Go Clipless

Going home

Sitting on the plane on my way back east eating a Cinnabon. I'll have to do some serious riding this weekend to work off this 1000 calorie weakness.

I'm missing the last day of Interbike to get home for the weekend. Still have lots more to post about Interbike so stay tuned for more bike reviews, new products, fun stories, photo albums, and a surprise or two.

J-Vicious has gone to visit a friend in Colorado where he will ride some sweet singletrack.

Gotta go...they're making me turn this thing off.

Surly Conundrum

With so much attention being afforded to the Surly Pugsley at Interbike, many may have overlooked their other new frame for '06; the Surly Conundrum. This unicycle is built to use the same Large Marge rims as the Pugsley and is compatible with both 24 and 26 inch tires. The Conundrum will be available in late winter or early spring of 2006.

Adidas Redemption

Well, it looks like Adidas will have it's chance on the trail after all.  My first stop at the Interbike Expo was the Adidas-Mavic booth to slip on a pair of their newest XC Race mountain shoes.  The very first shipment of these shoes just arrived to the warehouse last week, so I was totally juiced to be one of the first consumers to wrap my Adidas-loving feet inside these pedi-shells.

Oakley for your lifestyle

Lots of cool bags on display at Interbike.

Oakley is no longer just a sunglass maker. One look around their massive booth showed a range of products from luggage, to sandals, and jackets. Here's a look at their new collection of "lifestyle" bags. At first it looked like most of the features were simply for show, however, upon further examination it became clear that many of them were useful. For example, on one bag there is a small hard case compartment to house an iPod or cell phone and keep it protected. Another bag had specially made straps to carry a skateboard.

Nothing specifically made for cyclists, but if you are active in a range of sports or need a nice bag for commuting on your bike you should check these out.

Sweetskinz

Check out these tires from Sweetskinz. They call them "retroflective." These things look really cool, but the tire treads are rather simplistic. New tread designs are coming soon, however. Match these up with some Dirty Dog rotors and you've got yourself one kickin' ride!

On Guard in 2006

OnGuard Locks claim to be bigger and badder than all of the other guys. Here's a look at their new product line up for 2006. Highlights include a new set of locking wheel and seat quick release skewers. Great for urban cyclists that aren't just riding around on an old beater bike.

Unchained in the Rain

Last night we were invited to the world premiere of Unchained, a movie about freeriding (more on this in a minute). The film was to be unveiled at Rain, a night club in the Palms Hotel.

The question: what do you wear to a mountain bike movie premiere held at a club?

An occasional club-goer myself, I had packed several club specific outfits, however, J Vic did not. Mind you, packing for this kind of a trip isn't easy. Six days and five nights is a long trip for packing in the first place, but throw in the various activities we had planned and you get exponential growth in terms of clothing required. We packed clothes for riding, bumming clothes to change into after the ride, clothes to attend the indoor expo, and clothes to go out in at night. What a pain in the ass! Anyway, to make a long-story short, I had an extra club shirt and lent it to J. But, his trail running shoes would have to make do.

We hopped in a cab and made it to Rain by about 9:40pm, with the premiere scheduled to begin at 10. Perfect timing. The place was already packed, but the crowd was navigable. We decided to forgo the usual beers and went for some drinks instead; vodka and club soda for me, gin and tonic for the Vish.

Outdoor Demo: Take 2

The boys at Go Clipless got a slow start on day two of the Outdoor Demo.  Day one in the desert followed by the doubleheader - at Pearl Bros, then the Dust-Off - tucked us away soon after returning to the Go Clipless Mobile HQ.  We spent the morning of day two catching up on posts and ultimately not getting to the gunfight until high-noon.  Immediately upon arriving at Bootleg Canyon, the onslaught of bikers pedaling to-and-fro made day one look like a whiskeyless saloon.

Being a risk taker, the J Vic barefooted it to the Canyon in hopes of testing a pair of the Specalized S-works shoes.  Although the Pearl Izumi "blue shoes" from the day before were size 42.5, I had to go up to a 44 in the Specialized to get the same fit.  But, oh, what a glorious fit it was.  Just as Gman touts the comfort of the Specialized as feeling like you aren't even wearing a shoe, these kicks lived up to his claims.  The Dynamic Fit System works along the same lines as my Solomon XCR trail running shoes, which tightens the entire cable lacing system with one tug, however, Specialized takes this one step further with a unique Boa ratcheting system.  The result, a shoe that conforms snugly to each individual foot like traditional laces, without the loosening-over-time effect.  To further increase individual comfort, the Body Geometry Technology footbed provides (among other features) a metatarsal button, a small raised "knob" in the middle of the sole that basically acts like a personal accupressurist/reflexologist in your shoe.

I still want to pedal a few strokes in the new Adidas shoes since their running shoes fit me like a glove, but, unfortunately, their booth was not providing demo's of their products.  Did I mention that we're reporting to you from the OUTDOOR DEMO?  I'm told that their booth at the conference will have sizes to try on...exactly what I was looking for, sampling a mountain bike shoe on a concrete floor.  I'm sure that will give me good idea how they perform on a clipless pedal.

Before I get to the bikes, I gotta give creative props to those cats over at Dirty Dog MTB and their unique rotors for a personalized disc look.  They've currently got about half a dozen designs and are working on refining a few more for next year.  One of the newest styles to make its debut at Interbike 2005 is the Ace of Spades...totally Vegas, baby!!

Amazingly, we managed to ride just as many bikes today, with twice as many people in attendance and in half the time.  Read on for a quick rundown of our impressions and the rodeo finale, where J Vic validates His Viciousness.

The women of mountain biking

They call themselves chicks, but these women of mountain biking represent their sport well. Every time we turned around one of the chicks was working the booth of one of their sponsors. Got to hand it to these ladies that have it all going on...mad mountain bike skills, great business savvy, and their hot!

It was fun talking to (in order from left to right) Alison Dunlap, Shonny Vanlandingham, Katerina Hanusova, Kathy Pruitt, and Marla Streb. Marla even checked out Go Clipless on her Treo 650. Let us know what you think Luna Chix!

Are you a Dirty Dog?

Want to brake with style? Try these dirty dog rotors on for size. For the last nine months Dirty Dog MTB has been on a mission to make components with "the performance you expect but look better than anything else out there."

Dirty Dog MTB claims their rotors are as strong as any of the competition and are made of a special stainless steel. Four designs were prominently displayed including the tadpole, ace of spades, gecko, and skull. Sure they cost a little more (around $65), but hey, why not? Be different.