Something Like High Expectations

I think I might be looking forward to Interbike. It’s a strange feeling.

Last year, the tradeshow was plenty tolerable because I essentially didn’t have anything to do but wander aimlessly making snarky remarks and spending as long on senseless shit as I wanted. I took pictures and wrote brief little things. Easy.

On paper, this year looks a lot more intimidating. I’ll be in meetings with factory guys, representing a fledgling ecommerce site, and meeting with my manufacturer to go over a bunch of IT research and strategic planning issues.

Overall, I’ll be run pretty ragged, but somewhere in there, I’m sure I’ll still take photos and offer snark. Just a little.

After looking like clowns for not embracing 29ers soon enough, every brand in the world seems ready to charge into 650b, whether they understand the platform or not. Eurobike always provides the warning shot, and then Interbike catches me square between the eyes. Will I see more 650b 150-160mm travel mountain bikes or disc-brake equipped ‘cross bikes? Tough to say, but both will definitely be out in force.

And I love that.

I want to see 650b bikes and disc ‘cross bikes. Maybe it’ll get old sooner rather than later, but probably not.

I’m also looking forward to everything else. The Thomson dropper post (above) looks like the boys from Georgia finally brought a giant can of “what the fuck is wrong with all you people?” to the dropper post market. If it really is the dropper equivalent of a Thomson post–and that early report from Pinkbike sounds promosing–it’ll shake things up in a very good way.

I want to see King’s disc road hubs. There’s no reason to, because I get the idea of an R45 with higher flanges and a six-bolt disc mount, but still.

I would very much like to ride a bike with a Magura fork, and a bike with a Formula fork. Both seem to be bringing some intelligent design and simplicity make to forks, the way Marzocchi punk rocked everybody in the late ’90s by building a crude by effective mini version of a motorcross fork.

RockShox and Fox both seem likely to follow the electronic integration rabbit hole no matter where it leads, and I think options are nice. Having more than two viable fork manufacturers would also be nice. (And yes, I did happen to notice that a Suntour fork won Gold in the Oympics this year.)

I could just be that there are nice products entering the market. I hope so.