- This is Outerbike in Sun Valley, Idaho,
and it's one of a series of four bike shows in 2019
that allow you to turn up, ride
and then test any number of amazing bikes,
over the course of three days.
They've invited GCN here though,
so that I can take you on a little tour of the place
and uncover some very tasty new tech.
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Like the Cannondale Topstone Carbon gravel bike,
which has got some really impressive innovation
when it comes to comfort and compliance.
So they've taken a cue I think, from Treks Domane
by adding pivot to an otherwise rigid frame.
And they've done that to effectively allow the frame
to have a greater degree of controlled flex.
On a normal bike, you get a degree of compliance
from your seatpost here as it effectively flexes,
trying to pivot around your seats tube cluster here
moving backwards and downwards,
but this design effectively amplifies that system.
So by moving the chainstays down and adding the pivot,
you can get more of the seat tube to flex.
And you can see is aided by effectively a leaf spring,
at this point here on the frame, this point here,
and this point here, I can though say
that you actually up to 30 millimeters
of movement out of this
and you can definitely see that when you try and push down
on the saddle.
They reckon it's akin to running a tire
that's about nine millimeters fatter,
and that gives you a lot of extra comfort.
So if that's true, that is a pretty impressive claim.
Now, there are a couple of other bits on here
that are worth noting, I think.
So in order to get the chainstays nice and short
to leave the bike feeling really agile.
There is a new bottom bracket standard in here.
This is BB3083Ai.
What you mean you haven't heard of that one?
No, me neither.
What they've done is they've basically increased the length
of your bottom bracket axle
to space your Q factor out a little bit
but to give more room for wider tires in here
and allow you to run that double chainset as well,
it is slightly asymmetric so that also means
that the rear wheel doesn't need any dishing at all.
So a stock rear wheel wouldn't necessarily fit in here.
But the wheels that come with the bike,
potentially can be made up to be slightly stronger still.
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Really pleased to see this out in the wild.
This is the Rotor 1x13 Groupset.
The reason being is that this is a direct descendant
of Rotor's original all hydraulic groupset, the Uno,
which I actually went to see as it was launched,
back in 2016.
But things are slightly different with this one though,
for a start it's gone up to 13 speed at the back
and one by up-front.
Now you'll use the same rear derailleur
if you wanted to use it for mountain biking,
gravel biking or road biking.
The things you change are the shifters of course
to allow for drop bars or flat bars and the cassette
which will go up from either 10 to 36 up to a 10 to 52.
And there are four options.
This almost dinner plate looking cassette,
is the 10-52 despite it's fairly hefty looks
it's ridiculously light.
And that is probably primarily due
to Rotor's legendary intricate CNC machining
of 7,000 aluminum which you can see,
most of the cogs are made out of that one piece
and it's bolted on to some steel cogs
at the smaller end of the spectrum.
Now, I'm actually going to get to ride this
so we'll have a video with a little bit more insight
onto all the details of the one by 13 groupset coming up.
So stay tuned for that.
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Now Moots don't have a stand at Outerbike,
but they do have one of their new bikes,
the Routt YBB that they launched earlier this spring.
Now it's the second gravel bike
with a suspension in this video but unlike the Cannondale,
which has got a pivot but no visible spring.
This has a visible spring here,
which is an elastomer in there, but no pivots.
Instead, it relies on the material of the frame,
which is titanium, of course coming from Moots
to provide the flex in the right places.
Now, this bike makes me think once again,
that with gravel bikes,
we're just getting the absolute best bits
of retro mountain bikes 'cause that design there,
that 20 mil suspension is actually something
that Moots have been using
on one of their mountain bike softails,
the YBB for nearly 30 years,
so it's proven, tried and tested technology here.
The rest of the bike, you got to say as ever from Moots,
is just a work of art, all handmade in Colorado.
I'll let you just look at some welds for a bit.
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Now 20 mil might not sound like much
but it's enough to take the edge off the bumps
and particularly when you combine it
with the tire clearance for 45 millimeter wide tires.
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You have to look pretty hard
to find a road bike here at Outerbike.
But we've done it hock yes!
we have found a new Viathon R.1.
Now Viathon is a completely new brand
that was launched in spring of this year.
They're going direct to consumer with their three models.
So they've got their M.1 cross country mountain bike,
their G.1 gravel bike which will be taking a close look at
in a video coming very soon.
But then there's this one which is their R.1 road bike.
Now there are three versions currently online,
a Shimano Dura-Ace one, an Ultegra one and a 105 one
but this as you can see is SRAM RED eTap AXS
and although prices aren't confirmed yet, we hear,
that this could well be the most inexpensive way
of getting a full eTap AXS complete bike
so stay tuned for that.
The frame is the same apart from a new colorway actually
which is this kind of cool matte black
and metallic copper finish.
870 grams although it's got some aerodynamic cues on there,
it's not been designed as an out and out aero bike,
more just an all round feel good road bike
and having a quick look at the geometry charts,
there are some numbers on there
that I really like the look of
so it's got a low bottom bracket
which gives it a real nice feeling
through corners you'd imagine.
Its also short chainstays which again I really like
and the position up front is kind of semi-aggressive
so you could get a slam position if you wanted
but it's not so low that you need an extra vertebra
or some other kind of double jointed back
to get comfortable on it.
Looks good.
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There's part of me that doesn't really want to talk about
bike lights seeing as it's midsummer
and it feels like a reminder of those dark winter days
to come but Light & Motion have got some new ones.
So it'll be rude not to
and also these can function daytime running lies.
So technically it's irrelevant what time of year it is.
