INTERBIKE 2004 Called the Caribou Optimum 61 Cyclo Believes It’S Thoroughly Silly That a Bike Did You Ever Wonder How Much Cross Touring and Hybrid Frame
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CYCLESENSE Colorado’s DaVinci) has a touring frame has a new United States distributor, who Bikes range from $1,250 to $1,800. INTERBIKE 2004 called the Caribou Optimum 61 Cyclo believes it’s thoroughly silly that a bike Did you ever wonder how much Cross Touring and Hybrid frame. They that sells fifteen thousand pieces per year force it takes to disengage your shoe from What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. A look at the bicycle industry’s annual North American trade show displayed it in its touring configuration worldwide would only sell three hundred an SPD pedal? A hands-on demonstration by John Schubert and in its cyclo cross configuration. in the United States. Look for more at the Fit Kit booth gave the answer. Burley entered the touring bike business aggressive marketing from Birdy. This They had a Shimano pedal mounted on a this year with two welded steel frame full-suspension folder has much to recom- test stand, and a torque wrench attached First, the annual disclaimer. With fifteen acres of floor project can be expanded and copied by models, the Vagabond and the Hudson. mend it. There are three models between to an SPD cleat. The answer: about 50 space, the Interbike trade show has too much stuff to the private sector. The private sector The Hudson is the fancier of the two, $800 and $1,500, plus the over-the-top inch pounds (which is roughly the same needs guidance in this direction: a bicycle with a gorgeous green metalflake paint as four foot pounds). see in three days. Mere mortals will see a lot, but miss sometimes seen in Africa is a $20 full- job. Giant has discontinued its touring Speaking of pedals, the invention of suspension mountain bike made in India bike, the one with the hub-mounted disc the year was a work in progress called a lot too. Second, the two most interesting things I — that falls apart after a week. brakes, due to poor sales. Koga-Miyata the Side Mount Pedal (SMP). Inventor saw at the show were not products. Third, as always, I can The other interesting thing I saw? displayed an exceptionally stout Steve Lubanski envisions doing away report that touring bikes and accessories are alive and well, The dominance of Trek in the American European-style “trekking” touring bike, with pedals as we know them. At the marketplace has reached a new level. You with upright handlebars, no suspension, end of the crank arm, there would sim- although still occupy a small niche in the marketplace. may have noticed that most bike shops and everything very heavy duty. Fuji’s ply be a donut-shaped steel fitting, which The most interesting thing I saw was a new program either look like Trek factory outlets with America touring bike, the one with car- spins freely on its ball bearings. Your happy owners, or stores full of other T bon fiber front forks, no longer has shoe would have a slot on the side, to R E B launched by the Institute for brands, with not-so-happy owners. The U threaded bosses for low-mount pannier slip over this fitting, plus an appropriate H C Transportation and non-Trek store owners will sulk a little S racks on those forks. internal structure to carry the pedaling N H O Development Policy (ITDP). more now, because the well-known J I was charmed by Ortlieb’s new lug- force from the ball of your foot to this fit- ITDP is a sometimes-lonely SuperSale program, which delivers an gage-style rack trunk. When it’s off the The Topeak tent for mountain bike tourists. ting. It’s a work in progress because not voice urging less developed coun- enticing catalog full of goodies on sale to bike, its telescoping handle and small all the parts exist yet. But the abbreviated tries to create transportation your door, is now open only to Trek wheels allow you to tow it, not carry it. version with its Rohloff hub at $3,000. pedal exists, as do drawings of the imag- policies that make sense, particu- dealers. The dominance of Trek in the Some other items of interest: DaHon, the folder king, has among ined shoe. As an interim step, Lubanski larly given their lack of economic marketplace is similar to that which Want to say “heck no” to punctures? its many models a motorized electric fold- has a titanium piece that attaches to his power, instead of rushing to Schwinn enjoyed forty years ago. From Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 3T er, the Rue EL. It’s $1,600, weighs 37.4 abbreviated pedal and bolts onto the fit- motorcars and repeating all the Of course, Trek has earned that manufacturing offers the Thorn pounds, offers five speeds, all with a tings on the bottom of your shoe. mistakes that more developed dominance with good products. One Terminator, an aluminum belt tire liner. claimed range of up to fifty kilometers. Interestingly, the once-mighty E M countries have made. ITDP example of that, which caught my eye, is E Their testing machine showed it warding Inventors never quit, and Canada’s Diamondback brand is down to one D E K launched a project they call a new rear suspension system on their I off test punctures that penetrated mere Go Bike folder was on display to chal- model of road bike. Times change. One of the three models of the Birdy folding bike. M CaliforniaBike, to sell good-quali- road bikes. The suspension involves a Kevlar belts. lenge the established brands. The Go ty mountain bikes in Africa. They started small, because the idea telescoping monostay seatstay, with appropriate elastomers Good news for folding bike lovers: Bike was displayed nesting comfortably Technical Editor John Schubert hangs out at schub was to learn how to make the process work. They got some inside. Visually, it’s terrific: you wouldn’t know it’s there unless the excellent but hard-to-find Birdy folder inside a medium size cubby hole. Go [email protected] good partners in the process. And they have indeed learned. you knew what you were looking for. You get about a half inch ITDP got Trek to design a simple six-speed mountain bike that of suspension travel, enough to smooth out bumps and vibra- would be both a good utility bike and fun to ride. They got tion. It comes on high-performance skinny-tire road bikes from Giant to build two thousand of them in China. And they insti- $1,700 to $3,000. A version with more race-like geometry is tuted programs to sell them in Ghana, Senegal, and South sold under Trek’s Klein brand name. I’d love to see Trek try it Africa. After tariffs, the bikes sell for roughly $100. out on their 520 touring bike. The results have been encouraging and educating. Only in The coolest product at the show was a tent from Topeak. Senegal can they successfully sell the bikes in bike shops. In the Aimed at mountain bike tourists, it uses your bike and removed other countries, they need a variety of sales strategies, such as front wheel in lieu of tent poles. The front wheel holds up one employee purchase programs and school programs. Bikes are end of the tent; the bike’s handlebars hold up the other end. A sold mostly in the harvest season, when people have more dummy axle that you put into your front dropouts has a stake money. The bikes are highly prized and, you already knew this, you drive into the ground, so the bike stays upright. very useful. The touring bike count at a glance: There are some new While two thousand bikes won’t transform a continent, the entries in the lineup. Canada’s DeVinci (not to be confused with 32 ADVENTURE CYCLIST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG ADVENTURE CYCLIST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2004 ADVENTURECYCLING.ORG 33.