There isn’t actually a Song of the Otter, but the Sea Otter Classic, in Monterey, CA has been around for so long you could be forgiven for wondering if in some of the dimly lit local bars they’re singing songs about it… If they did that kind of thing here, which these days they don’t. OK, forget I mentioned it.
Yes, the Otter is getting long in the tooth now. This year is its 20th birthday, and the weather gods seemed to be smiling. The four days spanning April 15-18 were graced with beautiful weather, and it would be a pleasure to report that vast crowds had been brought out by the sunshine, but that would be stretching the truth. At times the press office was more crowded than the race tracks. It looked like half the mountain bike reporters from Europe had showed up, and all the usual suspects from the North American press corp were present. Expect to read a lot about this monument among events in the coming days and weeks.
At the ripe old age of 20, Sea Otter is maturing. Those who would say it’s become not so much fun anymore might be at least partly right. But part of this could be attributed to the fact it’s now more of a trade show than it’s ever been, with close to 300 exhibitors nestled in the lake bed while cyclists of all description spent four days zipping past on the periphery. It’s the trade show aspect that brings the reporters out.
And yes, Sea Otter’s getting a little bit of urban culture these days. They’ve not gone as far as promoting a fixie jam or anything like that, but the new and the neat were nestled among more town-like offerings in the expo. Here are a few tastes of Otter 2010.
SRAM launch
The SRAM launch, by now a Sea Otter tradition, revealed among other gems the $800 Apex groupset. “Gone is the triple chainring,” said SRAM man Bill Keith, in announcing variations on wide range chainrings matched with a wide-range 10-speed block. San Francisco cyclists take note. 53-34, 53-39, 50-34, and 48-36 (for ‘cross use) chainsets are offered, with 11-32, 11-28, 11-26 and 11-23 ratios at the rear.
The idea for these gear ranges on a road bike came from a request from Alberto Contador when riding a time trial in the Giro d’Italia in 2008. There were 24% grades on that course, and sections of steep graveled road. They made up a 30-tooth cassette for him and and modified a mountain bike derailleur, and the result worked so well they decided to sell it to us regular riders.
The people it will suit the best are those living in very hilly cities who don’t want one bike with all the gear ratios they’ll likely need. Definitely less fuss than a triple.
Masi Bikes and Brev M Components
Masi showed a range of single-speed bikes with brakes, priced $750, $850 and $1250. The bike in the photo is more of a display model, built to show the Brev M components line. This includes saddle (smooth or perforated), handlebar (flat or keirin style), bolt set, cranks, chainrings, wheels, grips, and a thicker/hard compound rear tire. The frame is called Naked, and features unpainted tubes covered with clear coat paint.
Specialized Globe
The Globe Live 3 cargo bike from Specialized is part of the Globe line. The front rack, with wooden boards, will carry up to 25kg. It uses an 8-speed Shimano Alfine gear-hub with Gates belt drive. The advantage of belt drive is it requires almost no maintenance and lasts three times a long as a chain. MSRP for this baby is $1550.
RideSFO
Phil Segura, owner of RideSFO, the promoter of the San Francisco Bicycle Expo in November, also has a cool bike store in West Oakland. With twin turntables in the RideSFO booth, good music and good times were never far away, and the more sharp-eyed readers may notice that even though he looks the part, our friend Phil has forgotten to put the stylus on the vinyl when posing for this shot. Neat saddle design, though, featuring the trademark RideSFO beach chair. Manufacturer is SDG. It’s a limited edition Ti railed seat which sells for a cool $125. Only 25 of these were made, and they’re shown for the first time at Sea Otter.
Norco Ceres
2010 is the first year Norco has used the Gates belt drive on a bike, and they’ve included this in three of their models. One is the round-town Ceres, which retails for $1165, and features disc brakes and a Shimano Alfine gear hub. Put knobbly tires on this and you’ve got a nice SS mountain bike. The frame uses Reynolds 525 tubing.
VP Components
First time shown in the USA are these pedals from VP Components, which don’t actually have a name yet. They feature self-lubricating bearings on the inside and a sealed unit on the outside. They’re drilled to take toeclips, and despite their slightly retro look are slightly wider than the Eighties road pedal, which makes them fit better with shoes worn by urban riders. They’re drilled to take toe clips. No MSRP yet.
Made for the Japanese market, this VP One is pedal was launched at the Tapei show and in the US at Sea Otter. It will take toe clips, but there is no MSRP yet.
Contributed by Paul Skilbeck of O2 Active Marketing, long time cycling reporter and media relations guru or the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.
<
Lance Mercado is the man behind the SquareBuilt bicycle brand, a small custom shop out of a Brooklyn basement. He setup shop shortly after a UBI framebuilding course in 2007 and has been building bikes since, more or less specializing in steel street track bikes and recently getting into the bike polo market with custom frames, forks and bars. 
Recent Comments