The Goat

Rock Shox is releasing their SID World Cup dual-air revised fork in February, and it’ll weigh only 1425 grams. The bright blue fork hasn’t changed all that much since it was released in 1998 as the first fork with an integrated crown and air springs, though it does lighten up a little bit every year. I remember when this fork came out because it was when I lived for new bike technology and would pay any price for something that would lighten my bike and make me a little faster. I’m not sure where my tech interest jumped the shark, but I think it was the switch to road biking that pushed me toward single speeds and fixed gears. Now I look at suspension like this and agree that it would be nice to own, but I can admit that I’d be fine with a fork that weighed a little more and cost a lot less. I’d rather spend my time riding simple, silent bikes and admiring cleanly designed frames with hand-made lugs. Still, it would be pretty sweet to put one of these on my 1970s Schwinn cruiser.

Leave it to Cinelli to come up with a clean, elegant solution to the salt crust that forms on your bike while winter commuting. Their 2008 Naked Rats Bike is a smooth-tired “motard style” commuter bike with a fully-enclosed chain and Nexus 8-speed internal hub. They’re giving the bike a front disc brake and a rear liner-pull brake, and then outfitting it with a built-in rear rack and fork with carbon blades. They don’t have a price for it yet, but you can assume that it’ll cost enough that you won’t want to leave it locked outside.

Belt driven single-speeds are big this year with Carbon Drive Systems selling their conversion system for about $160. The system runs silently, engages immediately, and you lubricate it with water instead of oil. Chain line is of supreme importance, because if you don’t have the belt perfectly aligned you’ll end up walking home if you don’t have a 15mm wrench to loosen your back wheel—but at least your fingers won’t get greasy while fixing it.

There’s a year waiting list to get a Dario Pegoretti frame from the Italian frame builder who builds and paints each road frame himself. This Responsorium frame is $4300 and the special order steel fork is another $550. The bad news is that Dario Pegoretti found out that he has cancer about 3 months ago, and he’s slowing down a bit on building frames while taking care of his health. I guess the only good thing about being sick is that he didn’t have to leave Italy to attend Interbike in the Venetian hotel.

The problem with coming to these tradeshows is that I meet really nice people from companies that make awful stuff, and then I feel bad making fun of them. This bike jersey featuring a super tan Luke Skywalker is easily the coolest thing that Primal Wear has ever made, and to tell the truth, it’s pretty terrible. This company baffles me—I can’t figure out who’s buying their stuff and how they’ve managed to stay in business for so long. Still, they’re really nice folks. Primal Wear will also have Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi jerseys next spring. Let’s hope they don’t make jerseys for the three new ones.

This thing looks like a bike you find in your friend’s parents’ basement that they got for free when the bought a washer and dryer 30 years ago. The 2008 Voodoo Agwe is a 28er (700c) grocery getter bike with large, fat tires. It’d be killer for riding in the city since the big wheels maintain momentum better that a single-speeded mountain bike. I don’t know about the big handlebars—they look like they they’ll be knocking walkers in the back when you coast through crowds on the sidewalk.

When I hear Fuji I think of cheaply made bikes assembled by mall sports store employees. This bike changes that, slightly. The Fuji Obey Track Bike will feature the likeness of Andre the Giant for your city riding pleasure next year. The old-school metal toe clips are a nice touch.

The Craig Calfee Spiderweb Bike frame is made from small strands of carbon fiber, and it’s a lot tougher than it looks. I’m not sure it would hold up well to pipe-wielding bandits, but it’s not like you’d lock it up anywhere. Try not to crash it.

The San Francisco messenger bag brand founded by Timbuk2’s founder and a former executive debuted at Interbike. Rickshaw Bagworks doesn’t have prices on any bags yet, but their line looks a little different from all the Chromes, Crumplers, and Timbuk2s by using softer fabrics and muted colors. Their working-class messenger bag has a smooth design and ergo shape, and their mini-messenger is made to be worn on your belt as a drug caddie/lock holster. Rickshaw looks good; I hope there’s room for them in the crowded messenger bag market.

This bamboo-fendered titanium Seven Cycles bike has a unique beer-case-sized rack parked on the front. The burly rack is made from scrap metal with a front grate fashioned from a stamped-out piece of titanium. The rack attaches around the steer tube beneath the stem, so removal isn’t too easy. It’s a custom made rack, but so are all of Seven Cycle’s bikes so maybe they can add one on your order.