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Interbike Dirt Demo 2008 |
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Written by Mark Logrbrinck
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Wednesday, 01 October 2008 |
Riding the Sierras
 I have been dreaming of the day that I could go to Interbike. It was after a bummer vacation that I decided to ask “Big Al” if the Bikeman crew if they had an extra pass, 2 days later I am Mike Yeo, hopefully Interbike is not reading my report. Not very likely, lucky if I read it. I have heard from the“industry insiders” that it is not that great. “F” the insiders, I say. Davis was so gracious, welcoming , patient and very cool guy. I could not believe I am going.
I wake at 5:30am and hit the road at 6am, it is a 3 hour drive without stops. Now I do not know about you but I gotta stop. I stop for pee-ing (preferably in the dirt on the side of the road), food, gas and coffee. So I figure 4 hours. I am heading there not knowing where to meet Davis, whom I have never met, much like the rest of the Mainers. The biggest reason I wanted to go was to meet them, the original Bikeman crew. I met Davis at registration, he got me in the right line and we arranged to meet after lunch. I was on my own…..perfect..
 The Expo was huge to me, I am from a small town and we get easily confused. I instantly headed to Salsa, like it was home. It turned out to be just that. I rode as many Salsa’s as anything. My fave was the “Fargo” having never ridden drop-bars in the dirt. I rode the El Kaboing, Big Mama and the El Mariachi. Maybe the Frago was my favorite since it was so different. It was fun to jump in drop bars. Salsa was so gracious to let me leave my bike there and just walk around trying other bikes.
 One unforeseen standout was the “Blackbuck” built by Mark Slate, Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductee”. I know a couple of guys at WTB, Dain Zaffke (8th in the All-Mountain in Downieville) and Jason Moschler 2nd respectively). They pointed to the Blackbuck. It was a one size fits all cromoly frame with a great component group, mostly WTB stuff. The curved seat-stays add to, the compliance. This bike is pure riding. Do the curved seat-stays add to the quality of the ride, who cares? Slate is a cool guy, unpretentious, mellow and humble. He even admitted that he could not notice the curved stays. This is from a person that had his hands in the development of the WTB Phoenix, one of the most revered and ahead of it’s time mountain-bikes. Kona’s root are there with the sloping top tube and aggressive geometry. Joe Murray, for all you oldie’s took the design and ran with it in the early 90’s for Kona.
I got ready for Davis and crew to show up. I get the call. Meet at Salsa. Perfect. Home base. Taber and Davis are there and Steve is looking for the perfect bike. I luck out and ride Salsa’s Big Mama. We head to the shuttle and wait for 15 minutes or so, we decide to ride to the top. Steve led, myself just behind hurling to keep up, maybe it was the water. For the final run Steve snaked a Knolly, looked heavy. I actually commandeered my Mamasita from Salsa. Steve could not believe with all the bikes to ride, I chose mine. Steve on a 7” travel bike and me 0” of travel. Long story short, all the demos are really not set up perfect, so ridin’ your bike…..well it is like part of you.
Happy Trails
Tex
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