Whew! I made sure to take better care of myself on the second day of the 2025 Sea Otter Classic so I wasn’t quite as blown-out by the time I got back to the house: I stopped to eat lunch at a reasonable hour (2pm instead of 4:30pm), made sure to stay hydrated, actually sat down for a few minutes. Turns out your mind works better when your body isn’t falling apart, too. Who knew???
Day two revealed all sorts of goodies, including Darimo’s ultra-customizable carbon cockpits and machined-aluminum stems, some truly striking carbon fiber and titanium prototype bikes from July Bicycles and Ogle Component Design at the Mavic booth, a slew of new saddles, a motorized uppy-downy repair stand from Feedback Sports, a near-final preview of Outbound Lighting’s new rear DRL, and a whole bunch more.
Feast your eyes below (and make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already):
Spanish boutique component maker Darimo offers a remarkable amount of customization for its one-piece carbon fiber drop-bar cockpits. Not only is just about any rational combination of stem length, stem angle, and bar width possible, but also drop angle, finish, stiffness, and routing. That sort of customization doesn’t come without a significant cost, of course, but at around €850 or so (give or take, depending on options), it’s still quite a bit less expensive than Enve’s one-piece offering. More importantly, something like this could be the ticket if you’ve got a bike with a factory setup that just doesn’t fit the way you want it to.
This cockpit is built with both outward flare and some outward sweep on the drops. But if you prefer just one or the other – or neither – you can do that, too.
Want a more aggressive angle on the stem? Easy. Darimo uses modular molds for its cockpits to allow for a wide range of fit options.
Darimo cut its teeth on ultralight two-piece setups like this – which are still customizable in both dimensions and stiffness. This particular combination was on the smaller side, and the total weight was barely 200 g.
The steerer clamp design features replaceable hardware and a symmetrical configuration that’s intended to be gentle on steerer tubes.
Darimo has become a go-to resource for a lot of top cross-country pros who are often trying to achieve a much more aggressive position than a stock stem will allow. No need to guess who this one was made for.
Notice anything interesting about these Darimo stems?
Yep, they have a removable four-bolt faceplate, though it’s clearly unlike any other one that you’ve seen before. Instead of the typical setup, the upper portion of the faceplate is held in place with special set screws that have a right-hand thread at one end and a left-hand thread on the other. When properly installed, they pull the faceplate firmly on to the stem body with just the slightest little bump to show for it. Rotor used a similar concept several years ago that it called DTT (Dual Thread Technology), but while it featured the same idea, it was much clunkier-looking visually.
Darimo has added four aero-profile seatposts to its catalog, including ones to fit Cannondale LAB71 models, the Enve Melee, the BMC Teammachine R01, and the Cervelo Soloist. Darimo already offers these in two setback options, but as with the cockpits, these can also be customized for length and stiffness. Typical weights hover around 100 g.
Josh Ogle is best known these days as the mastermind behind the Ogle Component Design collection of machined titanium seatpost collars, stems, rotor lockrings, and other widgets. But 30 years ago, he was mainly a frame builder with an innovative mountain bike brand he called Jericho Bicycles. Technology sure has changed a lot in that time period, and he cooked up this insane dual-suspension mountain bike to celebrate the anniversary.
A 3D-printed titanium head tube? Sure, why not?
Let’s print this section of the main triangle, too, while we’re at it. Oh, and that machined titanium bashguard is designed and manufactured by Ogle, too.
I so wish I had an excuse to run Ogle’s incredible machined titanium stem on my own mountain bike, but alas, I run 50s and this one isn’t offered any longer than 40 mm.
One of the beauties of printing titanium is you can incorporate whatever logos and information you want.
The rear end comes courtesy of Ministry Cycles and creator Chris Currie’s innovative 3VO linkage design.
Bonkers.
Outbound Lighting has been teasing its rear daytime running light for a little while now, but it’s getting awfully close to being finalized. The optics are quite impressive, with such thoughtful touches as full brightness to approaching motor vehicles, but a much less blinding output for anyone who might be riding right behind you. Battery life is supposed to be particularly good, too.
Amber side markers provide 180° visibility, while a four-step LED indicator provides a convenient visual reference for remaining battery charge.
Outbound Lighting is also finishing up a new front light specifically for e-bikes. Since power is provided by the bike’s main battery, the lamp head can be made impressively compact.
Allen’s new Smart Suction bike rack attaches to your vehicle with four vacuum pads, similar to what SeaSucker has successfully used for ages. It’s adjustable in length to accommodate a range of different bikes, but the total weight capacity is fairly modest at around 16 kg (35 lb). Retail price is US$700.
The fork mount can easily accommodate both thru-axle and quick-release fitments.
