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None other than Lance Armstrong tips Jack Bobridge as a name to watch for the future. The 20-year-old Aussie railed to the U23 men’s time trial world title Wednesday in Mendrisio to prove that Armstrong’s endorsement is deserved. “You couldn’t ask for much more than that for Lance to mention your name as an up-and-comer,” Bobridge said after dominating the 65-rider field. “It gives me extra motivation. I think I caught his eye a little bit and he’s been following my progress. I met him at the Tour Down Under this year and we had a chance to train together.”

No one can ever accuse Spanish veteran José Vicente "Chente" García Acosta of being a slacker. The Caisse d’Epargne rider completed his 25th grand tour Sunday with the conclusion of the 64th Vuelta a España. And that number is just from racing the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. Somewhat surprisingly, García Acosta has never raced a Giro d’Italia since turning pro in 1995.

Alejandro Valverde doesn’t want any surprises from the Italians and will not sleep in Italy during this week’s world championships as planned. According to the Spanish daily AS, Valverde and possibly other members of the elite men’s road team will sleep in a hotel in Switzerland rather than with the rest of the Spanish national team at a hotel already reserved in Italy.

A special request by Cannondale pulled several of us out to Interbike’s Outdoor Demo at an uncomfortably early hour on Monday and then to a “secret location” billed Area 88 — actually a local self-storage unit — via vintage Mercedes Unimog to see a “proof of concept” prototype of the manufacturer’s Simon suspension fork. The Simon is a computer-controlled, electronically damped suspension fork, a project without a specific release date. Cannondale engineer Stanley Song has poured five years of undivided attention into the project.

After a day of riding road bikes at the Interbike Outdoor Demo on Monday, I hit the dirt on Tuesday to check out some new innovations on the mountain bike side. The Santa Cruz Tallboy is big 29er news, as it is a completely carbon full suspension 29er with 100mm (four inches of travel) and the frame weighs only five pounds (size M). Tallboys cost $2350 for the frame ($4700 for the SPX model with Shimano XT that I tested) and come even in an XXL size that fits me with a nearly 26-inch top tube.

USA’s Jeff Louder is a last-minute scratch from the U.S. world championship team because he has come down with the swine flu H1N1 virus. The BMC racer didn’t feel well and visited a doctor, who confirmed the diagnosis.

The debate over the merits of 26-inch and 29-inch mountain bikes has been raging fitfully over at VeloNews' sister Web site, Singletrack.com, ever since Matt Pacocha declared 26-inch hardtails deader than John Edwards' political career.

From road and cyclocross to mountain, Trigon makes everything but the drivetrains.

Tubular routing for cable housing makes set up clean and easy.

Trigon’s integrated bar/stem is new to the market, but the manufacturers are not new to the concept, having produced such things for its customers.

Don’t recognize the brand Trigon? You probably wouldn’t recognize the parent company, either. But Great Go Cycles has been making frames and components for companies like Pinarello, Blue, Leopard and FSA for years. The RQC-929 features BB30, a 1.125/1.5-inch headset, and trapezoidal tubing.

With one hand, it’s easy to get the pump up to 80psi.

The Steel Floor Drive uses an interchangeable and easily rebuildable head for Presta and Schrader.

The Steel Floor Drive is an economical version ($49) of the company’s popular CNC Drive ($99).

This 10-function tool weighs 48 grams. (An empty soda can weighs 14 grams.) It has a T30 in addition to 8 standard Allen keys and a chain tool. “We're not making the Super Tool 25,000,” Kozuschek said. “We just make what you need.”

Lezyne continues to expand its line of precision tools, as company founder Micki Kozuschek blends engineering with design. “In the old days, everything just worked. It didn’t look great, but it worked. Now some things look great, but they don’t last,” he said. “We’re doing this differently.”

The NV’s locking cable stows tidily inside the rack’s body. The lock heads are held in place by magnets, and the same key is used to lock the rack to the vehicle’s hitch.

The NV has a built-in cable lock.

Küat Racks feature an expanding wedge (the lighter silver part) that eliminates wobble.

The Trail Doc is also available separately for use with Saris Cycle-On, Thule T2 and Yakima Hold Up racks.

