What's new in 'cross

Interbike report: What's new in 'cross
Dennis McGovern, Sept 1999

Introduction Each year, the Interbike show in Las Vegas is the time when manufacturers bring out new products for the coming year. We sent cyclocross spy Dennis McGovern to this year's show at the Sands in Vegas to scout out the offerings for 'cross. In contrast to the last couple years which saw a large number of new product introductions, this year seems a little light, despite an increase in the visibility of 'cross thanks to the great success of US riders in last year's world championships. The following is Dennis' report. --Dave Carr

Avid CX
brakes Number one cool thing: Avid cross brakes. These are pretty much Dia-compe 286's on steroids: they have the same kind of shape but are very beefy and look a bit easier to work with. These brakes use cartridge style V-brake pads, which are easy to replace, but my guess is they will wear pretty quick in the mud.
I didn't see a price, but I think the Avid brakes will be quite a bit cheaper than the Paul Components or SRP Mr. Grumpy 'cross brakes.

Other brakes As for SRP, they had a banner in an empty booth. That might explain why brakes for my teammates have been on backorder for months.
Paul Components: Paul had new brakes, slightly shorter and with a different angle. These should be much more calf and thigh friendly.

'Cross tires Actually, not much new here. I checked out Tufo tires for the first time. They look pretty great both in real tubulars and the combo tubulars which work on clincher rims. I am really tempted to get these even though I like the Michelins and Geax tires quite a bit.
The red Tufos (Prestige) with yellow side walls are the lighter racing version and the black ones (Rhino) are a heavier duty training tire [might be better against flats] They are 30mm and run a bit big, but not as huge a the Michelins. They make 34mm tires, too.
Tufo also has a file tread semi-slick. It is about the same size as the 28mm Ritchey tire and comes in traditional sewup and hook bead tubular style.
Ritchey has brought back the old Mega-bite, now called Mountain Cross. It is big and grippy. I use these during the offseason for trail rides.

'Cross bikes Ritchey also has a new bike called the Mountain Cross. It is a 700c mountain bike, kind of like the thing Bianchi did a few years ago, but lighter and higher priced.
Stock Bike of the show: New Bianchi Aluminum CX bike. Mostly 105 type stuff with the Avid Brakes and generally nice spec. Retails around $1250.
Trek also has a stock CX bike with an aluminum frame and a triangular downtube like some of hteir aluminum road bikes. The spec is a mixture of RX100-level stuff, with Rolf's entry-level wheels. Retail is around $1100.
Bike deal of the show: Still the Redline Conquest. Good frame. Fairly cheap parts. Nice price. You're going to trash the parts anyway.

Grab bag Esoteric Prize: From the people formerly known as Salsa-- some former employees [aka Gianni Guys] brought out their new Soulcraft frames. They did not even have a booth, but still managed to sell one of the frames they were carrying around. Be really cool and get it in singlespeed form.
The other stuff: Independent, SyCip, Seven and Merlin all had their usual
nice frames. And Kona's Jake the Snake looked like a pretty nice set up, too.
When I was at the Mavic booth, Frank McCormack was there trying to get some
Mavic Ksyrium wheels in sew up version for cross. Lance Armstrong has the only ones currently in existence. [The rest of the USPS team was on clinchers] Mavic are going to try to accomodate Frank ASAP.

Go back to the NVV Cyclocross Circuit

Introduction	Each year, the Interbike show in Las Vegas is the time when manufacturers bring out new products for the coming year. We sent cyclocross spy Dennis McGovern to this year's show at the Sands in Vegas to scout out the offerings for 'cross. In contrast to the last couple years which saw a large number of new product introductions, this year seems a little light, despite an increase in the visibility of 'cross thanks to the great success of US riders in last year's world championships. The following is Dennis' report. --Dave Carr
Avid CX brakes	Number one cool thing: Avid cross brakes. These are pretty much Dia-compe 286's on steroids: they have the same kind of shape but are very beefy and look a bit easier to work with. These brakes use cartridge style V-brake pads, which are easy to replace, but my guess is they will wear pretty quick in the mud. I didn't see a price, but I think the Avid brakes will be quite a bit cheaper than the Paul Components or SRP Mr. Grumpy 'cross brakes.
Other brakes	As for SRP, they had a banner in an empty booth. That might explain why brakes for my teammates have been on backorder for months. Paul Components: Paul had new brakes, slightly shorter and with a different angle. These should be much more calf and thigh friendly.
'Cross tires	Actually, not much new here. I checked out Tufo tires for the first time. They look pretty great both in real tubulars and the combo tubulars which work on clincher rims. I am really tempted to get these even though I like the Michelins and Geax tires quite a bit. The red Tufos (Prestige) with yellow side walls are the lighter racing version and the black ones (Rhino) are a heavier duty training tire [might be better against flats] They are 30mm and run a bit big, but not as huge a the Michelins. They make 34mm tires, too. Tufo also has a file tread semi-slick. It is about the same size as the 28mm Ritchey tire and comes in traditional sewup and hook bead tubular style. Ritchey has brought back the old Mega-bite, now called Mountain Cross. It is big and grippy. I use these during the offseason for trail rides.
'Cross bikes	Ritchey also has a new bike called the Mountain Cross. It is a 700c mountain bike, kind of like the thing Bianchi did a few years ago, but lighter and higher priced. Stock Bike of the show: New Bianchi Aluminum CX bike. Mostly 105 type stuff with the Avid Brakes and generally nice spec. Retails around $1250. Trek also has a stock CX bike with an aluminum frame and a triangular downtube like some of hteir aluminum road bikes. The spec is a mixture of RX100-level stuff, with Rolf's entry-level wheels. Retail is around $1100. Bike deal of the show: Still the Redline Conquest. Good frame. Fairly cheap parts. Nice price. You're going to trash the parts anyway.
Grab bag	Esoteric Prize: From the people formerly known as Salsa-- some former employees [aka Gianni Guys] brought out their new Soulcraft frames. They did not even have a booth, but still managed to sell one of the frames they were carrying around. Be really cool and get it in singlespeed form. The other stuff: Independent, SyCip, Seven and Merlin all had their usual nice frames. And Kona's Jake the Snake looked like a pretty nice set up, too. When I was at the Mavic booth, Frank McCormack was there trying to get some Mavic Ksyrium wheels in sew up version for cross. Lance Armstrong has the only ones currently in existence. [The rest of the USPS team was on clinchers] Mavic are going to try to accomodate Frank ASAP.