2012 Interbike Las Vegas: Round Three

New Cranks from Zero G / Ciamillo, BMC’s TMR01, the lightest Cable housing from Aican, Gebiomized bring Ass Happy to the masses, Cyclologic sets the fitting benchmark, Praxis solve press-fit, Xpedo goes rubber, Speedsleeve storage.

One product that was only shown to an OE supplier and to me were the new cranks from the makers of Zero Gravity/Ciamillo Components. Currently in development, the new cranks are slated to come in at a very competitive weight (sub400 grams) and have a few features that can be customized for an upcharge…

These can be customized for length (even different lengths for each side), the spindle color and feature a swappable spider for standard and compact.

They’re in rev 2 currently and while slated for an estimated $1100 price tag, Ciamillo Components are offering a preorder program to help the tooling expense along and offering the first 100 cranks at a deep discount. You can email them at [email protected] for details.

The other hot product that virtually nobody had access to were the Aican Bungarus cable housing kits.

Most folks know there are fair weight savings and some shifting smoothness to be gained with a couple of the link type systems (and we’ll see if Gore exiting the cable biz means their new ultra light housing stays). The Aican system comes in lighter for the length than Alligator, Nokon, Ashima and is damn near half the weight of stock Shimano and Campy…

The system is a bit different than others in that each individual link comes with a built in POM/Delrin liner. The small links connect directly to the big links (rather than trying to squeeze each link over a liner, like other systems) and set up is pretty quick. They also come with very durable DLC coated cable. The coating is more durable and it doesn’t gum up the works as it wears off like some other coated cables.

$70 for a shift set, $80 for brakes and available now in North America at Fairwheel Bikes.

Timing can be everything and for Cyclologic, timing was perfect for Interbike as Retul were bought out by Specialized, the market was looking for an open source leader in equipment provision, rider and team performance / fitting analysis and staff training for shops, teams and medical professionals.

Cyclologic is offering a selection of both training, analysis and equipment that is far more complete than what’s been offered in the past. A fantastic fit bike is the tip of the iceberg here.

Of course they have lots of lasers and flashy screens…

But when you look closer at Mr. Taddonio’s ass…

You’ll note that they found:
1. A way around those annoying potty breaks, and or
2. By far the best solution for saddle selection…

Cyclologic are handling Gebiomized pressure sensor gear that allow for real time, in-motion analytics that removes a HUGE part of the guess work on what is and isn’t working for saddles.

And they can take the pressure info and MAKE A CUSTOM SADDLE specific for rider’s needs… Something reserved strictly for the tip top pros until now.

This technology can also be used for TT and Tri fitting.

As well as feet, taking another big chunk of guess work out of arguably the most important interface on the bike…

Foot tilt, cleat position, insole / shoe fit evaluation are one of the hardest things to understand in fitting. Knowing what adjustments to make is even more difficult. This equipment is revolutionary in helping shops to make meaningful changes based on rock solid information of both the problem, and more importantly the ability to see the benefit of adjustments in motion, immediately.

Cyclologic are offering all of the equipment, but equally as important, they have a large, dedicated facility designed to accommodate classes / groups and teams interested in learning performance evaluation and/or for direct athlete performance evaluation.

They also offer a fantastic tool for shops that can take basic fit information and directly apply it to a retailer’s stock bike (BRAND AND MODEL SPECIFIC) to tell the shop which models work best for a given fit, and what adjustments to make to the stock bikes.

For more info, see em at Cyclologic.com

BMC Bicycles were on hand with another nice line up, but easily the stock / production bike of most interest at the show seemed to be their new TMR01.

BMC had already launched their more comfortable racer, the GF01 earlier in the year, and already have their version of light weight performance settled in with the SLR01. With those done, it was time to attack the wind…

They brought deeper profile shapes to the new frame and buried the front brake into the fork as well as the addition of a tripwire form at the sides of the leading edges of the vertical tubes.

Those little notches noted by the green arrows are the tripwire forms.

At cycling speeds, 20-40ish mph, these little trenches create just that little bit of turbulence that allows for better flow over and past the tube set…

The seat stays are tucked down a little lower, creating a smaller and stiffer rear triangle, and BMC also pull the brake from the rear triangle and integrate it to the bottom of the chain stays.

The two main goals for this frame were stiffness and better aerodynamics, and folks with a basic understanding of the latter are all thinking that BMC have checked the proper boxes.

The first bikes should be landing late Nov / early Dec and retails will depend on build kit. Weight seems to be competitive as well, as the floor models were all built up under 7KG. For more info, hit up BMC-Racing.com

Xpedo Pedals are introducing the Thrust SL.

It’s similar to the current 170 gram Thrust 8 Ti, but looking out back, this one is a bit different. Still a BIG contact patch for the cleat, but that’s not your normal adjustable metal spring retention system.

Xpedo have gone to an elastomeric block that functions roughly at the medium high retention setting but allowed a couple of grams knocked off and simpler system.

The new pedals should be ready In November and will retail for $249. There is also a nice bargain to be found with the Chromo version popping the scales at just 210 grams but dropping to $169. See more at Xpedo.com

Praxis Works are pretty well known for smashing the living sh!t out of metal, with enough force to realign the grain (you’d call it forging) in creating VERY good chain rings…

Praxis are also pretty damn good at fabrication in general and they decided to make Press Fit 30 and standard BB30 not just easier to install, but easier to install accurately.

Simply slide the long end into your frame and screw in the other smaller end… The large sleeve expands as you tighten it to create a very large, evenly dispersed contact point inside your frame for a super secure fit. And because the bearings are a part of that structure, they orient / align themselves perfectly for better operation. It’s also less hassle to remove than the puckerific task of banging out other genuine “press-fit” (though it might be harder to remove than Campagnolo’s PF system that comes out of some frames quite a bit easier than Campy would probably like).

Damn smart product and it’s available now. See PraxisCycles.com

Speedsleev bring a new twist to the saddle bag / pocket organizer.

The original unit is a very basic, simple to use retention product that’s great for stuffing lots of different things, from lighting batteries to food/gel packs to cell phones or multi tools.

It’s a stretchy but firm fitting fabric that is also strangely grippy. It’s like a cross between an ace bandage and an inner tube. Neoprene is similar but this is firmer and a lot more durable fabric.

They’re introducing several products but the next most common is likely their Seatsleev.

It will hold an inner tube, a couple of Co2 carts, a multi-tool, cash, levers…

They have a splash cover that’s easy to use…

And if you’re like me, this whole thing slides easily in a jersey pocket keeping all the stuff that used to slosh around in one very tight little package.

They’re available now. Check em out at Speedsleev.com

Last on the list was a European product launch from Shimano who were, at a glance, entering a new field in performance enhancement.

On store shelves in parts of Europe now, it’s either a case of giving verbal instructions to their packaging vendor while not allowing for accents, and or a graphics person without an editor (and or with an Editor that had a sense of humor but forgot to update/ correct before the order went through). In any case, I’d buy a box just to show to Mr. Shimano and ask him if there are plans for both male and female specific products in the future…

And no word from Campy yet on their competitive answer, though it would be fun imagining the Italians’ efforts to one-up the Japanese in this product Category

Have Fun,
Charles Manantan