INTERBIKE 2010

Attending industry trade shows for us is not an inexpensive proposition by any means, but it's an exercise that we view as necessary in order to represent the brands that we sell with knowledge, integrity and honesty. Since we don't sell Trek, Specialized or Giant, we don't get to be flown out to corporate indoctrination junkets that isolate those brands from others thus skewing our buying trends in their direction… We must travel (on our own nickel) and compare brand A to brand B and back again… and we feel it's the best and only way to do it.

We bring as many staff as we can afford so they can get their information from Mr. Thompson himself and make up their own minds based on testing, touching, feeling and looking at the product with their own eyes, hands and butt. Let us not forget the fact that we also often invite selected customers to join us and share with us their invaluable insight on what they like and dislike and what we should be doing. All of the above are integral to our business plan and we simply could not envisage doing things differently on that front. The more information we can get our hands on the better… it's like the guy said "knowledge is power".

The Interbike Dirt Demo

This year's Interbike experience was a little different for us (compared to previous years) as the demo turned out to be a little bit of a working honeymoon for Darci and I (as some of you may know, Darci and I had decided to get married -in Vegas- the day before the outdoor bike demo).

So it's with 12 bike club members in tow that we decide to hit Boulder Canyon to tees and demo bikes from a wide variety of manufacturers. Despite the relentless 105 to 110 degree (Fahrenheit) heat we still managed to suck it up and have an excellent time riding exceedingly cool bicycles in the desert.

What added to the experience was the fact that this was to be the last Interbike Dirt Demo in Boulder Canyon (just 30 minute outside of Vegas) as Interbike had recently decided to move its show to Disneyland in Anaheim for 2011. This did add a bittersweet twinge to the entire experience… Our thoughts wavered between "I never want to ride in this convection oven again" to "man I'm going to miss this place". But that's nothing new when riding in the convection-oven heat that is the Nevada desert in September.

Getting such a large group of testers together was a godsend for us (in the interest of full disclosure, allow us to point out that these fine folks folks pay their own way to all our tests winter AND summer)… having this substantial group allowed us varying opinions and very helpful feedback… and afforded us the luxury of going into the demo area, picking out 12 of the best bikes in existence and spending most of the day swapping the bikes between us. (thus avoiding the time-consuming ride and return process).

Our first day at the demo focused on testing bikes on the all-mountain/XC loops while day two saw us do nothing but gravity-assisted highly technical shuttle runs down the serious mountain terrain that exists in Boulder Canyon..

While most of our conclusions were caught on video on day 1, Day two was unfortunately much too windy to attempt sound recording as winds topped 75km/h. The way one of the gang  described it was akin to turning on a high-powered hair dryer and pointing it 10cm's from your face. Crazy.

We'll be reporting on everyone's detailed conclusions a bit later on but for now, let's suffice to say that the Scott Genius Long Travel family, Ellsworth's Epiphany, Glimpse and Moments, Rocky's Slayers and Element MSLs as well as Commencal's Meta 6s and Supremes pretty much ruled the test. If you noticed that none of these bikes reside in the low end of their respective line-ups you would be correct. Rarely do suppliers  bother to offer up first price-point offerings.

Certainly our most pleasant surprise was how insightful the even the least experienced members of our test team were. Too often, when we bring newbies along to test bikes or skis or snowboards, we get the "but I'm no expert" or the ubiquitous "I don't have enough experience to tell the difference" neither were a factor on this test as our testers simply realized that indeed they could feel the difference between bikes and they simply and clearly expressed their likes and dislikes. And that's exactly what we're looking for: Average folks giving us honest feedback so we can make the right decisions for our customers. Special thanks go out to Val who rides better than she thinks and who ended up being more valuable to the test than she thought, to Chris who while clearly on high maintenance side of the fence still managed to power he team with his unbridled enthusiasm and love of the ride, to Cat for taking charge and always making every moment light hearted and enjoyable (even when driving me crazy) and a big thank you to the Scotts for just lovin' it… to every single member of the test team, you guys and girls rock.

