Senior tech editor Tom Marvin brings us his highlights from the raft of new kit on show at the season-opening Sea Otter Classic
1 Yeti SB135
One of relatively few new 650b-wheeled trail bikes, the SB135 is built for riders looking to make some shapes while shredding, with 135mm of rear-wheel travel and a 150mm or 160mm fork.
2 Kali Cascade Industrial Waste helmet
This is one of 20 special lids made using waste materials from Kali’s production process. The stock Cascade is also eco-friendly, with a repurposed foam liner, recyclable PET plastic straps and sustainably sourced bamboo pads.
3 Forge+Bond rims
F+B eschew the normal epoxy resin used to ‘glue’ carbon fibres together, instead using an easier-to-recycle nylon bonding agent, which is claimed to give their carbon rims a more damped ride feel, too.
4 Nukeproof Dissent Carbon
Nukeproof’s downhill rig has gone full-carbon, and offers plenty of adjustment – you can tweak the reach, chainstay length and suspension progression, plus swap between 29in and 650b rear wheels.
5 EXT Aria rear shock
Italian brand EXT’s first air shock has dual positive springs, which should allow fine tuning of early, mid and late-stroke performance. Add an adjustable hydraulic bottom-out damper and pedalling platform, and you should be able to tailor things to perfection.
6 Classified Powershift MTB geared hub
This hub holds a two-speed gear mechanism, onto which a proprietary 12-speed cassette is fitted. A bar-mounted Bluetooth switch changes the hub from a direct-drive 1:1 ratio to 0.7:1, effectively giving bikes without a front mech the wider g
