Randoms Round 2 – Sea Otter 2017

Apr 23, 2017 at 1:23
by AJ Barlas  
This beast caught our attention first thing in the morning. Would you ride it
  This beast caught our attention first thing in the morning. The frame is built with steel tubing.

The idea behind the linkage was that it would keep the bb in the same position as the bike is compressed.
The idea behind the linkage was that it would keep the bb in the same position as the bike is compressed.
Looks strong right
Would you ride it?

The history of Intense s M series downhill bikes on display.
  The history of Intense's M series downhill bikes, on display.

Not sure what s less appropriate a blowout of this kind or the price for such a thing.
  Not sure what's less appropriate... a blowout of this kind or the price for such a thing.

Joe Barnes Canyon Spectral.
  Joe Barnes' Canyon Spectral.

Dudes of Hazzard style name label on the frame.
Dudes of Hazzard style name label on the frame.
Custom labels for the pros.
Custom labels for the pros.

The Canyon Sender with the team kit. The World Cup team will be racing something very similar in a week s time.
  The Canyon Sender with the team kit. The World Cup team will be racing something very similar in a week's time.

Danny MacAskill signing autographs and having a good laugh with fans.
  Danny MacAskill signing autographs and having a good laugh with fans.

Ergon had grip warmers. Or maybe it s more like a sunhat
  Ergon had grip warmers. Or maybe it's more like a sunhat?

It wasn t cold and it s not easter but that didn t stop the guys at Jenson.
  It wasn't cold, and it's not easter, but that didn't stop the guys at Jenson.

SQ Labs had their new 12 degree backsweep carbon bars on display. They claim that the increased backsweep provides better more natural ergonomics when riding.
  SQ Labs had their new 12-degree backsweep carbon bars on display. They claim that the increased backsweep provides better, more natural ergonomics when riding.

The details. SQ Labs worked with with the University of Frankfurt on these bars.
The details. SQ Labs worked with the University of Frankfurt on these bars.
The bars feature a 4 degree upsweep and come in a range of rise options.
The bars feature a 4-degree upsweep and come in a range of rise options.

Dayglow yellow Cane Creek Helm.
  Dayglow yellow Cane Creek Helm.

Fireman s e-bike
  Fireman's e-bike?

Schwalbe Addix
  Schwalbe Addix on display for the touchy-feely types.

A range of Schwalbe s new Addix tire compounds.
Schwalbe s new Addix rubber compounds have been on display. For those concerned with the lines not wearing the purple one here looks like it might give an indication.

Their new Ultra Soft is said to be softer than the current Vert Star but 12 more durable.
  Their new Ultra Soft is said to be softer than the current Vert Star, but 12% more durable.

Aaron Gwin answering your questions live on Facebook at the Pinkbike tent.
  Aaron Gwin answering your questions live on Facebook, at the Pinkbike tent.

Gwin was seriously having a good time even before things really got rolling.
  Gwin was seriously having a good time, even before things really got rolling.

40 years young and it had seen the underside of a car but still rides sweet according to the owner.
  40+ years young and it had seen the underside of a car, but still rides sweet, according to the owner.

That s an interesting looking toptube you have there.
That's an interesting looking toptube you have there.
Integrated to integrated for integrated sake.
Integrated to integrated for integrated sake.

100 showing of their range of apparel.
  100% showing of their range of apparel.

The Niner RDO with Push part of their partnership bike.
  The Niner Rip 9 RDO: Push collaboration Edition will be available in eight complete bike builds, starting at $7,200 USD.

Deity s range is set to work together well for those that want to keep things looking dialled on their ride.
  Deity's range is set to work together well, for those that want to keep things looking dialed on their ride.

Deity s I-Beam Sidetrack saddle and T-Mac peddle
  Deity's I-Beam Sidetrack saddle and T-Mac peddle

Complete your kit.
  Complete your kit.

Deity s new Copperhead stem.
  Deity's new Copperhead stem.

Grip candy at Deity.
  Grip candy at Deity.

The vibe in the expo has really lifted each afternoon helped along by live music and lot s of activities happening
  The vibe in the expo has really lifted each afternoon, helped along by live music and lot's of activities happening

Music at Sea Otter 2017


Author Info:
AJBarlas avatar

Member since May 8, 2011
74 articles

76 Comments
  • 271 0
 Can we have a compression video of that creation at the top!
  • 38 1
 +1, interested to see it in action!
  • 45 1
 i wanna c that guy test ride that bike and live
  • 13 4
 It's had a virtual pivot point at the bottom bracket axle.
So would have the same rear wheel​ axle path as a bb pivot frame.
But the linkage allows tuning of the anti-squat and brake jack attributes.
Which were the main downsides to bb pivots.
  • 6 0
 @design:Shep rides his bike all the time NorCal Granite Bay, Folsom, Roseville area. This is not his first creation. He is tweaking suspension design for many years, and brings his bikes to Sea Otter every year.
  • 11 0
 @Scotj009 @whey-dh Kinda cool:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpXLwocbhcE

