Yet again, vegas does not fail to entertain.

Interbike was good, it’s now a figment in the past, but my liver is still recovering.

Overall, I have to say that I wasn’t all that impressed with interbike this year. There were some cool things, there were definitely some lame things, and there seemed to be a significant shortage of schwag. Without further adieu, here are the highlights in my eyes, organized by some vague semblence of category.

Cruisers/Fixies

Wow. If you didn’t have a blinged out townie/cruiser at your booth, what the hell business did you have at interbike? Everything from the blinged out titanium cruiser from Lynskey to the fact that specialized is coming out with not one, not two, but five versions of the cheezeball $800 “langster” fixie. The bike is ‘customized’ for 5 different cities. For instance, if you get the seattle version, it has * gasp * FENDERS! (FYI: it rains a lot in seattle)

Wow. That’s custom.

I was wholly unimpressed. Everyone and their mother had a stupid townie sitting next to their ‘street cred’ fixie. Barf.

Carbon on Everything
Don’t get me wrong, carbon is a nice material. It has it’s place, and a well made carbon frame/component is a beautiful thing. But really, according to the industry, you need everything made out of it.

However, in all of the carbon components, there is one that stands alone for making me lose my carbon religion. Just imagine, a beautiful new set of campy record carbon road levers. Even the shifters are carbon! You can almost see how much faster you’re going to be with them. . . wait. . . what’s this? Is that a plastic lever with a carbon-looking sticker on it?! I feel so used. . . .

In an effort to regain my faith in carbon from an aesthetic level, comes Calfee Designs. Last year we saw the bamboo fixie with the bullhorn bars, and this year they bring us the carbon ‘spiderweb’ bike. They make no claims about performance, but when it comes to a work of art, this is up there with the best.

Folding Bikes

I don’t know if I had a heightened awareness for it this year, or if it was really a trend, but I saw a lot of breakdown bikes this year. I’m not talking about folding cheesy, small wheel bikes, I’m talking about bikes with SNS couplers (surly has a cross-check with them coming out), and other assorted means of folding them (Ibis had a rear triangle which unbolts, and also swivels to change the chainstay length for a singlespeed, interesting concept). One of the more interesting ones is the Ritchey system, which I’m aware has been out for a little while, but they’re doing it almost across the board because the weight addition is negligible for the couplers. The only thing that scares me is that the seatpost becomes a structural member (other than for your butt), which I’m not sure if they’re designed for. They even claim it’s fine with carbon posts. hmmmmmm . . . .

I’m all about anything that will avoid me getting raped by the airlines to take my bike on the plane. It hurts so bad. . . .

Cheesy Wheel Ideas

First up are the new mavic K-sys wheels. Supposedly the spokes are like little carbon tubes, and can be loaded in tension (like a normal spoke) but also in compression, thus making the wheels stiffer laterally. This seemed like a decent enough idea to me, but then I saw the graphics they had in the booth. They had some cheezy force diagrams from some computer simulation work, and when I read the fine print on the screens, they looked to be the exact same model, with a different deflection put in so it looked like the ‘old’ wheel flexed more, when in reality, I think they were the same exact model.

It sealed the deal when I was told that the wheels were stronger laterally, but ‘more compliant’ vertically than traditional wheels (for a more comfortable ride). Wait a second, if the spokes resist compression AND tension, wouldn’t that have the same effect to make them stiffer vertically as well? Now, I’m not an engineer or anything, but. . .

Wait a second, I am an engineer, and something doesn’t add up.

Crank Brothers also had a set of new wheels there. They were definitely different. The spokes are actually more like half-nipple, half spoke. You adjust them in the center of the spoke. This was done because they meet the rim in pairs. The rim isn’t drilled in the traditional sense, but instead has a flange on the inside of it which has a bar for the spokes to anchor through. Seemed like an interesting idea. I think it’s supposed to save some weight or something. I think it might work, but it seems like an awful lot of custom parts and not much gain. I’ll withhold judgment on that one, but something about the spokes being half tubular aluminum and half steel seems a little odd. . .

