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Words by Cam McRae
I'm done with the desert. We had a couple of great days riding but I feel as though I've been hanging out in a pizza oven and frankly, I'm done. Today between the two of us Dave and I saddled up six bikes. It wasn't always possible to get exactly what we wanted but in the end we did pretty well.
This was without a doubt the tastiest bike I saw all day. It is of course Steve Peat's new V10 that he'll campaign in the 2007 season for the Santa Cruz Syndicate team. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Even Steve Peat has to slow down occasionally and he'll have Avid Juicy Ultimates to aid that endeavour. They appear to be a rock star version of the Code brake - complete with Carbon levers and polished calipers. Photo ~ Cam McRae
No sign of the new Santa Cruz Bullit yet but I did see both VP Frees and Nomads sporting 1.5" head tubes. Now that the Rock Shox Totem is being so well recieved you'll see more and more beer can-sized front ends. Photo ~ Cam McRae
These two gentlemen Maillot Jaune (left) and Il Campione Del Mondo (right) travelled from Italy to attend Interbike. They weren't riding - just walking around in their lycra and looking at bikes. Photo ~ Cam McRae
While we're on the 'all shapes and sizes theme'... This gent was climbing up while Dave and I were in the Cattle Truck shuttling to the top. Atta boy! Photo ~ Cam McRae
Fergs: GT is launching the 2007 DHI as a new platform. There are significant changes in the I-Drive system resulting in reduced lag and quicker acceleration. Key items in the I-Drive have been retained: the system remains active under braking and there is no brake jacking. One goal GT had was to reduce the overall weight of the bike and they have definitely achieved that goal. The bike is very nimble and very confidence inspiring on the DH trails. According to Mark Peterman (director of product development for GT), "GT believes in making different stuff, we don't follow the pack". Photo ~ David Ferguson
This line was challenging because of the exposure. A foot down to my right would have meant a Wile E. Coyote-type tumble. Fergs and I switched bikes just before so he could shoot so this was my introduction to the 40 lb GT DHI. Fortunately it gave me Road Runner's confidence and everything turned out ducky. Photo ~ David Ferguson
My first bike of the day was also my first time on a Knolly Vtach. The first thing I felt when I began negotiating the rocks and dust was solidity. This is a tight machine that goes where you point it. If a grizzly blocked your path while riding a Vtach you'd probably just opt to plow through and knock it off the trail. A 1.5" Rock Shox Totem kept the front wheel on the ground and pointed and it felt fantastic. I want to get some more time on a Totem on the Shore to really get a feel for it but everything looks very promising thus far. Photo ~ David Ferguson
After the Knolly I saddled up a Fisher Fat Possum. It's a single pivot all mountain tool with relatively steep angles and a solid climbing postion. I confess that I wasn't expecting much but on the trails we rode the Possum sung like a drag queen doing Streisand. On the steeper upper half of the mountain it went where I asked it to and then lower down on Girl Scout (a trail John Schafer from MTBR calls his 'favourite trail ever') the Possum carved the swoops and esses so well it had me hooting and hollerin'. The Possum XT bounces on a Fox Float RLC up front with 140mm of travel and a Manitou Swinger X3 in the rear. I'm a huge fan of the emerging 6" travel go anywhere bikes and the Fat Possum looks like a nice addition to the category. Photo ~ David Ferguson
My third and final bike of the day was the Specialized Enduro S-Works Carbon. I had been trying to get one under me all day and as the sun was getting low I got my chance. It's shockingly light for a bike with 6 full inches of travel front and rear (well under 30lbs but I didn't hang it on a scale) and it climbs very well as expected Photo ~ David Ferguson
My expectations for the Enduro S-Works were perhaps unrealistic. The Specialized fork (Specialized chose to make it a dual crown to save weight) and rear shock found on the Enduro S-Works are still in development and while they are getting closer Specialized acknowledged there is work to be done. I didn't have much time to play with the settings but my impression was that while the geometry is dialled the suspension wasn't as lively or supple as it needs to be. Front and rear felt somewhat wooden and I wasn't inspired to let everything hang out and play. The good news is that the bikes won't roll into dealers until everything is sea worthy Photo ~ David Ferguson
A fantastic detail on the S-Works Enduro is the close to zero stack height headset. This fork accepts only a 25mm thu axle meaning that Chris King hub you've been saving for just the right bike won't fit. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Fergs only crashed when I had the camera in my hands. Here he is putting it back together after missing a turn on the Enduro and completing his matching set of shredded forearms. Photo ~ David Ferguson
David Ferguson laid down his bike in the wicked Nevada shale on Monday (right) and Tuesday (left). Photo ~ Cam McRae
Rob Rebholz is a pharmacist from New York who writes about mountain biking for a half the year and he joined us for a lap. Not stoked at all as you can see, he was already making space in his garage for an Intense Socom - 8.5" of VPP travel and no extra weight. Photo ~ Cam McRae
The end of the day yesterday was all about Progression - Kranked 6. After our cabbie got lost to the tune of $17 and then tried to make us pay for the whole ride we finally made our entrance. It's great to see people you haven't seen for ages at Vegas premieres but they are shitty places to try and watch a movie. Nobody shuts up for a second and the drunken, back-slapping buffoonery doesn't let up at all. I couldn't hear any dialogue and frankly it's just annoying to watch a movie you've been looking forward to while half the room can't be bothered to pay attention and Cory Leclerc is yelling his opinion in your ear. There is less subtlety to preserve in the NWD films but the environment is the same; half the people in attendance barely watch the screen. I like watching premieres with actual fans of mountain bike movies not a bunch of jaded industry folk.
Left to right; Pete Roggeman in from Lugano, Bender and
Fergs crushing his head after the premiere of Kranked 6. Photo ~ Cam
McRae
Despite the noise and mayhem I managed to catch some stellar segments in Kranked 6 and I can't wait to feed it into my DVD player. Leech's segment was as sick as expected, Voreis was off the charts and Rennie and Peat in the loam were amazing to behold. The NWD premiere is tonight. I may just wait for the home version.
Off to the show floor today. We'll check back in tomorrow morning.
