Interbike

Check out Zach White's author page.

Check out Zach White's author page.

A day indoors is actually a relief from the 100-degree heat we faced outside for the Outdoor Demo. But the clothing, helmets, and shoes Zack Vestal saw are designed to perform outside, on the road, in all kinds of conditions.

Jesse Anthony enters the cyclocross season after his strongest road campaign ever.

A day indoors is actually a relief from the 100-degree heat we faced outside for the Outdoor Demo. But the clothing, helmets, and shoes I saw on the show floor are designed to perform outside, on the road, in all kinds of conditions.

Check out Zach White's author page.

Slideshow: Following a successful season that saw Swiss cross-country racer Nino Schurter win the World Cup overall on his Scott Scale, the bike is making a showing at Ritchey's Interbike booth.

Campagnolo unveils new cyclocross wheels and cranks and looks to the future of new technology.

VeloNews Editor in Chief Ben Delaney gets the scoop on ANT+ technology and the latest products using it for wireless communication.

Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) is among the most popular riders in the peloton and after 14 years as a professional road racer, the German hardman is looking forward to another year – and looking back

New shoes from Shimano, brakes from TRP, and bikes from Litespeed

In search of the sub-$1,000 bike and the point where performance and affordability meet.

Check out Zach White's author page.

Check out Zach White's author page.

Slideshow: Singletrack.com's Caley Fretz hit Interbike's Outdoor Dirt Demo hard and found that Yeti, Scott and Breezer are now in the big-wheeled game with their new 29er hardtails. Orbea has refined its offering in the category.

New shoes from Shimano, brakes from TRP, and bikes from Litespeed

Check out Zach White's author page.

Slideshow: Interbike's Outdoor Dirt Demo was hot, windy, dusty and generally a pretty kick-ass time — except for the hot, wind and dust...

Built on the history of the popular Xen helmet, the Xar is slightly more streamlined and refined, with a couple of new features. Check it out…

A look at the new BH cyclocross bike, Fi'zi;k saddle changes, Ridley's tweaked road models, Rotor's sweet BB adaptor and SKS's sneaky small pumps.

Singletrack.com's Steve Frothingham is scouting out affordable rigs at the Interbike trade show to supplement our usual coverage of the latest and greatest price-is-no-object gear.

Interbike tech: Lennard Zinn explains the new Campagnolo groups and gives a hint of the company's upcoming cyclocross group.

Swiss 'cross star Christian Heule may be coming into his last year of racing, and he's looking to carry a CrossVegas win into a strong European season

SKS's new Stow-Away bicycle pump is still a "first-of-its-kind" tool worth mentioning.

Slideshow: Greg Herbold has remained one of the more recognizable characters in the bike industry since the early days of fat tires. His old Miyata race bike from the early to mid-1990s wears the years well too.

I love a $10,000 bike as much as the next guy, but today I found three sweet bikes with less formidable price tags.

What makes the F2 cool in my book is Felt’s effort to bring that Di2 kit to a more down to earth price. By mixing an FSA K-Force crank and Ultegra brakes into the group, Felt product managers brought the bike down in price without dropping performance. The F2 frame and fork are slightly heavier than the F1 (by just under 50 grams) and it rolls on Shimano RS-80 wheels instead of the F1’s Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimates.

The racemachine is built (you guessed it) with racers in mind. It’s got similar geometry and frame shapes as the top-end timemachine, but the seatstays are built to be thicker and stiffer. The overall structure of the bike is a bit beefier and the racemachine uses a standard seatpost clamp instead of the expanding wedge post of the teammachine.

It’s mostly the same as last year’s 586, but instead of the integrated seatmast and E-Post cap, it’s got a removable seat post. Additionally, both the standard 586 and the new 586 RSP lose a little weight by way of improved manufacturing and materials pioneered in the flagship 695. Look says that their monocoque construction and the higher fiber content of newer pre-preg carbon have reduced frame weight on the 586 to about 940 grams.

More (somewhat) affordable bikes and gear from Interbike's Outdoor Demo West

MetriGear's Vector integrates custom force and motion sensor platform into pedal spindles to measure a cyclist’s performance.

The Look 695 Pack builds up as a 14-pound machine with the right parts.

Tech Gallery: The Look 695 Pack builds up as a 14-pound machine with the right parts

The $2,600 Mad Fiber wheelset from Ric Hjertberg is light, stiff and boasts low rotational inertia.

Tech Gallery: The $2,600 Mad Fiber wheelset from Ric Hjertberg is light, stiff and boasts low rotational inertia

Organizers announce the preliminary start list for Wednesday's CrossVegas.

