September 27/00 11:09 am - More Interbike Coverage

Posted by Editor on 09/27/00
 

Interbike - Days 2 & 3

More new stuff at the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas:

- The sub-15 pound Specialized-Festina replica bike (Photo)

- Rocky Mountain's new RM7 downhill bike (Photo). Both the RM7 and RM9 will be available as complete bikes as well as framesets. Rocky also offers a full range of full suspension race bikes in sizing as small as 15", a new scandium road bike (16.8 pounds) and a 'Cross bike for 2001.

- SRAM continues to innovate in the comfort/commuter market with an electric bike system that can be retro-fitted to any bike (Photo). The SPARC system uses a 5 speed internal hub with a lead-acid 12V battery pack that mounts on regular rack mounts. It can be used in Economy (30k range, 18 kmph top speed) or Speed (15k range and 24 kmph) modes and takes 3.7 hours to charge. Weight is 5.5 kilograms. SRAM also has trigger shifters with a push-pull up design. Trying them briefly, the motion is definitely more natural then the standard push-pull style.

- Syncros was showing a bunch of new stuff: carbon riser bar, 2 wheelsets, ergonomic road bars, golf clubs... No Canadian distribution yet, but they say that it is getting close.

- Norco has expanded and revamped the North Shore full suspension style of bikes that they are one of the originators of. Now 5 models, with names replacing numbered VPS models. The lineup now starts as low as $2200 with the Buzz. Some of the higher end models get up 8" of travel front and rear and adjustable bb heights. A new very light BLT lighting system (which we will be testing shortly), and an interesting variation on a trailer - the Trail a Pack (Photo). The Trail a Pack is light, has a full size wheel (to easily clear obstacles) and comes with a rack to take any standard panniers. You can also strap longer items to the tow bar. Canadian retail is under $200.

- Devinci has a bunch of new bikes, including some high end hybrids, some North Shore style models (6), and a new road bike - the Apogee (Photo). This latter model comes with a compact design frame (sloping top tube), Mavic Krysrium wheels and a mix of Dura Ace and Ultegra. MSRP is $3500.

- Dekerf celebrates 10 years with a move into aluminum (3 models). As always, the full line is made in B.C. The top model is the extremely gorgeous Team 7000, made with Easton Ultralight. It is a classic hardtail with Dekerf's signature wishbone stays and some of the cleanest, smoothest welds I have seen. Another of the aluminum models is the Phenomenon (Photo) - an XC oriented full suspension back that comes in at 25 pounds. Dekerf has also installed in-housing painting facilities, and was showing some mindblowing paint jobs (which are available aftermarket).

- Roach has a bunch of new clothing, and is going dealer direct, which they say will make pricing very competitive. However, what we want to talk about is the boxing ring they had in their booth! Every afternoon people could step up, don the gloves and pummel each other. There seem to be some very frustrated people out there, given the action we saw (Photo). There were also a few black eyes being sported in the aisles, as the show went on...

- the coolest thing at the show had to be Gamebike. Tucked away in a corner (literally) was this little booth with a bike on a rear-wheel indoor trainer that was hooked up to a Sega machine! The inventor has designed a unit that turns your bike into a joystick (Photo), so that as you ride you are playing any of the literally millions of Sega, Nintendo or PC games on the market. People were riding to exhaustion in 20 minutes as they played with this thing. The bad news is that you can't buy one - the inventor has patented it and is now looking for a buyer. Our guess is that it won't be too long. I want one now!

More to come from both Interbike and the Toronto show (which begins on the weekend).