Remember how I opened up my first gallery from the Sea Otter Classic saying how I’ve attended almost 20 of these things, but apparently hadn’t learned much about how to best cover the show? Well, today reminded me yet again that three days isn’t nearly enough to see the whole thing (though in my defense, it doesn’t exactly help that the show has also been growing every year).
Next year? All four days for sure.
I may not have gotten to everything, but I still got to a whole lot, like Stromm Cycles’ radical new aero road racing bike, Project 321’s new gravel hubs, Orucase’s long-awaited full-sized travel case, a ton of new stuff from Cane Creek, and a bunch of other stuff that caught my eye while I wandered the venue.
FYI, I’m going to take a couple of days off after this one. I’ve got some painting and trim work to do in my kid’s room, plus some furniture to assemble. But if you haven’t caught the first two rounds of Sea Otter coverage, you can find the whole lot here.
Upstart brand Stromm Cycles says its radical RAKTT aero road bike – based on the brand’s extant track bike – saves a substantial 10 W of power at 40 km/h over its “fastest competitors.” Grain of salt? Maybe, but the RAKTT certainly doesn’t look like anything else out there at the moment.
The front end of the RAKTT features a bayonet-style fork that’s extremely narrow. The external width is less than 29 mm – as in, the same as a straight 1 1/8” steerer tube by itself.
Stromm didn’t provide a precise claimed frame weight, but does say that it’s “competitive” in terms of both weight and stiffness.
Yep, that’s pretty deep.
And so is this. Despite the generous surface area, Stromm says the RAKTT is still quite manageable in crosswinds.
The down tube is shaped with water bottles in mind, and is big enough to supposedly provide good frame stiffness.
Is this too aggressive a profile at wider yaw angles? Stromm says it might be on its own, but once you toss a rider’s moving legs into the equation, most bets are off.
UDH – just in case.
The cockpit is made by Stromm (this is just a printed prototype here), but you’re not restricted to using only that. Although the fork is extremely narrow, the top features a conventional round 1 1/8”-diameter stub to which just about anything could be attached.
Quite the view, eh?
Despite the hyper-aggressive aero shaping, the frameset is still approved for tires up to 34 mm-wide.
A standard English-threaded bottom bracket shell for easy servicing.
As someone who lusted after a Bridgestone XO-1 back in the day, this tribute paint job from Haute Bikes in the Cane Creek booth got two big ol’ thumbs up from me. So, so good. Cane Creek product marketing manager Will Hart documented the whole backstory on this thing in case you want to take a peek.
I thought from the first minute I saw Cane Creek’s Invert gravel suspension fork that it was primed for custom paint, and the industry certainly hasn’t disappointed me since then.
Cane Creek has updated its eeWings welded tubular titanium all-road crankset with more sleekly shaped arms, an eight-bolt chainring interface, and updated hardware that uses an easy-to-find 8 mm hex wrench.
Also new from Cane Creek is the 110 Ceramic headset, which features hybrid ceramic bearings, a more intricately machined shape, and a fancy-looking top tap.
Cane Creek is really embracing the silver thing, adding the shiny finish to the eeSilk+ suspension seatpost.
Cane Creek’s bread-and-butter is value-priced headsets, and it’s now added a model just above the Forty called – of course – the Fifty. The biggest difference from the Forty is the more angular appearance, which Cane Creek is guessing will look more at home on modern bikes.
One little gem I spotted in the Cane Creek booth is a mystery. Sitting atop that stunning Haute Bikes Bridgestone tribute was this gorgeous silver seatpost collar. I love how it allows just a little bit of the frame color to peek through around the edges.
Orucase has finally put the finishing touches on its full-sized travel case, the Sentinel.
Got integrated bars on your road or gravel bike? Just unzip the expansion wings on the upper corners. But if not, close them up to make the case more compact.
The semi-rigid lower tray features big wheels and lots of reinforcement.
Inside the Orucase Sentinel resides this aluminum roll cage to provide extra protection.
Each end of the frameset is supported by these molded posts.
The roll cage easily disassembles so the case can be packed down when empty.
There’s no need to remove the rear derailleur or chain with this case.
