Look introduced the Quartz mountain pedal. It is light, stable and offers a large platfrom or contact area. It’s a very simple design with no spring thus allowing maximum mud-shedding ability. Also, it offers the Look quality seen on the Road Keo pedals. These pedals spin on bearings too for maximum performance.

Three models are offered:

Quartz - 230 grams a pair at $99.

Quartz Carbon - 230 grams a pair

Quartz Carbon Ti - 198 grams a pair at $399

The specs seem to be the same on all the pedals so it’s really a gram shaving game when going from the $99 Quartz to the Quartz Carbon Ti.

At the outdoor demo, a few folks got to try the VTT Look 986. Weighing in at 1200 grams, the frame claims a smooth ride and excellent steering and tracking.

And finally, look introduced the Look 586 which retails for $3699 for frame, fork and seatpost. It weighs in at 940 grams or 2.07 lbs. It was designed to have a more compliant ride than the Look 595.

Rue Sports had some eye catching bikes in thier booth. First up was a prototype track bike.

Next was a custom road bike with Mavic electronic rear shifting and custom painting.

Last is an 8.7 pound full carbon bike with lightweight carbon tubulars and some Sram Red components.

We had to stop by the Cervelo booth and try the R3. This bike won the Roadbikereview ‘Best Of’ frame award this year receiving 43 reviews with an average of 4.5 stars.

http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/latest-bikes/road-bike/cervelo/PRD_366584_5668crx.aspx#reviews

A lot of carbon bikes ride very similar nowadays. Surprisingly, the R3 is quite different. It seems to have gone to the extreme of stiff bottom bracket and lateral rigidity. The power transfer on this bike is just incredible. It loves to sprint and it loves to climb. Cornering is very stable too as the bike holds the line on demanding high-speed corners.

As far as ride quality, it is quite good, specially for a bike that has a front end and bottom bracket this stiff. This seems to be accomplished by the ultra-small, almost flat seat stays. The tubing on the frame looks imbalanced but that’s because this machine was designed to extremes on the qualities important on a race bike.

So if you want a bike to stay in decent shape or to commute to work, this might not be the bike for you. But if you want to fly and you want to race, this is a good choice.

Weight: 940 grams

Price: $2600 (frame only)

Move over Japan and Italy, the USA has come to play in the arena of high end road components. The Red groupset by Sram is pretty. It is advanced and innovative. It is light and it is expensive. 1928 grams and $2142 are its vital statistics.

Sram assembled an armada of ultra-expensive bikes that were all fitted with the Red groupset. They mapped out a 40-minute road loop near Bootleg Canyon, Nevada that was filled with climbs, rollers, descents and corners.

I’ve never ridden an Sram road groupset before and I’ve never ridden the Scott CR1 bike used for the test. The bike is a rocket! But that’s for a later story. The first thing that floors you with the Red groupset is the shifting. Click, Click, Click. Wow, it’s a totally new experience. The shape and feel of the carbon shift lever is just right. The action is light,  short and precise. The shift is sharp and almost instantaneous. These downshifts are so fast and precise that they’re a bit addicting. Upshifting is best described as a ‘eureka’ experience. To upshift, you use the same lever and the same direction as downshifting. But go past the downshift point by a few millimeters and the shifter interprets it as a dowshift. It works and it is consistent. And it is guaranteed to deliver and amazed look to the rider’s face during this initial experience.

Under power, shifting worked fine. The front derailleur moved the chain through the front rings with little drama or noise. Braking was powerful and it was easy to modulate. There was no noise or vibration experienced during the ride. Power delivery through the drivetrain worked flawlessly.

So on our first ride, we were left mighty impressed. This group has substance and style.

Cycling’s Most Entertaining Personality to Autograph Copies of Paris-Roubaix: A Journey through Hell

Boulder, CO, USA - September 19, 2007 - Before he became cycling’s most entertaining personality, “Bobke” spent his springs and summers racing the Tour de France and “The Hell of the North”, Paris-Roubaix. In fact, Bobke was the only American to finish Paris-Roubaix in 1988.

Meet Bobke at Interbike as he autographs copies of the new VeloPress book, Paris-Roubaix: A Journey through Hell. With an introduction by Roll, Paris-Roubaix is the definitive history of the world’s greatest one-day race.

Bob Roll Book Signing
Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell
Thursday, September 27th, 5-6 p.m.
VeloNews booth # 2137

Paris-Roubaix is known as “The Hell of the North” for good reason. Though somewhat flatter than the other spring classics, it includes interminable stretches of muddy farm roads paved with rough-hewn cobblestones. The cobbles alone are enough to shake bikes and bones to bits; throw in notoriously fickle weather, which often includes rain, snow, and driving wind, and the course becomes downright treacherous.

Held the third Sunday in April since 1896, Paris-Roubaix is a race of great tradition. The race follows a 270-kilometer course between the suburbs of the French capital and the northern industrial city of Roubaix, and its long history, coupled with its proximity to the cycling-mad triangle of northern France, Belgium, and Holland, means that it has served over the years to confirm the fame of cycling’s greatest champions.

All of the history and excitement of the world’s most famous one-day bicycle race is captured and comprehensively illustrated with hundreds of spectacular color and black-and-white photographs in this lavish, oversized format. With authoritative text from France’s top sportswriters, Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell presents the inside story of the race, its great riders, its traditions, and its secrets.

Paris-Roubaix is shipping now. To place an order for your shop, contact VeloPress at wholesale@insideinc.com or (800) 811-4210 x169 or one of these VeloPress book distributors: AlpenBooks, American Bike Trails, American Cycling, Hawley, J&B, and QBP. The book is available now at VeloGear.com and in book stores and bike shops in North America, the UK, and Australia. To place an order in Europe and the UK, please contact Cordee at www.cordee.co.uk or +44 (0) 116 254 3579. To place an order in Australia, please contact Woodslane at www.woodslane.com.au or +61 (2) 9970 5111.

VeloPress is an endurance sports publisher focusing on the sports of cycling and triathlon, with training books that help both serious athletes and beginners build skills and fitness. VeloPress also publishes historical and biographical books that take a closer look at the celebrated athletes and personalities in our sports.

source: Jen Soulé, Sales Manager

Exclusive Autograph Session Planned at Giro Booth

(Santa Cruz, CA) September 17, 2007: Alberto Contador, winner of both the General Classification and Best Young Rider at the 2007 Tour de France, will make an exclusive appearance on behalf of Giro at this year’s edition of the Interbike Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alberto will be signing limited edition posters commemorating his General Classification win and his Best Young Rider win on Wednesday, September 26th, from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at the Giro booth, number 3757. Anyone attending the show is invited to come by for a poster, but Giro encourages folks to arrive to the signing early, since Alberto’s time at Interbike is limited to this two-hour appearance.

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source: Eric Richter, Sr. Giro Brand Manager
www.giro.com