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Interbike was about one month ago to the day. As I walked around the Sands Expo, I had heard so many pitches and schpeels about why this and that product was far more superior than the other. I especially love the companies that have a new item where perhaps there really don’t have any competition. When they start telling you all about their goods you start to nod and agree why you need their product and how it will change your life.

I’m the same way with Infomercials….oh boy do I love me some RonCo…”Just set it and forget it!”

What about the Magic Bullet, we actually have one, but we didn’t buy it. My sister inlaw gave it to us since the Infomercial gaver her a 2 for 1 price on the deal. Even though I use this thing, everytime I see the commercial…I STILL watch it!

Ok, going back to bikes…or at least bike related. I swear, once a sales person starts to talk and tell my why their products are great…I’m hooked. I then start day dreaming of having this item and how it would make my life so much more fulfilling. And if I hear someone telling that the product that I am infatuated with is no good, oh man, you better hold me back! I’d go Kung Fu Crazy on that person for saying such nonsense!

Here’s the thing with me personally. I have brand loyalty in my blood. Basically that means that if I’m riding a brand X bike…then that brand is the schiznitz. No matter how many times this brand X bike breaks down, or fails on me, I’m still loyal to it. It’s to the point where its unhealthy. Just ask the people I ride with. There have been many times where I held up the group because I was messing around with my brand X bike before the ride. So there I would be trying to make the air shock or fork to hold air or tightening the crank arms so they wouldn’t fall off. But at the end of the day…I still love brand X.

However, my loyalty to brand x soon ends once I meet brand Y…and they start telling me how their product is the bestest dur eva waz. So if anything, I love marketers. I love the show, the glitz and the effort they put into making products shinny, glamorous and fabulous.

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We recently received some goods from the fine folks from Blackspire Bicycle Components. The super cool fella, Aaron hooked us up with some parts we needed for the KHS DJ300 bike we’re building up.

What you see here are some fantastic samples of a Chain Guide, Chain Ring, The new White C4 Chain Guard. 36T Downhill Chainring,DH/FR stem, and a set of Mr. Chunkie Pedals.

Here’s the progress as of yesterday afternoon.

But as of last night, I’ve installed all the Blackspire Components, a SRAM 9SPD cassette, rear XT derailluer, Specialized tires and rotors onto the Tag Wheels. We pretty much need a headset and chain, other than that, we’re almost done.

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This year’s Interbike had some interesting items. By far my favorite was Hayes’ new line of Stroker brakes. Their previous offering of the El Camino really set them back a year or two with the various problems they had but the Stroker has really raised some eyebrows.  I had a chance to ride a pair of the lesser model, the Ryde, at the Southridge Demo Day on the KHS XCT555.

Apart from having excellent modulation and loads of stopping power they look extra trick this year and offer the Trail version in either a stealthy looking slate grey or the eye-catching white. I rode a bike with a pair of Avid Juicy 5s and they just didn’t compare with the Strokers. If you’re looking for a new pair of brakes I’d check ’em out. I may get some of these to replace my old Hayes Nine.

My other favorite from the show was from a small tire company called Geax. It seems like the bike industry has gotten to a point were higher quality components are commonplace and companies are having fun playing with colors, paint jobs, and designs. I’m a sucker for whit components so the new Geax tire really caught my eye. White bike parts just look so slick.  

There’s only one dealer for Geax in the US so I’ll try to get a pair of these when they’re released in the upcoming year for a review. Geax offers their white tire in a couple of sizes including 2.2, 2.3 and a 2.5. I’ve emailed them but unfortunately they seem to be one of those companies that are lacking in support staff and I was told they will be available in early 2008 and that’s it. No word on how many of those sizes will be the all white version or how many will be just the white wall. I know Sweet Skinz is already playing around with different designs for tires but I’m partial to simpler colors.

It’s bike candy like this that keeps me interested in Interbike each year. Go ahead and chime in on what your favorite parts, bikes or gear were in case someone missed something cool from the show.

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Stick around as I show you what’s in store…

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A few weeks ago, Randy posted an article on BikeCommuters.com featuring Footbike. We had met them at Interbike and found this thing to be pretty interesting.

So I contacted Footbike, located in Vegas to see about getting some samples to review for the sites. Keep in mind that most companies that we deal with will happily ship out an item via UPS or FedEx. But not FootBike. Moses, the big cheese of the company DROVE from Vegas to Orange County…DROVE…He must have left his house around 5-6am just to make it here in Fullerton for our meeting.

We met up at the Fullerton Loop trail head, basically this is the North OC Superior Court parking lot. As Moses was setting up the Footbikes, two guys that had just finished the Loop walked up to us and was pretty curious and started asking questions about the Footbike. I was riding one around and offered them to try it. At first they were hesitant, but after a few minutes, they were hooked.

After the two gentlemen said their good byes, Moses and I headed up the trail just to see how this thing really worked. I got on the off-road model and Moses on his racing Footbike.

This bad boy has Avid BB5 disc brakes in the front, and Avid V-brakes in the back. It also had an RST fork to soak up the bumps.

As Moses and I pushed/ran and kicked our way up the trail, he was telling me that riding the Footbike for 1/2 an hour is like riding your road bike for 1 1/2 hours…and I believed him! Oh man, riding this thing was super intense. In the 30minutes that we kicked it, I was hurting. My lungs were on fire, my legs were shaking…

The Footbike is definitely fun. It gives a whole new feel for riding on dirt. I’m looking forward to reviewing this bad boy. So stick around as we keep you all posted on the progress.

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