Interbike: Day 1
A third of the show down and we've only seen a quarter of it...
Day one of Interbike in Las Vegas, and we're just back from the premiere of the latest freeride flick Disorder IV - Ride The Lightning. It's very good, but we're not here to talk about that - we've got bike parts to dribble at.
Eight hours of trawling the aisles has got us through roughly a quarter of the show, so with only two more days we're going to have to up the pace. For now, here's some highlights of day one - there's bigger pictures hiding behind the small ones...
German manufacturer Alutech are possibly first off the blocks with a Shimano Saint-compatible rear hub.
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Balfa showed they do more than big ol' freeride bikes with the Belair 4in trail bike. Manitou SPV shock hides inside the main tube.
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Crank Brothers have two new pedals based on the Eggbeater mechanism. This is the Candy (available in various colours), there's also the Mallet platform-style pedal.
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The Gravity Dropper seatpost is like a 21st century Hite-Rite. Flick a lever and bounce on the seat to drop it, flick the lever back to pop the seat back up. It's surprisingly light, too.
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Tucked away in the roof of the Turner stand was the prototype Highline freeride frame.
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Latest in a long line of cool one-off kids' bikes at Interbike is this mini-Maverick, built by Paul Turner for his daughter.
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Czech ti builders Morati had a range of MTB and road frames, all featuring tons of neat detailing and tidy construction.
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Giant's carbon fibre NRS put in an appearance, complete with own-brand carbon seatpost and bars.
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Speedplay CEO Richard Byrne is a self-confessed pedal nut. He brought along his collection, covering about a century of pedal development.
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Salsa launched a Scandium singlespeed, with vertical dropouts, disc mounts and a Bushnell eccentric BB.
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Also in scandium was this proto Salsa stem, weighing in at 150g and to be available in road and mountain versions.
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Retro streamline style kid's trike oozed cool.
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Ventana's X-5 offers tons of standover height and 5in of travel from linkage-driven shock.
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Alutech's Wildsau DH frame redefines "industrial".
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Fi:zi'k's WingFlex saddles are designed to let you sit and pedal on a bigger area. The edges gradually break in to avoid inner thigh chafing when sitting back.
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Carbon specialists Wound Up adapted their tandem fork into this MTB version. 800g, but the mud clearance looks a bit tight.
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Race Face unveiled the X-Type BB/crank system. Outboard bearings and a hollow pipe spindle resemble XTR and '04 XT but the RF offering permanently attaches the left hand crank to the spindle. Available in XC, "All-Mountain" and DH versions.
I've put in a request to have this little beauty added to the product list, it appears to no avail. I was always sick of stopping and lowering my seat for downhills. With the Gravity dropper I click a trigger on my handle bars and can drop my seat by 1 inch or 4 inches. Santa Cruz were offering this post as an option on builds when I was in the US last year. I've had it a year and although it adds a little weight, it more than makes up for it as my seat is always at the height I want. I love it. I've found this place in Essex that does them Riverside Cycle Centre and their customer service is excellent. For more detailed info checkout the Gravity Dropper Website.
Posted: 14/04/2007 13:26
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