A common problem with cases designed for drop-bar bikes where you leave the bars installed is that the levers aren’t protected from impact. Orucase addresses that with this simple reinforcement strut that straps to the bar to prevent crushing.
Project321 has slimmed down its superb G3 mountain bike hubs to produce the new GR3 gravel hubs.
Project321 uses the same driver body on the GR3 as the G3, but with half as many magnetically sprung pawls to reduce friction and noise. Engagement speed is still very quick at just 2.5° – and if you really want to, you can also add the missing pawls back in for silly-quick 1.25° engagement.
Also new from Project321 is a 20x110 mm front hub for DH bikes.
Got a RockShox fork? Project321 has got you covered with its new Torque Cap oversized end caps.
Project321’s 6-Lock rotor adapter isn’t new, but it’s still an incredibly clever little widget. It allows you to install six-bolt rotors on to Center Lock hubs, even if the lockring threads are completely destroyed.
K-Edge’s updated adjustable mountain bike headset computer mount gets a newly slimmed-down shape.
The low-profile shape is just the thing for one-piece carbon fiber cockpits. The forward section of the mount can also be flipped upside down for more adjustability since the puck will mount to either side.
One neat trick on K-Edge’s new mountain bike computer mount: it’ll fold in half on to itself if you’d like the computer to sit right on top of the headset.
4iiii has updated its existing power meters with supplemental security tabs to satisfy new safety laws in the US. Those cases will eventually be phased out and replaced with four-bolt cases instead.
4iiii is adding more power meter models for SRAM’s latest mountain bike cranksets.
Lake Cycling is experimenting with last shapes on its new triathlon shoes. Shown here from left to right are the Race, Competition, and Comfort Plus shapes. The Comfort Plus is the most interesting to me of the three, and Lake will add it to other shoe models depending on how these are received.
Lake Cycling already uses the Comfort Plus last on these trail shoes – and I’m really curious how these fit.
The chainstay treatment on this Neuhaus is really slick.
‘MERiCA: Make External Routing Cool Again.
Industry Nine calls this spoke finish Tequila Sunrise, but it’s sadly not available to the public – unless enough of you tell the company it should add it to the inline range.
Redshift Sports has introduced its first flat bar, using a similar design concept as the Top Shelf drop bar. Redshift says the design provides better support for bar bags as well as a lot of mounting area for clamp-on accessories.
Redshift will offer the new handlebar with 50 or 70 mm of rise, both with generous sweeps.
Enduro Bearings’ Chainless Whip is a neat alternative to a traditional chain whip if you need to remove a cassette.
Jagwire’s new Sport bleed kit for Shimano hydraulic disc brakes costs just 25 bucks.
Route Werks’ Big Handlebar Bag has a lot more capacity than the original model, but also a big front panel that’s just begging for some customization.
Route Werks’ second bar bag still features the company’s trademark flip-top lid.
The sides of the bag will still accept little stubs for mounting various accessories, but you can now also flip the triangular bases around to fit around your levers as needed.
Route Werks offers a new offset bar mount that’s 35 mm higher than the standard one, which situates the bottom of the large bag at the same height as the standard one to minimize clearance issues with the front tire.
Bivo debuted a new general-purpose cap for its insulated bottles that does a better job of keeping liquids cold (or hot) than the bike-specific one, and it includes a handy silicone strap so you can attach to your backpack.
Smith Optics is having some fun with the graphics on its kid helmets and goggles.
Wild Rye founder Cassie Abel used to work at Smith Optics, and this collaborative graphics treatment celebrates that history. The pattern is cross-sections of plant roots. Get it? Roots?
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I’ve been waiting for a Bivo cap like that! Particularly for cold weather, although I stop to drink enough that I’d use it in warm weather too. One thing about the regular flow nozzle is that road dust can get down in there, so I end up stopping anyway to wipe it down.
I’ve been waiting for a Bivo cap like that! Particularly for cold weather, although I stop to drink enough that I’d use it in warm weather too. One thing about the regular flow nozzle is that road dust can get down in there, so I end up stopping anyway to wipe it down.
That Orucase looks really well thought out but surely has to be heavier than other cases? That 50# weight limit is a huge factor flying with a bike.