Like any great cyclocross venue, the CX Nationals expo area was a bit of a party. In addition to food, warm beverages, and warm up tents, there were also a number of companies with things to show – some serious, some not so much.
Industry Nine has their products pretty well buttoned up now that their Trail S wheels are on the scene, so the big draw in their booth was something a little more… deadly?
Nicknamed the Death Trap, this was definitely the only front suspension scooter rolling around the Biltmore Estate. Fabricated by Mechanical Specialty Inc., the beefy frame makes use of a single sided frame at the rear that holds a 20″ wheel. Up front, the 29″ wheel and fork may convince you to get a little too gnarly, possibly inspiring the name.
Almost equally as fun and ridiculous is this massive foosball table that was part of the Volkswagen booth. Unless you had a full team on each side, a bit of running was required…
Finally ready for their close ups, Boyd is now shipping their Eternity Hubset that was first shown at NAHBS. The impressive hubs are developed, engineered, and produced in the USA and have a list of features that should make them worth the hefty $580 price tag. Thanks to the widest possible bearing stance and flange spacing the hubs will build a super stiff and strong wheel, while the Dual Axle Design claims to reduce bearing drag by 50%. They spin. A lot. The Metal Injection Molded titanium free hub offers a super durable cassette perch, while providing 5.6 degree pawl engagement with electroplated pawls and driver ring with Speed Coat Pawl grease from NixFrixShun.
Offered as an upgrade to any Boyd wheel for $350, the hubs are available as a stand alone set for $580 and are shipping now.
Stepping into the Asheville tent, GoWorx was one of the Asheville companies featured inside with some cool products for filming. In addition to their GoPro style mounts and grips like the GoKnuckles to the right and the GoWorx low angle handle (not shown), they also had an interesting mount for your smart phone. The clamp cinches down on your smart phone, then attaches to any GoPro style mount allowing you to make better use of that 4K feature on your iPhone (compatible with phones less than 86.5mm wide). GoKnuckles sell for $19.99, while the GoWorx FreeRide mount sells for $24.99.
As an Element owner myself who spends a lot of time living and riding out of an E, the Fifth Element Micro Camper was easily a highlight. I was fairly proud of the half bed I built for myself that allowed me to store two bikes inside, until I saw Nick’s set up. While not available yet, the current prototype is the culmination of years of work to create the perfect modular camper set up that uses the existing mounts inside the Element and is easily removable so you can still sit 4 adults inside.
The kits will be available in either a half or a full bed, which fold up into benches when not in use. The half bed shown here has room for a full downhill bike to be mounted inside to the fork mount which flips out of the arm reset. Other modules include the wall mounted storage unit, the center console mounted camp kitchen (removes from the vehicle to set up with two burners and foot actuated sink), and small items like the side table which mounts to open doors, and a slick little laptop table that clips to the steering wheel. Hands down, it’s the most pro Element camping system I’ve seen.
The entire system can be installed or removed in a a few minutes and doesn’t require any modifications to the Element so you can easily put it back to stock (expect for the center console and camp kitchen which require the removal of center console and arm rests). All of the hardware features quality locking metal clasps and seems built to last. Pricing is yet to be finalized, but if you’re interested in a set up of your own, you can sign up for their newsletter to be the first to know when the fully assembled systems are ready to ship.
