More from the shores of Treasure Island, this round brings a look at the latest from Look Cycles, chunks of hunks from Bonk Breaker, a feather in Cane Creek's cap, and slick skins from Twin-Six...
What's Up The Creek?
While Cane Creek have always made relatively strong stuff and rolled it out at reasonable prices, someone at Cane Creek decided "OK enough with just making stuff that works well day in and day out. Let's add some WOW".
Done...
While the top race for CC's new ARE headset might look trim as it sits, popping the top will give tech savvy folks a Wow...
Uncovered you'll notice there's no place near the meat to house a traditional bearing in the race, yet it's in there... It's French Manufacturer Saint-Gobain's "Norglide" tech that puts PTFE (and other custom coatings) on metal and it's being used in lots of industries already (transmition / flywheel / hinges, shocks...). and it's letting Cane Creek do away with traditional balls...
Couple this tech with some aggressive machining...
Cane Creek machines this in North Carolina by the way.
And you come up with weight that is substantially below normal and in fact substantially (relative to cycling) below even "lightweight" stuff.
The catch here is that this system has a 450 hour ride life, meaning 450 hours of riding (so depending on who you are, that's 7-10 thousand miles). We're confirming with Cane Creek about the swap process for spent parts, but having a couple of other Norglide parts on proto suspension for some other stuff I am playing with, I'm betting this works pretty well.
[Update: The replacement of the Norglide part is as simple as popping off your stem and removing the top of the headset, popping out the worn part and placing the new one (the headset will show wear for about 1000 miles without causeing damage to the cup). The headset cups do not need removal, so total time here is maybe 5 minutes (for either check up or replacement) and replacement cost should be 20-30 dollars retail.]
If going the insanely light route isn't your cup of tea, Cane Creek are also machining other kit in the Carolinas and the line is FULL...
A quick look here shows that Cane Creek are making loads options for color, size and fit, and given bike makers' front end standards are all over the place, maybe the best feature is that you can have your shop order different color and fit options, top to bottom so that damn near any headset combination is available from Cane Creek...
Look Ma, we have imagination!
I've had plenty Fu*#ing enough of skulls and wings.
Take a stroll though any high end fashion shop these days, and the entire men's section is filled to the brim with skulls and wings in one form or other. Of course, then they have to toss a MASSIVE "affliction" or "erection" logo across the front and/or back that should really read "compensation"...
Anyway, the guys at Twin Six have designed a line that looks a lot different than most kit these days...
I'm sure someone that really knows clothing could describe this better, but I would call it retro-modern and they did it all managing to use just a single skull!
And I don't mean they use one skull on everything...
Big letters, small letters, fat stripes and tight patterns, a little of everything, and most using colors that would be great with simple black shorts...
Something else that's unlike a few other designers is the price point on Twin Six patterns.
They go in the opposite direction of several Kit suppliers and knock these clever cuts out the door for $75 bucks instead of the 100+ price point that seems more normal for "designed" kit and they have a couple different Bibs to go with... Also under 100.
Bite Me
One of those hidden gems at Interbike were the folks at Bonk Breaker and their energy bars...I mean what cyclist doesn't Like PBB?
Ok maybe the people with nut allergies... but that's IT!
The bars themselves are a very easy to eat texture. Moist but not runny, won't melt all over the place (the chocolate chips in the PBCC might) and they jack 225-250 calories per pretty small bar.
For those that miss grammar school lunch (which was strangely like college lunch and well, last week's lunch) they have a pretty rocking PBJ that fills the stomach and tastes just like it's supposed to.
And the stuff inside is pretty much just basic food...
Maybe the best endorsement is I bought a case on the spot...
Look Here
We'll finish up this one with a Pez Fave, the folks at Look Bicycles.
Maybe the biggest news for Look comes in the smallest package. Their new Blade.
While it shares some visual pop with past product, this is an all new animal for Look. The easiest feature to spot is the Carbon spring. The function of the pedal is like that of the Keo but you're pushing on the carbon blade when you clip in and out versus the more traditional coiled spring in Look pedals.
Look also changed the engagement point, putting the slippery material on the pedal rather than the cleat...
And they've incorporated the new "Max" platform so that pimps up both the contact patch AND the width (after all, comments on pedal stability have to consider contact patch and spread, among other factors, to not be considered bullsh!t)...
And the new tech seems to be working pretty well...
We wouldn't mind checking the stability of the new Max Platform added to the Zed pedal and Look's fat section Zed cranks...
Tossing that set up into the new 596 Platform for TT makes sense...
But why not take that beefy BB and add Look's chubby stem?
And bring a Look on Look on Look set up to the track (not that we don't appreciate the FSA and Easton kit for being good stuff).
Of course there's the fact that I hate TT and have way more sense than to use a track / fixie bike unless it's all I'm allowed to ride, so I'll be happier sticking to the 59, 58 and new 56 series bikes like the new 566 we reviewed a short while back...
That wraps it up for this go round... We'll see you later this week with more.
Have Fun,
Charles Manantan
Thanks for looking. We’re happy to bring you lots of large pictures instead of making you click a bunch of extra pages. We would rather make things convenient and entertaining for you than artificially inflate our page views…
Note: if you have other experiences with gear, or something to add, drop us a line. We don’t claim to know everything (we just imply it at times). Give us a pat on the back if you like the reviews, or a slap in the head if you feel the need!
PezCycling News and the author ask that you contact the manufacturers before using any products we test here. Only the manufacturer can provide accurate and complete information on proper use and or installation of products as well as any conditional information or product limitations.
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