So I’m home from the show and trying to recover from an interesting, if exhausting, Interbike. That photo’s from Cross Vegas 2012 and was shot by photographer Dan Holz for Cyclocross.com. I hadn’t met Dan before Cross Vegas, but he turned out to be not just a gifted photographer, but also a really nice guy. Unfortunately for most of you, I took my own far less impressive photos, of products from the show.
Cyclocross
By necessity, my eye was on ‘cross bikes this year, but that was far from a burden. Cyclocross bikes are almost almost among the nicest things on display in the show, and this year was no exception.
Hope was displaying this custom disc-specific ‘cross bike. It was one of the cleaner-looking complete bikes at the show, and it was showing off their new one-piece chainring and guard and a really minimal chain keeper. Very nice.
Moots was at Dirt Demo, but wasn’t displaying inside the show this year. Still, this stripped down Psychlo X Disc on display at Shimano had quite a presence.
The only thing better than Thomson expanding into carbon and titanium handlebars is a carbon drop bar designed in conjunction with cyclocross legend Katie Compton. Drop, reach and bend all look pretty interesting here–nothing to redefine how we hang onto drop bars, and that’s a good thing.
Weight is reported to be about 200g and price tag is looking to be about $250.
Most importantly, the release of several entirely new categories of products and materials follows years of Thomson’s deliberate and calculated minor product changes (not exactly radical business practice to introduce a few different types of stems and a slightly lighter version of the same basic alloy seatpost). Everyone’s a little anxious to see if Thomson can bring the same consistently high level of fit, finish and reliability to these more complex materials (not to mention translated that reputation into mechanical things like dropper posts). I’m certainly rooting for them.
From dive bars to show booths, Ritte Racing was all over Interbike 2012. One part imported carbon fiber with really creative paint jobs, and one part really cool stainless steel with custom options, Ritte seems to be the good side of bike production circa 2012. People who live bikes figuring out how to get their ideas into the hands of people who’ll appreciate them.
The belt-drive bike above was on display in the NoTubes booth, which kept a revolving line up of Ritte bikes on hand throughout each day of the show. That, or they were somehow changing colors.
Alchemy is another small frame builder being driven by a combination of solid design and a healthy dose of brand. If some of these small framebuilders seem to be marketing and promoting themselves more like indy bands than manufacturers, it’s because they’re starting from a crazy desire to do what they love doing, and hoping they find a market.
Though we didn’t get a chance to ride it, Look’s disc-only ‘cross bike looked pretty solid, with one odd notable exception. Though the frame seemed to have all kinds of special considerations for mud–including no bridge on the chainstays and flattened seatstays that seemed ideal for slicing away crud–the very top of the seatstays flowed into a monostay section before connecting to the seat tube, and the underside of that whole area was concave. This meant there was a little “spoon” under there that seeded almost designed to gather mud and ice. It was a little weird and disappointing on a frame that looked so ready to shed mud everywhere else.
The Cannondale team showed up on Avid’s new BB7 SL Road Mechanical discs, by the way. They’re basically the same as the old BB7s, except for sporting some titanium hardware, a dark chrome finish and black plastic adjustment knobs (that are still as tough to turn as any other Avid Mechanical).
Also seen at Cross Vegas was part-time friendly wizard and full-time legal counsel for mega-distributor QBP, Matt’s All-City Nature Boy. Matt singled-speeded the industry race, then locked up his bike and went back for more beer. Shakespeare’s famous quote about lawyers doesn’t apply to Matt, or any other lawyer with a navel-length beard and high-polished rims on a single-speed.
Lots more was afoot out there in the desert, too. I’ll wander through it in the next few days.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.