Interbike I heard the figure "a million square feet" bandied about. Suffice to say you could easily land a couple of 747's side by side in there. Getting lost was easy and fun. Most of the time we were on a mission however, to see the goods - and the industry stars who were around every corner. Here Brian Lopes flexes for Steve Peat at the Dirt Demo in Blue Diamond, 20 minutes outside Las Vegas.

Dirt demo day was kind of a bust. It was hard to swing your leg over the bike you wanted without waiting behind the masses and it was slightly hotter than your discs after a dh run. It was a great chance to get our bearings though and the setting was beautiful. If you were looking to bust a lung on an xc bike you were right at home. I did manage to try a new RM7 which was very smooth and below you see Pete with an Orange Patriot. Mike from pinkbike found something even more extreme.

The Big Show
Saturday was a late one so by the time we rolled in things were jumping. For the first hour or so we just wandered to get our bearings - dreams of swag spurring us on. Our bearings set we headed straight for the Santa Cruz booth. It was all happening there. The coolest bikes and the coolest people were, not surprisingly found at the most stylish booth. There were others who obviously had spent more money, but nobody did it better.

 

The new VPP bike finally has a name; The V10. A full 10 inches of travel, running 3 inches of sag to keep the wheels on the ground on a frame that pedals, we are told, like a 3 inch travel bike. The V10 caused a lot of buzz, but there was also a racket about the new 5th element shock from Roy Turner. The shock is position and speed sensitive and is said to make a single pivot bike pedal as well as a four bar. Those who have tried the SC bullit with this upgrade say it feels like a redesigned bike. It also gives the bullit a full 7 inches.

 

We promised a shot of the Marzocchi girls but we only have one. For some reason she made Pete nervous. Team Zokie had it going on as well. They have stretched the Junior T and Super T to 7 inches filling a hole in their line. They unfortunately decided to stick with the QR20 plus system with the exception of the single crown Shiver which sports a true through axle.

Marzocchi

I will leave you with one of the show's oddities; the Marzocchi Monster 300. A full 12 inches of travel with the heft of the Monster to keep it going straight ahead. There were some rumblings that this was intended for Bender but negotiations broke down. It looks as though it will go into production on a limited basis. Expect a price tag in excess of $2000 us.

That is all for today. I will keep feeding you interbike goods over the next week or so.

cam@nsmb.com