Hayes Bicycle Group - Manitou, Sun Ringle, Answer and Hayes

Manitou has released an aluminum legged version of the uber pricey carbon fiber Dorado MRD. The new affordable Dorado shares the same internals as the MRD version, so it will retain the same downhill fork characteristics. It will be available in either a 180 or 203mm travel version, with Manitou’s proprietary HexLock thru axle, 36mm stanchions and weighs 6.5 lbs.

Manitou is finally releasing their new Absolute+ damper, which will be available as a retrofit to some existing models, and will be on their 2010 models. It is sort of a combination of their TPC and old Absolute damper designs, and it has an independent slow and high speed compression circuits. The low speed damping is adjustable via the Speed Needle on top of the fork leg.

Sun Ringle has some new trick carbon rims. The SRD (Sun Ringle Racing Development) Carbon Wheels only come in a 26 inch size, and are 26mm wide, and have a very nice looking carbon matte finish, which goes well with the bright gold direct pull hubs. Weight is 1550 grams.

The new and very sweet looking Sun Ringle Chargers are available in either the Pro or Expert versions, in 26 and 29 inch sizes, and come in either black or white. The All Mountain Chargers use 28mm rims, and get the Stan’s NoTubes rim treatment (licensed from Stan’s). The hubs are Direct Pull on the Charger Pro (red only) or normal on the Expert (black only). The hubs have an option for interchangeable end caps (ala Hope), 9mm or 15mm or 20mm on the front. Weight for the Pro is 1725 grams.

The new updated Sun Ringle Black Flag are available in either the Pro or Expert versions, in 26 and 29 inch sizes, and come in either black or gold. The XCountry Black Flags were upgraded to 24mm rims, and also get the Stan’s NoTubes rim treatment. The hubs are Direct Pull on the Pro (black or gold only) or normal on the Expert (black only). Weight for the Pro is 1620 grams.

American Classic has updated their mountain bike wheelset with a few new tweaks. Foremost is that the rim is now tubeless. I have a set of their All Mountain wheels, and I have used a rim strip to run them tubeless, and it was hit and miss getting tires to work. So the new tubeless rims are a welcome change. The rims come in either white or black, while the hubs are a very cool red! The new rims are wider, deeper and lighter, and the new geometry has increased stiffness. They come in both 26 and 29 inch sizes.

I had a very nice technical walk through of the new wheels by the President, founder, engineer and techno geek Bill Shook. Bill led me through some interesting engineering features of their products that relate to the wheels. The IS disc brake interface posts on the hub are slightly raised, which aids keeping the rotors from getting warped.

Instead of using brass nipples Bill uses aluminum nipples, which are extremely lightweight and hence reduce rotational weight. He extended the body of the nipple so that the threads go slightly past where the nipple is cradled in the rim, so that the nipple is held in compression instead of tension, which reduces fatigue and breakage.

While I was at their booth Jenny Fletcher, their sponsored triathlete was signing autographs, so I got one for my daughter, and of course I got one for my basement bike shop! Jenny was really nice, and down to earth, and we yakked on about training and such.

The Mavic booth was quite large, so I just zeroed in on their wheelsets. They have revamped a few wheels and added a whole slew of new ones.

The famous Crossmax SLR Disc has been lightened again to be 1520g. It now uses the Mavic Inter Spoke Milling 3D technology ISM3D to lower weight and give a more dynamic ride. It is also available in a 20mm version! Wow.

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See all the latest 2009 Bikes and Products from DT Swiss Here!

There was not much new stuff from DT Swiss. They have also jumped on the 15mm bandwagon, so they have revamped their existing lines to incorporate that new standard. You can now get their 240 and 340 hubs in 15mm flavors, their XR 1450 and EX 1750, X 1800 and X 2200 in wheels in 15mm and finally the XMC 130 and EXC 150 forks come in 15mm.

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See all the latest 2009 Bikes and Products from Syncros Here!

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I9 is anouncing their own rim.  Check out the movie and the images.  I9 also won the MTBR user award for best FR/DH wheel.

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Using imperfect carbon rims and recovered spokes and inner tube valves Reynolds assembled clothes hangers to give to the show goers. Heavier than wire hangers but what cyclist would not like one in his closet?