Founded in 1980, Pacific Cycles is a large scale (one of the largest) private label manufacturers. While they weren’t giving up their client list, I was told they make the frames for one of my personal favorite brands, and you’ll see a few of the brands in this two-part post about them.

First, a bit of clarification: This is not the Pacific Cycle that bought and commoditized Schwinn and others before selling to Dorel in 2004. This is Pacific Cycles-with-an-S that’s introduced some technological firsts to the cycling world and makes some seriously high end frames. And has some seriously unique products and ideas. A quick bit of history, as told by founder George Lin:

• 1985 – First company in cycling industry to use AutoCad
• 1988 – First 7005 alloy frame in Taiwan
• 1992 – First twin shock full suspension bike
• 1993 – Created the Hot Chili, which was developed by Peter Denk, who went on to work in product development for Scott and (currently) Cannondale
• 1998 – Set up their first CNC shop for faster prototyping
• 2012 – 3D scanning & rapid prototyping added, and the first fruit of this labor is the Mando Footloose we saw at Eurobike.

In 2010, they opened a bicycle museum with about 150 bikes, including historical models (including a few Schwinns from the heyday) and capped by the modern ones built by Pacific Bicycles. They’ve seen more than 10,000 visitors so far this year, which is impressive considering they’re not located in one of Taiwan’s major cities.

They developed lots of folding bikes, two of note are the Birdy, Carry Me and, with a designer, the iF Mode shown above, which won an IF design award. The new “baby Mode” is a 20″ folding bike that’s coming soon.

This year, they added 3D scanning and rapid prototyping. The first fruit of this effort is the Mando Footloose folding bike we showed in one of our tradeshow galleries.

Take a tour for the old, the new and the bizarre…

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We’ve rounded up the miscellany road bikes and mountain bikes, but this may very well be my favorite grouping. I call it “other” and it has some of the best bikes of both Eurobike and Interbike.

The Blackbraid from PG Bikes in Germany was a showstopper. Not only does it give new meaning to asymmetric stays, but the insanely high end build of THM bits, Lightweight wheels and Gates Belt Drive put it in under 11 pounds! Check out plenty more eye candy cruisers and bruisers below…

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Like the road bike gallery, we saw plenty of cool mountain bikes that maybe weren’t brand new or we simply didn’t have time to get all the details in the rush of Eurobike and Interbike.

KTM’s full suspension 29er has some great angles and a fairly unique seatstay pivot layout. Where most bikes with this suspension platform put a bit more of a noticeable kink where the rear pivot is, the Scarp’s is virtually hidden inline with the tube. Get a close up and plenty more from lots of big brands below…

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It’s been with quite a bit of anticipation that we’ve all been waiting for Thomson’s handlebars to become a reality. They’ve done the slow tease with information buried on their website over the past few months, but at Eurobike we got the first look at the complete collection.

Now, we’ve got our hands on some of the very first production pieces to photo, weigh and ride. Our test batch includes the KFC (Katie F’ing Compton) carbon cyclocross drop bars, the carbon all-mountain low riser bars and the alloy DH risers.

The first thing you notice is the quality finish and respectable weights. Of course, we expected nothing less from Thomson, so it’s with both excitement and relief that we tell you they live up to expectations at first glance…

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At Eurobike and Interbike, there’s always bikes that aren’t necessarily new, but still worth checking out. Here’s our collection of road bikes.

Orbea had Red Bull athlete Josef Ajram’s Seven Islands road bike on display with it’s eyecatching blue and silver paint scheme. What’s Seven Islands? Discover that and some sinister paint schemes from Cannondale, Ridley and other great stuff after the break…

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We found Birzman’s killer floor pumps a while back and made a point of visiting them at Eurobike. Much to TSA’s delight, I traveled home with a virtual shop’s worth of tools in my suitcase for review.

I’ve been using them heavily since returning from the tradeshows and will do a full long term test down the road. First impressions are very good though. Having the right tool for the job not only makes it soooooo much easier, it also makes it a helluva lot quicker. Above is the complete oversized wrench set. Four base pieces handle ISIS and Shimano external bottom brackets, pedals and other 15mm bolts and a freakin’ fantastic chainwhip. On the right is a handle extension that slides onto the back of each tool for extra leverage. Sissy bars never looked or felt so good.

The chainwhip’s loose piece has a small clip that holds it to the wrench when not in use. The handles are soft without being mushy and provide a great grip. And this is just the beginning…

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As usual, Ashima didn’t disappoint. They had a range of new products and concepts on display at both Eurobike and Interbike, including an updated version of their hydraulic PCB pistonless road bike rim brake.

Originally shown in 2010, now we’re at least seeing where the hydraulic lines insert. The arch is carbon fiber, and the brake fluid pumps directly into the space behind the pad, using a flexible “pancake” membrane to push the pads out and retract them without a traditional piston and seals. No word on production plans. While it’s aimed at the aftermarket, Gregory from Freshbikes says they told him there were some undisclosed OEM parties coming by their Interbike booth for “productive talks.”

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Remember when we used rim brakes for mountain biking and ceramic brake tracks were the ticket for improved wet weather stopping power? Well, Alligator showed us this prototype carbon fiber disc brake rotor at Interbike with ceramic inserts.

While they were mum on details, the ceramic bits likely offer two benefits: all conditions braking friction and heat dissipation. Ceramic is often used as a heat mitigator in electrical applications, and it has a history of use on rims for better, more durable braking friction.

We didn’t get to weigh them, but they felt light. And the “wow” factor is off the charts. Could be just the thing for road bikes!

Related by name and parts type only, check out Gatorbrake’s equally radical goods from last year’s Eurobike here.

At Eurobike, Wahoo Fitness unveiled their new iPhone powered indoor trainer, which shows your power, speed and other data on their app (and others) all via Bluetooth Smart 4.0.

Now, they’ve added their new RFLKT cycling computer to the mix. Rather than act as a standalone piece, it reflects (get it) what’s being recorded by their cycling app on your iPhone. It also lets you control the app and your music in iTunes through the computer, letting you keep your really expensive smartphone tucked safely away in your pocket or pack. And, because you don’t need to keep the phone’s screen running, it’ll preserve its battery, too.

Pics and more below…

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Let’s be honest…if you had to guess, and many of you did, you probably knew this was coming.

Niner’s new RIP 9 RDO takes their 120mm travel all mountain bike and gives it a lighter, stiffer and waaaaaay sexier carbon fiber frame. In fact, we’d say they’ve outdone their Jet 9 RDO/Carbon model by a leg or two with the svelte layout of the link pivots into the frame…it’s really unique.

For good measure, they also gave it five more millimeters of cush, putting the rear end at 125mm travel.

After two years (and change) of development, the official coming out party is tomorrow at Interbike’s indoor opening day, but we’ve had a chance to see the frame in person already and it’s a beaut. Revised cable routing will make many Niner fans happy, and the inclusion of ISCG tabs opens the bike up for even more aggressive riding…

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