InterBike kicks off with On-Dirt Demo'
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Located 23 miles southwest of Las Vegas’(in)famous Strip, Boulder City’sBootleg Canyon park was ground zero for the 2003 Interbike Expo’s OutDoorDemo. Brimming with over 150 exhibitors this year, the event has grownalmost exponentially over its eight years.
In fact, Interbike organizers felt the Outdoor Demo had outgrown bothits old location and its single-day format, expanding the event to a muchlarger venue and two-day format. This year offered not only a three loopcross-country mountain bike track and closed two mile road circuit, butalso boasted a 750 foot BMX track and shuttle-served downhill course.
Each course received rave reviews. Lars Thomson, a shop owner from SanJose, California and expert-level downhill racer commented that, “you’dbetter at least have expert level skills to make it down this course inone piece, but otherwise it’s a great opportunity to try out the latestdownhill suspension technology. My shop is mountain bike focused so, forme, it’s helpful for me to get a chance to ride the full range of mountainbikes-from cross-country to downhill. It’s something that’s been missingfrom the demo, and I’m excited to see they [Interbike] added the downhillcourse.”
Ironically, it wasn’t the Demo’s downhill course that produced the smallnumber of injuries this year, but instead it was the cross-country coursethat sent a few riders packing to the hospital. Interbike Marketing ManagerAn Le commented, “we really hate to see any injuries out here, but unfortunatelywe’ve had to call in the air ambulance twice and the paramedics about fivetimes today. None of the injuries are life-threatening, but it’s stillunfortunate any of our attendees got hurt. We purposely chose the easiestof the downhill courses available here at the park and some of the mosttame cross-country trails, but with the sheer volume of riders out herethese two days, we prepared as best a s we could for the possibility forinjuries. Otherwise, we feel these two days have been the highest-attendedand smoothly executed demo days we’ve ever put on.”
Spotted at OutDoor Demo
SRAM representatives Michael Zellmann and John Nedeau explain thatthe ongoing legal battles in Germany with Shimano trigger shifter patentissues haven’t dissuaded manufacturers elsewhere in the world from spec’ingthe promising shifters. In fact, Nedeau explained, “ we’re right on targetfor where we want to be for 2004 [regarding the amount of spec] and arepositioning ourselves for an even better 2005 selling season. Legal battlesaside, attendees at the Demo who had a chance to ride the shifters forthe first time were raving about their smooth operation and ability torun any brake lever desired.
Dario Pegoretti himself was seen showing off his latest road creation,the Big Leg Emma. Named after a Frank Zappa song, the hugely oversize steelrig is built for the larger or more aggressive rider/racer looking formaximum lateral stability without sacrificing vertical compliance. Noticethe massive oversize chainstays which provide massive rear stability. Aninternally reinforced downtube provides stability up front.
Surprisingly, this bike built with Record 10-speed weighed-in at only 17 pounds. Even more surprising is the frame’s (not complete bike) price tag of $3000.
The Demo' provided the hordes of visiting retailers, distributors andvendors the opportunity to test ride much of 2004’s latest and greatest.While most manufacturers had booths set-up officering demonstration bikes,the two busiest names were easily Giant with 60 test bikes and Specializedwith 78 bikes. While it was difficult to judge who was receiving more attention,the side-by-side booths both sported a constant stream of eager-to-rideriders.
Specialized’s Matt Opperman reported that the most requested bikesof the day were its Tarmac road bike and Demo 9 downhill rig. Giant’s TomMorgan said, “we can’t keep any of mountain bikes here at the booth becauseof their high demand. Most riders are curious to ride our new [carbon framed]NRS Air.” Both companies report a record number of riders out on theirproducts.
Stay tuned for complete technical coverage from tomorrow’s opening-dayshow floor.
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