Hope

Hope was showing an all-new brake, the Tech X2, which replaces the Mono Mini. The Tech lever is ambidextrous and has a split clamp, while also offering adjustable lever travel and bite point via a pair of machined dials. The lever itself is sprung, and the revised pivot is claimed to be rattle-free. The caliper is new too, smaller than the previous Mini but with larger-diameter pistons. Other tweaks include pad entry for the top so they can be replaced with the wheel in place, and an extended hose mount to increase the range of angles the hose can run at.

The Tech lever will also be used on the M4 and V2 brakes, and can be retrofitted to older brakes too. Other Hope news includes the release of 15mm converters for Hope Pro2 and Pro3 hubs. Hope’s US wing is now doing Hope Hoops wheelsets using Stan’s rims, plus there’s a DH stem and a combined upper crown/stem unit for the Fox 40.

Pivot

The Pivot brand was launched at Interbike last year. The founder, Chris Cocalis, also started Titus, but aside from both being based in Tempe, Arizona, the two companies have little in common. In 2007 Pivot was showing two bikes, the Mach 4 and 5, both DW-Link full sussers with amounts of travel that you can probably guess.

For 2009, the 4 and 5 return in a range of spec levels, but the line-up is boosted by the release of two new bikes. The most interesting is the Firebird, which with 167mm of travel and a 31lb all-up weight is operating somewhere in Trek Remedy territory. It has something else in common with the Remedy, too – like the Trek, the Pivot drives the shock from both ends, although in this case it’s the lower short link of the DW-Link system that drives the bottom end of the shock.

Also debuting was the Mach 429, a 29in-wheeled version of the Mach 4. Pivot bikes are, as yet, not coming in to the UK, which is something of a pity. With any luck a distributor will be forthcoming soon.

Ruegamer

The Edge Composites stand was something of a showcase of the custom builders’ art, with a bunch of very special bikes (all, of course, equipped with Edge carbon fibre rims and other parts). Pick of the crop was this remarkable offering from Ruegamer, which teamed a custom carbon fibre frame – complete with integrated seat mast and internal cable/hose routing – with a breathed-upon Cannondale Lefty fork.

As well as the rims (laced to eyecatching powder-coated hubs), Edge supplied the one-piece bar/stem combo, with the gear cables and hoses routed through the front. Also of note were the highly-polished Cannondale CODA Magic cranks (that must have been lurking on a dusty shelf for some years before being spruced up for this bike) and, of course, the pink/purple flame paintjob.

How much? If you have to ask, and all that…