So this may be a bit on the late side but seeing that most of this stuff still hasn’t hit the stores yet I thought I’d share these pics. What I have here is a compilation of my favorite photos from the show with some brief commentary so sit back and enjoy!

By far the coolest frame set I saw (next to the Banshee Legend) is the Intense 951 pictured above. I found myself just staring at this bike for far to long and almost missed my next appointment. Up close to this frame set you can see the quality work that went in to making this one of the most desirable DH frames around. With 150mm G3 rear axle spacing, one point five head tube, and over 8 inches of travel provided by an ohhh so nice Cane Creek double barrel rear shock this bike looked delicious.

Above, the same Intense 951 in red. Still nice, and this one was built up with Shimano Saint components and an Industry 9 wheel set with a Fox 40 RC2 up front and a DHX RC4 in rear. Can you say Sweet?!

Here is something that I personally want and not just for the red and orange anodized finish. The Ellsworth Rogue is a freeride bike with attitude. Not only does it look great but I had a chance to test ride one like this at Bootleg and it was super fun (the only down side - the run was too short). With 8 inches of rear travel and the Fox 40 RC2, this bike is a kick-butt machine.

It was hard to stop looking at Intense with all their models so close yet oh so far away. Here we have a pair of Uzzi frames. The Uzzi in blue has a Fox DHX Air 5 and the Red has the standard DHX 4 coil. You can also get this bike with the Cane Creek double barrel, at a cost of course.  For those who plan on taking big hits and hitting the park all day long you may not need look any further than the Uzzi.

This Ibis above boasts builds in the 25 pound range with 5.5 inches of DW link rear travel for those who want a quicker, snappier ride on a bike that won’t punish you too much after riding all day long. The Ibis can be ordered in various trim levels from Sram XX or X-9 group parts to Shimano XTR, XT or SLX.

I love cut-aways of bike stuff and there were plenty at Interbike to ogle. Here you can see a cut-away of the Fox RP23 with boost valve technology on your left, the new improved DHX AIR RC4 in the middle, and a 32mm F series front fork with Fit technology (borrowed from the 36 and 40mm forks) on the right. The Fit damper now allows the engineers to further save weight on the 32mm line-up by reducing the amount of fluid needed in that damper housing. Get close to a new 32mm fork and you will also notice that the engineers changed up the way the fork works as well by placing the rebound adjuster on the bottom (previous models placed the lock-out on the bottom). Check out FoxRacingShox.com for further information.

Walking around Interbike you couldn’t help but notice the Mavic display. Looking at the line up for next year they have really improved the wheels, especially for the trail and enduro riders out there. The new Crossmax ST wheels are even lighter than before, now at just 1615 grams. Mavic also changed up the graphics on the rims.

The new Deemax Ultimate at 1915 grams a set is absolutely crazy light for a full-on DH wheel set. These wheels come with all the bells as whistles to make them both strong enough and light enough for the demands of the DH circuit. The Deemax wheels also sport my favorite ITS4 cassette body and ISM (inter spoke milling with central spine) which reduces mass on the rim without loosing strength.  Check out Mavic.com for more info on these and the rest of the line up.

Here is just a random photo of the new carbon Ellsworth Enlightenment. What caught my eye here is the fine machine work on a part that just holds the brake and rear wheel. This attention to detail is second to none.

This bike was another one of those that you had to stop and drool over for a while. The Banshee Rune pictured here was shown in flat black and bright orange components. The Crankbrothers Iodine AM wheels along with Race Face AM cranks and bars (not shown) really made this bike and the components just added to the already awesome construction of this frame. You have to check out the Banshee website for more information on this bike as well as the rest of their line-up.

Hubba hubba… umm sorry. But just in case you have no clue what this is, this is the new aluminum version of the Dorado DH fork from Manitou. I am dying to do a review on this unit. This fork has everything a racer would want: high and low speed compression, rebound, and top-out and bottom-out control. To top it all off, these forks are assembled right here in the States. With 36mm stanchions and an inverted design this fork will take a kicking and keep on bouncing.

