Interbike Remnants
I’m a big fan of remote adjustable seatposts. Until now the Gravity Dropper has been the champ in my books. It’s incredibly reliable, the action is positive and it gives four full inches of height adjustment. The trouble is that for many of us 4″ isn’t enough. Another limitation is that the Gravity Dropper and Specialized’s Command Post – unlike Crankbrothers’ Joplin – has only three options; full up, part way down or full down.
I had seen the RASE booth out at the demo but I never had a chance to swing by – so when I stumbled upon their booth in the expo I was interested to see their product. My expectations weren’t high but I was blown away by the RASE. The post gives you a full 9″ (229mm) of saddle height adjustment. That will take someone with very long legs from road climb position to nasty steep down with the press of a lever. They already had me with 9″ but then I could see that there were 20 position options.
Unfortunately we didn’t get a close up of the post in the background – but if you look closely you can see the holes all the way up the post – 20 in all.
The RASE post is an aluminum I-Beam. The narrow part of the beam is drilled out 20 times so the plunger can find the right height for you for any terrain. It’s spring operated and you can actually see what is happening easily – which should make it easy to repair if things go wrong. The thumb-operated lever has a very positive feel and it’s small and out of the way. RASE offers their posts in four sizes; 27.2, 30.0,30.9 and 31.6. I’d be inclined to purchase the 27.2 and use sleeves – particularly because you can ditch the QR on your post for good. Hopefully we’ll have one of these to test shortly. The RASE Black Mamba post weighs 686 grams (according to RASE) and it’ll set you back US $349 plus $18 if you’d like a neoprene cover. If you’d like to do your own testing you can pick one up at rasebike.com
X-Fusion was showing off their new high-end Vector HLR rear shock. You can adjust the high or lo speed compression without affecting the other setting. I also features a metal matrix construction that makes it weigh less while still being measurably stronger than 6-series aluminum. U.S. MSRP is $449.99.
X-Fusion also had the production version of their Vengeance HLR fork on display. This little beast feaures 36mm stanchions, a 20mm thru-axle, 160mm of travel and both high and low speed compression damping. You get all that and it still comes in under five pounds. We have had a prototype version on our NSMB.com Project Bike for a few months now and will have a full report for you soon.
Foes has done some serious tweaking on their DH rig and they aren’t done yet. The new version is still in the prototype stages but they are claiming some serious weight savings… like multiple pounds off the frame alone. Once the final design is in, the numbers will come in to a clearer focus but count on this one being much more svelte than its predecessor while still delivering ten inches of rear wheel travel.
This is Foes Curnutt coil over shock that would not look out of place on my truck, but it actually fits on their DHS frame and allows them to dleiver the trademark 2:1 leverage ratio Foes is famous for.
One of the strange things about Interbike is finding one company’s gear displayed at another company’s booth. Case in point: while factory rider Andrew Taylor’s sweet-looking hardtail was on display the the Marin booth, his full suspension slopestyle rig from Crankworx was sitting at the FSA/Gravity booth several aisles away. I wonder what AT had left in the stable if he wanted to get a rip in while visiting Vegas?
In the world of consumer electronics, I generally shy away from first generation devices. There are always bugs. The same could be said for radical new designs in the world of mountain bike suspension. Before you’ve read this next line, you may have already thought of Kona’s Magic Link. Lee recently reviewed the Coilair Supreme – a good place to start if you want some nitty gritty about how the system works. I had a chance to speak with Brian Berthold at the Kona booth about the new Kona Cadabra – a new bike designed around the Magic Link suspension (rather than an existing bike with the new suspension shoe-horned in).
The Cadabra has a total travel of 6.3 inches via the combination of 4″ on the main shock and 2″ (approx) from the Magic Link. The really interesting thing about the system is the way it allows the geometry to change within 4 degrees (+/- 2 degrees from neutral), giving the rider a 69 degree head angle when climbing and 66 degrees when descending.
Hydroformed tubing and some design changes from the Coil Air (which, by the way, is still around for 2010, but with slightly less travel than the first gen) have resulted in a lighter, stiffer and stronger frame. Shorter chain-stays and a shorter shock contribute to the weight savings. With all shock hardware, the frameset weighs in at 7 pounds, so it’s possible to build this bike up to weigh between 26 and 28 pounds. Brian pointed out a couple of times that the Coil Air is a better performer down hill when you hit the 20mph mark. I think we should get another one for Lee to test so he can compare and contrast it with the Coil Air.
Kona is moving towards a bmx style rise on the handlebars of some of their dj/park bikes.
You may think that’s going to wrap it up for us from Vegas – but we still have some milking to do. Anything to say about Magic Links, 9″ adjustable posts or shocks fit for a truck? Give ‘er here…
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