The Goodies
Sea Otter Classic Round Up 2023
For most people, the Sea Otter Classic is a multi-disciplinary bike race and festival, held every April at Laguna Seca Raceway, just east of Monterey California. There is a very short and not very interesting downhill, won this year by Cody Kelley in 1:59 and Jill Kintner in 2:10, and a shorter but more interesting dual slalom track (built by Kyle Strait) won by Cody Kelley and, you guessed it, Jill Kintner! Jackson Goldtone's 20-year-old sister Bailey, a freshly minted Canadian National DH champion, came second and was 10th in the DH, against some tough competition.
For most of us in the bike industry and the media, Sea Otter is a big trade show. The early season timing means the event has always been a great place to show or even release new products, and since the death of Interbike, it's become even more relevant.
We spend always end up drooling at cool vehicles in California - and Sea Otter had its share in 2023, like this classic Bronco.
This retro-nouveau Bronco was pretty tidy as well.
Fox always has some crazy off road machine to show off at Laguna Seca. This is Jason Scherer's 4400 Bronco which features Fox Live Valve suspension. The system measures everything in real time, including the angle of the steering wheel, and adjusts the suspension accordingly. You can learn more about the vehicle here.
This year we went down a little early and came home a little late to meet with some of our industry friends, attend the Juliana bike night party at the Santa Cruz Factory (always a highlight) and ride some trails in Santa Cruz and, guided by Mike Ferrentino, in Toro County Park, not far from Laguna Seca. Ours is a thankless endeavour...
Yeti
Yeti was showing Richie Rude's new DH bike. After becoming Junior DH World Champion in 2013, Richie decided to switch to Enduro, winning the overall title in 2015 and 2016. This year Richie wanted to return to do some DH races and Yeti was all in. The bike uses a version of the Sixfinity platform, developed for Yeti's 160e eMTB.
“When Richie mentioned he wanted to race DH again, our whole product and engineering team rallied around a single goal – create a bike that makes Richie faster. We didn’t talk about the cost, or even how many we could sell, we simply created the fastest bike we could. We’re stoked to be part of Richie’s journey to race World Cup Downhill again.” – Chris Conroy, Yeti Cycles CEO
Richie's DH bike was built by Yeti's special products division, which was also responsible for this dirt jumper for Reed Boggs and Robin Goomes.
There's no word on whether either of these bikes will go into production, but you never know.
Öhlins
Öhlins had a bit of a rough ride when their products first came to North America. It could be that scaling up to the level of production required to be an OE supplier for Specialized was challenging for the boutique brand, which specializes in hi end racing products for motorsport. It seems they've hit their stride lately however and the company seems to be more focussed on after market sales and limited edition models for high end brands. The company's sale to Tenneco was finalized in 2019. (You might know that name because Tenneco purchased Marzocchi in 2007, eventually mothballing the brand in 2015 and then selling certain assets to Fox Shox in the same year.)
The biggest news from Öhlins is that the release of a Factory Racing colours of their forks in limited quantities, if you'd like to look like one of the Specialized World Cup DH riders.
Paired with the brightly coloured fork, this is one of the nicest suspension combos we saw at Laguna Seca.
The motorsports stuff on the wall was pretty interesting. On your left is a massive Nascar shock. On the right are two different Formula 1 shocks. The Nascar shock was the most interesting to look at, and it was massive. In the pits the crew slides a tool through a port in the vehicles to manually adjust the preload by hand with a dramatic cranking action. This is called wedge adjusment. Öhlins engineers had a solution that would make the process more efficient and do away with the crank - but Nascar said no. The hand cranking of the wedge adjust is, as they explained, "all part of the show." These cost about 20K apiece.
The F1 dampers are tiny in comparison, despite being fitted to cars required to turn left and right.
Crankbrothers Custom Commençal Fundraiser
Last year Crankbrothers donated a sweet Forbidden Druid in John Player Special livery, which raised 27,692 USD for the Crisis Text Line. This year's build started with a Commençal TEMPO that was, of course, custom painted. CB had a camo theme going and the bike blended right in. There were special edition Crankbrothers pedals included, Synthesis carbon wheels, SRAM Transmission drivetrain, Hayes brakes... A sick build you could win, with a small donation to California Mountain Biking Coalition. An entry costs just 5 bucks and you have until May 31st to enter. You an enter as many times as you like, so a grand will get you 200 chances to win. More info here.
Our friend Sebastien Salvant showing off the Custom Commençal TEMPO.
Suspension by Cane Creek, drivetrain by SRAM, brakes by Hayes, and a whole lotta Crankbrothers stuff to round it out.
The frame is a size medium, and if you win you'll have the only one.
If you'd like to enter to win the bike, you just need to make a $5 donation here.
Moto Madness (eMTB content within)
The proliferation of eMTBs, particularly those from brands known primarily for their motorcycles, was inescapable at Sea Otter. KTM has been in the bicycle game for some time, since long. before ebikes, but Husqvarna was also there, as well as Gas Gas, which had the most interesting bike on display.