Interbike Indoor

The biggest challenge as we got ready for "The Show" was recuperating from the Dirt Demo. Two days of unrelenting heat complete with wind with and dust and crushing sun really took its toll on us… near heat-stroke symptoms to simple fatigue made Wednesday morning a tough one to wake up to, especially when coupled with the fact that Tuesday Night saw a wee bit of R&R since it was our last night together as a gang (most of our test team was headed back to Winnipeg on that day). It was great that some of the gang nonetheless managed to make an appearance at the show before taking off and witnessed for themselves the sheer magnitude of what is the biggest gathering of cycling companies on the continent.

Here's how we usually tackle the indoor on day 1: We start on the far side and walk up and down every isle taking quick notes on what we need to come back to, taking pictures of the interesting stuff and trying not to linger at any booth, regardless of how interesting the stuff is. By the time we've done a quick canvas it's usually lunch time. We then find a spot to sit down, wolf down whatever we could find food-wise (my favorite show food is a large soft pretzel and a powered) and we circle what exhibitors we found to be the most interesting and go back for a second look. We usually only book actual appointments for day 2 and 3 of the show, leaving us wide open on day one to do the very important research into what is new, hot, updated and relevant for our customers... and yes, that's a dog wearing a go-pro camera on the right here.

Since we're not fans of fads or change for the sake of change, we take particular care in going back to products on their second go around (new stuff from last year gets a second look this year before we commit to it) and you'd be amazed at how many of these "latest greatest, revolutionary" products simply don't live up to the manufactured hype (review sites and all). On day 2 some of us were commenting on the disappearance of several of last year's "hot" products from the show floor. like for example: "where the hell went the Hammerschmidt?"

The good stuff

So at this point, I'm pretty certain you're wondering "so, what was hot?" well its a tough one, we don't want to give every secret away but here are ten tidbits that we're comfortable sharing with everyone at this point in the buying cycle:

[1] Scott bikes are simply works of engineering excellence. No matter what level you're pondering, if you like properly executed engineering, Scott bikes have to be on your short list.

[2] Ellsworth bikes are quietly dominating. Every year we test them, every year they amaze us. Well put together, sweet riding, solid, delicious to look at AND a sweet new logo. If you can afford one, get one.

[3] Commencal bikes are not cheap but if you like your momentum on the fast side, nothing stays as composed on such a wide variety of downhill terrain thank these exotic bikes from Andorra… oh, and did we mention the sweet colors?

[4] SRAM is on a wow bender… amazing what they are churning out at every corner of their product range. The cool thing is that Shimano is not taking it laying down, The golden age of bike componentry is right the hell now. If you're still running on 4 year-old or older Shimano stuff, it time to consider an upgrade. You're missing out on some seriously nice shifting.

[5] We still think Hope makes the best brakes anywhere. Perfect modulation, no fade and enough power to amaze anyone… with Shimano coming in at distant second and the new Avid stuff an even more distant third.

[6] Shimano rules clipless. While everyone is trying hard to unseat the king, all one has to do is take a look at the new XTR semi-platform pedal or the stalwart DX SPD pedal to concede the fact that everyone else is just that: Something else. One notable exception is Expedo who are quietly making giant strides in the right direction.

[7] Fox forks rule… for now. Who cares that Fox 40 forks are prone to exploding? the crap that they are allowing people to do is mind boggling. Fox is still at the top of the hill with such delicious offerings as the new 36 180mm. Next up on our like list is Rock Shox and the up and coming White Brothers (mark our words, these guys are going to be players in a very near future) followed by Marzocchi who seem to have decided that crazy colors and graphics are the way back to dominance.

[8] Rocky Mountain may have a hit on its hands with the sublime new Element Carbon MSL (M: Marathon geometry) we all loved it to death.

[9] Miele retro bikes are going to be a hit, we can smell it.

[10] Next year's Gord's Bike Club Jersey is going to be VERY cool.