Day three of Sea Otter Classic brought the biggest crowds thus far to the Laguna Seca Raceway outside Monterey, California. New gear highlights to be found in the massive infield expo included the Classified planetary hub that effectively turns a single-ring bike into a double-ring bike with a 30 percent change in gearing with the push of a Bluetooth button shaped like a sprint shifter.
Another hard-to-miss thing was a six-foot-wide helmet — used to promote the made-to-measure 3D-printed helmets from the brand Kav.
Check out the gallery below for a closer look for some of the most interesting gear from Sea Otter.
Check back all through the weekend for full coverage from the Sea Otter Classic, including the first race of the Life Time Grand Prix on Saturday.
Kav measures a rider’s head, then 3D-prints a helmet to fit.
Spring-loaded pads screw into the helmet (in the yelllow nuts) for a secure fit. Since the helmets are printed to fit, there is no traditional wrap-around retention system.
The Kav helmet is not yet CPSC approved. But this one is big.
Selle Italia is touting is earth-friendly Greentech products, like this 315g Model X saddle, which the company says can be reused to make new products and is made without pollutants such as glue or solvents.
This Selle Italia Boost model isn’t green, but it’s light at 165g for $329.
Ridley has expanded its gravel line. The is the Kanzo Fast, which riffs on the company’s Noah Fast aero bike. Stay tuned to VeloNews for a story on the Ridley Kanzo Adventure.
The Classified is a planetary hub that changes the effective gear by 30 percent — so it acts like shifting from the big ring to the small ring.
The Classified uses its own cassette and Bluetooth-enabled axle. The $2,999 system is being used by Ridley, Storck, Rose, and 12 other brands, says company founder Roëll Van Danten.
The system can shift under load in both directions, and also when not pedaling.
Nothing more to add here.
What’s going on here?
Oh, you know, just selling sunglasses.
The Sage Storm King titanium gravel bike.
Pretty details abound on the Oregon bike.
Clearance for 50mm tires? Check.
Panaracer is on a roll with all its GravelKing gravel tires, and…
… the brand is rolling out some new tubeless Agilest road tires. Right now, these are packaged for the Japanese market.
Mountain Flow makes plant-based lubes, degreasers, and polish, with the packaging being as green as possible.
Mountain Flow now has bamboo-handled brushes for $22 a set.
The Moots Routt ESC boasts 2.4in tires.
And plenty of neo retro sparkle in the build.
Dynaplug has a drop-bar tubeless tire plug fitment in the works. The current Dynaplug offering only works on flat-bar ODI grips, but this upcoming option will give gravel riders two pre-loaded plugs inside each end of their drop bar.
Dynaplug has a variety of compact tubeless plug tools.
The Dynaplug Air lets you plug a hole and reinflate the tire at the same time.
Lazer has new helmets with a technology called KinetiCore.
KinetiCore consists of crumple zones built into the foam.
Oh, look who it is! Shimano road marketing manager Nick Legan has a stack of rider cards for the inaugural Life Time Grand Prix.
Legan’s favorite rider in the Grand Prix? Well, that would be his wife Kristen Legan, of course.
Need a little more color on your face? Pit Viper can help.
Stock or customized on site.
The new RockyMounts GuideRail is an $849 rack in the style of 1Up, which easily clamps onto the wheels of virtually any bike.
The GuideRail comes with a burly, seven-pound lock.
And it folds up against the back of your vehicle. A swing-out option called the AfterParty is $1,099.
Alex Howes says what’s up. Nice jorts, Alex.
Stages has a new computer, the Dash 200.
The Dash comes in two sizes with a bright screen, and easily customizable screens for workouts, navigation, riding, and racing.
The navigation screen provides a color-coded elevation profile so you know you’re in for.