Think the original linkage fork design was by a guy called Valentino Ribi and most notably appeared on Honda MX bikes in the 80's and Suzuki before that.
  • 3 1
 It's may be made of steel but there's not much material on there it shouldnt be heavy
  • 22 4
 That suspension only works when in saddle if I'm not mistaken. Rider is basically unsprung mass when on the pedals?
  • 2 1
 @strasznyzbigniew: Looks like an old Sweet Spot or Klein Mantra, but with the pedaling properties of a more conventional pivot placement. I would agree that the suspension would stiffen up when standing, but the virtual pivot point has me intrigued...
  • 7 1
 URT will be the next big thing for 2017!!!
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: That bike's name should be RIP, not the Niner's RDO below it Wink
  • 2 3
 What is "unsprung weight"?
  • 2 0
 @fracasnoxteam: all stuff in the bike that is not supported by suspension (in full suspension bikes those would be wheels, fork lowers, and rear triangle). If the rider is not supported by suspension (in this design, when he is out of saddle), bike behaves more like hard tail. More: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsprung_mass
  • 1 2
 @strasznyzbigniew:
That's only when your mass is away from the pivot.
In this design the pivot is the bb axle,like.
  • 2 0
 @whey-dh: looks snappy.
  • 1 0
 @strasznyzbigniew: my question was a troll, sorry. But thx for the answer anyway ;-)
  • 3 0
 I have talket to the builder twice. Super nice and smart guy.
  • 1 0
 @strasznyzbigniew: yeah exactly...URT suspension.
  • 1 0
 How would you know if its the suspension working or just a whole lot of wobble from that bendy looking frame design...
  • 3 0
 @headshot: the suspension doesn't work unless you sit on the saddle, since when standing on the pedals your weight is almost totally unsprung mass. pretty useless if you ask me...
  • 1 0
 @Bruccio: Not quite... The suspension actuates. it's just that the leverage ratio is different. My guess is that it is less active. But it will definitely sag if you stand on the pedals.
  • 2 0
 @Bruccio: I think it works, just in 2 ways. Sitting on the seat, you push down on the suspension. On the pedals, you 'pull' down on the suspension from below, since the rear 'triangle' will try to drop the bb to the ground around the pivot that is the rear hub. I could be wrong tho - there was a massive discussion on the previous iteration of this that @tbell1979 above links to, check that out for more educated opinions that mine...
  • 1 0
 @smallsilences @dfiler yeah you guy are right...what i meant is that is WAAAAAAY less active than a "normal" suspension, and you will receive a lot of feedback from trail chatter 'n stuff 'cause your weight is still unsprung mass. basically your body is connected to a rigid system (the rear triangle) and the pivot, virtual or real, is, basically between your legs. one hell of a hucking machine for sure....
  • 2 0
 It doesn't fit the classic categories of sprung or unsprung mass. The mass isn't going up and down as much as the wheel's does. But yeah, certainly not the same thing as typical unsprung mass either.
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: i wouldn't be surprised if they tried that....bet most on here would buy into it.
  • 2 0
 I wouldn't ride it, there's no bottle cage mounts.
  • 36 0
 $85 for a whole rack of skinsuits? That's a lifetime of holiday wear: Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Spring Break, Easter...
  • 13 0
 If that whole rack sells, I'm buying stocks in EyeBleach.
  • 11 0
 "Skinsuit Blowout" could also be service... or an awesome band name!
  • 2 0
 @thinkbike: great band name. Honestly. I would expect slightly pop punky rock, but with a 2 live crew-esque stage show...
  • 30 1
 The Cane Creek's graphic designer on the helm really had somewhere else to be that day...
"Dammit, that'll do."
  • 5 0
 Agreed... terrible branding.
  • 3 0
 Agreed. Looks like a fork for a department store bike.
  • 8 3
 What do you say about the graphics on that Santa cruz bike that fork is mounted to? "Designed in Microsoft Word"? Or did they do it straight in fkng Outlook in a reply to "What about graphics" mail?
  • 4 1
 @WAKIdesigns: Clean branding is one of the harder things to get right... Santa Cruz got it right.
  • 4 3
 @ka-brap: to me it is hard to figure it out - clean branding or Emperor's New Clothes... our best art teacher used to say: a good piece never makes you go: "what is going on here?" and definitely not: "is it brilliant or stupid?" Maybe it's just me...
  • 30 1
 Waiting for 2018 Saint and ZEE.
  • 4 3
 ^^
  • 20 5
 How comes all the major MTB media outlets have exactly THE SAME "randoms" bike expo after bike expo? What's the point on calling them "randoms" if they have been already selected by the main sponsors? Seriously guys, if you want to differentiate yourselves from the rest of the pack, start looking a bit more at the odd contraptions and outsiders.

