Interbike Favs
I was in Las Vegas last week for the annual bike industry show. Interbike takes place in the Sands Convention center and is a dizzying array of the latest and greatest in the bike industry. Here are some of my favorite sightings from the show floor.
Protour bikes are always ever present in Vegas and are always one of my favorite distractions. Here is one display at Shimano, including Denis Menchov's scraped TT bike from the Rome finale of this year's Giro.
After Cav's season this year, its no surprise he had a huge influence on the show, only overshadowed by one other rider...
Lance of course. The Texan's comeback represented a huge opportunity for his sponsors to kick the marketing machines into overdrive.
Here's a bike I'm looking forward to trying out sometime, Santa Cruz's first 29er, the Tall Boy. Seems fitting for me.
I've been waiting to see this setup since Interbike last year when SRAM introduced it's internal gearbox crankset. One bigger gear to get to the ride, another to ride singletrack when you get there. I'm glad Engin cycles went for it.
Ibis was showing its 6.5" travel Mojo HD, which Brian Lopes recently campagned at the downhill World's. Chuck Ibis says this shows how strong it is, but I say Lopes is so smooth he could land huge air on a bike made of glass with balsa woods wheels. Gimme one and I'll tell you if its strong or not!
Possibly my favorite stock bike of the show, Van Dessel's WTF. Steel frame, Ultegra drive train, Avid mech discs, 29er mtb wheels and tires. This could be my perfect bike for long distance Colorado dirt road riding. Gotta love companies going out on a limb with creations like this, especially when it's not some one-off show bike, but something they're actually going to sell.
SRAM sure managed some return on investment with their racing program this year. Their booth proudly displayed their recent 1, 2, 3 finishes in both xc and dh Worlds, as well as the Tour de France. Impressive, although I'm sure the riders still had more to do with it than the bike parts.
Colnago's new cx machine was pretty sexy in person. That extra shoulder tube seemed a bit superfluous in pictures, but in person it worked.
I love the renaissance of steel bikes, like this awesome Neo-Primitivo De Rosa sporting Campy Athena. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer beauty and style to some intangible statistic about bottom bracket stiffness testing. Just remember, no matter how many 'features' and crap your $10k plastic super bike has, it still comes down to your phat ass pedaling it up the hill. So here's a tip, unless you're Fabian Cancellara, save yourself some cash, buy a pretty bike like this and go spend time getting strong.
Protour bikes are always ever present in Vegas and are always one of my favorite distractions. Here is one display at Shimano, including Denis Menchov's scraped TT bike from the Rome finale of this year's Giro.
After Cav's season this year, its no surprise he had a huge influence on the show, only overshadowed by one other rider...
Lance of course. The Texan's comeback represented a huge opportunity for his sponsors to kick the marketing machines into overdrive.
Here's a bike I'm looking forward to trying out sometime, Santa Cruz's first 29er, the Tall Boy. Seems fitting for me.
I've been waiting to see this setup since Interbike last year when SRAM introduced it's internal gearbox crankset. One bigger gear to get to the ride, another to ride singletrack when you get there. I'm glad Engin cycles went for it.
Ibis was showing its 6.5" travel Mojo HD, which Brian Lopes recently campagned at the downhill World's. Chuck Ibis says this shows how strong it is, but I say Lopes is so smooth he could land huge air on a bike made of glass with balsa woods wheels. Gimme one and I'll tell you if its strong or not!
Possibly my favorite stock bike of the show, Van Dessel's WTF. Steel frame, Ultegra drive train, Avid mech discs, 29er mtb wheels and tires. This could be my perfect bike for long distance Colorado dirt road riding. Gotta love companies going out on a limb with creations like this, especially when it's not some one-off show bike, but something they're actually going to sell.
SRAM sure managed some return on investment with their racing program this year. Their booth proudly displayed their recent 1, 2, 3 finishes in both xc and dh Worlds, as well as the Tour de France. Impressive, although I'm sure the riders still had more to do with it than the bike parts.
Colnago's new cx machine was pretty sexy in person. That extra shoulder tube seemed a bit superfluous in pictures, but in person it worked.
I love the renaissance of steel bikes, like this awesome Neo-Primitivo De Rosa sporting Campy Athena. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer beauty and style to some intangible statistic about bottom bracket stiffness testing. Just remember, no matter how many 'features' and crap your $10k plastic super bike has, it still comes down to your phat ass pedaling it up the hill. So here's a tip, unless you're Fabian Cancellara, save yourself some cash, buy a pretty bike like this and go spend time getting strong.
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