Crank Brothers Interbike 2007
Crank Brothers has been expanding their product line for some time now. This year sees several new products that should do very well for 2008.
One of the more visible new products they are offering is their uniquely designed wheelset. The wheel is built using a tubeless rim that utilizes an I-beam-like construction design with paired stainless steel spokes that thread into aluminum direct pull nipples that attach to Crank Brothers’ proprietary hubs. The hubs have a 6 pawl design with 3 pawls engaging with each 7 degrees of rotation. Crank Brothers will offer an All-Mountain and XC version, Iodine and Cobalt respectively.
2008 Crank Brothers Iodine wheel (click to enlarge)
Another hot ticket item that Crank Brothers has created for 2008 is their Directset. Crank Brothers philosophy for their headset is to create a minimalist system with low weight and low stack height. These headsets still use the Aheadset patent but are constructed in a unique way by using the headset cup as one of the bearing races in order to shed some weight over a traditionally designed headset.
Crank Brothers offer several models with varying construction materials, bearing counts, and sizes. The models to note for downhill are colored with Opium (red) anodized parts and freeride parts are colored in Sage (green). The DH Opium models are the SL and C which are offered in 1 1/8″ with stainless steel construction. The freeride Sage SL and C are constructed from stainless steel as well but have a deeper cup with 1 1/8″ sizes available. The C version is also available in a 1.5″ version.
2008 Crank Brothers Directsets (click to enlarge)
Clipless riders that enjoy the Mallets will see slight improvements over last year. The 2008 Mallets now have an extruded aluminum platform which is lighter than the magnesium version from 2007. The Mallets will also receive threaded studs for traction instead of the previous traction plates.
2008 Crank Brothers Mallet pedals (click to enlarge)
Check the gallery for extended photo coverage of Crank Brothers’ booth with more detailed pictures of their 2008 products
[Crank Brothers Interbike 2007 Gallery] [Crank Brothers Website]