The Trail Doc telescopes out and up to serve as a full-size bike repair stand.

Beefy aluminum cam locks make pivoting the rack up (for transport) or down (for rear vehicle entry) clean and easy.

The $415 NV includes the Trail Doc, a pivoting bike work stand that mounts onto the rack’s rear.

Based in Springfield, Missouri, Küat Racks is a relatively new company with some innovative hitch-mounted bike carriers. The NV is the brand new, all-aluminum model.

Küat, Lezyne and Trigon may not be huge names in the bike industry, but they've got some cool stuff. We checked out the latest at Outdoor Demo.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Heck, even pro roadies like Cesar Grajales get caught up in the fun.

…and folks with helmet cams and helmet mics.

…women on cross-country mountain bikes…

…men on carbon road bikes…

Outdoor Demo is similar to the Sea Otter Classic in that it’s one of cycling’s few converging spots. You’ve got guys with beers and full-face helmets on Pugsleys…

Check out our racks. Indeed, we did.

It even has a place to hang your hat. Alas, we didn’t try this one.

The Street Strider performs something like how it sounds.

The dual-drive bicycle features an alternating, non-circular pedal stroke. Each crank arm rotates less than 180 degrees, which feels like marching in place.

What is this? We’re not sure. Heck, he’s not sure. “I call it the Stairmaster,” says former shop owner Will Holt.

IMBA’s Spencer Powlison collects the cash and preaches the good word. To date, some 480 bike shops are IMBA members. IMBA is tipping its big hat to its Platinum members at Interbike (those who have given more than $2,500), including Wheat Ridge Cyclery, Wheel and Sprocket, Free Flite Bicycles, Bicycle Sport Shop and Shenandoah Bicycle Company.

Luckily for IMBA’s trail-building and advocacy efforts, the fundraiser did not rely on the accuracy of its contestants. For example, VeloNews advertising executive Nathan Forbes missed the target three consecutive times. Eyes on the target, Nathan.

From Banshee Bikes and Bell Sports to WTB and Xtracycle, more than 120 companies exhibited their wares at Outdoor Demo in the two days preceding Interbike. In the desert heat of Boulder City, just east of Las Vegas, thousands of bike shop owners and their crews wandered from pop-tent to pop-tent, scoping out the latest and greatest to take out for test rides on the singletrack and roads. Most of the bikes and gear on display fell within the standard confines of road and mountain. But, being a bike show, there is always some tomfoolery afoot, and the odd vendor hawking a unique product.

The UCI's world time trial and road championships are slated to begin on Wednesday in Mendrisio, Switzerland, but riders from all over are already plying the roads in preparation.

Photographer Casey Gibson spent Tuesday on the time trial course as riders tested their legs and adjusted their bikes for two days of racing against the clock.

Elite women and U23 men will race Wednesday, with the elite men taking center stage on Thursday.

Road racing begins Saturday with the elite women and U23s, and the elite men’s road race wrapping up events on Sunday.

The

When American Tejay Van Garderen rolls out of the start house at the under-23 world time trial championship on Wednesday in Mendrisio, Switzerland, he’ll do so as a medal favorite. The Colorado native, who spent 2008 and 2009 riding with the Rabobank Continental Professional team and will join Columbia-HTC next year, is fresh off a second-place overall finish at the Tour de l’Avenir (the “tour of the future”), the under-23 stage race run by Tour de France organizers ASO and viewed by many as a precursor to future grand tour contenders.

Alejandro Valverde faces an uncertain future following his breakthrough win at the Vuelta a España on Sunday in Madrid. Known as El Imbatido (the unbeaten one) since his amateur days, Valverde finally won a grand tour after finishing second, third, fourth and fifth in the Vuelta. But the victory that should lead the way to more success could simply be an empty triumph ahead of what is anything but clear sailing for the 29-year-old Spanish rider.

A Body Paint leg’s edge is no ravel-prone cut edge; it’s the fabric bolt edge, with 50mm of 43% elastic for grip.

The Hive offers two different leverage-gain links, one of 1.3 (shown) another of 1.4 for Dura-Ace levers.

Edge will lace its 45mm Clincher rim to DT Swiss 240S or 190S (ceramic bearing) hubs with DT Aerolite spokes.