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NEWS
InterBike
Las
Vegas
Sept
2007
InterBike is the worlds biggest and best bike show which is held in Las Vegas
each year. Thanks to Jackie and Simon (Nirvana) this year I got a chance to
spend a week mixing with the stars and demoing and getting previews of whats new
in the world of bikes for 2008. Arriving in Vegas is simply awesome. Everything
seems so big and alien. You know the hotel your staying is big when you get
handed an A3 map and still manage to get lost inside. My friend Sam also came
along for the trip. We spent the first day just being dazed and amazed at the
sight and sounds of Vegas. Not sure how many miles we walked that day going in
and out all the casino's but we where both wiped out by the end of
it.
Great its show time. It starts off with a 2 day dirt demo in the
famous Bootleg canyon which is just outside Boulder city, Nevada. We picked up
the shuttle bus from Vegas and 45min later we're at Bootleg canyon. Real strange
going from the strip which is very busy and loads of flashing lights to the
desert. We knew this was going to be super cool even before the bus had stopped
as the Drop In Tv tour bus was parked up already.....Sweet. Its a blistering hot
day so its time to guzzle as much water as poss. The outdoor demo is huge. We
spent the whole day checking out all the new toys and speaking to loads of
different bike companies. It is just mind blowing to see all these great
companies in one place in the middle of a desert. Great things found are loads
of Chris King hubs and headset gleaming in the desert sun. New 1.5" headset and
150mm thru rear hubs look brilliant. I found the new 10" travel Foes 2.1 DHS
mono DH bike that has a monstrous 5" stroke air shock on the back. By the end of
the day we both had a good idea on what we wanted to demo for the next day. Sam
had spent the whole day guzzling and munching his way through a mountain of free
energy products which can't be good if you're not exercising. On the way back he
was feeling shacking, total jelly belly overload dude! I swear he was going to
do Beavis by pulling some Cornholio's on the bus. Some cold beers in bar later
seemed calm him down. Lesson learnt.
Demo day 2 got up super early to get
choice pickings of the demo bikes. We headed straight towards the Titus tent
after seeing they had a 2008 Motolite. For next year they have dumped even more
weight off the frame by hydro forming the top tube and redesigning the shock
tabs.....very cool. Great time to hit the trails. First thing we see are signs
warning of rattle snakes. I was trying to remember if they bite first or second
rider. What the hell lets go ride. The XC is all fast flowing hard pack that has
some nice steep roll in's here and there. We just tagged on to what seemed to
be a mountain bike train going up through the canyon. Trails are like nothing we
have ridden before. No mud, no trees and no walkers to be found just miles of
fast hot dusty trails. We stopped half way to get a breather only to hear a
rattler no more than 10ft from us. Couldn't see it and definitely did not want
to go looking for it. Leave that one be and go shred the rest of the trail. The
bike feels great climbing like a xc race bike and feels very plush and confident
inspiring on the descents. All in one great new machine for next. Dear Santa,
please can I have..............................
Dropping the bike back I
spy a new Titus Ti El Guapo which have only ever heard about. Sam grabs a Turner
Hi-line which is a beast of bike. We jumped on a packed up lift truck which
rumbled its way to the top of the canyon where we could see some great view with
Vegas in the distances. Time to do the one of the downhill runs. It is super
sketchy at the top with big drops too the side which just go into the nothing.
Loose rocks and stones on a very narrow off camber track is always going too get
your heart pounding. Flying down some of the descents whilst just keeping
control thinking god I haven't done DH for sometime and my armour is no where to
be seen........doh! Of course thinking about this means the next thing is you're
going to need it. The front wheel washed out on a load of loose rocks and I guess
I had to find out just how Sharp they really are. Getting up finding a big hole
in your arm is never going to be a good thing. Man that thing gushed. I'm not
normally a blood donor but I gave plenty to mother earth that day. Time for a
quick trip in the ambulance to Boulder hospital to get all stitched up. Turns
out I had 2 holes that need 14 stitches. Not my best past time. In and out of
the hospital in a flash all repaired and good to go. We went back too the canyon
to check out more shiny bikes. Sam went off to ride while I was freaking out
Ryan Leech in the Norco tent with some gruesome pictures of my arm. Its cool to
see loads of pro walking about. The man Peaty was lurking in the distance. Sun
was setting and its now time to get back. It was very nice of Rocky Mountain
bikes to chuck a load of free beer in bus on the way back. Beer goggles included
: )
From now on its a huge 3day indoor Interbike in Las Vegas with no
snakes. It is so vast that it took 3 days to get it all covered. We found loads
of strange new products like a wooden cane creek headset. The Surly DH unicycle
was pretty mad with a 4" wide tyre and a hydro rim brake. We got too see a
prototype Cove hustler which is using a link the same as the Shocker/STD. This
should be about in the summer. The G-spot will also use this link and yes it
will come in black as an option. I'm not a 100% sure if people crowded around
the Marzocchi stand to see the new 55 forks of just to hang out with the 08'
Bomber girl. It is very hard to take everything in as you are going around as
there is just so much of it.
One night we got into see the New world
disorder 8 premier at a casino. This is another great NWD film, they just keep
getting bigger and better.The following night it was time to go Kona bowling
with NWD8 crew included. Once the show was over we figured it was time to fly
home. That was one amazing week, bikes by day, Vegas by night.
Rowan
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