Birzman, Breezer, Durango Bike Company, ESI Grips, Fyxation, Hans Rey, Kitsbow, Norco, ODI, Pivot Cycles, Salsa, Sea Otter 2014, Sea Otter Classic, Specialized, Speedplay, Wahoo Fitness -

Daily coverage from the 2014 Sea Otter Classic Day 3

Hello and welcome to Day 3 of Mtbr’s daily coverage of the 2014 Sea Otter Classic. During this four-day celebration of all things cycling at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, we’ll be continually updating this page with photos and beta on all the latest in mountain bike technology. Whether it’s new gear or apparel, celebrity sightings, or updates on events, this is the place to stay up to date on all the action. Make sure to check back early and often. The newest updates will always be on the top of the page. Also check out RoadBikeReview’s 2014 Sea Otter Classic coverage here for all the latest road updates.

PIVOT POP | Pivot‘s main man Chris Cocalis stopped by the Mtbr booth to tell us about the all new Phoenix DH bike. We’ll be posting a video of the interview soon. -DP

COMING IN FIRST | The first carbon downhill bike in the 27.5 wheel size was released yesterday, the Pivot Phoenix 27.5. Expect to see it raced at Round 1 of the UCI World Cup Downhill in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. – FC

  • New dw-link design 
  • Full carbon frame with a frame weight of 8lbs.
  • Complete Saint equipped bike with Fox 40 fork, full DH casing tires, and pedals weighing in at
    34lbs. Can go down to 32 lbs still with useable spec 
  • 27.5” wheels
  • 204mm travel
  • Full internal cable routing with full length housing.
  • Integrated frame bumpers and molded rubberized frame protection.
  • Tapered 1.5 zero stack to 1.5 standard head tube design.
  • Additional +/- .75 degree angle headset cups available for different course and race conditions.
  • 62.5 degree head angle, 17.4” (442mm) chainstay length, and 13.35” (339mm) BB height.
  • MSRP: $3299
  • Availability: Late Summer 2014


FAT BIKE FUN | The popularity of Fat bikes has increased at an incredible rate in the last year and Salsa has always been at the forefront. Leading the way again, they have released the Bucksaw, a full suspension fat bike. It will be available in two colors, the teal color shown here as well as a shiny gold color. -GK


OLD SKOOL KOOL | 1983 Norco Starfire Team BMX bike. – ASS


BEER CADDY | fyxation was showing this cool Six-Pack Caddy. Designed in house with locally sourced Milwaukee leather. MSRP is $60.

They are giving away one a day here at Sea Otter. -GK


WELDED TOGETHER | This is just a one off project bike, not an early release 2015 model. This is what happens when you take a bicycle frame and put a mini moto engine in it.

“What do you do if you have a Honda CRF 50 and the key to the parts cage in the bone yard? You weld some crazy shit together, that’s what! This bike is designed to attack your favorite downhill. But… Shazammmmmmm. Rally back to the top on your own accord. You don’t have to wait for your crazy stoner buddy to shuttle you back to the top. All it takes is you and the mountain and a tea cup of fossil fuel.”

Cafe Racer. – GK


MLINK | The recently announced Breezer Supercell is available for test rides here at the Sea Otter Classic. The Breezer Supercell is a 29er with slightly less travel than their previous Repack 27.5 model (the Repack is also available for test rides). Both bikes use Breezer’s proprietary Mlink technology with a pivot in the middle of the chainstay.

A close-up of the Breezer Supercell Mlink (rear pivot located in the middle of the chainstay). -GK


TOOL NUT | Birzman makes innovative tools and pumps, that are beautiful pieces of art, and fully featured products. If you’re a tool nut their equipment has incredible functionality that make a lot of sense when being used, and they’ll be an excellent product for home, shop, travel and daily ride use. I really liked their small foldable tools, tire pumps with quick connect features and shock pump that doesn’t loose pressure during removal. -BM


LEGENDARY | Mountain biking legend Hans “No Way” Rey stopped by the Mtbr booth to hang out for a few minutes today! Photo by Byron Swezy. -GK


BREW GRIPTION | We already loved ODI Grips…now we more love them. -DP


STICKY | ESI Grips has a new tape product that can be used to close off tape wrap, protect crank arms, handlebar accessory clamp gripping/protection, etc. Its not the typical sticky glue product like electric tape, and instead self-adheres to itself due to its volcanization process. It has a bunch of cross uses from protection to marking seat post height. -BM


PACKED HOUSE | Saturday has brought out the biggest crowds yet. -JS


LITTLE FLIPPER | Jackson Gladstone is nine years old and can backflip over your honor student. -DP


HAND OF GOD | Need some assistance on your daily bike commute? There are a ton of eBikes at Sea Otter that you can demo, but the Specialized Turbo is probably the coolest. – ASS


AM SMILE | GoPro’s Toshi Corbet brings sunshine on a cloudy day with his award-winning smile and Devinci road bike. -DP


YOU’RE HERE | The expansive Sea Otter venue in map form.

Needless to say there is a lot to see and do. -JS


HEART SMART | Wahoo Fitness were showing off their new TICKR heartrate chest monitor which communicates in both ANT+ and Bluetooth. This design allows the unit to work with Bluetooth based apps/smartphones and other ANT systems like Garmin computers. It retails for $59.99 and is available now. -BM


VALET PARKING | When you’re done with your ride there’s free valet service here at Sea Otter. -JS


PEDAL PUSHER | Speedplay‘s Richard Bryne never stops refining his amazing pedal designs. Here he gets out the calipers to take measurements of the company’s new Brass Knuckles pedals. -DP


MOONSHINE ENDURO | The friendly folks of Durango Bike Company showed off their new Moonshine Enduro 650b, a 27.5-inch bike with 160mm of travel. We discovered a fully engineered bike with a well-tuned Horst-Link suspension. Suspension rates have been dialed to have a flat curve with a bottomless feel. A lot of collaboration was done with Cane Creek and Rockshox to optimize the rear shock for this bike. Details and components too are dialed with a full 1×11 group at just over $5000. See the gallery below for more photos. -FC


WANTED | Freeride forefather Brett Tippie is no stranger to the post office wall. -DP


HOT SHOE | Lake introduces a complete line of heat moldable road, mtb and CX shoes. Already have shoes you like? Lake also has heat moldable insoles starting at $59. -ASS


AWARD | Best Overall Bike of the Enduro Compare-O. We handed Specialized Bicycles their Beer Growler Trophy for Best Overall Bike of the the Mtbr Enduro Compare-O. https://reviews.mtbr.com/enduro-compare-o-mtbrs-best-of-test-award-winners -FC


KITSBOW KOFFEE | Sea Otter mornings are much more survivable with the Verve cappuccinos the nice people at Kitsbow are pouring just for stopping by and saying hi. -DP

2014 Sea Otter Classic Day 1 Daily Coverage »
2014 Sea Otter Classic Day 2 Daily Coverage »
2014 Sea Otter Classic Day 4 Daily Coverage »
After Otter: More Sea Otter finds »
After Otter: Final round of Sea Otter gems »

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