White Industries

These guys blow my mind every year. Nothing super-amazing, but good, solid, thoughtfully designed components. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of their ENO cranks (and freewheels, and eccentric hubs), but this year they added a bottom bracket to the mix. They basically told me that they were tired of Phil Wood being the only option they really felt like the could recommend for use with their cranks (read: it’s the only good square taper BB out there still). So, they made their own. Super-simple, super-beefy sealed bearings, with no special tools needed to replace them. They’re lighter and cheaper than Phil’s, but they only come in 2 sizes (don’t remember what they were). I believe they’re doing a chromoly and a Ti spindle for them. If my phil wood ever blows up, I might consider one of theirs.

I also talked them into pulling out the ‘hidden’ item behind the counter which is coming up soon. It’s a fixie hub which uses their spline and lockring system from the ENO cranks. Should be cheaper and much more available than the Level hub. Oh man is it sweet. They’re anticipating having it out for NAHBS in a regular and high flange version.

SRAM
It was SRAM’s 20th anniversary, and they did it in style. They had the RED stuff there, which was super-light and super crisp as usual. They also had a prototype of a ‘doubletap’ mountain thumb shifter. I used to ride the SRAM triggers when I still had gears on a bike with knobbies. I loved their X.0 triggers, and I would give them up in a heartbeat for the doubletaps. One lever, one motion, drop a single gear, grab up to 3 the other way. Wow.

They also had the new SID on display, available december, and they announced that they signed a letter of intent to buy Zipp. SRAM is going for the throat of a certain japanese giant, and they aren’t doing half bad.

GORE Ride-on Cables
They’re back, and they’re better than ever. New coating system, no messy liners, just super-solid, super-slippery cables. They’re spec’d on all SRAM RED shifters standard, and they should be on your bike as well. I snagged a set for the brakes on the gunnar and I’m psyched.

E-Motion Rollers
These guys didn’t have anything new (okay, I lied, they have a set of folding rollers this year), but this is one booth that always catches my eye. Every time I walked past, there was a group of people around it watching a couple guys on road bikes sitting, standing, sprinting, coasting, and doing things that are supposed to be really hard on a pair of rollers. They are the most enthusiastic group of guys at that booth that you’ll see anywhere. This year they had a cruiser on a set of rollers, and even got me up there. I’ve never been on rollers before, and I was moving along without any problems after about a minute of somebody holding the seat.

From what I gather, that’s pretty unheard of for a roller learning curve.

If I ever get serious about indoor training, I’m getting a set of these rollers.

On second thought, if somebody from e-motion is reading this and wants to send me a set of your rollers, I’ll get serious about indoor training.

Messenger Bags
I had to wind up with this category, because it was an amazing transition from last year. First off, you remember that certain company with the seatbelt shoulder straps? Last year, they had a booth that was the size of a shoebox. Now everybody wants to be a bike messenger, and their booth was a 20×20 two-story ordeal. They have bags of all shapes, sizes, and colors; they have $150 knickers; and now they even have shoes. Good on ya.

Next is the spinoff of Timbuk2. I guess the founders ‘didn’t like where it was going’ and decided to start their own bag company. It’s called rickshaw bagworks. I have to say, I’m not too impressed. They had some mediocre looking messenger bags, some smaller purse-like bags, and (hold your breath, this is gonna be good) TOP TUBE PADS. Oh man, BSNYC is going to have a heyday with this one. Their bags aren’t anything special, and they aren’t even made in the US (which was a very cool thing about the original timbuk2 bags). I’m not bashing on making stuff overseas if it’s done right, but if you really didn’t like where the company was going, was importing cookie cutter bags from china and making top-tube pads where you wanted it to go?

The final bag company, and the one that takes the cake for one of the coolest things I saw at the show (and the most psyched up boothies for a friday afternoon) is Fat Sak bags. This is a messenger bag which has a pretty cool folding system so that one bag can go from medium to x-tra large in a matter of moments. Seems so simple, yet it’s so elegent. They are promising shipping by february, and I might actually have to get another messenger bag, because it’s just such a great idea and it works so elegently. Take a look at their site, sorry no pics.

That’s all I got for tonight. That’s the tour of the show, I’ll get back to ya’ll on the rest of the events of debauchery for the couple days in vegas when I get some more momentum.