Crankworx 2009 Product Highlights
Words by Stuart Kernaghan. Photos by Stuart Kernaghan.
Over the last few years, Crankworx @ Whistler has become somewhat of a launching point for new products from bike companies. There were actually fewer exhibitors in the village this year (word on the street was that the space was too expensive), but I still managed to get a few pix of sweet new gear. Check 'em out.
Giant Bicycles
Giant bikes were all over the place in '08. Stand in the lift line at Whistler, ride the Shore, or hit your favourite XC loop and chances were good you'd see a Giant. Although there's nothing earth-shaking going on with the '09 line-up, some cosmetic changes and minor spec changes are good to see.
The '09 Glory DH, fully spec'd out for the race course with an awesome MSRP of $5,200.
The Glory 0 freeride bike, complete with a custom Race Face chainguide made just for Giant bikes.
The new Reign X0 for '09 is a stellar gold colour, and also gets the new RF two-ring chainguide.
A few other notes on Giant bikes - there are photos of a new Giant DH bike floating around the interweb. I spoke with Giant Canada marketing manager Randy Pye, and the official word is that the company is trying out several different prototypes for both the Glory / DH and Reign X line of bikes. Nothing has been decided with regard to production timelines, and the company isn't in a huge rush to get the bikes into consumers' hands until they're satisfied that the bugs are worked out.
Other big news - the all-mountain Reign, which I tested earlier this year, now gets one of the new 15mm thru-axle forks for '09. Front travel is still 140mm, but the stiffer fork should tighten up handling significantly.
Specialized
Cam got to check out the '09 Specialized SX Trail bikes a little while back, so I won't go into detail on that bike. It looks like some of the other bikes from the Big Red S are benefitting from frame and geometry changes - like the Big Hit - while others are receiving more subtle fine-tuning. And somebody at Specialized finally figured out that bikes don't need to be garish colours.
The new Big Hit frame design finally abandons the classic styling in favour of something that resembles the SX.
The copper-coloured SX Trail was hard to ignore, thanks to the new tubes and awesome paintjob.
Tell me the new Demo 8 isn't made for Canadians. Go on, tell me...
The Demo 7 is earning a loyal following among riders who go big but don't want 8" of squish.
Cannondale
Cannondale set up shop in the parking lot pits and were showing off a fleet of the new carbon fibre Moto all-mountain bikes. The Hatchet Drive floating linkage looks complicated, but it's still the tried-and-true single pivot design that Cannondale has relied on for years.
The 160mm Moto bikes are spec'd with non-Lefty forks from Fox and RockShox.
Corsair Bikes
Corsair has been producing a hardtail DJ bike and pedals for a little while now, and are getting closer to production on their unique line of long-travel full suspension bikes. It will still be a few months before anyone can throw a leg over their own Corsair DH or freeride bike, so until then you'll just have to make to with pictures.
The Maelstrom freeride bike, with adjustable headtube and a very interesting suspension design.
The Corsair Crown DH bike, complete with Corsair wheels. Hot metallic colours were everywhere this year.
The Crown sports a very unique top tube configuration. Definitely one solution to the age-old problem of standover height...
Rocky Mountain
Local bike guys Rocky Mountain were showing off new looks for '09.
One of several new colours for the popular Flatline freeride bike...
... and the understated Slayer SS (for Slopestyle) 396.
Scott USA
Scott's resurgence continues with their roll-out of new Gambler DH and freeride bikes, and ongoing tweaks to the all-mountain Ransom.
The Gambler is easy to pick out with its monocoque front triangle. Expect the bike to ship with a saddle.
The Ransom is back for more (very expensive) all-mountain fun. The minimalist colour scheme makes it look like some sort of Euro race car.
Hayes
Hayes is slowly digging its way out of the hole created by a series of less-than-successful products over the last few years. The Stroker line of brakes have been an important part of that process, and the latest addition to the Stroker line is the Ace. (For those of you who were not born in the '70s, this is also the title of a movie starring Burt Reynolds, in which he plays a stock car driver who feuds with a fried chicken magnate. If neither the '70s nor Burt Reynolds mean anything to you, then just get off on the cool wings on the Ace logo.)
The Stroker Ace boasts four pistons rather than the standard two of other Strokers, and other features that are designed for the gravity set.
Nike 6.0
Yup, Nike is in the mountain bike show business. Were they gone? I'm not sure. They did make XC shoes for a long time, but the skate-style cycling shoe thing is relatively new. Even newer is an SPD-compatible Nike shoe, which was designed in conjunction with Andrew Shandro.
Nike 6.0 shoes can be run with clipless or flat pedals. The plexiglass case kept the shoes safe, but made for crappy photos.
Giro
Giro helmets rule the lift line at Whistler, and they're going to be even more popular next summer thanks to some new colour schemes.
The '09 carbon Remedy lid is very carbon. It reminds me of the old Mad Max II carbon lid. A must-have for carbon fans.
For those of you who like sick helmets but don't have the bank for carbon, then you'll want to get your mitts on the new angry-zombie-meets-villagers Remedy.
Troy Lee Designs / celeb spotting
You often see interesting things when you're hanging in the pits at Crankworx. In this case, it was SRAM Canada good guy / DH racer / new Turner rider Tyler Morland sporting a wicked green racing suit from Troy Lee Designs. Tyler was nearly obscured by Greg "HB" Herbold, SRAM ambassador / bon vivant / product tester / Hite-Rite advocate and his equally hideous shorts. Thankfully, I escaped from the SRAM tent without any permanent retinal damage.
HB (Greg Herbold in the plaid shorts - in front of Tyler Morland) invariably telling some whippersnapper how much better it was to race DH on 3" of travel, wearing a Lycra skinsuit, back when disc brakes were as likely to kill you as stop your bike.
So there you have it - a relatively brief snapshot of some of the stuff in the expo area this year at the original Crankworx. Hopefully you're now inspired to save your ducats for the latest and greatest gear for '09, which should be available long before the new year actually rolls around.
Want it all? Disappointed that you can't kill villagers yourself? See yourself in a pink version of Tyler's race suit? Don't hold back - tell the world.
