Christophe Noel
Expedition Leader
Interbike 2012 is in the books, and all things considered there wasn't perhaps quite as much innovation this year as there was in years past. Overall, the show seems to again be shrinking in the number of exhibits as well as the size of each exhibit. However, there were some shining stars to report.
What's better than fat tires? REALLY fat tires. Surly and Salsa, both in-house brands of Quality Bicycle Parts, now feature two new models of "fat bikes" with ever larger tires. This begs the question - how fat is too fat.
The popularity of bikepacking continues to make inroads into offroad travel. Salsa is fast becoming the industry leader in adventure bicycling. They have half a dozen models of bikes purpose built for adventure.
Topeak is making a big push towards the touring market including a few products aimed at the mountain bike touring market. Many of their offerings are a tad bit under built in my opinion, and perhaps a bit corny, but they're on the right track.
Kuat is a newcomer to the bike rack business, but they've shown they're going to give Yakima and Thule a run for the money with hitch racks. The refinement of their rack designs is impressive. The built-in work stand will make trailhead repairs a snap. For those who prefer to roof mount their bikes, their new cargo basket with hard-mount bike mounts is a great overlanding option. Again, the refinement caught my eye, right down to the real copper logo badge.
There were a few other adventure bike products on display, but no one singular item really stood out. What did jump out at me was how nearly everyone is aware of, or directly pursuing, the adventure bicycling market.
For one thing, the word "bikepacking" is now a permanent addition to the bicycling vocabulary.
What's better than fat tires? REALLY fat tires. Surly and Salsa, both in-house brands of Quality Bicycle Parts, now feature two new models of "fat bikes" with ever larger tires. This begs the question - how fat is too fat.
The popularity of bikepacking continues to make inroads into offroad travel. Salsa is fast becoming the industry leader in adventure bicycling. They have half a dozen models of bikes purpose built for adventure.
Topeak is making a big push towards the touring market including a few products aimed at the mountain bike touring market. Many of their offerings are a tad bit under built in my opinion, and perhaps a bit corny, but they're on the right track.
Kuat is a newcomer to the bike rack business, but they've shown they're going to give Yakima and Thule a run for the money with hitch racks. The refinement of their rack designs is impressive. The built-in work stand will make trailhead repairs a snap. For those who prefer to roof mount their bikes, their new cargo basket with hard-mount bike mounts is a great overlanding option. Again, the refinement caught my eye, right down to the real copper logo badge.
There were a few other adventure bike products on display, but no one singular item really stood out. What did jump out at me was how nearly everyone is aware of, or directly pursuing, the adventure bicycling market.
For one thing, the word "bikepacking" is now a permanent addition to the bicycling vocabulary.
