A taste of Interbike
Howdy 'cross fans,
For your off-the-bike entertainment here are some random notes from a brief visit to Interbike. On the floor for only half a day I didn't make a full scan of 'cross offerings but here's some of the bling that caught my eye:
- While the dirt demo was busy, the 'cross circuit introduced last year was not brought back for this edition -- cancelled, as the show daily tersely noted, "for lack of riders". Sad stuff, and only a few of the companies selling CX bikes brought theirs out for testing, such as Schwinn with their brand new CX bike. I did spot a few dedicated riders checking out the single track on CX demos. Frischy was there too but not on 'cross bike either.
- Inside the show, 'cross was still there in evidence, though again unlike years past when every manufacturer made an effort to have at least one token 'cross bike on display many have given up on the category altogether. Fortunately that means that with all the bandwagon-jumpers gone, the authentic bikes can show through the clutter.
- With the carbon revolution seemingly all but over in the road world there were loads of full-carbon 'cross bikes around - Ridley, Colnago, DeRosa, Guerciotti, to name a few. It must take courage to set out onto a rocky NorCal course on a $6000 carbon Guerciotti with deep dish carbon wheels, but I guess if you got the bank for that you must not care.
- Dave's picks for the tasty bikes of the show: Ridley X-Night for the cost-is-no-object crowd, Felt F1X with the best race-ready value at $1600, and Bianchi Axis in the lead of the relatively crowded "budget" segment.
See you at the races --
Dave Carr
For your off-the-bike entertainment here are some random notes from a brief visit to Interbike. On the floor for only half a day I didn't make a full scan of 'cross offerings but here's some of the bling that caught my eye:
- While the dirt demo was busy, the 'cross circuit introduced last year was not brought back for this edition -- cancelled, as the show daily tersely noted, "for lack of riders". Sad stuff, and only a few of the companies selling CX bikes brought theirs out for testing, such as Schwinn with their brand new CX bike. I did spot a few dedicated riders checking out the single track on CX demos. Frischy was there too but not on 'cross bike either.
- Inside the show, 'cross was still there in evidence, though again unlike years past when every manufacturer made an effort to have at least one token 'cross bike on display many have given up on the category altogether. Fortunately that means that with all the bandwagon-jumpers gone, the authentic bikes can show through the clutter.
- With the carbon revolution seemingly all but over in the road world there were loads of full-carbon 'cross bikes around - Ridley, Colnago, DeRosa, Guerciotti, to name a few. It must take courage to set out onto a rocky NorCal course on a $6000 carbon Guerciotti with deep dish carbon wheels, but I guess if you got the bank for that you must not care.
- Dave's picks for the tasty bikes of the show: Ridley X-Night for the cost-is-no-object crowd, Felt F1X with the best race-ready value at $1600, and Bianchi Axis in the lead of the relatively crowded "budget" segment.
See you at the races --
Dave Carr
posted by Dave Carr at 2:54 PM
1 Comments:
Dave-
Meaning no disrespect, but I saw quite a few more promising cyclocross bits at Interbike than what you mentioned.
Specifically:
-New carbon cross forks from Ritchey and Easton
-New cross rigs and tires from Specialized
I agree that the trendy factor of cross may have fizzled a little, but the above products indicate (in my opionion at least) an increased interest in cyclocross from three major companies.
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