Interbike Outdoor Demo

Even during the rain some people were riding.

Bootleg Canyon is at the base of a jagged hill crossed with mountain bike trails

The Felt DA4W will bring the cost for a complete bike built with their newest frameset down to $3,999 in 2012 and it has a sweet disco paint scheme. Designed for women, but men seem to love it too.

Rain came down sideways and even soaked bikes supposedly protected by tents.

Chris King is now making their R45 hub with a Campagnolo-compatible freehub and ceramic bearings.

The Fizik Kurve’s saddle rails extend to the front and back of the saddle and suspend the upper portion by tensioning it, which allows it to flex and conform to the rider.

The amount of flex can be set to Soft or Hard by swapping this plastic bit at the front of the saddle

Quintana Roo’s Project Illicito and it’s single seatstay design is now available. $3,200.

Felt keeps mountain bikes on the muddy trails.

Rudy Project Wingspan aerohelmet.

The Liger is pretty much the fiercest animal in the jungle. And the bike’s front end is quite similar to the Ridley Dean

Narrow fit and fine aesthetic touches are the key features of the Fizik R1 road shoe.

Acros has a hydraulic mountain bike shift system that executes shifts with remarkably little effort. A road kit is in the works, but the shifter design has been difficult to perfect.

ITU stud Lisa Norden is in the States for the final two installments of the Race to the Toyota Cup, the LA Triathlon and the US Open Triathlon.

The atmosphere at Outdoor Demo is relaxed and festive. Beer poured by pretty girls certainly doesn’t hurt

Shimano Ultegra Di2 was on this demo bike.

Ultegra’s wire system is more simplistic than the kit used to lace Dura-Ace Di2.

And in typical Shimano form, Ultegra shifts exceptionally well. Good luck feeling a difference between it and Dura-Ace.

Tubeless tires are omnipresent in mountain bikes but road wheels have been slower to adopt this technology that prevents flats and allows for lower tire pressures, but more wheels are slowly adopting tubeless. The Easton EA90 is a 23mm-wide rim that increases tire volume by 12% beyond the standard width wheel. Sure to be a mean combination with tubeless. $850, 1550 grams.

Keeping riders testing bikes.

Shimano released these Dura-Ace SPD-SL pedals with an injected-carbon body last year.

And an Ultegra version comes this year. It has one fewer bearing than the Dura-Ace model, which slightly reduces stiffness and bearing life. Their pedal body has less carbon and more plastic than the D-A model, softer spindle metal and weigh 30 grams more. Their surface area and pedal-cleat interface are the same. $299

The TRP R979SL and R979EQ calipers are designed more maximum stopping power on a 25mm rim instead of the traditional 19mm width by moving the brake arm pivot points. As more and more aero wheels get wide, this design becomes even more applicable. At $599 they’re wildly expensive and super light. 115 grams.

The EQ version has a standard brake release.

And the SL’s cable stop/barrel adjuster drops to the center of the caliper to widen the pads for wheel removal.

SRAM Apex gets a white finish for 2012.