PULL Magazine takes you behind the doors of INTERbike

Filed under General on September 11, 2014 | Comment(s)

Anybody who's ever attended INTERbike - the annual show for the entire bike industry to show off their latest and greatest, will tell you how overwhelming it is. It's all about bikes and fitness - so whether you're in to road, mountain, cyclo-cross, Triathalons or BMX, it's all here in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay convention center. With many BMX brands absent this year (no Redline, no GT, no Dk, no MCS, no S&M), the BMX presence did seem a tad smaller than usual, but there was still a ton of BMX brands here to check out. It's still virtually impossible to catch everything in a single day, and we spied on plenty of cool stuff set for a 2015 release.

For those around the Las vegas area - anybody can check out the show this year, as it'll be open to the public on Friday, Sept. 12th. (Cost is $20 for tickets - and well worth it.)  But for those who aren't able to make it in, we've got you covered with a long stroll up and down every single bike-part filled aisle. Here are some highights: 

ICE TOOLZ: Spelled with a "Z" at the end, Ice Toolz has been around for years now, and is a more affordable alternative brands like Park. They've got a new, expanded selection that any BMX mechanic would dream of hanging on the walls of his work bench.  

FORCEFIELD: The distributors of SIDI Shoes have also brought in a new Canadian brand of body armor - called FORCEFIELD. It's not only a cool name, but also has some state of the art protection and padding. Inside the ForceField's body, elbow and knee guards is this thicker than usual, more breathable rubber pads. They are multi-functional - letting air flow thru them (thus being more comfortable to wear), and are also designed to absorb the impact more so than their competing brands. Definitely worth checking out if you are the shorts w/ pads type of racer, or that parent looking to make racing a bit safer for their kids.

SIDI SHOES: The selection of Sidi shoes seems to be growing at a huge pace - with expansion of both road and off-road clipless shoes. ...but that's not all. For you flat-pedal fans or Novices, Sidi also has some great non-clipless shoes with great ankle support and padding to protect you from clashing with your cranks. Available in high or low top and found at your nearest bike shop that carries Sidi.

PAUL COMPONENTS: Next up, we stopped at PAUL Components. For most BMX dads and mechanics, Paul is known for making great adjustable brakes - but as you can see here, they've expanded more for the Fixie crowd, but their products cross over in to BMX just as easily. The selection of American-made CNC'ed brake levers from PAUL is amazing - and there's likely a size of reach for any aged BMXer.

RECYCLED EDITION: It seemed that this year, Strider has some serious competition in their midst. One of these "new" push bike brands were these recyclable push bikes - made from 100% recycled plastic. While it did seem to have a long wheelbase that only a tiny Terry Tenette-type tyke could appreciate, tere's a read for it. The rear section and seat are fully adjustable, so as you kid grows - so can his balance bike. Just loosen the bolt, and the height will rotate and adjust to every sized rider. Gotta admit - that's pretty genius. 

RACEFACE: RaceFace is an MTB brand, also with a ton of BMX crossover potential. From cranks to grips, Raceface has some pretty awesome stuff that BMX racers would dig on, just to be different.Color-wise, RaceFace grips  in both lock-on or slide-on, have a huge assortment of colors, compounds and textures to satisfy any BMX rider. 

WHITE LIGHTNING: Need chain lubes or bike wash? White Lightning has a huge selection of products, for all types of conditions. 

LIZARDSKINS: Lizardskins' grip selection looks like it's again doubled in size, but a wide assortment of widths and rubber density, there's definitely a type of LizardSkin grip for your exact, specific preference. Lizardskin's thinner and lighter DSP grips literally come in every color under the rainbow. Lizardskins not only has you covered with what you hold on to, but how you hold on to it. Their glove selection is also varied, with some great colors and a variety of sizes and different fits. We overheard their salespitch for the gloves being "smartphone friendly" - so you don't have to take off your gloves in order to slide on your touch screen.

TROY LEE DESIGNS: At Troy Lee, their booth was bustling with cool, new stuff. Their cycling-specific gear has been out for some time now and sales are booming. And you only need to look at Sam Willoughby to see what their new 2015 uniforms look like. For those in dire need to knee and shin protection, you should also consider TLD - as they've got a great variety of soft or hard padding, depending on how much protection you feel is necessary.

