SRAM 2006 Launch
On Friday the 29th of August 2006, SRAM along with Monza Imports hosted the 2006 launch for SRAM, Avid Brakes, RockShox and the newly acquired Truvativ Products.
We had seen everything before as i am sure you all have seen alot of this stuff, but it was still good to see some other stuff especially in the fork range that we had not seen and to touch and play with all the stuff to see how it all works.
Below the most anticipated product of 2006, but more to follow…………………..read on!
The whole night the boys and i we’re hanging out for the “free beer” mentioned in our invite only to find out the bastards fromt he sydney launch spoiled our party by getting legless and over shouting the sram team i believe when giving the presentation. We only got the beers about a half hour before we left, not impressed!
Besides that it was alright, most of the stuff we had seen before, being plastered all over the net for months if not longer. But it was good to finally see it all in the flesh.
Having had a test ride of a trance equipped with X0 triggers, have to say they are FUCKING AWESOME….so good. Believe the hype, these things are mentally good and perform ALOT better than X9 and leave shitmano for dead.
The new X0 mech now comes in short cage good news for any dh/freeride/dj/ruban riders who have a bunch of cash and want the best you can get. They have made it lighter, stronger and more responsive. It is now made of carbon sandwiched by resin instead of the old carbon fibre which fractured etc. from chain wear. Good move.
There was a new fork i think was the revelation (not sure on name, will check up) anyway runs on a very simple air mechanism which supposedly feels very similar to a coil fork and is a very stiff fork, which all the SRAM US staff are loving and riding more than rebas and pikes (supposdely). They are a budget fork and very simple system, but it works and good enough to be put into the Boxxers (in a slightly modified form)!! I will get the exact name of the models and edit the article later.
Here is a bunch of pictures from the night and my thoughts on the products.
Bearings, left to right - Ext. Bearing, Internal Bearing, Howitzer External Bearing.
My personal opinion that external bearings are just the biggest con at the moment. Bearing seals in all of the ones i have seen are just utter crap and you see the bearings wear out in no time, rubbish stuff! And now they are bringing out the Howitzer bearings, bigger and “better”, except your riding your bike while your cranks are in darwin. I think bigger bearings are definitely a good thing, spreading the load and heavier duty etc, but i really think we should be lookin at making BB shells bigger rather than stuffing up our chain line and Q factor.
Howitzer External Bearings
Box Guide
Nothing changed here, still one of the best and most affordable guides going around….
Boxxer World Cups (white) Teams (grey) & Ride (Silver cut out on left)
RockShox seem to be sticking with Black, Grey and White through out the whole range of forks. Pretty dissapointing, they had some cool colours goin on this year and some safe options as well. It is a shame becuase their forks are great stuff, especially liking my Pikes at the moment, but the colour schemes just seem to be a bit of a cop out.
The boxxers are believed to be working on a simple air system also used in a lower range single crown fork, that gives a very coil like feel with adjustability and stiffness. Keen to test some out.
Motion Control
To be honest i never knew what this red thing with holes in it played in the whole motion control scheme of things because no one had cared to explain it anything i had read. Anywhoo from memory it acts as a 300 pound spring, which when enough pressure moves it up, opens a valve. This is how Motion Control works, you lock the valve off, but the red “spring” opens it when needed.
Pop-loc Close
Then you can adjust the whole motion control with the pop loc, you can set it on or off, anywhere in between and control compression with a dial. You can see in the below images the pop lock opening and closing the valve which the oil passes through to make the fork work or lock out. This whole motion control system is available on rebas, pikes, sids and boxxers i believe.
Pop-loc Open
Pop-loc Semi-open
Pearl Light Freeride Air Shock
New this year is the Pearl, a rear air shock designed for light freeride use. It has lock out (blue), rebound (red) and compression adjust (gold. Featuring very slick cnced aluminium dials which will be used for all adjustments on top end forks such as pikes, rebas, sids and boxxers. Very cool move.
Pikes
Nothing different about the pikes already being new forks, minor aesthetic adjustments and new paint job. I don’t think you will be seeing any more coil models, only air, not that great an idea i don’t think, but you still get u-turn and motion control etc.
PG-990 Cassette
New cassettes have been minorly tweaked, still promising to work with every chain on the market. And they have a sexy red spider!
Cassette Spider
Crank Range
Avid Flak Jacket
I am yet to use this stuff to properly test it out, but i think if i had a geared bike at the moment it would definitely be on there. I am sure the performance increase would be significant and worth the upgrade.
Holzfeller Cranks
Holzfellers are looking dead sexy as always! A nice mirror finish and a little different styling to boot this year.
Hussefelt Cranks
Hussefelt haven’t got anything special this year, matt black finish with a new logo which looks hideous. They will still retain their “butterfelt” title, still having the removable pedal threads! Aaarghhhh. But Truvativ have only recently been bought out by SRAM, so i am sure next year we will see SRAM development taking a hand in the Truvativ development and hopefully improving the weaker points of their range, like the Hussefelts.
Hussefelt Pedal Thread
Juicy 5s
Juicy 5s have gone a completely stealth black finish this year, apart from that no major changes.
Juicy 7s
Juicy 7s have got minor aesthetic changes, with a more streamlined look. They feature a CNCed aluminium pad contact adjuster dial which is a nice improvement over the plastic last year, but i still prefer the smoth edged tap like feel of the old dial over the new one.
Juicy Internals
SRAM 7.0 - Much anticipated
In the middle of this bunch of hot stuff for 2006 you will spy a new addition, the SRAM 7.0 rear mech, look out for this it is going to be hot stuff!
X0 Shifter internals
The new X0 triggers are very cool, no shift lag (when the cable is not engaged), if you move the shifter then you move the cable. You can see the big ass spring in there to give a nice crisp feel, they also contain 4 sealed bearings so these puppies will work smooth, for a long time. If you have the cash i definitely could not recommend a better shifter.