Answer is back with all new products this year. New thin and stout pedals, super wide 780mm DH bars, and 720mm AM bars are also available. The bars will come in two versions: a one-inch and two-inch rise for the AM Bar and half-inch and one-inch rise for the DH bar. A direct mount stem for the Dorado allows you to change the reach from 45, 50, 55mm while providing a strong grip to the bar with its wide face plate.

Sun-Ringle has totally revamped the line-up with new hubs, rims and colors that promise to impress everyone. The hub shot above gives just a taste of what you can expect to see in 2010. Straight pull spokes, anodized hubs and aluminum cassette bodies.

What’s not to like about the new Hayes Stroker Ace look for this year? Now in jet black with bronze-ish piston covers, this is one great looking, high performance brake set. Along with the Stroker Ace the entire line up now boasts new graphics and now the Stroker Grams come in all white.

Well that does it for my list of favorites from Interbike - hope you enjoyed the pics!

A little while back I wrote a review on Mavic’s Crossline wheel set which was and still is a great set of wheels. But I recently got a chance to ride with the Crossline’s big brother, the Mavic Crossmax SX, and the experience left me impressed. Now don’t think the big brother is larger or heavier than its sibling; in fact the Crossmax SX set weighs 300 grams less!

The 2009 Crossmax SX wheel set has a completely redesigned rear hub that drops 165 grams of weight and makes use of the same ITS-4 (instant transfer system 4) pawl cassette engagement found in the Crossline set. This means that 2 pawls are in engagement at all times and each pawl is separately sprung. The hubs’ look has also been updated and sport a white finish which fits nicely with the awesome white graphics on the rims.

Mavic has always been known for great looking, high performance wheels and this year they’re keeping the pedal to the metal. The 2009 Crossmax SX wheels sport a new gray anodized finish and fresh white graphics - but don’t think these rims are all style without any substance. After the rim is shot peened it is put through a chemical anodization process which adds a very tough micro hardness exterior layer to increase the life and durability of the wheel. While forming and shaping the rim, Mavic welds and machines everything flat in a process called SUP for extra precision. Mavic is also able to save weight through their inter spoke milling process using a CNC machine to remove excess material between each spoke.

The Crossmax SX wheels roll with 24 straight pull Zicral spokes (aluminum) compared to 28 steel spokes on the Crosslines. The front axle is available in a 20mm configuration only while the rear can either be a 12×135 through axle  or 9×135 QR. The Mavic Crossmax SX wheels seem to fit best on bikes with 140 - 160mm travel and tires that are 2.3 - 2.5″ wide.

Mavic Crossmax SX wheels are UST meaning they can used with tubeless tires. Looking at the inside of the rim there are no protruding spoke holes and therefore nowhere for air to leak. The rim also has a drop center that provides a small channel for air to inflate a UST tire and force the tire over safety ridges to hold the air-tight beads in place. Mavic even created a special manufacturing process called FORE to fit the special Mavic M7 spoke nipple which makes the wheel much stiffer and more fatigue resistant.

It took me very little time to get the Mavic Crossmax SX wheels up and running. Seeing that these are tubeless I grabbed a set of  tires that I happened to have around and got to work. Installing a UST tire is pretty much the same as a tubed tire, just use soapy water and wet the sidewalls of the tire before inflating (it really helps popping the tire is place with less pressure).

On the trails I really felt the difference the wheels made right away, especially when comparing the Crossmax SX running UST tires vs. Crossline wheels with tubes. Right off the bat I lost a total of  630grams (or  1.38 pounds) of rotational mass after making the switch. The coolest part: there is zero strength lost and the Crossmax SX wheels feel super stiff. That stiffness gives the rider greater freedom to change lines more quickly and with less effort while tracking oh so well in tight berms. I had an awesome time on the trails smashing my way down slopes with a much greater degree of control and freedom than I had before.