This Gas Gas bike, by the brand best known in North America for their trials motor, was hidden away in a storage container and viewable by appointment only. We suspect this was because of the motor, which was unbranded and unmentioned. We have our suspicions about which big brand is behind the power plant but we'll have to wait and see.
The suspension was also interesting. The chassis, both front and rear, resembled DVO models, but the internals were made by WP. The initials of the Austrian manufacturer unfortunately stand for white power, but this was apparently due to the original springs' white colour, which were produced by a company specializing in hospital equipment.
WP, like Gas Gas, is owned by KTM and their products are built in Austria.
The motor doesn't look like any I've seen before, but it's possible this cover was made to conceal product's origin. the min fact, the motor could just be a mock-up since the bike wasn't powered on or removed from the container during the festival.
Gas Gas eMTBs will be sold through motor sports dealers who "commit to the bicycle business" but the brand is also looking for bike shops who are interested in carrying their products.
To my eyes, this was the coolest looking eMTB at Sea Otter. The Husqvarna MC5 will retail for 10,400 CAD and will also be available in Moto shops. Interestingly the EP8 motor mounting is quite open and accessible compared to other eMTBs. It may also be more susceptible to water damage. Husqvarna, like everything else it seems, is owned by KTM.
This Jeep-branded eMTB looked like something built by - and aimed at - someone other than mountain bikers. That Tacoma though...
We Are One
WAO has abandoned Cerakote and gone to a similarly intensive paint process. Matte is out and gloss is in, and the bikes look amazing. The Cerakote finish on my Arrival has been incredibly durable, but it's tricky in other ways. I have a Ride Wrap kit for it but I've been reluctant to apply it after Dustin Adams told me that the Cerakote might peel off if the Ride Wrap is removed. I was also interested to learn that the primary application for Cerakote seems to be firearms. We Are One has also begun building swingarms that accept SRAM UDH so Transmission will be an option in the future.
Toyota fans will recognize the TRD-inspired paint on this Arrival 170. It looked even better in person and gloss looks pretty sweet on these angular and industrial looking frames.
WANT.
Execution is beautiful. No word on whether this is a one off or if it will be available as a special order.
We Are Ones frames now include an embossed name on the downtube - the only branding you'll see.
Stashed was showing a cool bike storage system that keeps the space need to hang bikes to a minimum. The hooks swing freely and rotate 360º when loaded but are locked in place when unloaded to ease the hanging process. Once you have your bikes hanging you can slide them close together so you can hang six bikes in the space normally required for three.
There is a freestanding version of the Stashed system or you can mount the rails into your ceiling. We hope to try this system out to let you know our impressions. For more hit up Stashed.
Pole
We've been impressed with Pole from afar for some time so we were keen to check out some bikes in person. And company founder Leo Kokkonen was also one of the most interesting people we crossed paths with this year. His passion for design and innovation is contagious and his bikes are incredible in person.
Leo demonstrating the stiffness of his DH frame.
While Leo told us his brand has never been too concerned about weight, this DH machine was apparently a feathery 16 kg/ 35.3 lb, including pedals. Frame weight is said to be 3.5 kg / 7.7 lb.
The intricacy of the machining is something to behold.
This is the VIKKELÄ enduro frame.
We'll be working on getting a tester, and several testers likely already have their hands up. The suspension system is equal parts strange and fascinating. Just looking at it made me want to ride it to see how it feels. It flys in the face of convention by providing 190 mm of travel.
The layout of the DH frames rear suspension is a little easier to understand.
Running into some of our favourite people is always a highlight of Sea Otter. Clayton Wangbichler (best name in MTB!) surrounded by two SRAMies - Chris Mandell on the right and Donny Allison (AKA BDD) on the left. Donny, who we didn't actually meet is apparently widely acknowledged as the third most handsome man in mountain biking. There was some controversy about the gold and silver medalists.
The original mullet. A bike shop I worked at in the 80s had a penny farthing on display and I used to love riding it around the neighbourhood at the end of the day. Warning: never try to stand up on the pedals.
We'll have a couple more articles from our California trip in the coming days.
Comments
lev3000
1 year ago
The Gas Gas suspension should sell well in Florida!
Reply
lev3000
1 year ago
But it is nice to see a new (to MTB) name rearing its head. I wonder if it will stay e-MTB specific?
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
If they mostly market in motorsports shops I think that's what we can expect. On the other hand, KTM owns Gas Gas and they make a full line of mountain and road bikes. I had a look at their 'enduro' bike just now however and the XL has a reach of just 483, so they might not be putting much effort into the human-powered side.
Reply
Dr.Flow
1 year ago
Hey Cam, KTM Motos has nothing to do with KTM bicycles. They split in 1991 and are two different and independent companies.
And yes, KTM bicycles are mainly focusing on XC and road bikes. Therefore it's best to ignore their bikes for any gravity oriented riding.
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
That's funny, because I originally thought that was the case but when they started talking about Gas Gas and Husqvarna, and everyone there was referring to the company as "KTM group," and the distribution was being handled through motorsports dealers, I figured I was wrong.
I guess they want people to think that they are associated? Otherwise why would you license the name. It seems strange they would split into three brands though, and pay licensing agreements for three names instead of one. Maybe Moto riders are very brand loyal so it makes sense?