Slideshow:In effort to highlight bikes that give you some bang for your buck, Singletrack.com's own miserly New Englander Steve Frothingham is taking a look at cost-effective rigs all week at Interbike. Check out Fuji's Outland 1.0.

Slideshow:Dave Turner said the latest evolution of the Turner RFX project is still six months from seeing a showroom floor.

LeMond’s Revolution, the same trainer used by Garmin-Transitions at this year’s Tour, is a marked step away from the status quo.

A round up of the new gear and news coming from the outdoor portion of the Interbike trade expo in Las Vegas.

The 2011 Cervelo line includes major trickle down of technology and design pioneered in the limited production R5ca.

Tech Gallery: The 2011 Cervelo line includes major trickle-down of technology and design pioneered in the limited production R5ca.

The folks at Gates say the new design offers all the advantages of their existing Carbon Drives, but with 20 percent more tensile strength, a slimmer profile and even better dirt- and debris-shedding.

The race will feature a long list of national champions and other stars from the U.S. and abroad.

Jelly Belly roadie Jeremy Powers kicks off 2010 with a quick look back at 2009.

The decade's biggest stories and greatest photos.

• Which first - marriage or racing? The pros speak.
• Cadel's world title - 10 years in the making
• Alison Dunlap 3.0
• Training - what the pros are doing now

There were a number of special bikes that I saw at Interbike that I have still not had much opportunity to write about. So I’ll use this week’s column to do so.

It’s been three weeks since Interbike, but I still get questions asking what really caught my eye at this year’s show. There was plenty and, until now, there really hasn’t been space in the articles I’ve done on VeloNews.com and in the print version for all of it. Aside from what I’ve already posted and put in the magazine, there were some real treasures and I’ve decided to devote today’s column to some of the other things that I found to be really cool. So here are some new components that appealed to me.

Modern retro

Dear Readers, As many of you know, I spent last week in Las Vegas, attending the Interbike trade show and the outdoor demo that preceded it. While my tech department colleagues and I have been posting stories and photos since the start, we’ll be doing more over the next few days. There was just so much there, it’s hard to offer even a glimpse at everything that struck us in a single story, or even two or three. Looking through my files last night, I spotted some interesting items I’d like to share with you today.

Check out the lines of 20 big-hit bombers in a slideshow from the rocky trails and bright lights of Interbike 2009. What was the take-away from Vegas? Options, options, options.

If after viewing these slideshows you have dreams of boosting tranny to tranny over the ultra-mega double-jump pimping one of these beauties in particular, pony up for it.

Interbike 2009 is officially over, in the books. We at VeloNews escaped Sin City without injury, and have just a few more tech tidbits and quick looks to share. Look for more detailed reporting on certain items in the months to come as we get to test them out for ourselves.

Limar touts ‘world’s lightest helmet’

With its RZR wheelset, Reynolds has plenty of buzz in its booth at Interbike. But the company’s forthcoming 92.2 rim is equally as remarkable, as the carbon model redefines how a clincher tire mounts to a rim. Paul Lew works as a consultant for Reynolds. In addition to his cycling experience, Lew has built unmanned flying vehicles. His inspiration for the 92.2 came from aerospace designs. “No aircraft wheel uses a hook,” Lew said, referring to the inner lip of a clincher rim that typically holds a clincher tire in place.

Wheels, hydration, helmets, lights and more: Singletrack.com's Zack Vestal runs down Interbike for you.

Out of the Arizona desert comes the Titus crew and their dually carbon 26ers, alu and ti options and a Rockstar 29er.

Markus Storck has long wanted 2005 Ford Ironman Hawaii Triathlon World Champion Faris Al-Sultan to race on his bikes, and when the sale of Cannondale opened up the opportunity to put his fellow German on a Storck, he quickly got to work. Even while working on prototyping a new electric bike and constructing a new building, Storck came up with the Aero 2. “I got no sleep for four months,” says Storck, “and now I need a vacation.”

We got a first look at a new 2010 DT Swiss wheel line in Germany, at the Eurobike show. Like so many things over there, we ran out of time to have a good look and get the story out. Fortunately, DT Swiss is well supported here in the States with a U.S. office, and they put on a great show here at Interbike as well. DT Swiss’s “Tricon” line includes one road wheelset and one mountain bike wheelset. Tricon technology refers to a complete system of hub, spokes and rim, which are not sold as separate components, only built into a complete wheel.

