Sea Otter '09: Bits 'O Otter to go

Random bits and pieces of Sea Otter, quite tasty deep fried with tartar sauce, I hear.

The new Switchblade fork from Bonty was resplendent on this absolutely gorgeous white Superfly. Man oh man, why is all the nifty stuff so $$? Not fair.


You meet some cool folks and some famous folks as well, sometimes both at the same time. I got to meet Dave Wiens at the very green Ergon Booth. What a totally down to earth and very fast old...ah, mature guy! Just like me, only much faster. That JK guy is in the pic as well, another fast and nice guy, but just a kid!



Jeff Jones was hanging around the Edge Composites booth. You can spot a JJ bike from way off, the bikes are as unique as the inventor/builder.



I am not sure, but I think he is famous too...or atleast his hair probably is...or at least his bike is soooool cool, that he needs to be famous and he has the hair for it already. Done deal, get him an agent.


Ventana had this nice adaptation of the Black Cat swinging dropout. Modified to provide the hold down bolts two planes to operate in, they are a sweet way to swing and not get into trouble with the missus (except for the cost of the Ventana). It also allowed for the fitting of the Gates belt drive pioneered by Spot bikes.



Notice how close that drive gear is? Close enough to scratch the powder coat. Likely a pre-production kinda thingy, the frame was very stout looking and typically Ventana in overall build quality and swankiness.



Foes was showing the prototype 29er FS that is all the buzz right now. I don't get it...3K for a frame and shock? Good lord. It better be an amazing bike and that remains to be seen.



The new Rocky Mountain 29ers were on display. I am happy when the choice gets broader and the well of 29er goodness gets deeper, so welcome RM. I would have loved to have seen a 29er Element with 3 to 3.5 inches of travel aimed right at the JET-9, Racer X, and the new Epic, but that is just me. I will say that the FS bike gets few points for beauty in my book. Don't the designers actually have to look at these things they draw up on the CAD machine ruled world they live in?


That long, separate link looks flexy. Prove me wrong.



This sliding dropout belongs to the prototype FE (as in ferrous..steel ya know) DiSSent that I got to putt around. Peter, owner of Misfit Cycles and overlord of the evil empire or nasty kingdom or something like that...he is from Canada, so who knows about such things, I don't. Likely I need to drink more beer than the 3 beers in total I have had in my life to this point...OK, four beers.



Need a bent toptube and you can't bend it or don't want to? Cut and paste. I rode it and it will be a fun bike, handmade in CANADA from USA Tru Temper (mostly) tubing and under a grand retail.




I also rode the 6061 Al version of the DiSSent. This was fun too and half the price. Hmmm....could I learn to love aluminum hardtail SS joyness? Yes yes.