Dirrrrty Day at the Dirt Demo

Sep 25, 2007

Day One of the Outdoor Demo went off today at Bootleg Canyon, about 30 minutes out of Vegas. Outerbike is a great chance for retailers to ride the bikes that they will be pushing next season, and helps decide which models and brands they will bring in. Not for us though. We lazed around in the sun all day, tanning, drinking beer, and creeping on ladies. When we needed a break from that we snapped a few shots of the latest and greatest for you to check out. So check it out.

The first bike to catch my eye today was the Mountain Cycle Battery. Some of you may remember the Battery from 2 seasons ago and after some extensive fine tuning it will be ready for you to roll on in 2008.


This thing is all about pumping the terrain for speed and pop. 4.5" of squish in the back is there for you when you come up short on your first few double backflip attempts and you know it's strong as hell up front with a 1.5" head tube. No price yet but save your peso's kids because it'll be ready in 2008 as both a full bike or frame alone so you can throw all your beat down parts onto it.

---

Heading the opposite direction in the travel department is the Foes 2:1 DH bike. 10" of Curnett controlled travel from a 5" stroke air shock. What can you say about that other then "get the hell out of my way!"


The '08 2:1 is sporting a new 5" stroke air shock that uses a remote reservoir mounted to the floating brake arm. Visually the bike looks like a beast but it felt very light when giving it the lifty-weighty test. Then again, I have been pumping iron lately. Brent Foes was also nice enough to show me what goes on inside those big forks of his. Nice stuff!

---

Early in the day I decided it was time for a few more double cheeseburgers before I went for a swim. On my way to the chef I strolled on by the kids at Commencal and picked myself up the new Furious. I figured, rightly so, that it would be easier to have someone push me there on a bike then actually walk myself. Slopestyle? Bike park? Trick machine? Not sure what the term is today but any of the previous could be used to describe the new Furious. Designed by Cedric himself, the Furious is ready for some fun times.


This mid-travel machine has some neat styling, with the aqua blue paint and front-bum gap in the top tube it is sure to turn some heads. While that hole in the top tube looks like fun, it is actually there for a reason. A low stand over height is a priority when ripping a bike like this and the gap gives the shock the clearance it needs for the reservoir as it goes through its stroke without having to raise the stand over height.

Front-bum in effect

1.5" headtube

The business end

---

The bike I was most excited about this year is the new Tomac Primer 220. There is nothing revolutionary about the Primer, its not an electric bike, and it doesn't use some crazy new linkage design that a super computer had to think up. What it does use though is a well thought out and time tested set-up that is executed in a super understated way. This DH bike is pure class and the attention to detail was super high.


The Primer puts out 8.7" and has a ready for action 64 degree headtube angle.

---

Yeti has a new bike in its stable that is causing quite a buzz on the 'ol internet. It's called the Seven. Makes sense when you find out it has 7" of travel, weighs in at 7lbs, and has a pinner friendly 67 degree head angle.

What else is knew???? Oh yeah, it has a single sided chain stay!

Ok, I know what you are thinking and you kids need to keep an open mind. Yeti does things and does them right so you know the Seven is ready to rip. Up front they have gone with some big 'ol hydroformed tubes to give the rider some extra clearance and more weldable area for a super strong front end. Working our way back the first bit of carbon you'll find is the shock link. Its big, its carbon, and it adds even more stiffness. The single left side chainstay is also made from the black fiber and is massive in dimensions. Sure, there may not be anything on the drive side but I think there is more material in the left chainstay then what's in one of those funny little carbon road bikes from Europe! The rear end pivots on the large and in charge thru axle to tie it all together nice and tight. This is not some beefed up XC bike. The Seven is made to be ridden aggressively and hard. Take it to parks, throw down, and then brag about being able to do it without a right chainstay.

---

The Bionicon bikes could very well be the future of riding mountain bikes in the bush. Actually, the bikes they were making years ago would still be considered ahead of the times, even today. Bionicon is about adjustability. The right amount of travel for the task ahead and more importantly, the right geometry for what you are doing. All from one bike without getting off to undo some bolt or QR lever. With just a push of the small bar mounted button, air is moved to or from the slave unit and the air chamber in the fork. The Special Agent fork on the Bionicon Ironwood pictured can be adjusted infinitely between 100-200mm of travel on the fly which changes the head and seat angles up to 7 degrees. You are effectively going to always have the best handling bike for the job.


The Ironwood comes with the Bionicon Special Agent fork. 40mm stanctions and up to 8" of travel all tied together with a huge 35mm thru axle to keep thing super stiff. Your bars are attached via an intergrated and adjustable (get the picture) stem. I would love to get in some long epic loops on this machine.

Adjustable stem

Added Stiffness

The Missile launcher

---

Random bits and tits from day one

XT Shadow rear mech

XT Cranks

XT Brakes are packed with adjustments

Check out all of day one at the Dirrrty Demo.