The second and final day of Interbike’s Outdoor Demo began has it has for the past few years, the annual 8 a.m. “Hangover Road Ride” sponsored by the trade show and by Scott USA.

A hearty group of 100 riders showed up, heading immediately downhill for a good quarter of the 24-mile out-and-back loop, with the remaining half of the out leg being rolling, yet continuing to lose altitude. We rode into the park at Lake Mead and turned around at the point where the Colorado River first flows into the huge reservoir.

A new - albeit marginally functional - variation of the classic cow horn TT bar.

Nice and cool relative to the heat of the day, once that truly settled in, and with perfect pavement and beautiful scenery, the ride was very pleasant as long as you prevented yourself from blowing up trying to follow some of the really fast wheels.

Road Tubeless
Having started on the road, it seemed appropriate to stay there all morning on the new Masi Gran Criterium I had borrowed, giving some extended testing to perhaps the most noteworthy new product of the Outdoor Demo, namely the Hutchinson tubeless clincher road tire.

I rode the Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tire on a variety of road surfaces ranging from glassy smooth to terribly rotten, cracked and bumpy. Hutchinson claims the tire to offer a 25 percent reduction in rolling resistance relative to standard high-end clinchers with inner tubes. Another claim is that, since the casing is free of the inner tube pressed against it that can decrease the performance of standard clinchers, it is more supple and can roll more easily, yet far more comfortably, at 1 bar (14psi) lower pressure than a rider would use his or her standard clinchers.

So, I rode these tires at 85psi on very rough, as well as very smooth roads. They felt great. They cornered well, not threatening to wash out at that pressure, and they absorbed the rough areas in the road far better than a standard clincher at 100psi. Since there is no tube to pinch, you can run lower pressures without worry, like with tubeless UST mountain-bike tires. In the event of a puncture, the tire is locked to the rim bead, so there is no need to worry about the tire coming off the rim. So, like a tubular, it is safer in the event of an unexpected blowout or puncture; you can still ride it home without changing it, and since there is no tube and the valve is seated, it does not bump along like a flat tubular would on each revolution when the valve comes to the bottom.

The weight is similar to a high-end tire and tube, so the advantage is not there. The advantage is in puncture- and pinch-flat resistance, lower rolling resistance, cornering traction, comfort, and safety.

I found the tire to be very easy to remove and re-mount without tools. Lubricating the beads with water helps enormously with mounting as well as with initial inflation with a hand pump. Hutchinson’ “Fast’Air” aerosol with latex foam in it is recommended to seal the tire (while lubricating it) and completely prevent air loss from anything other than a casing cut. With this setup, there is no need to ride with a pump and a spare unless you also bring a tire boot, since the only way to get a flat is a casing cut.

The key to this tire is the carbon-fiber rim bead, making the bead much thinner than on a Kevlar-bead tire. A square rubber edge locks into the Shimano rim, the only one completed and approved thus far for road tubeless use. The tire also has a thin layer of Kevlar edge-to-edge to contain high pressures and protect against punctures. The center of the three tread strips (called “Triple Compound”) is tougher for more puncture resistance. The adjacent two strips are softer for more traction, and the third compound on the shoulders of the tire is softer yet for cornering grip.

The 200 X 23C Fusion 2 will be in the $40-$60 range (with no need to spend money on a tube or rim strip), will have a 127tpi casing and will weigh 295 grams. The superlight Atom will be 700 X 21C and will weigh only 265 grams.

Hed's Bastogne CX is a tough, strong, and light cyclo-cross wheel.

Hed
Hed showed a new 19mm road clincher co-developed with Bontrager that has a rubber fairing along the edge to mate up perfectly with a Hed 3 clincher aero wheel. The aerodynamic efficiency has been demonstrated in a wind tunnel, and it is visibly very sleek.

After coming out with the new aluminum Bastogne wheel, which offers, aerodynamics, durability, stiffness and low weight at a low price, Hed now has a cyclocross version. The new Bastogne Cross is still quite light but has a heavy-duty Hed hub at its center and radial spoking.

BMC Trailfox
The only bike at the Outdoor Demo in my 23” size, the BMC Trailfox 02 was a pleasure to ride, and not just because it fit properly. The suspension (five inches of travel front and rear) has a little lower link and a big upper rocker that are connected together by the vertical struts of the triangulated swingarm.

According to BMC’s Scott Thomson, “this completely isolates the suspension from pedaling inputs.” I found that, indeed, while seated, there was almost no pedal-induced bobbing, although there was plenty of that when climbing out of the saddle. The Trailfox shares with the new Felt Equilink system that connection of the upper and lower links by a vertical member and a vertical shock in front of the seat tube.

Both designs, since there is no need for pivots on the down tube or top tube, can save weight in those tubes with svelte double-butted and/or hydroformed tubes.

While the geometry of the connection of the vertical link to the top and bottom links varies between these two bikes, both end up being light, nimble and great for seated pedaling. In each case, the chain is running at close to 90 degrees from the vertical link in any gear combination. A vertical wheel path eliminates pedal kickback, so climbing at slow speed over a rock, you do not feel the suspension fighting you.

The BMC also has an elegant quick-release seat binder attached to tabs on the back of a forged seat-tube reinforcing collar. The Trailfox 02 is all aluminum, while the 01 has carbon seatstays and vertical links connected to aluminum chainstays. The Trailfox 02 is $1200 for the frame, shock and headset, or $2600 with SRAM X.7 parts.

Cannondale
Not having the small-wheel nimbleness or the bump-absorbing capability of the BMC or Felt, the Cannondale Caffeine 29er is an awesome hardtail trail bike. It gets amazing traction with the big tires, and the way it rolls over bumps belies its unsuspended rear end. Being a hardtail, it certainly has no pedal kickback in any gear, no pedal-induced bobbing or rider-induced bobbing, and, of course, it takes off with no squatting when you sprint uphill out of the saddle. The single-leg Lefty fork completes the package and can be locked out to match the rear end.

Once you got higher up on the trails on the Bootleg Canyon mountains, the percentage of 29ers up there was amazing; maybe one in four! There are getting to be a lot of 29er bikes from lots of companies out there, many of which are fully rigid single-speeders. Hutchinson now has a Python tire in 29-inch, and Kenda has a new 29 X 2.3” tire with huge knobs for the most aggressive tire yet in this diameter.

Scott Spark 10
The suspension system of the Spark 10 is not unique and has been used on many bikes before. What is unique is Scott’s carbon-welding process to build the frame, and the three travel positions on the rear shock.

Scott's Spark 10 frame has a welded carbon frame with the top tube, down tube and head tube molded in a single

Scott calls the new way it builds the down tube, head tube and top tube in a single piece IMP, for Integrated Molding Process. The trailing ends of both the top tube and down tube are mitered to meet the seat tube and bottom bracket shell and are bonded and wrapped to form a “welded” carbon joint. This saves 350 grams over the Genius model, while offering 110mm of maximum travel, as compared to 80mm for the Genius.

The shock, co-designed by Scott and DT Swiss has a three-position remote lever on the handlebar and is at the heart of Scott’s Traction Control system. With the flip of a thumb, the shock can be locked out, put in “Traction Mode: with 70mm of travel, or put in “All Travel” mode with 110mm of travel. To offer two different amounts of travel, the shock has two unique air chambers. This shock saves another 150 grams over the Genius, for a grand total savings of 500 grams (over a pound)!

Incidentally, the Genius was never sold in the USA due to patent disputes with Specialized over its design.

The Outdoor Demo is now over; it’s now into the halls we go for the next three days.