Wednesday was the first day of Interbike proper, as what seems like the entire bike industry gathers inside one very big shed and shows off to itself. Obviously there’s a fair amount of stuff that we’ve seen before, so we’ve been concentrating on things that we haven’t. One thing’s for sure, some of the smaller manufacturers have been busy…
Ellsworth
Ellsworth has a whole bunch of new bikes, complete with new anodised finishes – the various streaks and stripes you see here are obtained by anodising the frames twice, using a kind of chemical mask between each run. It’s also got anodised fades and all sorts of other things.
The Distance replaces the single-pivot Isis. The split-extrusion front end is gone in favour of more conventional tubes, and there’s 5in of travel
Also in the single-pivot family, the Chaos features a semi-monococque main frame and can be set up with 5, 6, 7 or 8in of travel.
Moving on to the four-bar bikes, the Rogue is the replacement for the Dare. The back end delivers 6, 7 or 8in of travel, it’s got ISCG chain device mounts and can run 10/12mm rear through axles or a conventional QR.
Still in development is this DH prototype using Hayes’s “derailleur in a box” internal transmission.
GT
All-new DHi extends the current i-Drive platform into DH applications
Several significant developments from GT, the most obvious of which is the complete absence of the original i-Drive design – the more recent revised incarnation now appears throughout the suspension range.
The Ruckus freeride bikes are now built on the new i-Drive 7 platform with the eponymous quantity of travel
A rather different bike bearing the Ruckus name is the Ruckus SS, an economically-priced chromoly singlespeed with an eccentric bottom bracket for chain tensioning.
Giant
Giant Glory
Revised Maestro shock mount
We’ve already shown you the Anthem, the first of Giant’s “competition Maestro” bikes. The other one is the Glory, which looks set to be the latest in a long line of great-performing and reasonably priced off-the-peg DH race bikes. 8.8in of travel should do the job.
The Trance and Reign have had significant development too. The “shock basket” is gone in favour of a full-length down tube with a big hole in it and a kind of cantilevered bracket to mount the shock to. This means that the shock shaft sticks out of the bottom of the bike in a rather exposed manner, but the bikes come with a neat little carbon guard to ward off any errant trail debris.
Titus
If you’ve ever wondered why some Titus bikes are so pricey, watching the video of the carbon/titanium Isogrid tubes being hand-assembled one at a time should give you some idea. There’re plenty of changes at the mor affordable level, though.
The popular Racer-X gets an all-new back end. The chainstays are now hydroformed, allowing better stiffness, reduced weight and improved mud clearance over the old plain rectangular ones. The back end also gets carbon fibre seat stays to go with the carbon upper link that appeared last year. As ever, you can choose from aluminium, titanium or Exogrid carbon/titanium for the front end, and full-custom options are available.
Redesigned Supermoto now has a 1.5in-compatible head tube. Standard shock is a Fox DHX5.0, but you can opt for pretty much anything – Titus has alternative rocker arms to accomodate all you leverage needs.
Ventana
Ventana’s still doing popular bikes like the X-5 and El Saltamontes, but its new stuff is mostly in the 29in wheel arena.
The El Comandante is a rigid singlespeed 29er, and as such is contractually obliged to include a bottle opener on the rear dropout.
Choose a rigid fork and you get another bottle opener, presumably positioned on the non-disc side to avoid warming up your beer. Note also forward-facing dropouts.
The El Capitan pushes the 29er limits, offering a full 5in of travel.
Pace
Apparently this is the first time for about a decade that Pace products have been on show at Interbike. The Yorkshire forkmeisters have done a deal with major US distributor QBP, and the forks were attracting a lot of interest.
The RC29 is, you guessed it, a 29in-wheel-friendly version of the RC31 carbon rigid fork. It’s 465mm from axle to crown.
Meanwhile, the new RC31Ti features titanium spigots in the tops of the legs rather than the old steel.
