I’m in the recovery process from Interbike –too much cool stuff, too much to take in, a biking smorgasbord, a cycling apparel all-you-can-eat, a died-and-gone-to-heaven experience.
I did the opening day on Monday and when you walk through the big Reno-Sparks Convention Center doors and into the multiple halls, it’s an intense rush of euphoria. I’m overwhelmed with two powerful realizations: I desperately need more bikes, I absolutely need a bigger salary.
The helmets from Oakley, Bolle, Arbus and Lazer are beautiful jewels. It’s amazing how many good-looking helmets are out there now. After Interbike, it seems reasonable that I should have ten helmets at least. Really, is that too much to ask?
Yamaha’s full line of e-biles looks fully thought out and ready to take over the United States. A Canadian company from Montreal that I’d never heard of called IGO also has a wide range of nicely designed e-bikes including a sweet looking road version. I want, I want, I want.
Raleigh continues to impress me with their smart designs, whether it’s a utility bike, gravel rig or e-bike. The styling is smooth and tight and the colors are unique. Then I turn down another aisle and behold, Van Dessel bikes that just jump out at you with slick set-ups.
I got a personal demo of Peter Sagan’s wild 100% eyewear with the built-in nasal dilator. I was skeptical that it was anything but a gimmick until they taped a small magnet to each side of my nose. When I put the eyewear on, the extended nose pieces instantly snapped to the magnets. That was cool but what happened next was actually wild. By turning the small dial at the top of the glasses, it pulls the side bars out, which pulls the sides of your nose out, dramatically opening up my air passages and my breathing. It was a revelation. Like a Breathe Right strip only way more powerful and yes, adjustable.
I got an extended, in-depth explanation of RedShifts’s ShockStop suspension stem that comes with five different different elastomers that dial in the degree of stiff or plush you want. This is going on my gravel bike as soon as I can convince them to send me one for review. Same goes for their ShockStop suspension seat-post. These are exciting new products and having had the experience of riding a gravel bike on more challenging terrain then just gravel, I am fully committed to a suspension stem and post.
Did I mention the apparel from Assos made me tremble with desire? That the Reform moldable carbon saddle had me intrigued, that I need those new Shimano candy colored RC9 road shoes? OMG. If only they were low volume and ran narrow — then I’d buy the flashy blue and the screaming lime green and my life would be immeasurably better.
So much to see, so much to do at Interbike. I will have a few posts coming up that go into more detail on specific products that caught my eye. It was a rocking good bicycle time.
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