MacAskill Grips, Lefty Updates, Adidas' New Goggles - Eurobike 2016
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Lizard Skins' MacAskill Signature Grips
It turns out that when you're really freaking good at riding a bike and have otherworldly balance, you get stuff named after you. Lizard Skins' new MacAskill grips don't just have Danny's name on them, however, but they're also designed exactly as he requested them to be.
That means that there's only a single locking collar on the inboard end of the grip, which is a good point to note by those who tend to ride with their hands as wide as possible on the handlebar. The sole collar also shaves weight; the MacAskill grips come in at a claimed 70-grams for the pair. C'mon, I know all you guys weigh your grips.
The shape is also slightly convex to mate with your hands, with a 29mm diameter at the outer ends that expands to around 30mm at the grip's center. They're also longer - 137mm instead of the 130mm that most grips measure in at. The MacAskill grips will be available in November of this year for $30 USD.
The shape is also slightly convex to mate with your hands, with a 29mm diameter at the outer ends that expands to around 30mm at the grip's center. They're also longer - 137mm instead of the 130mm that most grips measure in at. The MacAskill grips will be available in November of this year for $30 USD.
Cannondale Lefty Updates
The Lefty's chassis is impressively stiff, reliable, and lightweight, plus it gets bonus points for making people look twice, but I've said before that its internals don't quite match the best from other suspension brands. That's likely going to change in the future - Cannondale hired one of the main minds behind the Pike awhile back - and I got a peek at one of the first small, albeit important updates to the Lefty's insides. Nerd alert warning.
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Future Lefty struts will get a brand new air spring assembly, dubbed 2Spring, that replaces the older Solo Air unit. While the Solo Air spring employs a rubber-like MCU piece that's shaped to allow air pressure between the positive and negative chambers to self-regulate, the 2Spring version uses, you guessed it, a spring. The issue with the MCU is that the inner surface causes friction as it is squeezed down over the large diameter shaft that runs through the center of it, whereas there is obviously no friction between the spring and shaft. A wave washer was hidden just above the old Solo Air unit's plastic piston that controlled the open/close bypass valve, but there's a second coil spring doing the job on the 2Spring unit, which is where it takes its name from. Also, the piston now has a conical shape has been used because it encourages a small amount of oil to pool just above the piston seal.
This internal update is claimed to lower the strut's activation force by 7lbs but, more importantly, also makes for longer service intervals and less trouble. Leftys will come stock with the 2Spring unit moving forward, and it's also retrofittable onto older struts.
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Adidas' Backland Dirt Goggle
Adidas' new Backland Dirt goggle is still a while out from being on the shelves, but they had it on display in a mud-covered display case regardless. The Backland Dirt can be fitted with a Roll-Off system if conditions require it, and you can remove the foam padding to wash it and then reattach it to the goggle's frame afterwards. No excuses anymore for smelly, dirty stuff being right up against your face.
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MTB industry, you need to look at paintball goggles to solve the fog/condensation issue!
People who hate on lefty's have never ridden one, or are more concerned with their "image" than they are with riding and performance.
Just wonder if they'll have these new air aprings as a no-cost "upgrade" for current Lefty owners??
The coil spring, being coil will be good for only a narrow range of rider weights, unless they offer different coils. The floats suffered from reduced travel and shitty ride, due to this...