Eric Barlevav won the final race of the USA Crits series Thursday night in Las Vegas, with his Mountain Khakis teammate Mark Hekman winning the field sprint behind to claim the series title. To put the cherry on top, Mountain Khakis won the team overall prize for the 2009 USA Crits. “It’s huge to win here,” said Barlevav. “USA Crits was definitely a big goal for our team. We tried to win all the races, and we tried to win the overall, so this is great for us.”

With hundreds of brands crammed into the Sands Convention Center, there are plenty of products — ranging from the humbug to the showstopper, and from the truly helpful to the truly useless. We found three companies with some innovative improvements to current standards and solutions to common problems. Take a look.

A round-trip revelation in the way-back machine makes a stop in Marin and ends in a room beneath millions and millions of dollars worth of lust-worthy products on the Interbike floor.

The women's podium repeated its 2008 order at CrossVegas Wednesday evening, as thousands of spectators saw a display of raw power and consistency. Later, under the lights at a soccer complex on the outskirts of the city, new faces emerged from the tactical men's race, frustrating an elite group of chasers. In both races, domestic riders prevailed against European challengers in this city that is so uniquely — if sometimes regrettably — American.

The doors of the Sands Expo and Convention Center opened on Wednesday, kicking off the 2009 Interbike trade show in Las Vegas. Our tech crew spent most of the day wandering the aisles intent upon finding new items that might catch the interest of VeloNews readers. But while new bikes, new wheels and other high-end components are the big draw, tech writer Lennard Zinn went looking for things that have a more utilitarian purpose, many of which can be used on a daily commute or training ride.

The rumor that Interbike 2009 might be smaller than in years past didn’t seem to hold up on opening day — there was quite a crowd queued up at 8:45 a.m. for the show's 9 a.m. opening at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, and we’re seeing plenty of cool new products in every category.

Reynolds RZR carbon wheelset

Cycling guru Lennard Zinn falls in love with Santa Cruz's carbon full-suspension 29er and takes a look at other big-wheeled mountain bikes at Interbike's Outdoor Demo in Bootleg Canyon, Nevada.

Oh yeah! Santa Cruz and Fisher's carbon, dually 29ers are the current supermodels of the mountain bike world, but what are you overlooking when you lust over these sexy beasts?

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.

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.

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.

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.

I was amazed to see the expansion of Las Vegas’s bike trail system; you can rely on bike paths most of the 40km from The Strip to Boulder City, the site of Interbike’s pre-show Outdoor Demo. The trail is longer than that, even, meandering down to Lake Mead, much of it in drainage sluices for a skate-park-like ride. It then continues unabated along the lake in a giant complete loop back on itself to eastern Las Vegas. Amazingly progressive, it is an enormous investment in bicycle infrastructure.

Without further ado, here's some nuts and bolts — and the fun stuff — from day-one of Interbike's Outdoor Demo in Bootleg Canyon outside Las Vegas..

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of the Mud and Cowbells Road Diary. Part one found the author in Durango for the Singlespeed World Championships, where he witnessed the winners drinking the night before, then getting tattooed after the race.

Glaring sun, hot temperatures and a stiff wind didn’t snuff enthusiasm for the opening day of the Interbike On Dirt Demo. I managed a couple of mountain bike rides, but spent most of my time checking out road gear. Here are some highlights of the day, which are by no means comprehensive, but stay tuned — we have a whole week of tech reporting still to come. For more on some of the mountain bike finds by my colleague Matt Pacocha, check out Singletrack.com.

BMC teammachine SLR01

After a few years of erecting one of the larger tents at Interbike’s Outdoor Dirt Demo but largely forgoing a presence at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Cannondale and the rest of the Dorel Industries Cycling Sports Group (which includes Schwinn, GT and Mongoose) will have a 30-by-30-foot display this year. “For the past three years we’ve not been in the halls of the show, so we’re excited to be back on the floor,” said marketing manager Bill Rudell.

It’s here! Interbike: everyone’s favorite tradeshow, after-hours party, celebrity sighting, and schmooze-fest, all rolled in to one grand, cacophonic riot under the hot sun of Sin City. We’re planning to have six editors on the ground to bring you all the action, but before we even got to the airport, press leaks started rolling in. Here’s an assortment to whet your appetite, in no particular order.

GURU Cycles to launch two new bikes

Want to get a sneak peek at the latest and greatest in cycling gear? Here’s your chance — Interbike is adding two consumer days to its OutDoor Demo East show this fall. The show is scheduled for October 8-11 at Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island. The first two days are for the cycling industry only, but Saturday and Sunday will be open to the public.

Check out Matt Pacocha's author page.