Interbike 2008 trends
So Interbike has closed its doors for another year. Plenty of fresh new bike lust objects were on display as usual but what trends have been making themselves apparant in the industry?
Well, it seems to me there’s three clear trends:
- Anodising – seems to be everywhere and this time we’re told purple is ironic. Yeah right! This is a trend that’s sure to suit Dave P more than anyone else and could possibly have been invented just for him. All I’ll say is one person’s personal statement is another person’s poke in the eye! Chris King hubs in Chocolate brown look very tasty though and even Shimano are getting on the component personalisation bandwagon.
- Bolt through forks – with the new 15mm ‘lite’ options from Shimano/Fox/Marzocchi, plus Rock Shox’s Maxle Lite coming on stream I think we’re close to widespread adoption of bolt through for half decent and above bikes unless you’re a particularly obtuse XC racer. Loads of hub manufacturers are wasting no time getting compatible hubs out too, including Hope, DT Swiss, Shimano and Chris King. A good thing too if you ask me…
- Weight loss – at least for the bikes we’re likely to be riding in the next couple of years. Increasingly manfacturers are chasing the carbon dragon with weights tumbling as a result of widespread use in components as well as frames. We’ve now got carbon rims, lightweight cranks and even hubs starting to be made from the stuff and testing out what the word ‘trust’ means to the early adopters.
Next stop the Cycle Show at Earls Court on Friday which will give us a chance to see the kit in the metal. I’ll be armed with my camera so expect lots of photos to appear over the weekend.
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
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Lee says:
From all the pics I’ve seen of Eurobike and Interbike, I’d have to add to the list the growing trend for Integrated Seat tubes/posts, mostly on high end carbon loveliness.
A few more belt drive bikes were visible too, although another for the list would have to be 650B bikes. Quite a few seemed to be on show this time around.
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Posted on October 9, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Matt says:
Good points Lee, wouldn’t disagree about any of that.
I’ll be looking out for 650B bikes at the Cycle Show, really fancy the idea as a balance between 26″er and 29″ers. Would pass on the whole integrated seat tube thing though — looks well bad to my eyes…
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Posted on October 9, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Tony says:
Hi Matt,
the integrated seatpost thing is fairly well established in the road bike scene but beware if you buy one of these beauties since you can’t get them in a bike bag if you ride a fairly normal size frame. As friends have found out.
Tony
PS. I went out on Wednesday – beautiful evening ride over to BoxHill.
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Posted on October 10, 2008 at 11:14 am
Matt says:
Tony I know there seems to be a few more of those integrated seatpost things about but I just don’t like the look myself — can’t explain why but I just can’t see myself buying one.
Good point about the fact they don’t fit in bike bags too, another reason not to touch them!!
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Posted on October 13, 2008 at 2:18 pm