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In July, 28 editors and execs from 26 brands were hosted in Deer Valley resort, near Park City in Utah, for four days of one-on-ones. The third annual staging of PressCamp involved plenty of facetime between the brand execs and the writers, not something that can happen at trade shows.
And at this year’s PressCamp, many brands showed products not otherwise due to be unveiled until Eurobike, a huge coup for an event created by Lance Camisisca, former show director at Interbike.
At PressCamp, as well as editors and journalists from leading magazines and blogs there were writers from non-endemic titles such as Outside, Wired and Popular Science.
PRESSCAMP HIGHLIGHTS:
ENVE
What’s not to like about a company producing £700 wheel rims? Gloss black decals on matte black carbon makes for expensive stealth, but Enve’s aero wheels rims have windtunnel test proven speed, a justification for the expense.
Editors at PressCamp were treated to an aero-wheel masterclass by aerodynamicist Simon Smart of Oxfordshire. Smart comes from a Formula One background, having last worked for the all-conquering Red Bull team. He now has his own consultancy business.
Thanks to Smart, Enve aero wheels are said to be predictably stable including in sidewinds: they won’t change handling characteristics over varying yaw angles.
For road bikes, Enve offers the 3.4 (35mm front wheel and 45mm rear) climbing wheelset; the 6.7 (60mm front and 70mm rear) all-conditions road or tri wheelset; and the 8.9 (80mm front and 90mm rear) road/tri wheel.
On the mountain bike side, Enve will be offering – via Saddleback – both 26in and 29in full UST tubeless, as well as 26 and 29-inch tubular rims for racing.
CAMELBAK
At the start of PressCamp all the attending editors were provided with large Camelbak packs, emblazoned with the PressCamp name.
Also provided was a sample of Camelbak’s new lightweight lumbar pack. Editors who signed up for the condo-delivered Camelbak presentation were shown next year’s range, which feature some vivid colours, with tone-on-tone buckles and straps. The Agent and Asset will be replacing the Don, Capo and Consigliere freeride line. The Agent features a 100oz bladder, overflow storage, able carry for full face and armour, and a vented back panel called NVis.
GT BIKES
The resurgence of GT – from Marc Beaumont’s carbon Fury DH to the new carbon Zaskar – was very evident at PressCamp.
The Zaskar name now covers all of GT’s high end XC bikes. The Zaskar 9r Carbon Pro has a super-stiff, tapered headtube and large diameter top and downtubes: as well as an eye-sizzling electric blue colour scheme. It comes equipped with a Rockshox SID 29er fork and is pretty much full Shimano XT equipped.
The Zaskar 100 is a step-up from the Marathon Carbon I-drive, the carbon frame losing 500 grams in the upgrade.
GT has also made 26-inch versions of two classic BMX bikes: the Performer and Interceptor.
NINER
The carbon Jet 9 RDO CVA full suspension 29er (RDO stands for ‘Race Day Optimised’) comes in four sizes: small, medium, large and XL. It has 100mm rear travel and a custom-valved Fox Float RP 23 with Kashima coating. The company is confident in the bike: it comes with a five year warranty, which includes racing.
LAZER SPORTS
Lazer of Belgium has created a ‘vision division’ to launch a range of sports glasses. The Solid State is a single shield lens which comes with two lenses, or one of two photochromic lenses (a dark with down to 50 percent transmission and a melanin pigment which reduces solar transmission down to 30 percent). The Argon is a two-lens optic that fits larger faces. The Electron is a full-frame glass which fits medium or smaller faces.
There’s also an arm-less pair of sunglasses which attach via magnets on the helmet straps, an idea carried from Lazer’s magnet chin clasp.
GORE BIKE WEAR
With 500+ colours and styles, Gore Bike Wear has an eye-watering 500 SKUs. The company wants bike shops to stock – and consumers to buy – the clothes as part of an interconnected system."The beauty of our system is they were built to fit together," said Gore Bike Wear’s US marketing director Kevin King.
TIFOSI
For 2012, Tifosi has six new shades, including the Logic XL (a new large shield lens optic for larger faces); the Jet (a small light, open-frame design with a fixed nosepiece); the vented-lens Tempt; and the Altar with a gradient tint lens on some versions. All can be upgraded to photochromic lenses.
The Seek and Seek FC (‘full coverage’ – which has a larger frame for larger faces) has adjustable arm pieces and nose pads. Rimless across the top, the Seek weighs just 24 grams.
CANNONDALE
For 2012, Cannondale is to introduce a line-up of four helmets – two of which are:
The Teramo is a a top of the line 245-gram dual density EPS road helmet reinforced with composite and alloy internals. The helmet features 23 vents.
The Ryker is a MTB helmet, with larger vents than the Teramo, said to be for better low-speed cooling. It also has alloy reinforcement struts.
More on PressCamp 2011 can be found here.
