Steve Hed refers to Andy Tetmeyer (http://wheelguru.blogspot.com/ ) (a Paris-Brest-Paris finisher) as Hed's corporate "repository of knowledge." His other titles are "wheelbuilder to the stars" and "lackey." Recently, Tetmeyer and I carried on an e-mail discussion about Hed's design process, the general use of carbon fiber, and some other stuff. While Tony Martin's and Judith Arndt's Worlds Time Trial winning clinchers will make a cameo appearance, the main focus is definitely techs-mechs. Hmm. I'm getting hungry.

(Thanks to Andy Tetmeyer for being super-helpful, and for all of the photos).

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One more from the Interbike files, and a timely one, given the approaching holidays and the chat ongoing about data. Today's Ambush is with the good folks from Garmin, makers of various GPS units and other electronics for sports and travel. Many of us know Garmin from our watch or the computer on our handlebars or the GPS setup in our car. All of us know them as the sponsor of marquee pro cycling men's and women's teams. The latter says a good bit about the former: Garmin may have started making GPS units for your dashboard, but they have turned toward cycling in a big way.

For several years the Edge line of GPS-equipped cycling computers has marked Garmin's approach to cycling. Sponsorship of the team kicked off in 2008 with the organization's Tour de France debut, and the Edge 705 was one of the tech stars of the Grand Boucle, winning plenty of praise from the riders and curious looks from their rivals. The device combined GPS capability with enough of a screen to display mapping and profiles, while compiling data on speed, distance, cadence, heart rate, elevation gain, calories expended, and power too -- if you added an ANT + device. [I've had one since 2009, and love it.] The Edge 800 upped the stakes with touchscreen capability, but there was one big missing piece: a Garmin-made power add-on.

Coming next March, that problem is solved. Garmin is rolling out the Vector, a pedal-based power meter that works with Edge devices to produce total power and balance between the two pedals. Take a look and hear from Clark Foy, co-founder of Metrigear which was acquired by Garmin for the purpose of creating the Vector... on the flip!

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Last of the series... And it's a favorite topic of mine, nutrition. Unlike all the fancy steel bikes and carbon wheels, Hammer Nutrition makes products cyclists and other endurance athletes actually need! 

Hammer Nutrition, out of Whitefish, Montana, has been around the cycling scene for a decade or so, and their products are pretty ubiquitous in the Northwest cycling scene -- and presumably out your way as well. Hammer are one of the many exhibitors at Interbike who cut across the athletic spectrum -- athletes of all stripes need nutritional help. But Hammer got their name from cycling. Every product I've seen has a chainring on it. They aren't just selling a general product to the cycling world at Interbike -- they're selling a message that their product is dialed in for Cycling.

I got a chance to talk with Steve Born, a multiple Race Across AMerica finisher and one of the head honchos at Hammer these days about one of my favorite topics: cycling nutrition that is actually something you might want to put in your body on a regular basis!

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Today's featured impromtu Interbike chat is with the good folks at Park Tool. If you've ever been inclined to tinker with your bike, you know Park Tool already -- their ubiquitous blue packaging adorns the wall of the tool corner at your LBS, in all likelihood. Located in St. Paul, Minnesota, they've been in the business of producing tools specifically for the bike world for nearly half a century, and if you don't have some, chances are your shop mechanics do.

As Interbike attendees go, Park Tool are fairly well-known and established. So what do they have to gain from being at Interbike, yet again? That would be dialog with the shops. As much as anyone, Park Tool are there to rap with the shop guys. What do you think of our products? What changes are needed? What did you think of the last round of new products and designs? What problems do you encounter for which nobody has made a tool yet? In other words, feedback, which is the lifeblood of most businesses and which happens every day, but Interbike is the perfect gathering for companies like Park Tool to get a lot of really useful feedback in a short time.

To the flip...

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I love this segment. In part because it is officially socks weather in Seattle. Like, durable wool socks weather. I also enjoyed talking to these guys as a different kind of Interbike attendee -- the newcomer. Darn Tough Vermont have been in the sock business for three decades, catering to the slushy, crusty, muddy misery that is nine months of the Green Mountain State's year. Trust me, I know. I've cleaned enough ski bindings that look like the underside of my Cross bike. 

Anyway, what makes them unique to the Interbike experience is that they're the company who most of the attendees don't know yet. Sure, their socks are at REI and other retailers nationwide, but the sock business is a small and crowded niche in the bike world. DTV are coming from the hiking world (primarily) looking to make a splash in cycling. And they're relying on Interbike (as well as their high-quality products) to muscle their way onto the scene.

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Continuing with our series on (my) trying to portray what Interbike is and why it matters, thru the eyes of a selection of participants, today brings us to Full Speed Ahead, better known as FSA, makers of various components and wheels for all types of bikes. FSA is not among the very largest companies like Campy or Shimano, whose need to attend is more image than "getting the word out." But they're hardly small. If FSA added up all the UCI points won on their products they could probably secure a 2012 World Tour license. So that said they belong at the big show... but they also have an interest in getting out the word on their latest innovations, and in talking face-to-face with customers. Selling bicycle components is a tough business, and it's the medium-sized guys like FSA -- bigger than the boutiques, smaller than the behemoths -- who have to fight hardest.

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Today's installment of "Chris at a Trade Show with a Video Camera" heads to Nite Rider Technical Lighting Systems, with spokesperson Emily Miller. Nite Rider is interesting because:

• they're a medium/small company entrenched in one corner of the cycling industry;
• they've been around quite a while;
• their market -- commuters being central to it -- is probably growing, maybe a lot; and
• their products are evolving rapidly.

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All this week, or however long it takes, Jen, Chris S and I are rolling out our impressions of Interbike. Today, I am starting with an old favorite of mine and (maybe) yours, Campagnolo. Part of what I aimed to do at Interbike was to talk to people (on video) about their purposes for attending the show -- everyone is there to increase sales, or to not be the company about whom people say "did you hear they weren't at Interbike?" But more specifically, a big company's objectives will differ a great deal from some of the smaller single-product attendees.

I chose to start with Campagnolo, for a few reasons. One, they are always a hot topic and this year is no exception. Their electronic shifting is a year into testing, including a season spent hanging from Movistar bikes, and it's headed to production... they promise! Two, they were my pick for what a big company talks about to a captive audience that has known about them for decades. And three, there's a special bonus reporter on scene with me, our very own R Mc! R, a/k/a Richard, is one of our tech guru regulars, so it was reassuring to have him on hand.

On the flip: talking tech with Lerrj Piazza of Campagnolo.

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