Interbike 2007 was last week and as always this mega-show is the debut for the latest in bike
and tri gear for the upcoming season. Here is our review of what we saw on our annual trip to
Las Vegas.
Bikes
The story in bikes was the continued development of carbon tri bikes. Several new models were
debuted, including the Cannondale Slice, and several companies introduced sub-$3000 models
including Cervelo, QR and Felt.
First up from Cannondale we have the introduction of two new frames, the Slice (triathlon) and
SuperSix (road). Both full carbon frames were shown at the Outdoor demo and were a big hit.
Matt, our Buyer rode both and described them as "blazing fast -- words cannot describe. You
simply have to ride one to see what we are talking about" and Dan Empfield from Slowtwitch.com
said that the Slice "is the nicest riding tri bike I’ve been on in some time."
The SuperSix features an oversized front end to increase torsional stiffness and it carves
descents and corners like it's on rails. Meanwhile the design of the rest of the frame delivers
a smooth ride for long days in the saddle. It will provide the first good competition we have
seen for the Cervelo R3. The Slice is a completely redesigned tri bike from Cannondale with
improved geometry and aerodynamics, which make it Cannondale's first real contender in the
triathlon market.
New from Cervelo this year is the RS Frame. This frame offers a wider range of fit options
including smaller sizing and the option of a more upright riding position while still
maintaining all the performance benefits found in the R3. Speaking of the R3, 2008 brings an
all white paint scheme which looked very cool. The P3C and P2C also get paint updated but also
drop in price thanks to the strong Canadian dollar, plus a new Ultegra model of the P2C will
bring the opening price of a carbon tri bike down to $2648 when they become available.
Felt followed up the launch of the DA and B2 with several new versions including the B12, a sleek
looking full carbon tri bike based on the B2 and priced under $3000. The DA got a new paint job
for '08 but otherwise remains unchanged.
The other brand that impressed us at Interbike was Quintana Roo. With strong pricepoint
offerings in both carbon and aluminum and two great looking women's models don't be surprised to
see QR back at Enduro Sport after a seven-year absence.
Everything else
The usual suspects were all in attendance for wetsuits. With the rush of new top-of-the line
suits from last year -- the Nineteen Frequency, Orca Apex 2 and Zoot Zenith -- the only big news
this year was in the appearance of non-wetsuit-legal wetsuits. These will be worn by many top
athletes at Hawaii in a couple of weeks and were being shown by a few manufacturers in Las
Vegas including a prototype from Nineteen.
Zoot was also showing their new running shoe line.
Enduro Sport will be carrying their triathlon-designed racing flat in the spring.
I was stopped in the aisles by an aerodynamicist who has worked with some of the biggest
companies in the industry. He showed me a prototype of a product that promises the biggest aero
savings per dollar of anything ever made. It is in the final stages of pre-production and will
be available next spring -- and of course Enduro Sport will bring it to you first!
We also managed to track down a forefoot goiniometer, which measures forefoot varus and valgus.
This will add to our bike fit offerings allowing us to assess the use of wedges under your
cleats to better align your foot to improve knee tracking and pedaling efficiency. Stay tuned to
E-News for when this service launches.
On the weird side of things were two companies showing "web-frames." Take a look at these bikes
from Calfee and Delta 7 Sports. Could this be the next evolution in frame technology? Probably
not for aero bikes! But if you want aero, check out this prototype track bike from Ruegamer. No
word or wind tunnel testing, price, availability or even ride-ability but some cool,
outside-the-box thinking nonetheless.
Another interesting display we came across was a wind tunnel test bike featured at the Cervelo
booth. By building a skeleton outline of a frame, which allows for both adding and removing
plastic frame shapes, it allows Cervelo to maximize their wind tunnel research and test time.
This is why Cervelo is building the fastest aero bikes in the world right now. They went
straight to the tunnel after Interbike (their fourth wind tunnel trip this year) to continue
work on their next generation aero bike -- a big contrast from one un-named manufacturer who we
overheard saying about their new frame which debuted at Interbike, "we're going to the tunnel in
a couple of weeks to test it and it's going to be fast!" That may work for marketing (at least
they'll get some cool photos) but testing finished products is not the way to design world-class
bikes. Sadly, there were a lot of "faux-aero" frames being shown.
Last, we came across a company which would allow people to trade in their old bike for a
store credit towards the purchase of a new bike. This is not currently available in Canada but
is something we are looking into. Would you be interested in this option? How would this compare
to offering financing for bike purchases? We are considering both options for 2008 so if you
have any comments or opinions, please send us an
email.