ODI GRIPS: American-made ODi grips has a larger display full of lock-ons in all shapes, sizes and colors. For the BMX crowd, ODi is easily the No.1 grip used in racing.  

SERFAS: Another one of those bike brands who caters heavily to the road and MTB markets, but has a ton of potential for BMX racers - including a wide vareity of clipless shoes. Serfas products are affordable and available at a whole lot of bike dealers around the country. 

POC: Poc Racing helmets have been seen a LOT more on the USA BMX circuit this year - mostly thanks to their sponsorship program with Factory Staats (easily recognizable in Poc orange). For 2015, the Poc range of helmets still look clean as ever - including this matte-finish blue. 

VEE RUBBER: Manned by the infamous Tony D., continues to bring out some cool colors in their Speedster line of BMX tires. Their yellow treads at the Grands last year stood out, and they're constantly looking for the next cool color to run. Rumor has it that they might have some really special for Steven Cisar's at this year's Greatest Race on Earth. 

OURY GRIPS: To any old school racer, you'll easily recognize this classic grip by Oury (the "Original") But - what you may not know is what year it was made? Can you believe this grip first came out in 1968?! ...and it still available today, for those vintage guys to toss on their latest 70's bike build.

...more to come as we wander aimlessly down the aisles of INTERbike, trying our hardest to not get lost - in search of a freebie energy bar sample or autographed Caroline Buchanan poster.

HYPER: By far - without a doubt, the coolest BMX race bike we've seen at the show is Hyper's jet-fuel colored Mission 1.0. While we've seen the Jet-fuel forks from Snafu and other products over the past year, we hadn't seen it done on a alloy frame until Bubba Gonzales' debut'ed his Worlds bike. Could Jet-Fuel be the next hot ticket color in the racing world? We'd like to think so. 

LEATT: They now do waaaaaay more than just neck braces. Their huge assortment of elbow and knee/shin pads are ideal for those USA BMX and BMX Canada members who prefer to wear shorts when racing, and also have a super protective, functionally padded bodysuit to put on under your jersey (if you are an older cruiser racer who wants that full-protection and that buffed "I've been working out" physique).  But that's not all that was new at Leatt ...the biggest news here this weekend Leatt now has HELMETS!  
It's the company's mission to be all about safety, so this Leatt helmet has been in development for years now and made it's U.S. debut in Vegas. It's called the V.12, and features some serious technology in the design - both interior and exterior. The visor on the Leatt V.12 has a peculiar up-angle to it, to provide better peripheral vision, as well as air-flow. There are 6 models total - but only one carbon edition. Obviously, Leatt has safety in mind, and their helmets all feature a type of MIPS system, that is aimed at reducing injury and lessening the impact and risk for concussions. Check out their website for more details and pricing. With great safety, also comes a great cost.

FLY RACING: Many racers have already gotten an early glimpse of Fly Racing's 2015 line of uniforms - and of them all, we are leaning toward liking their Yellow/Green/LightBlue angled fade uniform the most. Cool colors, great graphics and super stylish looking on any BMX track. But best of all is that this is Fly's BMX-specific pant - lightweight with no heavy MX-leather material. 
of all the BMX booths here at the show, the WPS / Fly booth is probably the most happening spot to be. They've got all of their race gear, along with a big variety of their distributed products - from Supercross and Speedline, to Chase Bikes, Tagent, Box and others. It's no wonder that WPS is quickly becoming known by all bike shops in the U.S. as the No.1 BMX distributor in the Nation.  

KALI HELMETS: Kali helmets had some unique shapes and graphic packages for 2015. We've slowly been seeing more Kali helmets on the BMX racing scene, as they improve their looks and design. 

ONYX HUBS: Onyx owner Jim Gerhardt is giving away a FREE pair of Onyx hubs on the hour, EVERY hour! Here, he shows us his latest 20mil hubs, which are being tested right now by Joey the Bomb and a few other Onyx-sponsored Pros. 
The coolest thing on display here, though - are their plastic see-thru hubs, that show off the internal workings of a cassette and how the internal bearings are placed. Hopefully they'll have these at The Grands for all to see.

6D HELMETS: Like the police force, the 6D helmet will protect and serve you like no other helmet on the market. Their MIPS system and technologically advanced design is all about saving brains. YOUR brain, in particular - if you can afford it. 

