April 2/01 8:15 am - 2002 Product Preview

Posted by Editor on 04/2/01
 

Product News

We promised to give you an update on new products from Sea Otter. Unfortunately, we were a little delayed on getting this information out, but here it is.

From SRAM, there is a bunch of new high-end stuff:

- a new superlight cogset (Shimano compatible)

- a new disc brake

- an incredibly light rear derailleur that will be part of a high-end group (above the present top-of-the-line 9.0SL)

- a 6-pawl, lightweight hub that will be more durable than existing designs (no photo).

- a lightweight hollow pin narrow chain (no photo).

Alison Sydor was sporting a hand-made, handlebar mounted fork lockout for her Rock Shox SID fork, made for her by Greg Herbold. She said it worked extremely well: "a natural, intuitive motion". No idea when you will see this one on the market.

A Campagnolo spokesperson said that Campag will not be changing the high-end of their lineup, but will introduce new innovations at the entry level.

Lots of talk about the 'Urban Assault" market - a spin-off of the hardtail / 'Shore-type bike that was introduced last fall.

From the Taipei manufacturer's show (just started), we have word that the trend is the come back of road bikes and parts. Lots of carbon road forks and wheels. The other hot category is disc brakes, with small Taiwanese factories trying to get a piece of the market (read: less expensive disc brakes). The suspension trekking bike is also a growing category (mainly for the Euro market).