What really sets the Allen rack apart from SeaSucker’s offerings is the built-in Bluetooth sensor, which constantly monitors the state of the vacuum pads and immediately alerts you if it detects a loss of suction.
The associated smartphone app provides some peace of mind that your bike is secure up on your roof.
There’s also the typical visual indicator to let you know if you’re in danger of losing suction.
Vittoria’s T50 do-it-all gravel tire (top) is now offered in a 700x50 mm size. There’s also a new T60 tread design (bottom) intended for slightly looser terrain.
Vittoria has simplified the naming of its gravel tire range, switching to an alphanumeric system that’s meant to make it easier for riders to select the right tread. Higher numbers denote rougher and looser terrain, while lower numbers have lower-profile treads for smoother ground.
Vittoria introduced Pro mountain bike casings last year with special 60 TPI nylon casings and updated tread compounds that were designed to let the tires deform as a uniform structure, as opposed to having super pliable sidewalls under a stiffer tread cap. The concept has apparently been so well received that Vittoria is now bringing it to its Barzo (top) and Terreno (bottom) treads.
July Bicycles builder Ben Jurgensen built this as a tribute to the Paris Galibier model built in 1947.
The integrated seatmast (not to mention the carbon fiber construction) lends a modern touch. Note the custom cork spacer, too.
The carbon fork comes courtesy of No.22 Bicycle Company’s component sub-brand, No.6. July adds its own special touch with the cork badge, though.
Jurgensen built this frame with a mix of tube-to-tube construction and internal lugs. Some of the tubes are filament wound, while others are molded from a combination of braided sleeves and unidirectional plies.
The cork accents are a bit deceiving in that they’re not 100% cork (which wouldn’t be structurally feasible). Jurgensen prints sturdier bases first, and then cork is bonded on top.
Selle Italia is bringing back white saddles, even for its new 3D-printed models.
The Selle San Marco Mantra is aimed at mountain bikers with its short-nose format, wide-and-flat profile, and rounded tail.
The FiftyOne Sika isn’t new (it was launched last year), but it’s still a striking-looking carbon fiber all-road bike with some neat features.
Fully hidden routing? Gotta have it these days. The kinked fork crown adds some visual distinction.
FiftyOne opts for oversized upper and lower headset bearings to facilitate the internal routing. Even with the bigger diameters, it still manages to look quite tidy.
This new sparkly blue paint looks fantastic in the California sun.
Not wanting to be left out of the party, Feedback Sports has a motorized repair stand of its own called the Pro E Lift. It has a maximum weight capacity of 45 kg (100 lb), and a particularly tall maximum height of 1.85 m (73”). Retail price is a whopping US$1,200, but mechanics who regularly work on heavy e-bikes might find it worthwhile to save their backs.
Simple foot-operated buttons move the Pro E Lift up and down.
Drop-bar mountain bikes are everywhere at this year’s Sea Otter Classic, such as this titanium model from Sanitas Cycles (which looks quite fun, I must admit).
WTB designed its new Solano and Solano SL saddles to go up against Specialized’s ultra-popular Power series with its short-nose format and rather flat profile. The Solano SL focuses on lower weight with its thin and firm padding, while the standard Solano offers a bit more cushioning.
WTB’s Rocket is a modern interpretation of the classic model of the same name, with more padding and a notable kick at the tail to give riders something to push off of when pedaling.
Boyd Cycling is getting oh-so-close to having its new automated carbon fiber rim factory up and running in South Carolina. The robotic lay-up process features a wax core for the main cavity, but the final production version skips the polymer outer plug shown here for a metal one that won’t require any additional machining of the tire bed.
Rim brakes aren’t dead.
Specialized’s new Transition D3O knee pads look very promising what with their ultra-flexible pad and tall thigh cuff that should tuck nicely under liner shorts.
The D30 pad material is rate-sensitive, meaning it stays soft when you’re just pedaling along, but stiffens up upon impact. The molded pattern is impressively flexible and looks like it’ll breathe well, too.
ODI’s Vanquish grips also feature D3O material, which in this case is claimed to provide excellent vibration damping.
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3D printed titanium bits and pieces used for frames (and I am here for other metals used in such configuration) let’s just trademark the name “Swoon” for all of that. My goodness, that’s just gorgeous. And I know there is a lot of grumpiness about suspended drop bar bikes, but they look like they cover a wider range of riding styles, and, let’s face it, it’s easier to cover a lot of ground with drop bars than it is with flat bars.
That Ogle mountain bike 😍
3D printed titanium bits and pieces used for frames (and I am here for other metals used in such configuration) let’s just trademark the name “Swoon” for all of that. My goodness, that’s just gorgeous. And I know there is a lot of grumpiness about suspended drop bar bikes, but they look like they cover a wider range of riding styles, and, let’s face it, it’s easier to cover a lot of ground with drop bars than it is with flat bars.