This is the Via Pro XL and it is a smart light
which means it's got motion sensor detectors in there.
So it will turn off when it senses
that it's not going anywhere and turn on when it senses
that you're moving.
It's also got a light meter in there.
So as you can see at the minute it's flashing
because it's sensing that it's daytime,
were you to ride at night, then it will be a constant beam,
and it will obviously change between the two automatically.
Takes two hours to charge up and you get six hours
of runtime in flushing mode like this,
two hours on a full beam.
You also got these neat little sidelights
that's something of a Light & Motion trademark.
They've told me that 70% of bike accidents are from side on
so actually that little sidelight there,
can be pretty invaluable.
Now one neat touch that I really like
is the way that you take it on and off your bike
so you can leave the mount on there permanently.
And then you've got this twist lock system
that allows you to take it off
and you can see that your USB charger there.
You simply plug it back in and away you go.
How cool is that?
Heh, right 250 lumens for the front
and then you got the rear one with 150 lumens as well.
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Another road bike, hard to miss this one.
A beautiful custom painted Scott Foil owned by Hunt.
The reason it's here,
is because they've launched,
their new 48 Limitless wheelset.
Now they're claiming that these,
are the fastest mid-depth wheelset in the world
and the reason they've managed to achieve that
is because they've made them super wide,
34.5 millimeters wide.
Now, I'm not going to go into too much detail here,
there is more info on the GCN Show today,
if you want to check it out.
But in essence, there's some really cool tech on here
because of the extra width,
they've managed to strip down a load of weight
by actually replacing a bit of non-structural carbon fiber
with a low density polymer instead,
so they've shed 50 grams of weight per rim.
So the whole package comes in a very respectable 1582 grams.
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Another gravel bike.
This is the new one from Open called the Open-Wide.
At first glance it might look quite similar
to their now and pretty iconic UP,
but as the name suggests,
they have boosted the tire clearance on this one.
It is wide, so you can fit monster 2.4 inch-wide tires
on this 650b wheels and you can get some pretty wide,
46 mil-wide tires on it 700c
so like your normal size road wheels.
In order to do that,
there's some pretty deft engineering work
around the bottom bracket because this still as you can see,
uses standard road cranks on there.
So the first thing is that this is one by specific now
so they can move that chainstay out a little bit.
But also you'll see that the dropped chainstay
that was so familiar from that Open UP,
is now a dual dropped chainstay
so it's no longer asymmetric.
And as an aside from that, Open say that that design,
this kind of mono box system at the bottom bracket
has actually boosted the bottom bracket stiffness as well.
Now the differences don't end there yet
the geometry is a little bit different as well.
So this one looks like it's a little bit taller
and a little bit shorter which will be in keeping
with its kind of playful nature I guess
if you've got those bigger tires,
and it's also got a slightly slack-ahead angle as well.
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We stopped by the Rudy Project booth,
makers of helmets and also eyewear.
The reason being I was hoping to catch a glimpse
of their new Defender graphene shades but alas,
the graphene infused ones aren't here
but instead, aha! I've got their other Defenders
so the difference between these and the graphene ones,
is actually just in the frame material.
All the other cool bits are there.
So they've got Rudy Project's adjustable temples here
so you can tailor the fit and also the nose piece as well.
Perhaps most importantly, it's the styling,
so these I don't know whether you can tell,
have been modeled on the aggressive shades
that Rudy Project produced in the early 90s.
Hopefully I'm managing to do them justice.
The other point is the lenses,
so these are photochromic ones,
they'll go from almost completely clear, to heavily tinted,
automatically changing the tint,
depending on the light conditions.
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These are Fidlock and they have effectively reinvented
the water bottle cage.
Completely reinvented 'cause you can see
there isn't a cage anymore.
Instead, you've got these two powerful magnets here
and on the water bottle, and they effectively help you
to locate the bottle in place
but they actually don't retain the bottle,
instead you've got this mechanical clip here.
And what it means is that when it's in position,
it's impossible to remove the bottle unless you twist it.
So it's a little bit like a clippers pedal
for your water bottle.
What it means is that you cannot,
accidentally lose your bottle when riding over bumpy ground.
So think about those water bottle problems in Paria Bay,
for example, and also when you're gravel riding.
The other main advantage to this is that,
in frames with really tight clearance of water bottles,
instead of needing to push it into a cage,
you simply twist it off.
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This is clothing from Wild Ride
who are a relatively new company
with a focus on women's specific riding kit.
Now as you can see it's more of the mountain bike end
of the gravel riding spectrum
but hey, you can wear loose clothing
when you're riding gravel of course as well.
Now their focus they said was on fit and also fabric
but then as you can see, form as well.
So they got the loose fitting shorts there.
They've got a liner short as well that goes with it,
of course women's specific
and then I particularly liked this jersey
which is kind of casual on the outside,
but you still got those three rear pockets
that's super useful at the back as well.
Well as you can see, we are out of Outerbike.
All that amazing tech,
is just a few miles down the valley there in Ketchum.
But I wanted to bring you up here to give you a little taste
of what is to come on GCN and GCN Tech over the coming days.
Firstly, a gravel ride with the legend that is Rebecca Rusch
and then also a look at the super tricked out bike
that I got to ride with Rotors one by 13 groupsets
and that'll be detailed and demoed.
And then another video and this time a close look
at the new Viathon G.1 gravel bike.
Now if you want a bit more info about these Hunt wheels
then do make sure you check out the GCN Show this week
with Dan and Chris.
Otherwise, give this vid a big thumbs up.
And let us know what you think about the tech.