Interbike 2007 - Further Thoughts

The first, biggest question of the show was some variation on, “Is Red worth it?” “Is Red that good?” “Is Red better than (fill in blank)?” The answer depended entirely on the answeree’s position in the industry. The guys at the bike companies were concerned they’d be able to move an $8000 SKU. The guys at the component companies said they’d have to be on their A game. Some of the media scribes weren’t sure it was worth $2400.

There weren’t a lot of truly new bikes, but a few are worth noting. You’ve long since heard about Trek’s new Madone; this new design is a real step up for Waterloo. Handling is more natural, vibration damping removes the buzz without making it wooden and thanks the sloping top tube, its weight competitive. Specialized gave riders a chance to check out the new Tarmac SL2. Just when you thought Specialized couldn’t increase torsional stiffness and vertical compliance, the Morgan Hill mauler did just that. And with the oversize steerer the new fork offers even more precise handling than it used to. BKW learned from Parlee that most of its work is custom these days and the Boston boutique has increased its ability to vary geometry and tube compliance based on a rider’s needs. Cervelo unleashed a new design called the RS. Take the R3, add some chainstay length, a longer headtube and relax the stiffness just enough to protect your dental work.

Lew Wheels is back in the game with a wheelset (using a tri-flange rear hub) that at 880 grams is undeniably the lightest on the market, but will set you back the cost of a good bike ($6,000 or so). So what are you going to put on ‘em? How about the Torelli Lugano tubular, or if you need a clincher, the Gavia? Both are constructed from 320 tpi polyester casings. BKW’s West Coast annex has been riding the Gavia for a few weeks; they corner like a mason’s trowel. And at $69.95, you might not find more tire for less money.

Part of the attraction of Interbike is seeing old friends and attending parties, that is, if your dogs haven’t given out first. Wednesday’s cyclocross race was nothing to miss. After the winning break of ten was established, New Englander hard man and World’s silver medalist, Jonathan “Wonder Boy” Page unleashed a nasty attack just before a short steep hill and the acceleration roused a cry from the crowd that was the reaction of the night.

LA-based designer Joe Yule won the Slipstream jersey design contest. He’s no newbie to jersey design; he’s designed kits for a number of clubs, a magazine and a stylish Santa Monica bike shop. Joe’s design took the Argyle and added texture and balance to give it a very PRO look. Speaking of great clothing, Earth, Wind and Rider has all but bet the farm on a series of Bicycle Polo jerseys made from Merino wool. The jerseys are city-specific, and include New York, Los Angeles, Oakland, Boston and more. Each city's jersey features a different color scheme and embroidery style.

SRAM’s media honch Michael Zellman tested the stiffness of the asphalt at the industry crit on Thursday night. His bike took the high flyer award when it did a full gainer over the crowd. He was back in action early the next morning, though.

And PRO is Program Go with Speedplay's new white Zero. The San Diego lightweight’s hottest seller is now available in full PRO blanc.

Interbike 2007, Day Three

Negative G calipers




Zipp crank


Giro cold weather insert


Assos Six Day jersey


Ibis Travel MTB


M5 brake calipers



Ritchey single speed Break Away

Interbike 2007, Townies

Interbike 2007, Day Two

Boonen's Tarmac SL2


Simoni's Ritchey 4 Axis/WCS Carbon Bar


Don Mario


Time Ulteam World Star


Stan's Road Tubeless Conversion

Interbike 2007, Day One

Colnago's Extreme Power, Saronni 25th World's Edition


SRAM Red Internals


Thor Hushovd's valve solution 2007




2008 Dura-Ace 7800C - Target Weight: 170mm w/bb 714 grams, 10% Stiffer

The Wait Is Over

Well, we've ridden it. And frankly, we'd like to ride it some more. A lot more. SRAM's Red group is a remarkable achievement and worthy of a spot at the table with Dura-Ace and Record. And all it took was an integrated control lever.

The history of integrated control levers may be more significant for who got out of the market than who entered it. Modolo took a stab at it in ’97 and released a product so woefully lacking in ergonomic elegance and precise function that when the product was subsequently pulled six months later, no one missed it.

Mavic has twice sold electronic shifters. Twice they have developed legions of devotees. Today, a Mavic group consists of wheels, brakes and a computer. If only the gods would smile on their engineers, or their factories, or whatever it would take to make the stuff work perfectly all the time.

So what’s the big deal about Red? The shifter. It’s always the shifter. The Red shifter is comfy, shifts precisely and has a throw shorter than any of its competition. That covers the basics, but here’s a bit more detail:

The hoods have gentle curves to them to allow you to grip them in the traditional manner, drape your hands across the forward bulb and rest your wrists on the back of the hood and the bar, or sit up a bit with your hands laying across the bar and rear of the hoods. The brake levers themselves flair out from the hoods more than either Dura-Ace or Record levers do. This is a boon for anyone with small hands—you don’t need to roll your wrists around the bar to reach the levers. As you grip the brake levers with your index fingers (yes, it’s real one-finger braking), you feel the shift levers just brushing the inside curve of your fingers.

The shift lever has no play to the travel (well, one of the two bikes I rode equipped with the group had maybe 3mm of travel before engaging the spring). Move the lever and you have begun the shift. The feel of each shift is firm and precise. Downshifts of a single cog feel very natural; I was worried that it would feel sluggish, but the response is so immediate you quick adjust to the throw necessary to downshift one cog, to do two or three is no big deal. Upshifting is firm and deliberate. You can’t brush the lever with your finger the way you might with Dura-Ace, though. Multiple upshifts aren’t quite as quick as Dura-Ace and definitely not as quick as Record, but there’s no risk of accidentally dumping the chain from the 14 to the 12, either.

