An Empire frame, from just down the road from Singletrack's offices, was on display on the Cane Creek stand, where they were boasting that they carried headset combinations for all 48 different steerer/headtube variations these days (tapered, inset, drop-in, 1.5, 'normal' and all combos in between)
.
Curtis Inglis of Retrotec really does make some of the sweetest looking frames ever.
..
A chunky old school shifter for the...
...
...Sturmey Archer three-speed fixie hub. They're not in production (or entirely working...) yet by the sound of it, though it should only be a couple of months before they start appearing - to the delight of fixie riders everywhere.
....
Who said that 29ers always looked ungainly? (Probably us, actually) Here's the Niner Air9 to prove us and them wrong. Full carbon, with EBB and a tapered headtube (complete with tapered Niner full carbon fork too)The Knolly Delerium - now a 1lb lighter, 6.7in (170mm) rear travel, better standover and a lower centre of gravity. Noel reckons it climbs better and descends better than the old model.A close up of all those lovely bits of machining.Similar, but oh-so-different. This is the Podium, the new Knolly DH race bike now in production.A very DH racerboy 64 degree head angle and 8.4in of bump sucking for the Podium.At the other end of the scale, the Endorphin has been joined by this prototype Endorphin XC. 125mm rear travel for a 120-140mm fork and a build-up of 25lbs.The Commencal Meta 55 Carbon - well revered by all who passed the BTI booth.It's not just a 7in travel Lenz bike. Look closer - it's a 7in travel 29er!
The MRP camper crank is designed just for single ring use, so there are no inner ring tabs. Weight is 850g with BB.All sorts of MRP ring in odd and even combinations from very small to extra medium.MRP's 1x (say 'One-by') chain device for riders wanting to keep a chain on for 1x9 speed XC use. Tested at this year's Cross Vegas event was the seat tube mounted version that we should see soon too.Bell + eyeballs = crazy lid.The world's shortest brake lever? Nope, it's the controller for the Rase droppable seatpost.Going up. At full length with slightly dusty neoprene boot to keep things clean....and dropped the full NINE inches. Now you really can ride your BMX/jump bike/sister's bike to the shops and still come back the rad way.Pretty stem, plus the usual four-crosser's attitude to health and safety.It's a Black Market Bikes Killswitch. A super compact full suspension 4X or trick bike seen on the X-Fusion shocks stand.Tiny but rad.
With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)
Olly.
You would then have to hold your little brake levers as you sprinted up that climb..!! ;o)
Unless you used those dia-compes with a release buton but that would be mega fiddly.. Ok for a travel adjust lever though…
i want that niner
WANT that niner! (in white)
Rase post looks promising; getting one in to test?
Niner, best looking bike in show
where can you get a full length neoprene cover like that ?
“Rase post looks promising; getting one in to test?”
I’ve got one. It’s OK at best. Feels very much like a prototype. It’s so close to being good, but falls short in quite a lot of ways.
oh my word, there is some pornography in this episode.
and am now tempted to mod an old brake lever to work my lockouts, just cause i can
Knolly’s any good, ST needs to do a review ASAP
another absolute stunner of a bike from Curtis.
Olly.
You would then have to hold your little brake levers as you sprinted up that climb..!! ;o)
Unless you used those dia-compes with a release buton but that would be mega fiddly.. Ok for a travel adjust lever though…
Niner – want. Need, no.
loving the niner lush lush like!!!
Even as a non-29er convert, that carbon Niner really does look lovely…
I really need to get my hand on that empire DH bike.
If only I had the money for an AP-1, a Delirium and Niner that would cover everything I do and I’d be doing it in style.
I’d be total broke though. Maybe I should sell my car.