni nettamente superiori.

Per approfondire visita la sezione Mini Velo - Small Wheel Bicycles

Alla prossima!

martedì 15 novembre 2016

European Bicycle Market - Dossier Mercato Europeo della Bici 2015 (2016 edition)

Anche quest'anno dedichiamo un post al dossier del mercato europeo della bici appena pubblicato da Conebi 
"Confederation of European Bicycle Industry".

L'Italia come al solito è il paese con la maggior produzione di biciclette, ricambi ed accessori in Europa.
 I dati rilevati sono basicamente stabili e si riscontra un notevole sviluppo del mercato delle bici a pedalata assistita.

"SUMMARY ITALY BICYCLE MARKET IN 2015 BASICALLY STABLE – BOOM OF E-BIKE The data of 2015 on the sales and manufacture of bicycles, both traditional and EPAC, are essentially stable compared to the previous year with a slight decline (-2.5%). If we give a look only to the EPAC we have big increasing of production (+ 90.3%) and sales (+9.8%). The same is true for exports where E-Bikes fly to +166%. A total of 1,653,709 bicycles were sold in Italy during 2015. Also the sales channels are changing: there are many more fans who buy through the Mass or Specialist Distribution. Specifically regarding the distribution of traditional bikes sold in Italy, the numbers are so divided: about 1 million bicycles were sold via traditional GDS and GDO, while the remaining through the channel of IBD. A small portion, about 2% of the total, was purchased online. Going into detail 56,189 E-Bikes were sold in 2015. Also the production numbers doubled: it goes from the 8,720 units produced in 2014 to 16,600 in 2015. Even more exciting data regarding exports with an increase of 166%, which bodes well for the future. One of the main reason of these success on sales is the high speed of these vehicles (25Km/h) as a good compromise to move as cyclist in urban traffic, especially in congested areas where the speed differential vanishes with cars and motorbikes making promiscuous circulation safer. The success of the industry has led to the entry of new players into the world of the E-Bike: motorcycle companies and, incredibly, of components for appliances that have started the production of engine components to be applied to electric bicycles. And if on one hand we record a drop in the export of finished traditional bicycles, the export side of parts, components and bike accessories has a slight increase (+1.7) to signify the quality of our products that are recognised internationally. Then we record the request of our components, but suffer on assembling the finished product, where evidently we are not competitive. The import of parts and components, however, has the international price increase and a decrease in imported quantities of 5.5%. "The market data in 2015 deliver a scenario on the big change in mobility: the boom of E-Bike is the confirmation - said Corrado Capelli, President of Confindustria Ancma. In fact, more and more fans of the two wheels choose the pedal assisted bicycles to move around in city traffic. The agility and reduction of fatigue in the movements are the two positive indicators of this growth both in production and in exports. We hope to maintain the same trend for 2016 ". CYCLING: They are 100 million euro entered in the last Stability Law and for the design and construction of tourist cycling paths. The Ven.To, namely the Venice Turin, along the Po, the bike lane Verona Florence, extension of the Brenner tract to Verona. Confindustria Ancma hopes that also the bike lane Apulian Aqueduct will be defined and introduced into the main project together with the GRAB, a cycling lane around the city of Rome. CONFINDUSTRIA ANCMA realised for GRAB an economic impact study to estimate projections for future business."  

Interessante dato riguardante il  Regno  Unito:

"The UK manufactures only a small quantity of bicycles - about 70,000 pa. The main manufacturer is Brompton, with folding bikes; Pashley produces some 'classic' models, as well as 'special needs' bikes. The U.K. market is therefore principally supplied with bicycles imported from the Far East: principally Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India."
Dal grafico vengono riportate solo 53000 unità, il 0.4% della produzione Europea.

Importante cambio di tendenza per la Spagna, in crescita la vendita di E-bikes e bici urbane:

"SUMMARY SPAIN HUGE GROWTH IN E-BIKES, ROAD AND URBAN SALES
 While mountain bicycling is still the major segment in Spain with 46% market share, E-bikes units sold grew well above the rest of categories with 39% more units than previous year. Road bicycles (20% growth) and Urban bikes (13% growth) are the other two segments pushing the total volume up to 1,103,839 Units. Is well known that cycling in Spain is mainly sporty and mountain bicycle is always the top sales category. Nevertheless, 2015 was the first year in which mountain bikes units sold declined (-1.69%). Once again the Spanish bicycle industry can look back on successful year in E-bikes sales with a huge growth in units (39.35%) and turnover (56%), despite the sales figures are still significantly lower than in other European countries (24,604 Units). The children’s bike is still the second sales category (35% share) but it’s also a stagnant market in which sales declined this year by 1.78%. In the road bicycles category, the impact of new disc brakes has been felt. The complete bikes equipped with disc brakes give an excellent sales growth in both units (20.54%) and value (26.38%). This sales hike made the average sales price for each new bike sold at Spanish IBDs reach record a level of over one thousand and five hundred euro; € 1,526 to be precise. On the other hand, the Spanish urban cycles market reports a sales hike in units sold (13.25%) but a substantial decline in value (-8.03%) due to the decrease of the average retail price from €270 to €220. All these figures give an increase of 1.4% up to 1,103,839 units for the entire bicycle market where the general growth of bicycles’ average prices and the sales growth in components, helmets and apparel show a turnover increase of 8.62% reaching €1.47 billion. The complete bicycle is with a 42.36% over the total sell-in market volume the main product category, followed by components which represent a 35.95% of the total sell-in value. The third category is textile with a 6.51% followed by helmets with a 4.13% and shoes with a 4.30%. The number of Companies operating within the bicycle sector has grown during the last five years more than a 12%, reaching 337 companies in 2015. Last year 18 new national manufacturers were created reaching 150 Spanish bicycles, helmets, components, apparel and accessories manufacturers. In this market expand situation, Independent Bicycle Dealers saw how their bicycle turnover grew by 12.6%. Meanwhile Multi-sports chains (-6.3%) and Hypermarkets (-2.9%) saw decline their bicycle turnover. Last but not least, the employment performance in the cycling market grew well above the National average creating 2,124 new jobs between companies and dealers which represent a growth of 12.71%."  

 Per consultare il dossier completo clicca qui: 

Per approfondire: