2025 Sea Otter Classic tech gallery, part 5

A 3D-printed helmet with real performance bona fides, the return of a much-loved hydration pack design, seed-based lubes, hitch racks to save your back, and more

Alright, folks, it’s time to put this year’s Sea Otter Classic to bed with one last round-up of interesting new gear I found while wandering the expansive expo grounds.

This final assortment is no band of leftover misfit toys, as there are still some bigger names and pretty innovative new widgets here to talk about. For example, did you know that Ibis makes the entire size run of one of its dual-suspension mountain bikes in the United States? And that KAV Sports has a new 3D-printed helmet that finally looks like it could go toe to toe with the big names? Ergon’s also got a whole bunch of new saddles (no surprise), fans of Wingnut hydration packs can finally rejoice that someone else has picked up the mantle, Coefficient previewed some radical new wheels I’m dying to know more about, and there’s a pile of bits from several other brands I want to share, too.

Once again, a few short notes:

All of my coverage from Sea Otter tech can find be found here – and all of it will look better in a web browser instead of your inbox. The pictures will be bigger and crisper, and they’ll also be available in full resolution if you click on the image.

Second, Substack clearly isn’t perfect as a platform, but it does have a bunch of neat features, one of which is a referral program where paid subscribers can earn free months if enough of their buddies sign up. Click below to make sure they know about n-1, too.

And finally, between the marathon session at Sea Otter and trying to get my kid’s room remodel done (ugh… trim), I’m pretty beat and could use the few days off I told myself I’d take earlier this week and clearly didn’t. In all likelihood, I won’t have a post early next week, but I’ll for sure have the newsletter ready to usher in the weekend.

And with that, let’s dive in! If you’ve got any questions (or want me to follow up on anything you see here), be sure to let me know in the comments.

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KAV Sports has been banging the drum of 3D-printed helmets for almost a decade now, but its new Rhoan aero road model looks like it might finally deliver on its heady promises. KAV custom manufactures each helmet based on a scan of your own head for a truly bespoke fit, and buyers can also choose shell and liner colors.

KAV claims the new Rhoan is at least as aerodynamic – perhaps even more so – than a Specialized S-Works Evade 3, and without any compromises in weight or ventilation. KAV is climbing up the ladder safety-wise, too, with the Rhoan not only landing a five-star rating from the Virginia Tech test lab, but earning the #20 spot overall.

As with every helmet KAV has produced to date, the Rhoan features a 3D-printed crash structure using a custom polymer. Cells vary in shape, wall thickness, and depth depending on how much energy a particular area of the helmet is expected to see in a crash. There’s even a breakaway shear layer in the midpoint to help with rotational forces. KAV also says the honeycomb design is cooler than traditional EPS since it doesn’t have any insulative properties.

Even the new Air Fit Suspension pads are 3D-printed, using a TPU polymer that supposedly foams up with heat to provide some softness. The Air Fit design is quite interesting in that it suspends the helmet a few millimeters off the top of the your head – and it seems to work. KAV has already built a test helmet for me to review, and initial impressions are very positive.

After manufacturing the Exie cross-country model on parallel lines for the last few years – one in the US, one in Asia – Ibis Cycles is phasing out the ones made overseas and is now making every size of the Exie exclusively in America. Good timing.

Ibis brought one of the Exie frame molds all the way to Sea Otter so folks could get a firsthand look at how things are done.

Coefficient Cycling offered up a sneak peek at its radical new carbon aero wheels. There’s no official information available on these, but it seems safe to say there will be some big aerodynamic claims.

Seasucker’s new Osprey rack is a heavier-duty upright-style single-bike model designed for bikes weighing up to 20.5 kg (45 lb). The main portion is attached with three vacuum cups, while the front wheel is held with one more. Seasucker has been in business for many years now, and with a reliability record that seems pretty solid. Would you trust this with your bike?

The Seasucker Connect Air is a collaboration with Altangle, allowing the latter’s clever repair stand clamp to be mounted to just about any smooth surface.

Seasucker’s got another new rack pending that’ll hold the bike by the wheels. The company wasn’t offering up much additional information, though.

Aeron’s TPU inner tubes feature an aluminum valve for supposedly improved reliability over plastic ones.

Ergon’s new SRS Men saddle features firm padding and a shape specifically designed for more aggressive riding positions.

Meanwhile, the Ergon SR Allroad is more amply padded for longer days in the saddle.

For trail riders, Ergon offers the new SMS, another short-format saddle with a more rounded tail for easy maneuverability.

Fox’s new 34 SL is a single model that replaces the previous standard 34 and the lighter-weight 34 Step-Cast. Fox says it’s 3% heavier than the Step-Cast, but much lighter than the old 34 while offering even more capability. It’s offered in 110, 120, and 130 mm-travel variants.

Picking up where the new Fox 34 SL leaves off in terms of travel is the new 36 SL, which sports larger 36 mm-diameter stanchions and is offered in 120, 130, and 140 mm travel variants. You know that buddy on the “little” bike who somehow manages to school everyone else in the crew on long-travel rigs? This fork is for them.

Both of Fox’s SL forks sport new arch and crown shapes that are said to increase stiffness without adding weight.

The Fox Transfer Neo is a wireless electronic dropper seatpost that goes head to head against the RockShox Reverb AXS. Fox says convenience isn’t the main draw with the Neo, though, but rather actuation speed. Pity about the bulkiness down at the seal head, though.

Ornot’s new Merino Riding Shirt is impressively light and airy, but supposedly not at all fragile. The wool fibers are made using a spinning technology from Nuyarn, which “releases the natural performance characteristics of wool fiber twisted out by traditional spinning methods.” That admittedly sounds like an awful lot of BS, but in fairness to Nuyarn, I have a pair of socks made from Nuyarn wool that have been insanely durable so maybe there’s something to it.

Ornot was careful to point out that the stripes on the Merino Riding Shirt aren’t made using dyed yarn. Instead, they’re printed, which suggests all sorts of potential for more ornate patterns.

Speaking of patterns, Ornot also made some fun boxers made of Oeko-Tex synthetic and featuring a print from famed watercolor artist Chris McNally.

Revgrips feature a floating center body that’s free to rotate slightly around the bar thanks to tunable elastomeric inserts embedded inside the aluminum collars. New from Revgrips is the SLI model (Single Lock Integrated), a partnership with a few handlebar brands such as 5DEV and Hope. Whereas normally the outer end of a Revgrip uses an expanding plug as an additional security measure, those new bars have a threaded plug bonded right into the bar. This increases security even more, and also reduces the width of the collar for more usable grip space.

Hadn’t heard of Pertual wheels? Yeah, neither had I. But this Chinese brand had some rather interesting stuff on display at Sea Otter, and it seems like it’s aiming for a higher profile.

Pertual’s new Acme wheels feature carbon fiber spokes that are molded together with the carbon hub shells. Pertual hasn’t released official information yet, but the total weight is supposedly less than 1,200 g for the pair with 45/62 mm-deep front and rear rim profiles.

Prevelo previewed a new Alpha family of flat-bar gravel bikes for kids with a nicer aluminum frame, a whole bunch of component upgrades (including hydraulic disc instead of cable rim brakes), and a much lower weight. Final details are still being ironed out, but I expect to hear more sooner than later.

The Microshift Acolyte rear derailleur is equipped with a clutched pulley cage.

Top tube bag mount? Check. Smooth-filed internal dropper post routing? Double check.

Kudos to Prevelo for believing that kids need good tires, too.

Cartridge bearings are featured all around on the revamped version…

…as well as an aluminum chainring with a narrow-wide tooth profile.

Mission Workshop’s new Control backpack is quite the configurable beast.

The Control can be customized with any number of slide-on accessory packs.

Adidas continues to build up its eyewear collection, with one of the latest models being the Dunamis Evo, a smaller-format variant of the original Dunamis.

Any Wingnut fans out there? That innovative hydration pack brand sadly went under several years ago, but Arctos has brought back the concept, which augments the stability of a hip pack with a lightweight shoulder harness.

This pack design looks really good with its broad hip belt and airy mesh shoulder harness.

I have no idea how these Crankbrothers trail shoes fit, but my word, are they gloriously purple!

Crankbrothers worked with Norco to build this stunning machine, which was raffled off to raise money for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association – better known as NICA.

Crankbrothers’ new handguards will seem silly to many, but riders in arid climates who regularly have to contend with unforgiving desert foliage might find these useful.

Haven’t heard of Tavelo? You have now, and you’ll very likely hear more soon.

Zeno has a new dealer kit for its brilliant little hydraulic couplers so you always have the right bits on hand.

Zeno’s ReactionEX discs use small leaf springs to attach the steel braking surface to the aluminum carrier for what the company says is the industry’s first truly floating rotor.

Stans’ new Biobased fluids are supposedly made of seed oils.

Stans says its Forkboost treatment doesn’t lubricate fork seals so much as it helps to clean out any grit that might be hiding between the seal lips.

E-bikes are getting progressively heavier, and a growing number of companies are creating hitch racks to suit. Upstart brand Suweeka perhaps isn’t aiming at core enthusiast cyclists given the “bike” it had on its display model, but it nevertheless was a good example of what its rack could handle. The claimed total weight capacity is a whopping 109 kg (240 lb).

What good is total weight capacity if you can’t easily load the thing or get it off the ground, right? Suweeka’s rack featured a clever jacking mechanism that could be operated with either a cordless drill or a hand crank (the former is strongly recommended). Be prepared to pay for the convenience, though. As shown here with two trays, the rack costs a massive US$2,600.

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