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Carbon Road Rockets, Latticework Frames and Batman's Bike: Baddest Bikes at Interbike
Posted: September 26th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by Leander Kahney
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: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Bike nerds and Sin City make strange bedfellows at this year's Interbike conference. Perhaps for the first time in the city's history, the bodies being caressed and ogled this week were not made of flesh -- though they were still expensive. Instead, spandex-clad gear heads went carnal for carbon composites and supped-up suspensions. Check out the baddest bike's on display in what we like to think of as the swimsuit issue for the two-wheel crowd -- including wicker-basket frames, cherry wood finishes and bikes fit for Batman himself. Left: French bike giant Time's brand-new carbon road rocket, the RXR UL Team, will likely cost Yung upwards of $15,000, but what do you expect for a bike handmade in France? This state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line RXR UL is equipped with Campagnolo's Super Record 11 groupset. Read more about Time's RXR UL on Gadget Lab. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com Delta 7 Sports' Ascend road bike draws a crowd thanks to its distinctive wicker-basket carbon frame. The Ascend's frame is a lattice of carbon fiber that Delta claims is ten times stronger than steel (by weight). Incredibly, the bike's frame weighs just 1.8 pounds and costs about $12,000. Read more about Delta 7 Sports' Ascend on Gadget Lab. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com Frame builder Jeff Jones of Medford, Oregon, shuns conventional wisdom when it comes to building mountain bikes. There's no suspension or super trick gadgets, just strikingly original design and gigantic tires -- 26x3.7 to be exact. "It's fun," said Jones. "It's like driving a monster truck." The huge tires do the work of the missing suspension, and there's no unnerving forward lurch when the rider hits the brakes. The frame and fork of this ride, which Jones calls "Space," cost about $5,500. A complete bike reaches up and past $10,000. Read more about Jeff Jones's Space bike on Gadget Lab. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com "The Mob" is a 26-inch wheel badass bike from Black Market Bikes. The Mob is finding favor among the aging BMXer crowd, according to Black Market. The Mob is sold only as a frame and fork for about $600, but a trick rig like the one pictured runs for about $2,500. Read more about Black Market Bikes' Mob on Gadget Lab. : Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com Independent Fabrication's high-end XS road bike is a wonder of titanium, carbon fiber and of all things -- cherry wood. The XS features titanium lugs, carbon...
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