Thanks for the heads up!
Reply
mnihiser
1 year ago
I went to the websites for Gas Gas and Husqvarna to sort this out. Husqvarna is only listing "E balance bikes" @ 12" and 16" wheels- no full size E-bikes and no meat engine bikes. GG has a full range of E bikes (including hardtails) but no meat engine bikes. BTW the GG E-bikes are butt ugly; look like they used a 6" X 6" timber to mold the downtubes.
Dr.Flow
1 year ago
When KTM defaulted the involved banks split the organisation and its four branches, motos, bikes, radiators and tooling, into separate companies and sold them. KTM motos and bikes agreed to be allowed to use the KTM brand, but only in their separate fields. That's why KTM moto is not allowed to use the brand name KTM for bicycles and therefore uses GasGas and Husqvarna for their ebikes.
Cam McRae
1 year ago
Dr. Flow - this is even more convoluted than I thought! So KTM bicycles is distinct from KTM Moto, but Gas Gas and Husqvarna are subsidiaries of KTM group (the Moto side) but have no affiliation with KTM bikes?
Which means KTM bikes wouldn’t likely be sold at a dealer who sells KTM Moto (although they could be I suppose) while Gas Gas and Husqvarna would?
What a beautiful mess! That explains a lot for me though. It seemed weird that the KTM booth was so far away from the Gas Gas and Husqvarna booths, which were side by side.
Dr.Flow
1 year ago
Replying here, coz I seem to be unable to do at your latest reply.
Yes, KTM bikes is a separate company and completely independent of KTM Group. KTM Group uses their acquired brands of Husky and GG for their ebikes.
And yes, I doubt you will ever see a KTM bike sold at a KTM moto dealer.
How I come to know of all of this? I have a friend working at KTM Group responsible for their ebike program who told me a lot about it.
danithemechanic
1 year ago
Sorry Cam, i feel like i have to punctualize: Rude has been Junior DH world champion in 2013.
I'm not familiar with past DH history and i wanted to look it up, mostly to see wich bike he won on.
It was a Yeti 303 WC:
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
I forgot the Junior part! Good catch. Thanks. I used to drool over those bikes.
Reply
Ethan Nishimura
1 year ago
Maybe next time we could celebrate Bailey Goldstone's achievements without immediately prefacing her as "Jackson's sister"? I don't recall seeing any headlines saying "Bailey's brother wins Hardline!!"
Anyways, just an observation, take it for what you will. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
Interesting. Are you saying that because Bailey is female? If Jackson's sibling was male I would have done the same thing, so it wasn't gender-based. I was simply associating someone who is not likely well-known with our audience (which is only about 27% Canadian) with their more well known sibling, who has spent a couple of years on the world stage. Notoriety rather than gender was at play here.
Reply
Adam Brown
1 year ago
Thank you for doing your part to make the world a better place Ethan.
Reply
Jerry Willows
1 year ago
Wait... are you saying he is making the world a worse place by pointing out that a female racer from Canada, who isn't known world wide, is the sibling of a racer who is becoming very well know world wide? Because one happens to be female and one happens to be male? The virtue signaling is very strong.
How are you making the world a better place?
Reply
Adam Brown
1 year ago
My mockery was too subtle.
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
Well played.
Unfortunately, virtue signalling is the new epidemic so your comment wasn't unprecedented.
Reply
Andy Eunson
1 year ago
Oh my. That old blue Bronco. Wow.
Reply
IslandLife
1 year ago
Interesting tidbit about the Ridewrap possibly peeling the Cerakote coating. I recently had a conversation with another manufacturer talking about the issues they're starting to see with Ridewraps that have been on frames for multiple years peeling paint when owners try and remove the wrap.
Reply
kcy4130
1 year ago
Talk about irony!
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
I think heat would help a lot. But too much heat could hurt a lot.
Reply
Lacy Kemp
1 year ago
DONNY! (And Wang and Mandell). What a trio.
Reply
mnihiser
1 year ago
I think WP have been moving on from that name for a long time. I don't recall seeing it in the moto world since the mid 90's.
Reply
Pete Roggeman
1 year ago
That was how it was told to us as well - ancient history and not meant 'that way'. Probably unfair to mention it, but it was an interesting tidbit nonetheless.
Reply
Carlos Matutes
1 year ago
Two things: first, would We Are One please STOP making such good looking bikes?!? I bought my Knolly Chilcotin to have for more than a couple of years, this lust for an Arrival is not helping.
Second, do we now need to stand on everything, Leo?
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
If only that bike had a transmission derailleur on there we could have had two people standing on it!
Reply
Velocipedestrian
1 year ago
So who was the Most Interesting Dude this year?
Reply
Cam McRae
1 year ago
Maybe Leo from Pole?
Clayton Wangbichler? And not just because he has the best name.
Tarek Rasouli?
So many choices!
Reply
Velocipedestrian
1 year ago
How does one settle a 'Name Off' in the bike industry?
If Cornelius Kapfinger visits the same trade show as Clayton Wangbichler do they throw down like Specialized (lawsuits at dawn) or Strait (slalompage)?
Reply
Please log in to leave a comment.