Wow. What a fuckin’ show. Straight up. We snaked the entire Interbike  floor the first day. If you’ve ever been to a large scale trade show, you know this isn’t easy. There is just so damn much to see. I walked ’till my feet completely ached, then I walked some more. Must of been at least six straight hours of walking. And it was worth every single pace. I had some prototype Spoke Apparel shirts printed so that we could loosely promote while out there. Keep an eye out for ‘em in the pics to follow.

I’m not going to go into great detail on what’s “new” and “hot” for 2010. If you want that story, check out MTBR’s Interbike coverage here. What I will give you is a solid feel for what it’s like to actually be there; to see the athletes and big names, to experience the brands, and to see the product. If you could snort cycling like a line of coke, the smells at Interbike would be the the drug that gets you high. And all you’d need to do is stand there in the middle of the floor and take one giant inhale. WHAT A RUSH.

 Let’s start trippin’ with Gary Fisher

“Wait till you walk inside. You’re not going to know what to do” my friend said. As soon as he finished that sentence, there stood the man; Gary Fisher. He was giving a press interview. We waited till he was done and grabbed a picture with him. I was super stoked. Mountain biking is the phatest shit. The guys we consider heroes and pioneers are accessible and friendly. Few if any crowds form to meet them. They walk freely and want to meet you. No one other than us knows who they are. And that makes it even cooler. Can’t tell you how many other times I passed by Gary Fisher that day. He was real chill and even asked my name when we asked for a picture. Thanks Gary.

Gary Fisher - the man who started it all. (Yo quit killing my pic, Lessner).

The Ellsworth Cycles Set Up

Like the dirt demo, we made it a point to go see our boys at Ellsworth. They were sporting a brand new set up. Mike & Tony from Ellsworth explained that they would upgrade the sign and get two more monitors for the outside next year. All the bikes looked really good and the booth was sweet. It had a meeting area on the deck that you got to using a set of floating metal stairs covered in diamond plate (on the right).

Shitty picture of the new Ellsworth Cycles display trailer.

Cut-a-way of an Epiphany frame. They even ettched the lettering on the inside.

New Ellsworth Carbon Mountain Bike

Tony Ellsworth Talking with Shop Owners

Hans Rey & Kenda Tires

The very next thing we see is the godfather of trials; Hans Rey at the Kenda booth being interviewed on his new set of signature tires. 

Hans was a doap guy. Very cool when asked for a photo. After the photo, my eye caught a pamphlet on the Kenda booth table – it was a charity Hans founded called Wheels for Life. We talked to Hans about Wheels for Life for at least 5 minutes. It’s a cool thing he is doing over there and I told him I would donate. That got him excited. If you have some time and extra money, help the cause out here.

Gary Lessner, Hans Rey and Fakis (Representin' with the Spoke Apparel shirts!)

Tinker, Jeremiah, and Mary

So we get done with Hans and literally turn around to see Tinker Juarez, Jeremiah Bishop, and Mary McConneloug standing right behind us. Now…Ima big Tinker fan. His stilo, his achievments and his continued success regardless of tenure…quite a guy. And he was really laid back. I talked to him for a while about his mechanical @ Leadville this past season. He said he felt strongly that he would have poidumed had that not happened. Said he was running with the lead pack and felt great when that happened around mile forty. Next year, Tink.

Jeremiah Bishop, Tinker Juarez, Fakis, Gary (Spoke Apparel Shirts Again!)

Answer Racing is Back in Mountain Biking

One of the coolest things I learned is that Answer is bringing the brand back to mountain biking. We spoke to the rep for quite a while and he explained the whole line and the decision to get back in. Since so many moto riders are crossing over to mountain biking (and vise-versa) it makes good business sense to bring the name back. I’m excited by this becuase I used to love moto and always wanted an Answer Manitou MTB fork when I was too young to afford one. They are starting with what you see here – gloves, bars, stems, pedals, etc. The machined face of the head on the stem is the inspiration for the line. 

Answer Racing Product Display

Answer Racing - Stems Showing Machined Design

Fox Suspension

The Fox exhibit was pretty phat. Really well staffed with all products displayed. Even cut-a-ways and some samples of suspension systems from larger vehicles (moto, rally car, and snow mobile). Each Fox staffer had sweet custom mechanics jerseys on that you can’t even buy. They were made just for the show.

Fox Suspension Booth

Cut-a-way of a Fox Float Shock

Cut-a-way of a Fox DHX Air Shock

Go Pro – Be a Hero

Go Pro camera had a really simple booth but they had this car in it. And it was working for them. Be a Hero and check out the Go Pro site. I think I’m buying this camera. It was bad-ass.

Go Pro Hero Camera Eye Candy Car

Camelbak Embodies Hydration

Camelbak had a real nice concept booth and tons of product on display. The bottles shown in the second photo had magnets on them and corresponding magnets on the shelves so that no matter how often they were moved or touched, the booth maintained its visual integrity.

Camelbak Waterfall Display

Illuminated Camelbak Display w/ Magnet Placeholders

Overseas Manufacturing

Lots of overseas manufacturers are always at Interbike. It’s the place to go to hook up with plug-and-play production for anything metal relating to cycling. Everything and anything you can imagine in cycling was represented - from frames to cranks to wheels to bars. They say that 98% of bikes are built outside the US and that 99.5 that were sold last year were built overseas. Sheesh. Here is a sample of some stuff not built in the USA.

Sample Badges Manufactured by Outsourced Vendors

Mavic Sets Up a Retail Store Atmosphere

Mavic impressed me a great deal. The shot I got of the whole area sucked, so I didn’t post it. But Mavic basically had a set up that looked exactly like what a Mavic retail store would look like (if one existed). There was a complete center counter, separate displays for all items, multiple private offices, and each employee was wearing all black with ”made for Interbike ‘09″ yellow Mavic running shoes. Very well put together. 

Mavic Booth - Wheel Set Display

Mavic Booth - Shoe Display

Niner Has Some Sweet Carbon

If you’re into 29″ single speed mountain biking, and into carbon, this is probably what you would have wanted to see. These bikes looked really hot.

Nice Display of Niner Forks

Niner Carbon Single Speed (sorry for crappy pic)

Some Random and Misc. Shots 

These pics don’t group or fit into any specific category, but they all play into the experience. Check ‘em out. Some good stuff here.

Killer Vampire Ad that was Booth Side for Marzocchi

Gary Testing Shimano Electric Shifting System. Works Well. Front Derailleur Auto Trims!

European Pogo Doods. These Guys Did Pogo Backflips!!!

Fakis Checking Out Some of the Women's Clothing Line