#1364

This is cyclocross

#1363

This guy is the Rockstar of playing cards:

#1362

Here is your weekly dose of Super-Model on a bike... Giselle ( with her little Brady ) on a Trek.

#1361

INTERBIKE ( Thursday )

Thursday is the busy-man's end to Interbike. Friday tends to be low key in comparison and a lot of exhibitors like to get a jump on the packing up process a day early. Here are some highlights from the day:

Sadly, this bad boy was not available to demo.

Scott's new Vanish R helmet is lighter then the current one and features a floating inner cage system that keeps your head a bit more protected from the damaging "bouncing" or one-hops that occur during an impact.

Here is a picture of the cage.
The yellow is the cage and it moves independently of the helmet shell about 1-2 cm all around while not affecting the way the helmet sits or feels on your head.

Scott is finally bringing the Syncros brand from out the ashes and they displayed a full assortment of support parts. While a lot of the cockpit parts (stems and H-bars ) are very much Ritchey's in disguise, a couple of parts seemed like winners. For example this carbon rail saddle, is under $200 retail and comes in a few different shapes to match the discipline.

Little known fact.... The Giro d'Italia made 2 trophies for the 100 yr anniversary race in 2009. Menchov got to keep one and the other makes the rounds. It was here at Interbike and fans got to hoist it, champion style, for photos.

Muscle tape everywhere!!!
Last year there was one company selling it. In 2012 there were at least 5.|
It is cheap to produce and easy to sell at a premium so it makes sense there will be companies trying to take advantage of the trend.

This glossy hoop was by far the craziest wheel seen all show long.

This was a close 2nd. Although this Madfiber wheel no doubt is a better riding one. The engineers at the carbon mill that Madfiber uses sent them this colored kevlar right before the show. It's not carbon, it's kevlar. This wheel has not been ridden and the Madfiber boss couldn't even say for sure what it weighed ( We are guessing 800 grams for the set ). It is a prototype-like product that is said to be very possible for the real world.

A new company to Interbike was Opus. It is a Canadian brand that will be available in the States for the first time. They showed a comprehensive and complete line-up of bikes for the whole family. It will be interesting to see if they make space for themselves in an already crowded market.

Also new to the States will be the Diadora brand name on a bike. It's parent company merged with a bike distribution company in Washington state and so the brand gets a decent sized line-up of bikes.

One company that was getting plenty of press was Wahoo. Many were excited about the Bluetooth controlled RFLKT computer. In a nutshell, it displays the info that your Iphone is capturing while it is running a GPS app in your back pocket. You can even control music playback with it. Downside: It requires Bluetooth 4.0 ( which is new Iphones only ). Android is not currently available and a specific date for Android could not be given. It is also $100 for the basic unit, which seems like a high price tag.

 

Custom printed bar-tape is very hard to do. Durability is the biggest obstacle of course but Zevlin Cycling and Fitness are looking to change that. Look for a review soon.

interbike ain't Interbike without some nostalgia

Thule made news with its new roof rack systems. Designed to be ever more easy to mount onto factory racks this model will cost $159 when it goes on sale.

It's $259 priced big brother features a rear sliding tray that will make accommodating all different types and sizes of bikes much easier.

A beautiful gravelroad \ CX cruiser from VeloOrange

The shortest Chewbacca you will ever see.

#1360

INTERBIKE ( Wednesday )

To the indoors we go!
The halls of the Sands Center seemed more crowded then ever. There was a marked increase in the number of exhibitors from last year populating the two floors. There were quite a few new food and supplement exhibitors. Electric assist and folding bikes were also hot items. Here are some highlights from the first day indoors.

There were less than the usual amount of
Pro's bikes set-up for all to ogle.
One that was there, getting a lot of attention, was Peter Sagan's C-Dale.

BH had branded FSA cranksets on all their top-end "BB386" sized frames.
Super beefy and super stiff.

Broken Bones is a new frame maker that has been supplying the Wonderful Pistachio Domestic team this year.

The frames and bikes are all very colorful and are finally being made available for sale to the general public.

Here is our first real-life Contintal Tubular CX tire sighting....
The CycloXking. Really looking forward to trying this tire out. Unfortunately they will not be ready to go for this CX season.

Here is a new helmet from Dux Helm. Looks ordinary now but...

This helmet houses a retractable shade. The lens is removable, extra lenses are provided and many different shades of lenses will be available to buy. Exact weight of the helmet was not available but it felt in the range of 300 grams. Not super light but by no means heavy either.

Here is the slightly-refined-for-2013 Fi'zik R1 shoe. Gone from the line-up is the 3 strap SL shoe.

And new colors for the popular R3.

This is Louis Garneau's new top of line shoe, the Course 2LS.
L.G. is also getting rid of their 3 strap super light flagship shoe, the Carbon XLite. That shoe was very recognizable on Thomas Voeckler's feet all year long. The new Course is about 50-60 grams heavier but offers much better fit tuning than the velcro straps offer. I for one, have never had a problem with a proper fitting velcro-only shoe and think all these BOA dial shoes are more a result of following current trends and less about better performance.

