Continental Der Baron Projekt 2.6
Continental has severely lagged in doing anything remotely Plus, or Fat sized for tires, but finally, they’re releasing a 2.6″ version of the Der Baron Projekt. The Baron is an Enduro tire that comes in 27.5″, and 29″ (checking on the 29er) sizes and utilizes an open and blocky knob pattern, their sticky Black Chili tread compound, and the defensive ProTection layer and stiff Apex sidewalls. The Der Baron Projekt is robust and reliable with excellent braking and traction and offers excellent puncture resistance and wearability, and thrives in loose conditions and gnarly terrain.
Maxxis Assegai
The Maxxis Assegai tire is named after the iron-tipped spear used by the Zulu people of South Africa. Greg Minnaar, a native of South Africa, thought it was a fitting name for a tire ready to do battle on the mountain. The tall knobs punch through dust and loam to find traction, but also offer support and confidence on wet roots and rocks. While other tires excel only in certain conditions, the new Maxxis Assegai is built to go fast everywhere. It comes with the 3C MaxxGrip rubber compound, the Wide Trail, and Dual-ply downhill casing and is tubeless compatible.
It comes in a functional 2.50WT width and 27.5″ and 29″ sizes.
Praxis Lyft Cranks
Nothing hugely new from Praxis since Interbike, but their Lyft Carbon Direct Mount cranksets are gorgeous works of art, plus they’re light (454g) and strong. They come in and 170mm or 175mm lengths with a 3-bolt direct mount ring interface and retail for $500. They also come in an HD (Heavy Duty) version with a more robust carbon layup, and a thicker M30 THRU spindle, but only come in a 170mm length.
Created as the ultimate mountain bike crank, the carbon LYFT sits atop the throne as king. With its super light hollow carbon arms, M30 Thru alloy spindle with aluminum preload adjuster and direct mount ring, the LYFT is our premier mountain crank for those that want the very best.
Diamondback Sync’R
Diamondback has upgraded their Carbon Sync’R hardtail and made it a beefy offroad master. The rowdy Sync’R had gotten a formidable 66-degree head angle and a 150mm 36 FOX fork.
Their rear yoke can fit a slew of tire widths and the 2.8″ mounted on the bike had tons of clearance. The Carbon Sync’R hardtail is light to fly up the trails, but the new geometry and build specs make ready for the gnarliest of trails.
Marzocchi Bomber Z1
The new FOX based 2019 Marzocchi Bomber Z1 follows in the footsteps of its original Bomber Z1 brethren from the late 90’s. It now gets a beefy 36mm stanchion and technology from FOX’s engineering expertise.
It comes in a 27.5″ wheel size in 150 to 180mm of travel with a 44mm and a 29″ size in 130 to 170mm of travel with a 51mm offset. The spring side features the Float EVOL air spring with a self-charging negative spring, and it can be tuned with clip-on air-volume spacers. The damper side utilizes the GRIP Sweep which is a price point version of the high-end FIT4 damper. The GRIP is a cartridge damper that uses a spring-backed Independent Floating Piston (IFP) instead of an expandable bladder and is self-bleeding. The Sweep is a detent-free compression-adjustment knob on top of the damper leg.
Magura Limited Edition MT1893 Brakes
In 2018 MAGURA celebrates its 125th anniversary, so there offering the MT1893 brake. It features polished chrome 4-piston calipers, the Masters engraved with the founding year of 1893, the Danny MacAskill developed HC3 lever blade, a unique serial number and packaged exquisitely in a special wooden crate. They’ll be available on June 7th for $599 per set (front and rear).
They’re also releasing the lightweight HC 1-finger Carbolay lever which can be retrofitted on the MT6, MT7, MT8, and MT Trail Carbon brakes. It’s 10mm shorter yet offers a broader 16mm contact area for the fingers and weighs just 12g a lever and will retail for $125. The new MT8 SL will also come with the new lever and get neon yellow brake lever cover and caliper rings and will retail for $285 per brake.
Danny MacAskill’s Drop & Roll Tour
Danny and his crew were at a couple of booths signing autographs and hanging out. I got him this time over at the Continental booth.
{ 0 comments… add one now }