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Here are a few of the cool, new and otherwise blingy things that caught my attention at Sea Otter this year.

Purely custom had their take on a bashguard. The bashgaurd is covered in a with a rubber/silicone type edge. Not only it this piece support to protect your chain-ring from hits, but also as demonstrated in the picture it is designed to give a little grip or traction on your way over the big rocks.

New Bashguard Design

For those of you out there who are interested in or already using a belt drive from Gates, there is a new system coming down the pipeline. This new belt is a center-track system. According to their rep, the system is supposed to stay in alignment better and at a lower tension on the hub. As you can see in the pic, the cog has a center ridge to keep the belt aligned and the belt has a matching groove.

New centerline belt-drive from Gates

Center track helps to keep belt aligned.

DT has release new internals for their hubs to increase the engagement from 20% to 30%. As a fan of high engagement hubs, I found this to be of interest. Art already mentioned in his post about their release of the Tricon wheels in the 29″ variety.

DT Swiss high engagment replacement parts.

On Saturday Master Yoda (Art) and I went over to the DH course to watch Joe race and got to watch some of the other racers as well.

Got to watch a little DH racing!

Project 321 had some really blingy parts on display. They had their own hubs with Industry9 internals, and can custom finish parts in a large variety of colors. The they had gold finished set of stan’s rim with matching gold hubs on display.

Massive bling from Project 321!

Renovo had some cool looking wood bike as well. I don’t know how they rode, but they definitely looked good.

Wood frames!

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Would I add to or bling out the fleet?

Discretionary money is such a beautiful thing for those who have it. I don’t and because of that I don’t run across this question very often, if ever. With a homemaker wife, two kids under 4 and absolutely no mechanical skills whatsoever I’m thankful I am able to keep my 2 bikes in working order. Also, with a small two car garage and semi-pack rat tendencies, finding room for the bikes gets to be a problem. But I’m sure there are a few of you out there that have debated this question and have developed passionate feelings towards your decision.

Some people actually have this many bikes in their garage

Some people have a more utilitarian view towards mountain bikes. The bike should work and as long as it works the parts on the bike will stay. If a part breaks, then replace with comparable part, not better. No need to upgrade whatever is working fine. The flip side to having bikes that just plain work is that you can spend your discretionary money on having more bikes. Choosing to stick with stock means that cash can be accumulated for bigger purchases like different types of bikes: hardtail, SS, XC FS, DJ, DH, AM… None of these bikes will make you stop and stare as they pass by, but the sheer quantity of the bikes will make your head spin.

Chris King Hubs

If, on the other hand, the rider prefers to spend money on their bike rather than on new bikes, you get the rider who has bling bikes instead. The original bike probably started off as a perfectly functioning bike with a solid parts spec, think Deore or X.7. But watch out! Shortly after the owner gets their hands on the bike you start seeing the carbon handlebars, XTR and Chris King hubs. These bikes make you stop in your tracks and take another look if for no other reason than to guess how much money went into the bike. What this means though, is that instead of having a lot of bikes, the rider may only have a couple really nice ones.

Then there are those who are uber rich, or still don’t understand credit, and have lots of blinged out bikes. We won’t be discussing them.

Moots Ti HT, Blinged out via Aspire Velo Tech

Maybe I’m generalizing a bit much but in my experience this is sort of what I’ve seen. There are moderates, of which I fall into (OF COURSE), but they’re not as much fun to discuss. And although none of these methods are wrong both camps have riders that fiercely defend their purchasing habits as the “right” way. They get all prickly when asked why their methods are questioned or compared to the other method, which of course makes this debate interesting.

If I had a choice would I add to or bling out the fleet? Both, always both.

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What is Blingitis?
Also known as upgraditis, blingitis is a debilitating disease that subconsciously alters your perception of your current bike from a capable bike to one in desperate need of improvements (necessary or unnecessary) that look better but may not perform better than previously installed parts.

If left unchecked, this mind altering disease can lead to high credit card bills, mounting debt and bankruptcy. Other negative side affects include the alienation of non-biking members of the family/friends and being able to only afford saltines for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What causes Blingitis?
Currently, blingitis’ origins are unknown. One scholar believes that blingitis is caused by mountain biking with other riders who actually do have better bikes/components than the diseased’s current rig. This scholar goes on to surmise that after examining the other dude’s bike, hormones named SPENDergen are released. SPENDergen has been shown to have a very weak correlation to the onset of blingitis.

Chris King Hubs

Another scholar’s study illustrates a weak relationship of blingitis with attending major bike events such as Sea Otter, Eurobike or Interbike. A slightly weaker relationship was observed for riders attending local bike races where advertisements and exhibitor’s booths are commonly found. This scholar supposes that the sensory consumption of so many cool components through a person’s vision, touch, smell and yes… even taste could set off blingitis.

What are the symptoms of Blingitis?
Blingitis normally starts off relatively harmlessly. $10 spent on a new set of grips because the old ones were black. Next, its $20 for a Salsa seat collar that matches the highlight color of your frame. But, be careful because before long blingitis can quickly spiral out of control.

$160 for a set of Twenty6 Dualie Brake Levers, $600 Formula Oro Puro brakes and of course the ultimate bling $1,000+ Industry Nine wheels (two sets of course as each one’s color needs to reflect your mood). Sadly, if you’re already this far along, it is time to call for professional help.

Wow. So pretty. I want… No, I NEED

How is Blinitis treated?
Your doctor may prescribe you narcotics to reduce your desire to continue blingitis. However, this is normally not enough. We here at MtnBikeRiders.com highly recommend the expert in house team trained in the treatment of blingitis, the MtnBikeRiders.com.blingitis.team.

This highly skilled team will come in and disassemble all of your current rigs and replace all of the blingitis parts with ho-hum parts from Walmart. We will also handle the removal of the blingitis parts so that you will not be tempted by them again. Our services continues with taking your credit cards and charging them up to the maximum so that you can not upgrade your bikes again. Lastly, we will help in relations restoration with members of your family and your friends who were alienated by blingitis. Surprisingly we do this all free of charge.

How can I prevent blingitis?
If you ride a cheap bike, we highly recommend marrying a spouse who has no degree of bicycle acumen, hates bikes and is poor. This combination of unknowing, unapproving and unfunded spouse is the best way to prevent blingitis.

If you’re already married and your spouse loves bikes you’re screwed. Umm… I meant that preventing blingitis will be a more difficult proposition. The team at MtnBikeRiders.com does have a recommendation: the surgical removal of your hypoSPEND gland. This short 17 hour surgical procedure will remove the hypoSPEND gland which produces the SPENDergen hormone. Remember however, that the SPENDergen hormone only has a “weak” correlation with the adult onset of blingitis.

Your doctor may also prescribe Bike Component Sensory Deprivation. Although MtnBikeRiders.com does not recommend this, we have heard of great responses to this treatment. BCSD includes but is not limited to removing the internet from your computer (yes, it’s only on your computer), house-rest to keep you from visiting cool bike shops and of course staying away from Interbike 2007.

BCSD Mask

With a steady diet of BCSD you may see enough progress to visit your email account by year 3 of this treatment. Good luck.

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