Pace’s through-axle dropouts (seen here on an RC41) incorporate threaded inserts and a cunning floating axle widget that prevents the fork ends getting squashed together if your hub happens to be slightly narrow.
Other bikes
More 29er full-suspension action from Astrix – the Monk has 4.5in of travel
One half of Canfield Brothers came fifth at the last Red Bull Rampage on one of his own bikes. This isn’t it – this is the new Balance, a 5-6in travel freeride bike available in steel or aluminium flavours.
Castellano’s Silk Ti 50/50 runs a 29in wheel up front and a 26in at the back. It’s available in sizes down to 13in, although we fear that none of them are all that pretty…
Crazy multi-rider shenanigans from Co-Motion – the Periscope has S&S couplings so you can take it apart, telescopic seat posts to make the low-slung frame fit, and you can run it as tandem or triple simply by including (or not) the middle bit.
Haro’s Sonix delivers 5in of travel from a sort of short-link/i-Drive hybrid suspension design.
When we heard that pioneering brand Ibis was coming back with founder Scott Nicol heavily involved, we didn’t know quite what to expect. We certainly didn’t expect this full-carbon, 5in travel DW-Link supension bike, though. The very shiny details come as no surprise.
Jamis Diablo has hydroformed everything and 170mm of travel
French brand LaPierre is being launched into the US market. The X-Comp Scandium has a unique shock mount design, 3.5in of travel and a 24lb all-up weight.
The Freedrive suspension system found on Mongoose’s Teocali bikes has now found its way into a full-on DH bike.
Moots’s singlespeed has sliding dropouts (shown here with the special Rohloff ones) and is available in 26 or 29in and fully rigid or softtail versions.
A version of that Mongoose Freedrive platform also crops up on sister brand Schwinn’s Rocket bikes, this time with 5in of travel and operating under the name “Iso-Drive”.
Cannondale
We rode the new Rush the other day, but Cannondale has a few other things up its sleeve.
There’s now a bewildering variety of Headshok and Lefty forks, with internals from Manitou on some models and Fox on others. The Speed variants use gram-shaving bonded crowns.
The Daytripper bikes are kind of semi-recumbent pootling-around urban devices. You still get a Headshok, though.
Mountain Cycle
Mountain Cycle is proud of not doing model years – most of its range is unchanged. There’s a couple of new bikes in the works, though.
First up is the short-travel freeride bike, designed by recent recruit Landon Holt.
This more XC-oriented bike is a slimmed-down development of the existing Zen.
Park
The blue-handled tool brand has a bunch of new things for 2006, including such workshop essentials as a craft knife and big hammer. Also coming up is a brake rotor alignment gauge to identify bent or warped discs and a handy forked tool to straighten them. Plus a new economically-priced headset press aimed at the home mechanic and a bunch of other things.
The RK-41 Portable Race Kit is a fantastic fold-out backpack with 41 essential tools in it. Or you can get the pack on its own.
Park was also doling out laser-engraved multitools – write down your name, wait a couple of minutes and there you go. Plus another couple of minutes if they happen to spell your name wrong…
Oakley
We’re not sure whether even Oakley’s awesome reserves of cool are enough to elevate the status of golf in our minds. Actually, we are sure – they’re not.
It’s hard to argue with reissued retro classics like these Razor Blades, though, complete with authentic fluorescent colours.
We’re even more sceptical about these shoes than about the golf bags. And that’s saying something.
The Mk2 version of the Thump MP3-playing shades is somewhat sleeker than the original. You can now also get glasses that double as a Bluetooth headset for your phone.
Easton
The EC90 carbon-fibre stem has removable steel inserts for the faceplate bolts to thread into. The claimed weight is 150g.
Havoc seatpost features reversible clamp to suit different saddle rail diameters
Easton’s branching out into wheels, with two sets for the MTB market. The XC One uses 23mm rims and weights 1.6kg/pair, while the Havoc AM has 28mm rims. Both use straight-pull spokes, although the XC One ones are threaded at both ends.
