Interbike 2003

Las Vegas, USA, October 10-14, 2003

More from Interbike 2003

By Paul Mirtschin and Robert Gilbreath

Stealthy
Photo: © Cyclingnews

Parlee

A small company showing off a large range of lightweight carbon bikes at Interbike this year is Parlee. Bob Parlee's company gained quite a bit of exposure last year when Cyclingnews revealed that Tyler Hamilton had ridden a Parlee Cycles custom-made carbon fibre bike during the majority of the 2002 Giro.

For the coming season, Parlee plans to continue with his range of naked, full-carbon bikes, all made using his continuously wrapped, compression moulded carbon lugs.

Look forward to an in-depth look at a Parlee bike in the coming months.

Cannondale

Not pink enough
Photo: © Cyclingnews

It's been a year of ups and downs at Cannondale, with the filing of Chapter 11, a buyout by Pegasus, having the winning bikes at the Giro, US Criterium Championships and Worlds, and in the weeks prior to Interbike, the removal of Scott Montgomery, Dan Alloway, Len Konecny from the company. It certainly has been a busy year.

As usual, Cannondale rolled out the range for Interbike, showing off one of the biggest ranges of road, mountain, youth and comfort bikes in sight. And with the excitement of Gilberto Simoni's win at the 2003 Giro d'Italia still at a high, what better reason to put on display the Cannondale bikes that helped Simoni claim ownership of the Maglia Rosa as well as the prototype CAAD8 that he rode in the Tour de France.

Another bike on display was the Major Taylor track bike. Cannondale is giving some of the profits from this bike to the Major Taylor Foundation at the University of Indiana. The foundation gives scholarships to minority students wishing to pursue cycling; the University of Indiana team got 2nd in last year's Little 500 race.

Argon 18

It's a wrap
Photo: © Cyclingnews

Argon 18, a Canadian company, use M30-HM carbon fibre matting, claimed to be the highest grade of carbon fibres available. The carbon joints are put together using HDS - Horizontal Dual System - method of laying the fibres to make then ultra stiff.

A number of Argon's bikes use a different method of bonding the carbon to the aluminium, preferring to wrap the carbon around the aluminium rather than the traditional method of slotting the carbon into the aluminium tube.

Photos

Images by Robert Gilbreath/Cyclingnews

• One of Bob Parlee's carbon creations
• A close look at Parlee's proprietary lug design
• Just like Tyler rode last year
• Another of Parlee's lugs
• More carbon than a diamond mine
• One of the many Platinum HDS bikes on display at Argon 18's stand
• The Platinum HDS also comes in this blue and matt black
• A look at Argon's technique of bonding carbon seat stay to the seat tube
• A sweet carbon and aluminium aero frame
• Cannondale's Major Taylor track bike
• The Cedric Gracia TeamDH downhill frame. A new brake linkage allows them to take the rear triangle down in weight as well as eliminating “brake jack”.
• The Aaron Chase dirt-jump bike, called the Chase
• Tinker Juarez ponders whether to be really nice, or really, really nice today
• One of the Saeco team bikes on the scales
• Next year's "most wanted" bike perhaps?
• There isn't enough pink on this bike, I want more!
• Cannondale is giving fans an extra treat, they are using a digital camera and a bank of fast printers to take pics of fans with their racers and then print them out to be signed
• Chris Carmichael and Power Bar held a press conference to announce the upcoming release of the Power Bar Sports Drink
• Mr Ernesto Colnago in the flesh
• Ernesto has led an interesting life; here seen offering the Pope a job as a Soigneur
• Ernesto as a little boy
• Orbea's as far as they eye can see
• Orbea is moving further into the carbon market
• This tasty full-carbon Orca frame is about to get a full review by the Cyclingnews team
• Orbea's Starship in Maia colours
• Just a small part of the Orbea stand
• Park Tool, celebrating their 40th year, had a fastest wrench contest.
• Over 250 people were timed doing a small set of minor repairs and then four finalists compete for the title
• Hey! Where did the front wheel go?
• One of the entrants in action