For the sprinters out there, one of the more remarkable aspects of Red’s performance is the way you can wrap your right index finger around the shift lever and then swing it back so that your hand is wrapped simultaneously around the lever and the bar. Out of the saddle and sprinting, there is enough clearance between the lever and the bar (even with padded tape) to give the lever a little squeeze for an upshift.

If you have ever been on a long climb and pushed a lever to see if, by chance, there was one more cog in back, don’t make that mistake with Red (or any SRAM groups), though. The act of pushing the lever will initiate an upshift. Kind of a surprising development if you’re at the end of your rope.

It would be easy to blow the group’s promise if the great rear shifting was not matched with great front shifting. Key to this are stiff crank arms, bottom bracket spindle and chainrings. Key elements, all. As a result, the front shifting is very good. It may not be quite as crisp under load as Dura-Ace, but it will shift from the small ring to the big ring when you are out of the saddle, though. It seemed that shift length was longer than that of Dura-Ace. Dura-Ace takes about one-third of a pedal revolution to execute a shift, most of the time. While some shifts took between a third and a half of a revolution, most were closer to a full revolution. Perhaps with a bit more forceful shifting on the part of the rider, the shifts might be more consistently brief.


Brake response is excellent. Anyone transitioning from Dura-Ace won’t notice a lick of difference, while Record users may notice a softer feel to the braking. Modulation is excellent; a sensitive rider will get great stopping power without locking up the rear wheel. Not the sort of thing that would excite the freeride crowd, I suppose.

There’s a lot to be said for a group that operates in whisper mode. Roll the clock back 15 years and you may recall that Shimano and Campy were noisy affairs. Red will not clutter your experience with unnecessary noise.

What’s the scuttlebutt, you’re asking? The price. At more than $2000 it is the most expensive group ever offered. However, if the dollar continues to drop like a paraglider with tangled lines, it won’t be long before Record and eventually Dura-Ace are more expensive. At least we can rest assured the pricing on Red will be more stable than Lindsay Lohan’s mental state.

Many wonder, is it overpriced? The answer to that depends on nothing so much as you. To some, every piece of bike gear is overpriced. And to some a great bike is a tiny investment compared to a health club or yoga classes (after all, if you ride a $10,000 bicycle five days per week for three years, that bike runs you about $12.82 per ride).

So the real question is, what’s a good time worth? Ride it and decide for yourself.

Seeing Red

Consolidation is the watchword for most industries in the world. Big guys are buying little guys, investors are tight with cash and upstarts are having a tougher time finding shoulder room than a sapling in old-growth forest. In short, the planet is being homogenized in great swaths. Species extinctions are happening at an alarming rate. Even languages are disappearing at a rate of one every two weeks.

Doesn’t look good for competition, does it?

I offer that as a backdrop to SRAM’s introduction of its new group called Red. On paper, the idea that an American company could enter the road market with a top-end component group and actually compete is, well, laughable. Who in their right mind would actually wish to compete with Shimano or Campagnolo? After all, no component maker has more emotional cachet with its owners than Campy. Assuming you think you can tackle that, okay. Who would then wish to go head-to-head with the 800-lb. gorilla from Manilla (okay, Tokyo)?

The brain trust at SRAM is neither stupid nor delusional. For those of you who haven’t ridden a bike with wheels smaller than 700C since you were in grade school, it bears mentioning that SRAM has been producing good mountain bike drivetrains (easily the crux move in any groupo) for more than 10 years.

Without resorting to licensing technology from either Campy or Shimano, SRAM found a creative middle road. For two years SRAM’s double-tap components have been quietly gaining acceptance in the road market. This is no small feat.
Consider that Full Speed Ahead (FSA) offers cranks, bottom brackets, front derailleurs, brakes and wheels. But they don’t do control levers or rear derailleurs. Given how good their current offerings are (let’s not forget their stems, handlebars and seatposts), it is fair to surmise that manufacturing control levers and a coordinated rear derailleur is more difficult than getting the ASO and UCI to play nice.

We have before us a few curious details to consider: Red is reputed to be the lightest road component group on the market. It will also be the most expensive. The dollar is worth less (relative to the Yen and Euro) than Britney Spears’ career. The UCI hates innovation almost as much as they hate American lawyers. Even so, the new competition will be good for consumers. Neither Shimano nor Campy can afford to react slowly, and Campy—God love ‘em—is rarely mistaken for a scalded monkey. The introduction of Red will spur innovation and price competition and soon enough, bicycles will be so light that the UCI will need to address their weight limit. Or not. Capitalism might have some predictability to it, but we probably shouldn’t expect anything predictable (or logical) from the UCI.

So maybe the pros won’t be able to ride a 13-lb. bicycle, but you will. Rapidly approaching is the day when you can ride a 12-lb. bike with bar tape. Or any frame you want (including lugged steel) without violating 15 lbs.

So despite all the economic pressures that make this introduction as unlikely as a smash hit from Kevin Federline, SRAM has put together the financing, engineering and tooling necessary to mount an assault on the road market. For many folks, this is the most eagerly awaited product intro in 10 years. But it would seem that this is just the serve; the move to watch is the return. For that we’ll have to wait until 2009.

Stay tuned for Tuesday's late report on just how Red rides.