Giro
Prototype Hex mid-range helmet has 21 vents and angular styling. It’ll be available in the spring.
The Remedy is Giro’s latest full-face offering. It’ll be available in fibreglass or carbon fibre and in a range of colours, including currently-in-vogue matt finishes.
Or maybe you’d prefer a pink Xen?
Everything else
Axion’s new radios (seen here in slightly oversized mock-up form) will feature easy-to-use controls, a three-mile range and Bluetooth compatibility so you can use a wireless headset and hide the actual radio out of harm’s way. A pair (with regular wired headsets) should come out at under $100 in the US – hopefully they’ll be equally reasonable in the UK.
New Bell Slant mid-range helmet
Blackburn’s splendidly-named Airfix combines a CO2 inflator with a multitool. There’s also a tool-free inflator with similar styling.
Also from Blackburn is a new range of bike computers, all with a funky angular look and wireless transmission.
Carry Freedom’s bike trailer doubles up as a pull-along suitcase, while the bag can be slung over your shoulder and the frame folded up and checked in as luggage if you’re flying anyhere. It’s also got extra wheels on the end so it’ll stand up and you can roll it sideways if you need it to be narrower.
Chariot’s range of modular child trailers can convert from three to four wheelers, bike trailers, sidecars or even ski-trailers.
Control Tech’s one piece carbon stem and riser bar cunningly incorporates a light/computer tube at the front. Scope for adjustability is obviously limited, though, and breaking the bar wouldn’t be cheap.
Cyclepath is a bit like those motion-capture rigs they use in the movies. Attach a load of infra-red LEDs to yourself, pedal on a trainer in front of a special scanner for a few minutes and the computer tells you all sorts of stuff about knee articulation angles, reach and general pedal-stroke wonkiness, giving you a starting point for setting up your riding position.
Curious drag-race/road DH speed record attempt device featured on the Felt stand.
Fi:zi’k’s Freek freeride saddle comes complete with finger-grips under the nose for secure Supermans. Or Supermen, probably.
Rather excellent single-sided rear end chopper adorned the Kenda stand.
Race Face is entering the chain device market. Its offering has a sealed-bearing jockey wheel, comes ready-assembled and perhaps most importantly has flames moulded into the guide blocks.
Dear Santa, for Christmas we would like a carbon-fibre cyclo-cross bike please. Thank you, Bikemagic.
Ritchey’s latest pedal doesn’t appear to offer much more scope for weight saving by removing material.
Classic Silca track pumps are only made more desirable by limited-edition funky finishes.
This Soulcraft was just there to demonstrate Yakima’s bike racks, but we rather like its freakish track/street/commute demeanour. Which is another way of saying that we don’t know what it’s for but we want one.
SRAM had these cool model creaturey things made out of bits and bobs including pieces of bicycle.
The sign on this says “Do not touch or stand on”. To be honest, we didn’t need telling. And even if we stood on it we wouldn’t know what to do next, except probably feel rather foolish.
Stronglight Magma cranks are mainly carbon fibre but with a shock-absorbing elastomer insert and steel plates on the bits that are likely to get bashed on rocks.
Syncros’s chain device offering has a carbon-fibre backplate.
This is what happens if you apply 675ft lb of torque to a Thomson stem. You’ll notice that a couple of things don’t happen – it doesn’t snap and neither fo the clamps give way. Handy.
Topeak’s new shock pump doubles as an emergency strut should your shock suffer from severe air-retention issues.
White Brothers was an early producer of forks for 29in bikes. This offering also chucks a 20mm through-axle into the mix. Other forks in the range feature a magnetic lock-out valve that’s said to work in a vaguely similar way to Fox’s Terralogic but more smoothly and lighter.
Just to give you some idea what a freaky place Las Vegas is, this is the site that greets you if you pop out of the Expo centre at lunchtime. And yes, this is indoors. The canals and gondolas are just out of shot.
They might have a point…
That’s all for now, mainly because it’s three in the morning here…
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