Checking in on the 24s

28 09 2016

The 24s may not get the same love as the 20s in the BMX section of Interbike but there was still plenty to check out this year.

Stolen featured the chrome version of their Saint XLT. The geometry has been tweaked/improved this year so an already great bike has gotten even better.

stolen-saint-xlt-2017-interbike

We The People showcased another favorite, the 24″ Atlas. The added “Wow” factor of the candy apple red paint job for 2017 was in full effect.  Looking good.

wtp-atlas-2017-interbike

Haro also got in the act with their entry-level Downtown 24. Those look-at-me green tires are hard to miss.

haro-downtown-24-2017-interbike

SE showcased the metallic red version of their lineup mainstay, the So Cal Flyer.

se-socal-flyer-2017-interbike

Free Agent featured two 24″ cruisers. The entry-level race cruiser, the Ambush 24.

free-agent-ambush-24-2017-interbike

And their more freestyle-y 24″ Ratio.

free-agent-ratio-24-2017-interbike

By the way, I would love to see the Ratio get a bit more of an update –beyond the cosmetic — in the future.  (Those bars are looking mighty short for one thing.)

Sadly Redline wasn’t at the show (I was hoping to check out the Asset 24 and the updated PL-26) and GT didn’t feature a 24.

But GT did have something else that was super cool to check out.

More on that later.

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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Old School, Racing

Interbike odds & sods

20 09 2014

Here are all things that I came across in the show that didn’t fit nicely into a post with anything else.

Without further ado…

“Thin to win” race gear: It seems race gear is getting lighter and thinner than ever this year. One example, is these Troy Lee Designs Sprint shorts.  I have an earlier iteration of the Sprint shorts (which were already quite light) and these seem even lighter still. Fly and other manufacturers seem to have gone this route too. Curious to see if tear-resistance is compromised at all with gear getting thinner and lighter.

TLD sprint shorts

The SE Famous Stars & Straps Big Ripper Collab bike: this bike showed up in two booths: SE and a tire manufacturer’s. Looks pretty cool up close!

SE Big Ripper Stars & Straps Interbike

Tioga’s OS20 tire: (To be truthful, I missed this at the show but the eagle eyes over at BMXNews didn’t….) The BMX racing world’s attempt to produce an “almost 22” tire/wheel setup to get around the max wheel size rules of the sanctions. Tioga had a foldable 0S20 tire on display at the show with plans for a full unveil at the upcoming USBMX Grandnationals.

OS20-tioga

The Free Agent Ratio 24: It appears that Free Agent is still sticking with race geometry on this supposedly freestyle-oriented cruiser. Sure, it is full cro-mo and has those Kenda tanwall tires that look awesome…but this bike literally looks like they choose a new paint color every year and then call it a day. Would really like to see some updated geometry on this model.

2015 Free Agent Ratio 24

That’s it for this year’s Interbike coverage! Thanks for checking out this week’s posts.


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Categories : New products, New School, Uncategorized

A little tan never hurt anyone

16 10 2013

Well, it looks like the old skinwall tire is back again.

Sort of.

These days it’s more likely to be called “tan wall.”

And I couldn’t be happier to see it make its long-awaited return.

I’ve joked in previous posts that I’m on a one-man crusade to save the skinwall.

Whether it’s references to tire manufacturers getting skin in the game, asking if it’s time to show some skin again or showing some skin in Utah…I got a thing for the old school-ly look of the skin or tan wall tire.

At Interbike this year you could see the tanwall making it’s presence known on some of the new completes.

From the We The People Atlas 24

To the Free Agent Ratio

To the Stolen Saint XLT

The smooth style of the tan wall was out there getting noticed.

Heck, Stolen is even offering a tan wall tire as an aftermarket option.

It looks like for 2014, sporting some tan might be the way to go.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School, Old School

More from the Interbike photo album

27 09 2013

Here’s some more highlights of the different cruisers on display.

Volume brought out their new 26″ Hessian.

Volume Hessian front

Free Agent gave its Ratio 24 a new cool looking colorway.

Free Agent Ratio front

We The People debuted their new Atlas 24.

WTP Atlas

Subrosa showed off their new 24″ DTT frame & fork.

Subrosa DTT 24 stock

Sunday also had their Model-C complete on display.

However, my photo of it is a little blurry so if you haven’t seen it, check it out here.

Sunday Model C

In terms of race stuff, there was some race cruiser stuff on display (in addition to the DK stuff previously covered) but not nearly as much as the freestyle-oriented stuff.  For a look at the race side of things at Interbike, check out BMX News and Vintage BMX.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, New School

Free Agent reveals the Ratio 24

6 12 2011

As I’ve said before, Free Agent doesn’t get a lot of hype for its freestyle/trails-oriented 24inchers.

Which is a bit of shame really because for around $400 (US) you get a full cro-mo frame, fork and handlebar along with a pretty respectable parts package on the new Free Agent Ratio 24.

Geometry

In terms of geometry, Free Agent has pretty much stuck with what they used in last year’s Devil 24.

That being:

  • 74 degree head angle
  • 72 degree seat angle
  • 21.5″ top tube
  • 15.2″ chainstay

All in all, not too far out from what you would expect on a bike like this (although they could’ve gone a little shorter on the chainstay).

What they could’ve done better

Given that most companies have adopted the new “standard” of a higher bottom bracket height, it’s a bit surprising that Free Agent stuck with the more race-oriented 12″ bottom bracket height for this year’s model.

Furthermore, the stock handlebar is a sub-6inch offering. While I give them points for spec’ing it in full cro-mo, the trend is decidedly taller these days.

Who might be best suited to this bike

Given the more traditional, race-style geometry (and the full cro-mo construction) this might be a great trails bike for the racer who wants to have a strong bike he can thrash on while keeping his race machine in good shape for the track. The ride should be very similar to a race cruiser so switching back and forth would be a cinch.

Or, if you’re a rider that just prefers more traditional 24″ geometry, this bike is a great option for hitting the trails or skatepark.  A well-spec’ed full cro-mo bike at this price point is hard to beat.


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Categories : Freestyle, New products, Skatepark, Trails, Trails/Jumping