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2006 Sea Otter Classic: Gear news
Well, the Sea Otter Classic is officially underway and gear news is starting to filter onto the web. I’ll be using this space to send you towards other sites that have stuff that hasn’t been made available elsewhere.
2007 Shimano XTR group. Last week, news of the 2007 Shimano XTR group was all over the web even though, personally, I don’t appreciate the aesthetics of the upcoming version, especially since the current polished XTR lineup looks so nice.
Singletrack magazine was quick to the punch and released a bunch of photos of the 2007 XTR stuff. The photos show Trek rider Chris Eatough’s bike equipped with some new XTR goodies, and they give you a decent idea about what to look forward to in the coming months from Shimano. Singletrack also has some neat shots of some Santa Cruz bikes, including the Syndicate’s fleet of Nomads.
VeloNews has a parking lot test of the XTR group that provides some good insight into the way the components actually work. Check it out!
The 29″ers. 29″er manufacturers are making a strong appearance at the Classic, with new bikes by Salsa Cycles, Trek, Orbea, and Niner Bikes.
Update (8 April 2006): SRAM mountain bike gear. SRAM’s road group has seen the lion’s share of the media’s attention over the past few weeks but, today, CyclingNews reminded us all that the other big ‘S’ still makes mountain bike parts. Case in point? The new Avid Juicy Ultimate — Avid’s next generation high-end brake. Decked out in carbon and featuring refined design elements, expect to see many an Ultimate at your local race series.
The same piece on CyclingNews also looks at the 2007 Giant Anthem, carbon edition. Currently raced by Giant’s Adam Craig, the carbon Anthem looks like a race circuit monster. And, as a couple of people noted yesterday when checking out the Niner Bikes R.I.P. 9, Fox Racing Shox has a new version of the Float rear shock set for release in ‘07. The Fox Float RP23 features an additional adjustment dial on top of the propedal lever. I haven’t been able to track down any information on this one yet but I’ll be sure to post it up when it comes in.
1. Posted by David French | 12:25 am, 8 April 2006
You’re not the only one who thinks the new XTR looks lame.
I’m sure it works fine, but that’s the problem with all Jap stuff.
Take Toyota cars for example. They work perfectly well, but they’re dull as dishwater.
XTR is the same. Long Live X.0