INTERBIKE 2011 was on September 14 – 16th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Carbon Racing was on hand to check on some of the cool new things for 2012 and to thank some of the current sponsors of Carbon Racing. There was so much to see and so many people to talk to, but here is a brief overview of some of the ”thumbs up” lines or items for 2012.
Our number one “thumbs up” goes out to Mercury Bikes. Their new white carbon wheels are beautiful to look at and promises to be as functional as the original S-series Mercury wheels. The pic is of the deeper 86mm though we will likely run the 59mm. Wow, these just look FAST. Thank you Mercury for your support. We are looking forward to running some Mercury wheels in 2012!!
Sweet!
Challenge Tires took some time to explain to us why their Grifo and Fango tires are so good in cyclocross. It was rare to have the actual owner sit down on the couch and talk about the benefits of his Grifo tires. Thanks Alex for all of the tips and advice!
The most fun we had at a booth came at the Sock Guy booth. We would like to thank everyone we talked to at Sock Guy and a special thank you for our fancy new socks they gave us. The quality of the product is really good as our feet can vouch for after walking for hours at the show wearing our hot new socks. If your team is in need of custom socks, you need to at least talk to the Sock Guy crew!!
- Guess these really don’t match our uniforms..!
There was so much to see… some of the notables were the Shimano booth where they showed us the new version of the DI2 coming out in Ultegra for 2012. The battery life is roughly 120 hours according to the experts and it will bring the cost of the DI2 down for this technology by expanding it to Ultegra. Also, the Jaguar booth had some of the coolest kevlar reinforced cable kits and new colored cross brakes for 2012.
Let’s not forget TIFOSI Sunglasses either. Most cyclists have worn TIFOSI brand eyewear before primarily because of the great value of the brand. Where else can you get a photochromatic lens for under $100!? We enjoyed trying on all of the latest styles and may have even bought a show deal pair or two…
In the apparel, we spent some time talking to Voler and Canari regarding their costs for kits. Canari boosts a complete U.S. made product with reasonable lead times. They are also developing a bib short for women designed to clip the straps in the back so you can just pull them down when you need to go to the restroom. All you ladies who wear bibs out there know exactly why that is pretty cool! We saw the prototypes and they are fairly easy to snap although we questioned whether or not the plastic tab where it locks in would dig into your skin. Voler has tremendous quality and although they are not manufactured in the U.S., they do own the plant where Voler is constructed. Their claim to fame is that they actually deliver when they say they do. Anyone who has worked on kits for a team before knows all too well that delivery is often not timely! We decided we would not complain at all about wearing either of these two brands!!
Last but not least, Joshua Tree Skin Care, provided us with samples of their cycling salve which I have used before and it works great! It is particularly good for small skin abrasions, rashes, small saddle sores, or just dry skin patches. It is all natural and they sell this along with all natural sunscreen sticks and lip balms. We will keep you posted on how well their sunscreen stick works!
Oh, did I mention we went to Cross Vegas??! So much fun….