L.G.'s new TT\ TRI helmet.

The daily drawing for GoPro Hero HD cameras always draws big crowds. Funny thing is when the M.C. asked the crowd, a lot of these fans already owned GoPros.

We love supporting Jelly Belly whenever possible. They have just released these recovery beans. The milk chocolate ones tasted just like malt balls and were great. They have the expected healthy amounts of carbs along with several grams of protein and fat each, depending on the flavor.

OK, back to the shoes... Here is the new Sidi Wire Vent Carbon. Weird name, common color ( more highlight yellow!? ).
This shoe shaves a solid amount of weight off the Ergo 3's and features new cooling channels along the footbed.

Sidi always does a new MTB shoe along with their road models. Here is the Draco MTB race shoe.

In reliable Sidi fashion, all the wear points on the sole are replaceable, including the cleat plate.

Here is the Xentis Squad carbon wheelset.

The rim features a zig-zag ridge below the brake track that runs all the way around.
It was said to do "the same thing as the dimples on a Zipp".

This is the first year a booth was advertising "custom carbon frames from China". This speaks a lot about popular prevailing opinion of china made carbon. Here is the very nice "Falco".

This was also the first year where a large, dedicated area of the lower floor was devoted to just electric bike test rides. Over 30 bikes were there and almost non-stop had people putting it to good use.

#1359

INTERBIKE ( Tuesday )

The Outdoor Demo continued on Tuesday but the agenda for the day was much more focused. The early morning started with the Tour De Lake Mead on a slightly too-big Jamis Icon ( thanks guys for getting the bike set-up so quickly ). Again, the bike impressed me and I'm looking forward to getting one of my own for next season. The rest of the day was spent on a new Genius 650B long travel bike. The bike was a joy to ride on everything but long, gradual uphills where the heavy, downhill worthy tires slowed the bike down a bit. EVERYWHERE else the bike was tip top. A separate report will be written in the coming days about the bike.

A great bike. But it's not one to buy for racing alone.
A-

We were able get in a ride on one of the other nicest bikes there,
the BMC Impec. The bike rode wonderfully and the Easton carbon
clinchers felt great. But in my opinion the bike didn't ride so superior as to justify its nearly $10k price tag.
A-

Number 46 creaked a little but probably because it has
seen so much testbike action.

The Outdoor Demo offers individuals and businesses the chance to wander around with product and talk about their products with anyone willing. Here the guys from Flo Wheels show off a sharp looking disc rear wheel and its matching front.The rear is actually a spoked wheel with a disc cover. Sold as pair, the wheelset is said be near half
 the price of traditional competitors.

#1358

INTERBIKE!

The outdoor Dirt Demo kicks off Interbike each year and it usually proves to be a "show within a show". Monday is usually much calmer than Tuesday and this year attendance seemed light for the first day of USA's biggest bicycle industry show.

            Here are some highlights:

RIDDEN: The Jamis XCR 29er.
A cross country rig that tips more
in the favor of an endurance, all mountain bike.
The large wheels roll in a straight line great and descend wonderfully.
The bike was nimble and light enough and everything worked on it.
A-

Also ridden in the 29er category was the Scott Spark.
This particular bike was not 100% tuned and the lock-out
was not working. It all made a difference on the trails of course
but the Scott scooted uphill better than the Jamis
and generally felt a touch more race-ready.
B

9 zero 7 is a new brand based in Alaska. (907 is Alaska's area code )
This fat-tire bike impressed with its relative nimble-ness.
The bikes are available as frame\wheel kits for now
and complete bikes should be under $1200.
A-

One of the most impressive road bikes ridden was the all-new Jamis Icon.
It's a budget-minded aluminum frame designed with the racer primarily in mind. It rode great. Very stiff and deliberate. Impressive also, when you consider
the low-end Mavics that were weighing it down. We later heard the story of the bike and how it took 2 years to get everything right with it before it was released.
A+

Here's a close-up of the Icon's underbelly.
Boxy chainstays and an oversized bottom bracket.
Jamis has a winner here.

These Campagnolo ( EPS equipped ) badged Pinerello Dogma 2's
were tucked away in a corner and were generally being ignored
by the crowds. The Campy electronic shifting was a joy to ride
and try to abuse. It shifted beautifully under all conditions.
The Pinerello was a nice frame to test out the Super Record as well.
A+

Bright Yellow getting overused these days?
Here a loud Lazer gets into the frame coincidentally with a loud Giro.

Just gettin some footbeds custom molded at the Fi'Zik booth.
8 minutes with light pressure from your feet on warm beds.

Nothing too extreme resulted from my custom molding
but they do feel nice in the shoes. Look for a review soon.

There seemed to be more than the usual nutritional supplement offerings.
Plenty of variety in size, shape and methodology.
Here is a "Reboot". A mix+water packet that you shake in order
to break the seal and mix the 2 before downing in one shot.