Jesse from Ritchey Designs shows us some new products like the new pro carbon rigid fork and super stiff and rigid carbon wheels. Also new saddles, stems, handlebars, and seat posts in Pro, WCS and Super Logic levels. Check out the wet black and wet white.

website: www.ritcheylogic.com

Kendall from Syncros gives us a complete look at all the changes and update for Syncros components, Grunge graphics and what “FL” really stands for. In order, we are shown the new product lineup of stems, handlebars (including a 31″ bar), seatposts, saddles, ultra light carbon MTB wheels, and pedals. These are 2009/early 2010 releases.

website: http://www.syncros.com/

The Hubdock is a revolution in rear hub technology.  I have to fully agree with nippleworks opinion that the Hubdock was the best new technology at Sea Otter in ‘09.  It seperates the mess of taking off your rear wheel from the action of taking off your rear wheel.  Hubdock is a California company that will be ready for release of the product soon.  You can find out more info on Hubdock’s website.  For now though, just watch the video.

Pablo is designer, rider, and part owner of Corsair Bikes. Here he shows us the Konig, a Slopestyle specific trail bike that he designed. The Konig has: adjustable head angle, Corsair designed linkage rear suspension, 2.5:1 leverage ratio, and switchable dropouts. It has a very stiff linkage design with short chainstays and low center of gravity, this suspension design creates a bike that is easy to manual.

From the Corsair Bikes website:
“With the König, our goal is to channel the energy of a great run into the engineering and style of a slopestyle frame. Getting off the ground, landing in one piece (at any angle) and getting the bike where you need it to be in a split second require that a bike be light, strong and maneuverable - three things that define the König.”

website: www.corsairbikes.com

I met up with fellow twitterati Denny from Manitou at the Sea Otter Classic. In this video, Denny shows us the internal workings of the all new Absolute+ damper for their 2010 model lineup. Also shown is the MILO (Manitou Integrated Lock-Out).

Manitou website (note: new Manitou website coming soon!) - http://www.manitoumtb.com/

Info from the Absolute+ press release:

“New damping technology - Absolute+
Absolute+ is a new TPC-based damping technology that will debut in 2010 Manitou forks.

Absolute+ consists of two independent damping circuits. Low-speed damping is controlled via the Speed Needle circuit, which consists of an adjuster needle that moves up and down into a round seat. Under compression, oil flows through the seat and around the needle. Turning the external adjustment dial clockwise decreases the flow area between the needles and the seat, thereby increasing the low-speed damping rate. The Speed Needle has a total of seven positions.

High-speed damping is controlled by the Pro Stack circuit. Pro Stck is a shim-based circuit that provides an additional path through which damping oil can pass under big/fast hits. The Pro Stack circuit consists of a piston with three ports covered by a shim stack. In order for the circuit to open, the fork must encounter an impact forceful enough to flex the shim stack and force oil through the ports. This allows the fork to move through its travel faster than it would if the Speed Needle were the only damping circuit. This only happens when a high-speed impact creates a force great enough to engage the Pro Stack.

The Absolute+ damper can be retrofitted into Manitou R7, Minute, and Drake forks from model year 2007 forward. A lightweight version of the Absolute+ damper will also be available for model-year 2010 Minute MRD and R7 MRD forks.”

Mick Hannah goes over his new GT Fury DH race bike. The new Fury is full carbon vs. aluminum of the old version.

The carbon fiber is stiffer and stronger than the alumimum version. Check the photos for the damage that the bike sustained to the left side chain stay from a crash in the rock garden from Mick’s second place at the South Africa World Cup race the previous weekend. People are always concerned with how well carbon fiber will hold up to crashes and rock impacts and other such trail conditions. Well, here is real world proof from one of the top DH racers (if not THE top DH racer) on the planet, that the carbon fiber held up just fine.

Besides his second place in the South Africa World Cup, Mick scored the Sea Otter DH win on Sunday and finished 5th in the Dual Slalom. Congrats Mick!

GT Fury Frame (from the GT Bicycles website):
“Full Monocoque Carbon Fiber with forged and CNC fitments, with all new I link assembly and pivot design for 8.65 inches of rear wheel travel with Maxle rear axle QR system”

(note: Mick is a real soft spoken kinda guy and I didn’t have a remote mic for this video shoot. Apologies for the background music which makes it kind of hard to hear Mick.)

website: www.gtbicycles.com

Andrew Cho, GT Team rider and bike tester shows us the new GT Slopestyle bike developed by Andrew and fellow GT Team rider Tyler McCaul. This new bike is based off the Sanction, but with 4″ of rear travel and of course, slacker geometry.

Michael Browne from Trek Bicycles introduces the Trek World Racing Team bikes.

-Team Edition Top Fuel

-Session 88 DH

-Elite 9.9 OCLV hardtail

For more information about the Trek World Racing Team, check out:

website: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/trek_life/cycling_teams/twr/

Mark from Marin gives us a look at another bike here, the CXR Team a full carbon XC race bike. It is a 2009 model, that will be released this summer. It weighs in at just over 21 lbs (for 17″ size). It will be available with XT/XTR gruppo for around $4800-$5000.

The carbon layup on the frame has a continous weave for the top tube that blends with the seat stays for marathon racing comfort. Yet the CXR has a massive bottom bracket, with boxed-in BB for stiffness and efficiency. The carbon lay utilizes a two band carbon wrap around the head tube for rigidity.

The bike has very clean lines and is simply beautiful. The choice of colors fits perfectly with the intended use.

website: www.marinbikes.com

Brent Foes of Foes Racing shows us a couple of new bikes, some updates to a couple of existing models, and an interesting one off project.

-The Foes 29″ Trail bike is based on the ProLite XC frame, but with 29er wheels and geometry. It is a 4″ rear travel bike with 2:1 leverage ratio utilizing the Curnutt shock, 6061 aluminum.

-The Foes Pasadena is a commuter bike with monocoque top tube, equipped with either carbon or aluminum parts (bar, stem, seatpost, fork). Disc brakes front and rear.

More photos and info on Page 2>>