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The Expo at Sea Otter is huge. It's also probably the largest concentration of bike stars in the world. Every type of bike racing except for BMX and Cyclo Cross happens there. Okay there's no track either but there are road and mountain bike races of every description on top of the dirt jumping and goofing around on the street style stunts. Many freeriders come out as well to see and be seen or to race if they are so inclined. If you have the chance you should check it out. It's a scene like no other.
Lapierre
One of Scott USA's biggest competitors in Europe is a little company called
Lapierre. Perhaps little isn't the right word since they actually produce
70,000 bikes every year and they've been around since 1946. The bikes have been
made in the city of Dijon by the Lapierre family since that date.
So after Scott made the leap across the Atlantic it's not too surprising to see Lapierre make the same move.
The Lapierre VProcess 452 Black DH. Designed with input from Nicolas Vouilloz - the 10x DH world champ turned rally car driver.
Lapierre makes a 900 gram (1.98lbs) road frame and Bradley McGee wore the Maglia Rosa at the Giro D'Italia last year on their bike. What about downhill bikes you ask? Lapierre has a friend in the DH world who helps them tune their bikes. He's also the man behind the V-Process design - Nico Vouilloz. In 2003 he signed a three year contract with Lapierre to help them develop a line of freeride and DH machines. Nico was apparently at Sea Otter to help with publicity but I didn't manage to spot him.
The bike you see above is the most recent product of his hard work. You'll notice a rear shock you may have never seen before. It's a VR66 from Marzocchi (although in the Marzocchi OE catalogue it's called a Roco RC) and Lapierre is the first manufacturer to spec the shock. The complete bike weighs in at 19.8 kilos (43.5lbs) and it can be set up with seven or eight inches of travel. No word yet on distribution or pricing but it's always good for consumers when a legitimate contender enters the market place.
What could be nicer under the Christmas tree: an Intense M3 VPP. This is Chris Kovarik's bike with a Manitou Travis up front.
| Manitou I still don't think I've ridden a fork I've liked as much as the 2003 Dorado and that's sad because the Dorado is no more. For 2006 Manitou is rolling out the Travis program. At the top end of the line Travis will use an updated version of the SPV system found in the Sherman Slider + as well as forks like the Sherman Firefly. Many riders felt that a weakness of the SPV system was it's inability to react to small bumps. To respond to this the goals of the SPV have been narrowed some. Instead of providing a platform as well as bottom out resistance the new system will focus on the bottom out while a cartridge will deal with the rest of the compression damping. |
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Riders like myself had a few other concerns about the Sherman Slider. The narrow stance gave it a large turning radius and the lack of clearance at the arch limited tire choice. Besides that though it is a stiff, reliable fork that performs well. The Travis dual crown has a stance that would make John Wayne proud along with plenty of tire clearance. The Travis passed bike shop fork test (apply front brake and bounce on handlebars) like an honours student. In fact it felt as good as any fork I have bounced on. Obviously this isn't a reliable way to test the performance of a fork but given Manitou's record I'm expecting very good things indeed.
Of course the 1.5" steerer lives on and this year there is a 200mm version of the 1.5 Travis. That's right - an eight inch travel single-crown fork. If it's anything like the Sherman Breakout Plus it should be a legitimate contender. It'll be interesting to see if any DH bikes come spec'ed with it for 2006.
Manitou's Bill Christenson standing beside a custom 1.5" headtube Intense M3 with a 200mm Manitou Travis single-crown up front.
Marzocchi The biggest news for us on the Shore is that Marzocchi is setting up shop here. Not a dealer-only warranty location - I'm talking about a spot where Joe Consumer can walk in and have their fork serviced (on the spot if possible) buy Marzocchi swag or deal with any warranty issues that arise. The location will be a stone's throw from the new Cove location on Main Street and Marzocchi USA boss Bryson Martin will spend much of the year working from that location. The lure of the trails here on the Shore, at Whistler and other spots nearby was too much to resist. James Durand from Norco has been hired to run the location. We'll let you know when the doors open. |
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Aaron Chase and "Hacksaw" Jim Severt wait their turn on the jumps.
Chris Van Dine landed a corkscrew - the most amazing dirt jump move I've seen in person. It was so smooth I couldn't even hear his tires touch down.
Heim 3Guide I'm a little sceptical about the product's ability to withstand the punishment
dished out by really gnarly terrain but I'm also seduced by the simplicity
of the concept. The inventor and one of his riders assured me that the
Heim can take the punishment. Check out their Web
site for more info. |
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This dude was the highlight of the DJ comp for me. He didn't seem to have an invite, and the jumpers were focused on qualifying, but the crowd was on his side. Sanjay Shanberg got everyone psyched by holding up his road bike and then ran to the top of the run in. He piled hard on his first attempt, brushed himself off and again held his bike up for the crowd - and this time they were really pumped. Off he went again and this time he nailed it. These were tough jumps even for the pros and I have no idea how he managed to pull it off on a bike with 700c wheels. Sanjay also managed a 2:33.9 in the Pro DH - a very respectable time.
Specialized Product manager Brandon Sloan moved up to Semi Pro at the end of last year so Sea Otter was his debut with the big dogs. He made the top 16 in dual and finished tied for 15th out of 54 riders in the DH. He's got more incentive than most to make bikes that perform racing at such a high level.
The UFC contenders before photo. Left to Right: Kurt Sorge, Matt Brooks and Jared Gatzka. They looked much worse the next morning after partying like rock stars with the gods of freeride.
So there's part two. I've got a bunch more photos that I'll be posting in our new gallery as well as shots from Harookz from the bike mag party. Stay tuned.
