They put on the show every year to give their dealers and us hacks a chance to meet the brand managers, fondle their new products and have a nose around the enormous warehouse.
New Commencal...
The big news was the launch of the new Commencal Supreme DH which the Athertons and the bike's designer Nicolas Menard were on hand to show off. I had a quick chat with Nicolas and he's pretty excited about the bike so far. There's loads of adjustment, an inch more travel, lower centre of gravity and it has been generally beefed up to last a bit longer than the old bike. Sadly it had no brakes and the wrong shock so no test rides for yours truly. You can expect them to start rolling out in the UK at the end of July... And we'll be having a chat with Nicolas in Wideopen issue 6.
The man behind the bikes... Nicolas.
Commencal HT
US company 'Wheels Manufacturing' are now producing a massive range of replacement mech-hangers. They'll be working with BETD/Goldtech meaning top quality... And distributing through Madison meaning zero fuss getting your hands on them. RRP about 17 quid.
Lots of drop-outs and axles
Finally, Animal were showing off their new range of mtb clothing with some really nice shorts, tops and a great looking jacket that I'm desperate to get my hands on! Not much else to report in terms of new product... There's a nice range of Giro glasses about to appear, Hyrdapack and Ogio have got some stylish MTB packs, new Thor stuff looks good as usual.
New Animal jacket...
We stopped by the Bullring on the way
Selfridges has an enormous bull made out of jelly beans. It cost £20K!
http://www.fattyre.co.uk/ to see Jim's take on the day
First one to email me an interesting fact about Madison's hometown Milton Keynes gets a goody bag of junk I gathered from the show! Answers to jamie@wideopenmag.co.uk.
