Saturday was the day for the Sea Otter rain. Despite 6 weeks of bone dry weather it was inevitable that we would get the Sea Otter rain. On Saturday at around 11 am, the skies opened up. The beginner fun ride was sacked. The womens circuit race was cancelled. The slopes had rivers of water flowing down and the expo area was swamped.

Everybody took cover and all was well by late afternoon.

Video: Steve Peat and Scott Hart in the rain

Photos:

ESI Grips showed off their products at Sea Otter and we got a chance to try them. They’re grips are made of silicone. Their soft to the touch and they absorb a fair amount of shock and vibration. They also give the rider a good grip and are not slippery. Other features are they stay on the bars firmly despite wet conditions and they last a long time.

Two models are available for mtb, Racers Edge at 51 grams and Chunky at 71 grams. Both sell for $16. There is also a road grip available.

I was skeptical at first since they looked like foam grips. Foam grips just didn’t have a good feel to me and they would rip off as I torqued on the handlebar of my singlespeed. But after few weeks of using them, I was very impressed. These grips seem to have no weakness. They are even ovalized with more padding for the contact point with the palm of the hand.

And since I use a rigid fork on my singlespeed, good shock absorbing grips are important. Well, I’m very, very happy with the grips. They take the edge off and they allow me to control the bike accurately. They feel like Oury grips but ESI is just a bit smoother. And they’re not as thick as Oury so it’s easier to grip the handlebar. After a couple months of use, the grips look like new and have not come loose at all.

The Sea Otter XC course was tamed by these grips, carbon fork and 29er wheel. Everything was a piece of cake. Well, except for those nasty ruts before the finish line.

 

http://esigrips.com

In-house machining is their edge they say. Plus they seem intense about innovation and creativity. So instead of cramming right before Interbike, Intense has been creating bike after bike for the past few months.

Their responding to the market and using mtbr.com in the best possible way. They participate in the forums, communicate with their users and research exactly what the market needs.

Intense 5.5 29er - 5 inches of travel with the Manitou Minute 120 fork

Intense 5.5 FR -ith added FRO features, such as the VPP Machined Box link, Machined Shock Link Bolts, Integrated Headset and lighter weight Easton EA-6X tubeset, this bike still has 5.5 inches of travel and weighs in at a scant 6lbs!

Met with Herb and Vivian of Versus Cycles at their booth at Otter this year. They have a brand new DJ/Street hardtail frame called the “Jab”.

And they know how to market it, too! Here are shots of the bike, and Grace. Grace road the bike around Sea Otter, showing it off to those who were interested.

Enjoy the photos. New bike looks Hot, Herb! And Grace ain’t bad either.

Features of the Versus Jab:

1. Optimized Dirt Jump Geometry

2. Reynolds 753 Cro-Mo Tubing with hydroformed top tube

3. Short Chainstay, adjustable down to 15.25 inches

4. Stiff chainstay yoke

5. Cam adjusted, tool-less horizontal dropouts

6. Low rear end

7. Internal headset

8. Removable Gyrotabs

9. Integrated seat post clamp

10. Comes in 3 colors : Blood Red, Pearl White, Blue

11. Rear Derailleur compatible

12. ISCG-O5 compatible.

 

Bonus photos:

 

Who says Sea Otter is all about mud and racing? Wherever these guys go it's a party. Cameron Zinc and a lovely, young admirer. When you can throw down like Cedric does, you can't waste precious arm energy hoisting brews. You have an assitant do it for you.

Following the success of the RIP 9 i s the Jet 9 with 3 inches of travel. 3 inches on a 29er is really like 4 inches… or something like that. So they made this bike that is faster, more flickable and more appropriate for racing.

The frame itself weighs 5.5 lbs. It uses the same type of ’stable platform’ design that the Rip 9 uses. Travel should be very usable and this should be a great climbing , epic ride type of bike.

Availabilty is end of summer and price is around $1595

Bionicon makes all mountain bikes with unique, patented suspension system that allows for 5 degrees of on-the-fly geometry adjustment. There’s nothing else like it. Pictured above is the 6 and 6 Bionicon Edison. I’ve been riding a Bionicon Golden Willow for about 6 months now and absolutely love it.

Read my Bionicon Golden Willow Review >>

Below, Paul Ferguson, the boss at Bionicon USA, services the Double-Agent six-inch dual crown air fork on the Golden Willow I’ve been abusing.

Ok, as the manager of Roadbikereview.com I noticed last year there was a tornado of activity surrounding a new member named ‘Roubaixgirl’. It started when someone posted a photo from Florida of a Cat 3 racer named Liz. There was a Myspace page involved and some Belgians and so on and so forth.

Anyway, ‘Roubaixgirl’ started posting in the Podium Girls forum of roadbikereview and all hell broke loose. She seemed like she could ride, she could mix it up with the boys, she was smart, warm friendly, walks on water, etc. etc.

So my hawt sistah, Shannon from Tifosi brought Liz to the mtbr.com booth and that’s as far as I can remember.

I won’t say anymore since I’m a married spud. But she seems like the real deal. I’ll call her the Angelina Jolie of cycling. She’s got all kinds of poetry tattoed on her body. But with current FCC laws, we can only show you some of them.

 

This season she will be racing for Vanderkitten. Road and cross bikes she says. Then she will go off to Belgium.

 

 

 

 

Wow, they were right in front of the mtbr.com booth and was it ever distracting. I got their flyer, signed up for their trial, bought one of their black wristbands. Whatever they pushed, I took.

Julia was the brunette.  Awesome personality. Not bad to look at too. Ha!!  She was working another booth the previous day. Can anyone guess which one?

 

 

Hayes has a brand new brake, the Stroker. They have three versions, the Stroker Trail, the Stroker Carbon, and the Stroker Ryde. They are a completely new design with more power, an improved reach adjustment dial which needs no tools (sweet!), and a new reservoir which is supposed to reduce lever pump and compensate for pad wear.

For more info, go to: www.hayesdiscbrake.com/stroker