Day 2 of INTERbike began with a nice, cold $4 Mt.Dew at the Mandalay Bay store and then lead us to grabbing a good ol' fashioned paper map, so as not to get as lost as the day before. Once we looked at the map, it quickly dawned on us that the entire show floor was in a giant "L"-shape. 

BELL: Bell Helmets continues to provide the sport some great brain protection, with some killer colors and graphics. As seen on the heads of Team Haro pros Nic Long and Corben Sharrah (on the latest cover of PULL magazine). One of the coolest features on the Bell carbon is the GoPro attachment to the visor. Works much better than duct tape.
The Bell in the black-red-white color scheme matches about half of the BMX teams in our sport. Seriously; is there any team out there who is not using black, red and white?

BOX COMPONENTS: Over at the BOX booth, it was BMX Central! IN fact, if you wanted to see BMX bikes, this was the place to be. With some killer bikes on display from most major BMX brands (who were missing from the show), Box had equipped each with the finest in Box components. We really loved this turquoise Protonix ...errr, I mean, Phoenix. 
Just say Yess! The Box gold parts and carbon forks went along perfect on this blazing gold Yess bike. If you looked closely, you may have noticed a unique and different MTB-sized seat tube, where they fitted a adjustable height MTB seatpost - elimanating the need for a 2nd "Cool-down" seat post.

FREE AGENT: Of all the BMX bikes on display, we've gotta say that Free Agent wins the award for "Most Improved." On their Mini's are these straight-pull hubs; appropriately in "London gold." (...or is that Beijing gold? We can't tell them apart.)  The slidable rear drops on the new 2015 Free Agent BMX bikes are an awesome upgrade. This, along with those straight-pull hubs and spokes, along with the forks and cranks, make this $1,000 msrp cruiser a killer deal.  Free Agent BMX definitely did their homework while Mike Flaugherty was on board, and these stamped alloy Free Agent forks are the perfect accent to an incredible new bike. Even the rear stays on the Free Agent got the magic touch, with some custom CNC work, to simultaneously lighten and stiffen things up. What an improvement! It's been a long time coming - as Free Agent frames have been virtally the same since the last millinium.

REDLINE / BOX: Graphics on the 2015 Flight Carbon frames look awesome - as always. Art director Evan Moss is celebrating his 20th year at the helm of Redline Bicycles art department and he nailed it. The red Box parts kit just makes it look even better - to match that Sam Willoughby No.1 Box plate. For 2015, stock production Flight bikes will come equipped with Box components and forks.

S-SQUARED: It was one year ago exactly, when we got our first glimpse of the new and improved S-squared frame. Now, they are in stock and anxiously awaiting to be raced. Take note of all the Answer parts that top it off - brakes, seat/post, cranks, headset, stem, spacers, hubs and fork. They even had a S-square branded Strider bike for next season. 

ANSWER: Joined together in the S-squared booth like the siamese twins they are, Answer BMX (both owned by Oldsmar BMX track operator John Sawyer), had a lot of new stuff to show off. Starting with the Holeshot hubs - namesake of the Answer Holeshot award at USA BMX Pro races, these beauty's are almost guaranteed to give you the holeshot every time you leave the gate ...or so they say. 
The color of choice at Answer for 2015 is neon yellow, and all of their goods - from Pivitol saddles to grips, was bright as a radiotactive killer bee.
All of the Answer bike gear from here on out, is available thru Answer BMX; rather than thru the MX-side of Tucker-Rocky. The new bike-specific Answer fullfaces - as seen on the smart heads of Dale Holmes' StayStrong team, come in a variety of cool color combos that'll match most any team's uniform.

LAKE SHOES: As worn by the Doublecross team, Lake shoes had their popular orange clipless shoes on display, along with white, red and yellow versions to match most any outfit in BMX.

KORE: We ran in to good buddy Wick - and he told us to check out the new Kore grips. Sure, they were made for mountain bikers, but are tough enough for BMX racers. With some cool grip patterns, your hands would love to hold on to these.

URGE HELMETS: Urge helmets - from France, are still heavily endorsed by Woody Woodruff and a few assorted BMXers around the country. Their lucky 4-leaf clover brain-bucket might just increase your chances of winning the next main. Maybe. 