These wheels are also incredibly efficient in acceleration. Remember these are not DH wheels and they’re not meant for very big hits or fast descents through rock gardens. But after a good thrashing I must say these wheels held up great, though I did have to use the M7 truing key (supplied with the wheels) to take out a small wow on the rim after encountering a rather large log. Speaking of tools, Mavic supplies you with everything you need to service these wheels including an M7 truing key, 12 and 9mm frame supports, rear QR, and a bearing adjustment tool. They even toss in the UST valves if that’s the way you want to go.

At $899.00 USD ($1340.00 CDN) these are not cheap wheels but if look carefully you may find them for a lower price. Ultimately these wheels are worth a few extra bucks because they hold up to abuse and won’t hassle you with any worries or problems on the trail.

Cheers.

A quick thanks to the folks at OGC for the Mavic wheels and of course Opus for a stable and reliable bike to do my testing with.

The Mavic Crossline wheelset ($399.00 MSRP) is new for 2009. Mavic released these wheels for those of us who are on a budget but want a true Enduro wheelset. You can buy the wheels as a set or individually but your choice of colors is limited to black, black, or black (though they do have some cool new rim graphics). The wheels come with almost everything you need - a quick release skewer for the rear, rim tape for both wheels, and even a special tool for adjusting the rear hub bearings. Unfortunately the Crossline wheelset doesn’t come with a front quick release so you’ll need to pick up an adapter that sells for about $12 to convert to a 9mm configuration.

Some highlights of the Crossline wheels:

Tough 21mm internal wide rim
28 straight pull, steel spokes
Oversized hubs with large cartridge bearings
A new ITS-4 freewheel. Mavic uses an entirely new transmission with 4 pawls and 4 bearings  to reduce the rotation of the wheel before it engages from 17 degrees down to 7.
Weight: 2045 grams per pair - front wheel: 965 grams, rear wheel: 1080 grams
Disc brake specific profile: no braking surface on the rims
Pinned rim joints
6106 Aluminum
8.5 mm valve hole diameter
QRM+ bearings
Aluminum front and rear axle
Oversized aluminum front and rear bodies
20×92mm front axle (adapters needed)
12×135mm rear axle

I was stoked to try these puppies out on the trails at Kelso Conservation area (one of the stops on the O-Cup DH circuit) and I tried to find some really rough stuff just to see how rugged these wheels really are. Compared to the regular wheel set that I usually ride these were a blast. The first thing I noticed with the Mavic Crosslines is the different sound the freehub makes compared to older versions of Mavic’s product line-up. I was also pleased when pedaling from a stop - there is virtually instant engagement of the gears with little movement of the crank before the cassette grabs the wheel (which is great for very slow speeds when you need to hammer over a log, ride a skinny or slam through a rock garden). I felt very little flex when cornering, even while nailing birms and switchbacks. These wheels track very well and inspire confidence, felling solid beneath the bike.

Although Mavic advertises these as Freeride wheels I would have to call them “light” Freeride/Enduro wheels.  After a few drops (5′ to 7′), table tops, step ups, and rock gardens on an extreme singletrack run I felt pretty confident about the wheels. Despite the thrashing the Crosslines held true with no signs of problems, other than a sight ding (my bad for under-inflating my tires).

The steel spokes on the Mavic Crosslines (and Freeride/Enduro/All-Mountain wheels in general) are a great choice because steel spokes have a higher tolerance for abrasion and will hold up to branches, rocks, and an occasional dropped chain (I don’t use a chain retention device). On this test I even caught a large branch in my rear wheel which ripped the derailleur off without damaging a single spoke - talk about tough!

Overall these wheels are well worth the coin, and I would recommend these to anyone, even to those of us who are on the heavy side. In a time when everyone is watching their well earned dollar these wheels won’t break the bank and are cheap enough that if you do break them you won’t have to give up an arm or a leg to replace them (you probably broke an arm or leg when you broke your wheel anyway so you won’t want to give up another!).

Cheers… Now get outside and hit the trails!