InterBike’08: More Goods From Gomorrah
With the economy going down faster than Paris Hilton, you might think that Interbike would be all about bargains. But along with a few good pretty nice price points, the oh-eight show was stacked with trick bits that only the truly passionate would venture to call a “must have”.
The best booth at the show for me was an easy call.
Edge had a pretty humble start, just launching a new wheel, and have since grown the wheel line to feature everything from Carbon mountain bike clinchers to sleek road tubular and clinchers at several wheel depths.
EDGE roadies are also being run regularly in Cross, though not everyone rides through the chocolate on a Vanilla…
And while the wheel tech (with preformed spoke nipple holes allowing for extremely high spoke tension and durability) was good, EDGE also make several great forks…
And EDGE have introduced a road bar this year with a mild Ergo bend, conservative channeling for cables (now that SRAM, Shimano and Campy are all cabled at the bar) and a bit of a twist on bar end design…
As displayed by the Chewbacca like arm of a world famous wheel Builder
The rest of the edge display was good enough that it was difficult to have only one cool thing in the picture…
EDGE also work with a few of the absolute best in frame building as a carbon tube supplier. One of these builders is Parlee Cycles and while their EDGE carbon equipped Z1sl is in my opinion one of the top 3 bikes available (anywhere), I noted that the guy on the display was Jason at Fairwheel Bikes one of the few guys at one of VERY few shops that happens to not only have more of the super high end stuff I lust after, but has actually used and tested it all…
Another cool two for one shot was Parlee’s extremely nice full custom TT bike. If there’s a single discipline that requires perfect fit it’s TT and this is as nice as it gets…
This shot also had a two for one as that’s Nick Crumpton of Crumpton Cycles in the background and Nick happens to make one of the other nicest full custom bikes available… His rigs also feature custom EDGE tube sets and he had an SL on display.
Sweet from a distance, but up close this picture had several cool things including the new EDGE seat post.
Right off you’ll notice that the bolt is a little less straight than what you probably have on any of your current posts…
A bit of a closer look when installed and you’ll see a design that is a bit like a couple of other posts but not quite the same. The curved bolt allows for less pinch pressure and easier set up than another design that sandwiches things together and as you tighten things, the curved bolt allows the stress to be spread over a much larger area of the clamp than a couple of other ultralight posts.
Another cool tidbit latched to the Crumpton is a new set of brakes from EE Cycleworks.
A pretty funny scene happened as someone was showing me the brakes as one part designer said “wow, why didn’t I think of that”, only to be told by one of the weight weenies standing near by “eh, because you’re not that smart?”
On first inspection, they seemed to offer extremely smooth operation and there was nothing that stood out as overly flexi. That’s no easy task on a set of brakes that tips the scale at 97 grams per caliper and the machining was all exceptional.
Pez were in the Cycling.TV broadcast each day from the show floor and I brought one of the calipers in and they were getting fondled and drooled on by the pro’s in the “green room” ahead of each segment, which has to mean they’re cool, as most pro’s could not care any less about kit…
More new stuff popped up in a very likely spot as the brainiacs at KNOG can’t seem to go 15 minutes without creating something cool…
Sure they had a host of colorful reptiles hanging out in the form of their frogs, toads and other light sets…
And they pulled off a bunch of new bags…
but for me the newest hottest were a whole slew of really tricked out pocket tools that not only looked well made but were simply too damn neat not to fiddle with…
The wrenches were neat and they also had a handy new Patch kit that, while pink, was still a cool enough tool that real men wanted to play with the integrated levers, and the patches are also typical Knog fashion…
The last thing to catch my eye was a very slick new computer (in multiple colors of course…).
I know I am supposed to be a geek and should be drooling over a computer that has 47 functions, but when it comes to bike computers, after a short period of time, most readers don’t give a flying crap about 45 of the 47 features they just spent 400 – 3000 paying for…
For me I love simple things and this looked simple in the package It proved to be even more simply when I plopped the boxes contents onto my kitchen counter top and found two pieces of hardware and a simple instruction book.
First piece is a waterproof wireless head unit that attaches in 3 seconds to your bars…
OR attaches to your stem in 10 seconds because it takes another 7 seconds to pull the head out of the rubber fastener and turn it so that when you wrap the rubber around the side of your stem the display faces you properly… It also takes about 25 seconds to replace a battery and the battery is a VERY common type found at almost any corner store.
The second part is a speed sensor that takes 5 seconds to attach and twist round to the right spot.
Changing this battery is simple too as the guts just slip out of the rubber shell, just like the head unit. And this battery is also very standard…
All in all smart stuff from a couple of the nicest guys at the entire show… Sometimes smart design people are about as fun to be around as a portable toilette. Not so the Knog guys who seem to be having way to damn much fun.
Last on the block was a pleasant surprise for me and will probably be music to a few people ears as one of the favorite products from days past makes a return in the form of Gore Ride On Cables.
Lots of you might remember these as the slickest running cables available a few years back. Some mechanics might also remember that there was one little thing you had to be sure of though and that was making sure to fray the end of the cable or they would basically unravel on you…
The guys at Gore actually brought this up before I could ask and are quick to say problem solved as the new version is a much better sealed unit. On inspection, the cables do seem to be a changed coating.
They have also up-rated the housing on these and you can build a completely sealed unit if you like, with enough inner liner to run end to end included with all the other bits.
And yes, if you’re an uber geek you should be able to run the gore cables in Nokon housing : )
As most folks know, Gore are clothing guys too… Gore Bike Wear have been knocking out high quality bike gear for years.
Our problem as Road Race Geeks is that we’ve overlooked them because they’re not a cycling only company. That’s a shame, simply because these guys bring a whole lot of tech to the game.
Case in point, they roll the lightest wind stopper jacket available. The Xenon weighs less than most wind vests and is a no-nonsense performance cycling item, with extended sleeves and tail that performance riding demands…
It also has a new gripper system, a better easier operating zip and a good sized rear pocket with a zipper at a weight below most crap shells.
And this is Gore… Meaning that unlike those crap shells, this material makes a jacket that is not just wind proof but is also breathable… It’s pretty simple to see the Gore fabric is a little different that the standard Poly or nylon or just simple plastics.
Gore also roll out bib shorts with multiple fabrics for moisture management, compression and flexibility but also feature Chamois tech generally thought of as only in the realm of super high end cycling specific companies…
The Jerseys are also feature multiple fabrics for specific performance demands spread throughout the upper body…
Nothing really should be a surprise with Gore. They have been leading the fabrics and out door performance clothing field for quite a while. The fact that they also put a lot of thinking in to cycling makes perfect sense.
Even clothing maintenance didn’t get past them as they include a wash bag so that your valuables are protected better while getting run through cleaning…
So that’s that except to say thanks to Troy Watson and Ligero Wheels. Always a nice guy, he was quick to point out where to go if I were looking for a “quick release”…
Have Fun,
Charles Manantan
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