100%: Do you give it 100%? Then why not get goggles to match your attitude or training motto? The guys at 100% have really stepped up their color selection for 2015. With chrome goggle frames, black straps and the killer looking nose-guard, this was our favorite 100% goggle on display.
100% is now doing more than just goggles and eyewear. Their all-new line of gloves come in a variety of colors, sizes, designs and materials. These are the medium-grade material with cool thermal welds. Our favorites though, were the lighter 100% gloves ...which, believe it or not, fit like a glove. (I know - hard to believe - eh?) Super lightweight, these will be a big hit with the BMX market.  

O'NEAL / AZONIC: Around the corner from 100%, we discovered the O'Neal / Azonic booth, and found this artsy jersey full of cool art and wild colors. Pretty wild - eh? O'Neal has both MX helmets and Bike-specific versions, in two price ranges. The multi-colored, neon beauty was their bright MX-style lid, and took us straight back to the 80's. History always repeats itself. ...really.

RYDERS EYEWEAR: Ever heard of Ryders Eyewear? Neother had we - until we passed by a western-themed booth that made us wonder if we'd stepped in to a time-warp and were transported back to Tombstone, AZ in the Wyatt Earp era. Ryders is a Canadian-founded sunglass company, based out of Vancouver. But with a new American ownership, they're gearing up to take on the World, and with a more affordableprice range of glasses and gogs, you can expect to see more of their eyewear at the races next year.

SUPERCROSS BMX: Supercross BMX owner Bill Ryan was present and accounted for, and busy showing off their new carbon parts - including the long-awaited carbon frame we've been hearing about for over a year. 

MAXXIS TIRES: Meanwhile, over at the Maxxis tire booth, DK's power couple Barry Nobles and Caroline Buchanan were busy signing autographs and giving knucklebumps, along with doing the occasional selfie for Instagram. 

PHIL WOOD: Whether you are old school or new, you can't deny that Phill Wood hubs are still the bomb-diggity. While they have been around for nearly as long as Oury grips (and also un-changed), t's hard to match their precision and cleanness. And ooooooh, that classic Phil signature extched in red, will give any old school BMXer goosebumps.

As we easily found the exit out of the gigantic showroom floor, and checked to see if there were any PULL magazines left in the bins, we couldn't help but make a list in our heads about the fictitous and completely personally biased InterBike BMX Awards:

BEST BMX BIKE of SHOW: Hyper Mission 1.0 in "jet fuel" colorway.  (Runner-up would be the Supercross Carbon.)

MOST IMPROVED BMX BIKE of SHOW: The new 2015 Free Agent's was not just a tiny step - but as Neil Armstrong would put it - "one GIANT step" for mankind. While it'd be easy to say "it's about time" - we'd rather just say "AWESOME job, guys!" 

MOST TASTY ENERGY BAR SAMPLE of SHOW: Powerbar's new Lemon Cream Wafer - due out in March 2015. While there are samples around every corner of the show, with a wide range of tastes (everything from cardboard to chopped-up pine-cone flavor), we kept returning to the Powerbar Lemon Cream Wafer samples every time we passed by their booth. They've also got Berry Yogurt and Chocolate Peanut Butter flavors that are out right now. 

BEST PLACE TO HANG OUT AND MEET BMX LEGENDS: The Fly booth, which was constantly bombarded with BMX legends and Hall of Famers throughout the day. 

NOISIEST BOOTH of SHOW: By far, GoPro and their chanting legions of fans trying to win themselves a GoPro camera, were not only loud ...but extremely annoying.

GOOFIEST GIMMICK of SHOW: The spring-loaded suspension via circular leaf-spring wheels, at the Snafu booth, definitely won - hands-down!

In all, INTERbike 2015 was a blast - as always. For years, the BMX community has dreamed of sneaking in past the guarded doors at the annual INTERbike show in Las Vegas. Some have made it past security by posing as bike shop mechanics or bribing their sponsor for a badge. But this year - for the first time ever, INTERbike is about to open their doors to all - on Friday, Sept 12th.!
A day-pass is only $20. Go to Interbike.com for details and a link to purchase tickets. And then you too, can fight the temptation to poke a pin-hole in the big-headed, Anime'-looking, inflatable InterBike mascot.

STORY & PHOTOS by gOrk