In the past seven years we're hardly seen any clouds in Vegas let alone a full on rain storm. This little bit of action was captured by the guys at Diamond Back bikes as they set up for day two at the Outdoor Demo.
Diamond Back Bikes.One of the first booths you came to at the Outdoor Demo is the Yeti booth and it was so busy with folks clawing to get at an SB-66 that they brought in their own bouncer. Not gonna mess with this one!
Yeti CyclesAllsport Dynamics redesigned its wrist brace to be flush over the top of the joint. The carbon fiber brace is adjustable for range-of-motion from 5 degrees to nearly 90 degrees of upward bend. The brace prevents over extension and damage to the wrist without robbing lateral movement required for quick steering. We tried it on and it felt quite comfortable. The OH2 brace also can be ordered sewn onto your choice of glove via a special pad (shown) to eliminate the neoprene palm attachment of the standard model (and keep glove sponsors happy). $400 per wrist.
Allsport Dynamics.
Building on the success of their proprietary Canadian carbon manufacturing program, Race Face has made some impressive expansions to the SIXC line of cranks for 2012. The addition of an 83mm spindle, 165mm length and removable granny spider make the 2012 SIXC a formidable DH race option coming in at a scant 650g (165mm, 83mm, 36T ring, including Turbine BB). This is a full 100g lighter than any other full carbon DH crank that we know of.
Race Face Marzocchi's 888 showcases the Italian suspension maker's return to the forefront of gravity riding.Marzocchi's 888 fork with its super smooth nickle plated stanchion tubes, has been redesigned with a new damping system called RC3 V-2, which provides more stability in the mid-stroke damping. Also new is a provision for four-bolt direct-mount stems on the upper crown. Weight: 2900 grams. Travel: 200 millimeters. Price: $1649 usd.
MarzocchiThis made me laugh and that is a good thing. Keeping track of so many demo bikes is tough for al the companies, but Giant had it on lock with their names this year and it was good to see that Chuck Norris even made an appearance.
GiantOakley collaborated with Troy Lee Designs on a series of custom goggles. The graphic treatment includes a tactile emblem on the side of the strap that everyone had to touch. This is the Piston series goggle, which should go quite well with a TLD helmet, Ya think?
OakleySRAM finally gives the nod to chain-guides for 2-by drivetrains, with the X-Guide. We are happy. SRAM launched its X guide that is specifically designed to work with 2 by 10 cranksets. SRAM collaborated with MRP, and the exclusive element in the design is a quiet-running pair of derailleur pulleys that catch the chain as it moves from sprocket to sprocket. The lower arch is a sturdy plastic bash guard. X-guide models are offered to fit ISCG-03 and -05 bolt patterns and thread-on bottom bracket cups. Price: $150 usd.
SRAMSRAM brought its ten speed drivetrain all the way down to X5. What this means is that SRAM 2 x 10 and 3 x 10 drivetrains will be appearing on 1000-dollar mountain bikes. A short ride on X5 revealed that the parts shift well and ride smoothly (as expected). The Cassette has all steel cogs with an aluminum spider. The Crankset uses aluminum outer chainrings and a steel granny sprocket. The best news is that SRAM offers EVERY one of its gearing combinations on the crankset, so entry-level bike designers can spec X5 on everything from XC 29ers to all-mountain shredders.
SRAM 18 months in the mountain bike world, but making packs since the early 1970's, Osprey have come in swinging with highly technical riding packs for everyone. Some of the lightest packs we've ever tried, the Osprey designs bring year of back country knowledge into our two wheeled world.
Osprey PacksWTB's Stryker all-mountain wheelset uses a wider 23-millimeter (ID) rim. which gives more volume to the tire and reduces the possibility of tubeless tires burping air. The wheelset comes with WTB's TCS tubeless system, pre-taped and with valve stems in place for 1000 bucks a set. Weight is 1725 grams depending upon quick release of through-axle options.
WTBGobandit's POV camera has a top-mounted on-off slider switch to make it easy for ham-fisted riders to record fuss-free.
Gobandit is new on the scene with a GPS-enabled POV video camera. The GPS HD camera is sealed well enough to submerge safely, although it is not capable of diving. The rear of the camera has a LCD display with mode, speed and memory readouts. The switch is a simple on-off on the top and its lens can rotate to establish horizon, although there is only a visual indicator on the lens. The GPS gives you a number of speed, altitude and distance readouts and download options feature a creative variety of video editing and information displays. Run-time is said to be 2 to 3 hours. Gobandit is revising its mounting systems to be more bicycle-specific. Presently, the mounting apparatus seems a bit automotive, but still quite functional. Price: about $340 usd.
GobanditOne Ghost Industries is headed up by long time Pinkbike user
oneghost.pinkbike.com and they are taking things into their own hands for how they want their bikes to look and be unique. The 203.8mm travel Musashi is David's own DH racer and it's looking promissing.
One Ghost BikesDT Swiss is on track to the future with its EXC 400 rim. The inside diameter of the carbon fiber rim is a full 28 millimeters wide. Presently, it is featured on the EXC 1550 wheelset, or available separately in a 32-hole configuration. Why get excited about a wide carbon rim? Well, rims weigh far less than tires, so a wide rim adds volume and stability and it allows the use of the next smaller size, with equal volume - so the wheel as a unit is lighter, faster and more stable in the turns. The rim is 400 grams and the wheelset is 1550 grams. Light for all-mountain, well, light for cross country too. Wide rims are the future. You heard it on Pinkbike.
DT SwissThis stealthy looking trail bike is the Element 70MSL from Rocky Mountain Bikes. Its 120-millimeter-travel chassis looks to tear up the single track from Boulder City to the North Shore mountains that it was bread in.
Rocky MountainGeoff 'Gully' Gulevich for 2.5 Minutes at the Outdoor Demo:
