NBS - The Show Bit

Right. Enough of the bike riding, I should report on some of the actual bike show stuff. Jump bikes for example. They were bloody everywhere.

Yes, it would appear that MTB jump bikes are the bike of the time. Obviously you have your old school companies still making them like they've always made (what are the rules on the use of 'old school'? Does anything over 10ish years suddenly just qualify? And if so, does that promote things that are 20ish years to 'old old school'? I don't know. Perhaps like how to take good indoor dirt jumping pictures, someone could tell me?).

I digress. Identiti. They do jump bikes and have for years. 24 Seven too.They do them, as well as ones with gears that teeter on the borderline for people unable to commit to a single cog.

But there are plenty of others, loads, so many in fact I don't actually want to encourage by writing them all up (except for the 'Bitch' from NS bike co which I quite like the name of. "Dam, where did I leave my bitch?", "Man, I snapped my bitch in the woods at the weekend", "Oh, I see you've got a new bitch, nice". The possibilities are endless. Other than that though it seemed pretty standard - chunky gusset and token Profile cranks to boot).

My point is (yes, there's one in here somewhere) for all the companies building and selling dirt jump rigs, I still don't see many actually getting out there and really developing the scene (again, a nod to Identiti, 24 Seven, Curtis, DMR etc, who have been at if for a while and have long sponsored real riders who own spades).

Perhaps there should be a tax on specialist bikes. For every 10 units your company sells, it has to build at least one dirt jump, like carbon offsetting. Or, like that computers for schools thing the super markets do, they could give vouchers with every sale and if enough riders collect them all up together, they can redeem them against equipment for trails like diggers, spades, rolls of carpet... Just a thought.

Saying all that, it's not just about the scene. The companies are companies and have to make money and if jumping on the bandwagon in producing a load of bikes that the figures suggest will sell is what it takes, then so be it.

For that reason it's interesting to see a company then that throws caution to the wind and tries something a bit different. Case in point: NC-17 and their '25" Urban Cross Cycle'.

Yes. 25" wheels.

And yes, they named it "Urban Cross Cycle" (can you imagine the names they threw out for that one to win! "Super Fun Fun Street Bike"? "Go Go Wheelie Zoomer"?).

Regardless of what it's called though, or how wannabe 'old school' the graphics are, it's a concept bike, with custom made tyres, and a funny detail on the BB, and for me that's a bit more how a bike show should be.

To that end then, the winner of best in show should go to Empire Cycles and their uber-unique cast frame (as recently reported on in Dirt).

It's still a prototype mind, and they weren't taking pre-orders or anything but I reckon there's something in it.

I just hope they can keep on with R&D long enough to see it through, and not least for how good it would be for a British company to achieve something genuinely innovative within this very international and lemming like market.

Mat