Hamburg -Looking into the future is easy to do at autumn bicycle trade shows when manufacturers highlight their new products.

A new trend is now emerging - the retro look is honing in on bicycle design.

"The retro trend in bicycle design so far has been on the fringes, but you can certainly assume that it will continue and gain impetus," said Andre Glaeser of Germany's bicycle club. Siegfried Neuberger, director of Germany's two-wheeler industry association, agrees.

Glaeser reports that more and more people are engaged in constructing mountain bikes with classic components. Similarly, in the area of racing bicycles, styles from the 1960s and '70s are attracting new followers.

A bicycle known as the Cruiser shows that manufacturers are following the retro trend. This bike has simpler but sought-after engineering because it borrows from old motorcycle design.

The retro movement has been expanding into other areas. Bicycle couriers have discovered simple looking, old track racing bicycles without gears. Manufacturers such as Bergamont in Hamburg have recognized the new trend and are serving their fashion-conscious clientele with a track bike redesigned in classic style.

"These models use a classic steel frame. The fork also has been newly configured based on construction from the '60s," said Bergamont employee Birger Blohm.

The first series of bikes in the retro style has sold out and the second series is supposed to be available this month. The designs make one concession to modern bikes: brakes on the rear wheel. The bicycle's simplicity, however, has its price. In Germany one of these retro bikes costs about 1,000 euros (1,422 dollars). The company intends to build only 300 of them.

Carmakers such as Volkswagen have also discovered the retro trend in bicycles, reissuing two series of Bonanza bikes whose features includes banana seats, high handle bars and three gears. The company has produced 500 each of the models 1976 and Goal. The bike costs around 350 euros in Germany.

While Volkswagen emphasizes originality in its remakes and Bergamont is using new materials to spur on a spirit of old bicycle purism, the manufacturer Cannondale is combining modern engineering with a classic appearance indicating a direction that the retro trend could take.

Cannondale's 2008 model Vintage looks like a bicycle of yesteryear with its black matt finish and natural-coloured leather seat and handle bar grips. But the classic facade conceals modern-day accessories such as hydraulic disc brakes and an automatic lighting system. (dpa)