INTERBIKE 2017: Round 3 Gear!
Interbike 2017 Round 3 Gear: More of the coolest gear we could find at North America’a biggest bike show including Praxis’ Zayante Carbon Cranks, Inno’s Tire Holder and Lezyne’s new Stem mount and lighting.
Praxis have both added and subtracted from Crank and BB mayhem by dropping their latest Zayante version in Carbon…
These folks have been building sets of products while making them hyper adaptable to virtually all relevant BB standards and the Zayante Carbon follows suit.
Sure the Crank is lighter than Dura Ace, and it’s cheaper by more than 100 bucks. But none of that would matter if Praxis were not also known for making things that perform very well. Their forged chain rings have been among the best on the market for several years and past versions of cranks have all been more than competitive in stiffness.
Where Praxis have (in my opinion) trounced a lot of the market is in their ability to make things work across multiple platforms and the Zayante Carbon do just that. The new forged Alu X Spider is a 160/140 BCD and that combo/spacing allows for all of Praxis forged rings to work… That means no more 110/130 and you’re minutes away from gear ratios tuned to the ride.
They’re also making the spider an easily swappable piece of kit needing just a couple of minutes to change from the back side…
1X? not a problem…
Want to drop in a power meter? That’s a 10 minute flip flop for anyone that knows their way around a work stand.
Broad compatibility extends to their M30 BB system as well… You can plug in the new Zayante Carb to damn near any frame using most modern standards.
Praxis should be annoying the ever-loving-crap out of most folks making cranks at this point. They’re just plain beating companies with budgets massively larger by making quality things that work with every knuckle-headed (and intelligent) standard that the industry can throw at it.
SRP is $325 for the Zayante Carbon and they should be ready shortly.
You can see more at: PraxisCycles.com
Inno are that little (in US terms) brand that just quietly keeps getting bigger… Part of the largest auto accessories manufacturer in Japan (that’s a big fish in a big pond…), Inno have a massive selection of car top boxes, roof mount systems, platform and hitch mounted carrier systems.
While Inno are a Japanese engineering powerhouse burning the midnight oil to design product, they seem to take substantially less time naming things (or they hired a German) as is demonstrated with their latest receiver mounted platform, the “Tire Hold”.
This performs exactly as it’s named… You simply pop the tire holding sections in the proper position and adjust the arms down to hold the bike in position. The arms adjust with a simple button release and ratchet guide and will loads of bike models and tire sizes.
For me, this means my bikes with custom paint on thin walled tubes can be hauled around with the rack only coming in contact with the tires… That’s kid-glove treatment.
Once the bike is out, the arms can be folded flat and the platform tips up (red arrow above) snugging the rack up closer to the back of your vehicle.
The Tire Hold also comes in a 2 and 3 bike option.
The racks fit 2” receivers and come complete with security cable, lock and keys. They will be ready in the first half of 2018.
The SRP on this kit is typical Inno, meaning it’s selling for what I thought it would wholesale at; $299 for the single, $399 double.
You can find more (really, check out the car top boxes!) at: InnoRacks.com https://www.innoracks.com/
LEZYNE continue producing product that answers questions people actually ask…
One of the brighter ideas is their latest rear light, the Laser Drive
Two things you’ll note right away when you turn this on…
1. It features a pair of laser bands that cast out of the bottom of the unit and onto the street to create a virtual bike lane…
2. The thing is so facking bright on the highest setting that you might not even notice the main feature giving it its name.
The normal settings will get you noticed as this has a fairly large body and lens. It puts out quite a big light picture (inclusive of a bit of side visibility as the lens wraps around a little). The “Day Flash” mode will (and this is first hand experience) have your early morning ride mate scream “dude turn that f*ing thing off, I think I scorched my retinas”.
The USB charge port is great… It’s one of the few I’ve seen that looks like someone thought for more than 2 seconds about its design. It’s on the back of the unit, it is a big chunk of rubber and it’s pressed closed by simply mounting the light on your bike.
The Laser Drive is on sale now.
Lezyne also have a multi functional mounting platform called the Direct X lock.
This mount will handle camera’s, GPS/Computers and lights,
The extensions swivel to adapt to different size stems and you can also reverse the direction, meaning this can face backward, either underneath or over the top of compatible stems to lace your hardware closer to you and or under and out of your way.
As this can have a few different mount types, you’ll have to hunt for pricing for the kit that best does the job you’re looking for. It’s a well made and versatile piece of hardware that seems to earn the estimated 20-50 dollar price range depending on configuration.
Lezyne should have these rolling in the next few weeks.
Lezyne have several LED lighting products out there and one of my favorites is their Deca Drive 1500i. The 1500i is a bar mountable light with solid power output and a very good quality light pattern.
There are several light modes here but I only really have the need for the big bang and Lezyne have a simple race mode that toggles between overdrive and economy only for more simple operation on the early morning commute where loads of options are a pain in the ass as I’m going pretty hard.
The one gripe is that the 1:40 run time is a little short for the longer route, but Lezyne have sorted this…
Doubling (or more) the current run time for Lezyne’s more powerful units (like the 1500i) is their new Infinite Light Power Pack.
This unit doubles as a battery back up for my phone when I get to work as well, with the USB outlet on board.
The power pack is a 20Wh cap battery and comes with a velcro strap that works to mount this either to bars or your top tube. There’s also a 14 inch cable included.
These are ready now.
You can find LOADS of great kit from Lezyne at: Lezyne.com https://www.lezyne.com/index.php
More later from the floor…
Have Fun,
Charles Manantan
[email protected]
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