Interbike Outdoor Demo Photo Blog

Dirt demo proved to be a worthwhile day cooking in the hot Las Vegas sun. The Mountain Flyer crew was able to get some laps in on a variety of bicycles during our morning at Bootleg Canyon. Trails were fast and fun but the soil was unforgiving, with sharp rocks and loose corners bikes were sure to comeback hammered by industry folk. Below is a quick trip through our morning of bike demos.  Check back for full show coverage.

Devinci Dixon SL was a fine example of what a 5" travel bike should be. Utilizing Dave Weagle's Split pivot suspension design, Dixon offers an efficient yet extremely compliant ride feel. Speced out with Sram X0 2x10 and Fox suspension the Dixon SL is a great way to get in to a bike that needs little upgrading.

The Yeti Big Top was a popular bike in Vegas. A Yeti's first step in to the 29er scene, Big Top is a smooth yet very responsive Aluminum Hardtail. Featuring a tapered headtube, 12mm rear thru-axle, ISCG mounts, and Interchagable rear dropouts for a SS option. With an aluminum mainframe and carbon rearend Big Top is a great new offering from Yeti and has proven to be a hot bike.

Breezer bikes Cloud 9 Pro Carbon is yet another display of the popularity and commitment to 29ers that has been adopted by the bike industry. With a full carbon frame Breezer has embraced changed and has done it with success. Offering a smooth supple ride, Joe Breeze has designed a bike that fits the current market trend while utilizing his countless years of bike building to do it right.

Belt drive bicycles have been around for a few years now but the technology continues to improve. Gates new Centertrack system claims ” to provide the lightest, strongest, cleanest and highest-performing belt-drive system ever created.” Keeping the belt aligned on the cogs seems to be the biggest push for the Centertrack system, making belt setup much easier and smoother. While we were unable to ride one of the new designs first hand we are anxious to see belt drive technology continue to improve.

Outdoor demo wasn't only about riding bikes, many companies had lots of new eyecandy for industry insiders. Blackburn had many new products on display, most interesting were their new multi tools. One even boasting a shock pump. Thats right, the tool pictured on the far left includes a shockpump and a valvecore tool along with allen and torx keys and a chaintool. Most impressive with their tools was their sleek minimal design keeping them light and extremely easy to carry along on rides.

Giro introduced their new Xar helmet. Taking a similar approach to the game as the previous Xen, Xar provides updated ventilation with larger airflow channels and X-Static pads. It also features their new Roc Loc 5 retention system, featuring a single dial adjuster, making fit adjustment an easy, one-handed job. 

Although not a new bike for 2011, we were excited to get a ride in on the Yeti ASR7. Boasting 7" of travel, the ASR utilizes a similar idea of a 575 but with more travel. Designed around epic Colorado trails this is a "do it all" kind of bike, we can attest that it does it all and it does it all really well. 

Another new company moving in to 29" bikes is Norco. Shinobi features 140mm of travel, a tapered steertube, ISCG chainguide mounts, and a new one piece design link arm. Out back, the Shinobi uses the 142×12 rear axle system and post mount brake tabs.

Norcos patented FSR suspension design with a new one piece link arm. Featuring a custom tuned shock

There are always other ways companies hope to drive traffic and attention to their booths. We are easily persuaded.