Or maybe you are just fulfilling your propaganda contracts out there.
  • 16 0
 something about "skinsuit" and "blow out" in the same picture makes me laugh.
  • 19 0
 Yeah, and they were "well hung" on a "nice rack".
  • 12 1
 Been riding Syntace 12degree bars for a while now and it makes total sense. The wider the bar, the more backsweep needed and less angle correction at the wrists.
  • 4 1
 Me too, love my Syntace bars - glad to see more options out there. Wider bars naturally need more backsweep ... at least according to my wrists. Not sure why the industry is still fixed on 5deg backsweep.
  • 2 8
flag pakleni (Apr 23, 2017 at 6:08) (Below Threshold)
 If you need 12 degree backsweep not to feel uncomfortable, then your bars are way too wide for you. Although, it can be way to go for the girls in the sport. They have much narrower shoulders and more backsweep can give them possibility to have healthy wide bars.
  • 7 1
 @pakleni:
In my opinion the style of riding is important, too.
More relaxed, upright on a tour I think a little more backsweep seems apropriate.
If you're pushing hard with the shoulders over the bars less backsweep feels better.
  • 2 0
 @Brightside: there we go. That's nails it for me.
  • 2 0
 What ever gives you the straightest wrists in a neutral riding position. 12 degree would give me to much ulnar deviation thus when going to lean the bike over I'm already limited because the angulation possible in my connection to the bike has been prematurely shortened
  • 2 1
 Funny, I am not happy with my 7 degree BS Spanks, so looking for something around 5 max. and 760 mm mim.
  • 1 0
 depends on your arm length and hand size
  • 14 3
 Just show me the new nomad already ffs
  • 1 0
 Nah, i wanna see jeffs prototype-new stuff thats out there(temecula).
  • 8 0
 Well if I bought that skin suit the price wouldn't be the only blowout
  • 4 0
 One of the best moments this weekend. Watching a random dad with his son stop Aaron Gwin walking through the expo and Aaron neeling down and chatting with the young boy for several minutes. It made that kid's (and his Dad's) day. A true class act.
  • 7 0
 8 build kits STARTING at $7200? Wow.
  • 5 1
 Hey PB. They're not grip 'warmers'. They're to protect the grips from the grime/grease/oil on the mechanic's hands as he works on the bike.
They've been around in the motorcycle world since, well, forever
  • 6 0
 "Peddle"? Are you kidding me?
  • 4 0
 Canyon knows how to paint a bike
  • 6 3
 More like Niner Ripoff starting at $7,200. Get real Niner
  • 1 0
 First pic (vomiting right now btw)…What's the point of keepin BB at same height? I always think that's how suspension works, not keepin BB at same height
  • 4 1
 you can't call it unified triangle if it only has two sides
  • 5 0
 It's THAT unified...
  • 2 1
 Ironically a former rocket power parts rep just dropped off six new old stock rocket parts / scary fast skinsuits for me to put on ebay.
  • 1 0
 dude...i've been wondering what happened to that brand! Remember seeing it in a mag mid/late 90's and thought it was such a cool name that I took scaryfast as my first email address eight or so years later! That said, I won't be going on the bay to buy one of your skinsuits.
  • 1 0
 can you imagine that very first bike with a lefty fork!? it'd be such a mind f*ck to ride, 3/4 of a bike lol. it looks super sweet!
  • 1 0
 The bike at the top is a perfect example of someone who has filled all their brain cells up with engineering ability but doesn't have enough left to use it wisely.
  • 2 0
 Well it definitely doesn't look like a session....
  • 1 0
 Props to NUUN for bringing the band. I have been using their drinks for about 7 years now. My favorite electrolyte option.
  • 3 2
 I am waiting to see 180mm side sweep saddles for guys with child bearing hips next....... marketing!
  • 1 0
 Huck 2 Flat my cro-mo beast. It's big mac approved so let's have a feast.
  • 1 0
 Anyone know the history of the GIANT branded Intense frame?
  • 1 0
 Intense offered their frames to many other brands. I also recall that the Mongoose/Lee Jeans team ran re-badged bikes from Jeff Steber.
  • 2 0
 @sngltrkmnd: Devinci also rebranded the M1-piloted by Mr. Shandro
  • 2 0
 @Intense4life: Haro as well with Mike King.
  • 5 0
 EVERY team rebranded the M1 for DH back then. About the only teams that didn't were Yeti and GT if I remember correctly.
  • 2 0
 I'd ride it







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