Saddleback at Sea Otter Classic

26 April 2024

By Dan Duguid

Welcome to Saddleback’s top picks from Sea Otter Classic 2024 of what is new and cool from our brands.

Abbey Bike Tools

Abbey Bike Tools has recently purchased UK tool brand Noble’s intellectual property, having recognised the design flare behind the company’s most popular tools. The brand is in the process of bringing them back to market, with a touch of added Abbey magic.

The Spoke Lacing Jig, one of Noble’s most popular designs, is first to make its appearance. The jig can quickly be adjusted for different rim diameters, with the rim supports spinning on smooth cartridge bearings. The neatly machined alloy base makes an appearance in green on the production models and Abbey hasn’t forgotten to recognise Noble’s design here.

Also new from Abbey is the Hub Bearing Puller. This clever design uses an expanding collet to pull out a bearing that can also be adjusted using the snap ring, to avoid the collet being pushed too far past the end of the bearing.

These products are expected to be available from May this year.

ENVE Composites

ENVE always builds some showstoppers for the event, and they did not disappoint this year.

They teamed up with Black Magic Paint to add some spice to the recently launched Fray. The combination of exceptional paint work and a new frame drew plenty of attention to the stand.

Not content with just one showstopper, ENVE also displayed Alexey Vermeulen’s NASA themed Melee bike. There was some incredible detail in this design and, along with Alexey’s pup, it was an instant hit.

Pivot Cycles

Everyone loves a bit of pink, right? Pivot had the new, limited-edition Switchblade on display, along with the bike that inspired its outlandish paint job, the 1989 Sun Eagle Talon. This was owned by founder Chris Cocalis and started his passion for frame building.

Alan Vaughn, who started Sun Eagle Bicycle Works, was instrumental in helping teach Cocalis to weld frames. Cocalis later went on to build all of the Talon frames. The latest Switchblade is a worthy tribute to Chris’s original Talon, although it couldn’t be more different in design.

Wolf Tooth

Wolf Tooth had a plethora of new products on show, including the new Shimano-compatible GRX Aero chainrings, available now, which are a thing of CNC beauty.

Joining the brand’s pedal line up, the new slim, lightweight RipSaw pedal is machined from 6061-T6 aluminium billet. Unlike the Waveform, which uses a concave design, the Ripsaw features a slight convex profile and is suited to mid foot pedallers.

Also on show were the new Tubeless Valve Stems, things of beauty. Available in in 40mm and 60mm variations, they are compatible with tyre inserts and come with three sets of rubber cones that will ensure the seal with your rim is perfect.

Wolf Tooth’s latest product on show was the Fat Paw Lock-On grips, which combine comfort, from a dual-density silicone grip, with a lock-on format for an extra bit of security. As with all of Wolf Tooth’s accessories, there are plenty of colour variants to choose from.

WTB

New to the Saddleback stable, WTB had its range on show at Sea Otter Classic, but the highlight for Saddleback’s staff was calling by their HQ after the event.

We were in our element, since they had some cool retro bikes on display, including the bike of Charlie Cunningham, one of WTB’s founders, with its WTB/Chris King headset, complete with grease guard. Not a common sight!

Cunningham is well known for his frame building, and this cool mini frame, welded by the man himself, was used to display WTB’s headsets and bottom brackets.

Completing the retro goodness was WTB’s first 29er tyre design, the Nanoraptor, which made its debut back in the late 90s. One of the first ever 29er tyres was fitted to a modified frame with a geometry corrected lower cup, Manitou 700c forks and 700c rims.

Moots

Displayed on a new frame that we cannot announce just yet was Moots’ latest Frost Bite anodised finish. This cool blue design has hidden detail that is applied during the anodising process using a sponge, ensuring that no two finishes are ever exactly alike. The new finish is available to order now.