Check it out.
Rocky Mounts – Came out with what is apparently the only through-axle locking adapter on the market. It’s nice because you can put the axle in your bike, then mount on the car without having to do a balancing act. They also have a roof mount that doesn’t involve removing your front wheel. It also comes with a fat-bike adapter.
MAXXIS – Word on the street is that they will likely produce a special tire for National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) for high school students. They also came out with the Campione TT, which is so light that there is absolutely no puncture protection.
Reynolds – This wheel company has a new black-label line for mountain bikes. It shaves weight on hubs and spokes. It uses a flat aero spoke that is flat-forged, so it is still strong. In 2016, they’ll be coming out with a full carbon downhill wheel for the Pivot Cycles Factory Downhill Team. They also offer a two-year insurance program for wheels. On the road side, they have an attack disc road wheel that is disc-brake ready. They also have a tubeless-ready road wheel, which they are the first to market.
Gu – They’ll be doing rebranding in 2015. Latest Gu flavors are Root Beer and Caramel Macchiato (just released). They are both awesome and good enough to eat off the bike.
Albabici – This is an importer of Italian cycling products. They’ve got Nalini black label kits, which are super high-quality and what Astana wears. They had some interesting whimsical women’s kit offerings – think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The photo is of Selle’s fully carbon saddles with no cushioning. Imagine sitting on that for 100 miles.
PowerBar – They’ve come out with wafers similar to snack wafers you ate as a kid. Honey Stinger does the waffle wafers, but PowerBar wafers are really light and different. This was probably one of my favorite food offerings other than Gu.
Mio – Mio is a heart rate monitor for your wrist, allowing you to ditch the chest strap. Takes continuous heart rate and is bluetooth capable. The Velo (which launches in November) will integrate with ANT+ speed/cadence sensors and could be power capable at launch (if not at release, will likely be added soon after). The Mio is rechargeable and plugs in to your USB. Very clean design but could be weird for triathletes or runners who are usually already wearing a watch. The Mio Velo is waterproof.
Nikola Pedals – These were crazy weird. The idea was born out of speed skating and the idea that if you could engage the adductors and abductors in your pedal stroke, you could potentially get more power. The company says it increases power output by 7 percent in testing and that testers reported decreased knee pain. They are currently starting medical testing, which should be done in about six months. Their value proposition is power and efficiency, because the pedals themselves are on the heavier side. The CEO worked on the pedals part-time for five years before getting to the point of launching. They are only manufacturing a road version now, but can manufacture on any platform and will produce a mountain biking (SPD) version in the future.
Knight Composites – This is a small, new carbon road wheel company brought to you by former ENVE and Reynolds executives. These wheels have tested fastest in the world and are definitely making waves.
Magellan – A portable GPS consumer electronics company that has some really nice cycling computer options. The Cyclo 505 has an iOS-like software setup that is more polished than Garmin and by far the nicest I have seen. One of the coolest features is the “Surprise Me” function that suggests three ride route options for you and gives you turn-by-turn directions as you ride. The device also includes an emergency-call feature that will alert your emergency contact if there is a problem. The Cyclo is Di2 road shifting system compatible, Bluetooth and ANT+ compatible and hooks up with a long list of power meters.
Skins – This is an Aussie company that offers compression clothing. One of the coolest things I saw was their A400 tech – clothing that helps regulate your body temperature by using a thermo regulation polymer built into the fabric. They are also using a glass bead technology for reflective features (reflects gold instead of silver because eyes see gold better at dawn/dusk when most people ride). The glass beads are really unique – the reflective features are black when no light shines on them, but when you turn on a flash, they shine gold. They’ve also got flatter seams that don’t bug you and the only difference in their men’s/women’s lines is fit and style.
Lauf – A company out of Iceland that manufactures forks for cross-country and marathon mountain biking. Their forks are extremely light, weighing less than 990 grams and have a really innovative design. The fork only has 60mm of travel, or shock absorption, so is really stiff, but is good at small bump absorption. Definitely not for downhill or anything big.
DZR – A shoe company out of San Francisco with a new dirt shoe line focused on performance (in past, the company has been more focused on looking good and producing cool urban/commuter shoes). They’ve got two new flat pedal performance shoes. One is the “Sense” which is really cool – thin sole, gummy rubber. They’ve also got a waterproof shoe, appropriately called the H2O, that would be overkill for Arizona but still looks cool.
Pinarello – This Italian company has a sick new version of the Dogma road bike. It is 45 percent more aerodynamic and drops 120g of weight from last year’s version. They’ve started using a new carbon that is a Pinarello exclusive, which is the reason for the weight drop and is 12 percent more stiff. Price point is around $5,000. They offer another bike called the Prince, which is similar to the Dogma (comes from the Dogma frame) but uses different carbon and is at a more accessible price point, around $3,000.