Sea Otter: Canadian brands highlight California show

Canada was an early pioneer in several stages of mountain bike design and development, from the early days of racing to the birth of freeride and, now, a new wave of innovation. Numerous northern brands flocked south to Sea Otter to show off new and innovative products. These range from high-end suspension to carbon chainrings, custom clothes and some very shiny hubs. Here’s the best CanCon we found in California

Vorsprung Telum arrives

Vorsprung Telum is, after years in development, ready for pre-order

The Whistler brand makes the majority of the Telum in house in Whistler, which is very cool.

Vorsprung was showing off different phases of the three-year development and (very rigorous) testing process

From very basic first steps to fine-tuning machining of the intricate main shock body

Details like angular bushings help reduce side loads on the shock which should help durability.

Whistler suspension gurus Vorsprung know more about suspension tuning than most of use ever will. When the small brand decided to skip the middle man and, instead of making an upgrade kit, just design its own shock, it turned into an epic three-year-long process. The result, it’s Telum coil shock, is now available for preorder. Each Telum is custom tuned to order, on top of all the expected features like lock-out, hydraulic bottom out and high speed and low speed compression and rebound adjustments. Every order considers rider weight, what bike they’re riding and what performance they want out of the shock.

Vorsprung’s made the Telum so all of this can be retuned without completely disassembling the shock (like you’d have to on RockShox or F0x) so if you want to change or you get a new bike, the Telum is ready. Re-tuning isn’t quite DIY but Vorsprung wants to make that barrier as low as possible, so any shop that does its very short training session can re-tune the Telum for you. Very cool stuff for suspension nerds. And the shock is, except for a few small parts like the shaft, machined entirely in Whistler by Vorsprung. Also very cool.

Aenomaly Switchgrade

That handy little lever hiding there?

Lets you change your saddle angle from neutral

To down, for a comfortable angle while climbing steep grades

Or up, for a more familiar descending angle

Cleanly machined, Aenomaly adds color options to funciton

It's a polished look, if a bit bigger than your average post head

Aenomaly is compatible with a wide, and expanding, range of dropper post designs

And a new design is going to improve that further

Born in North Vancouver, Aenomaly Constructs just wants to relieve some parts under pressure. Specifically, that uncomfortable pressure on sensitive parts while climbing steep grades. The little Switchgrade lever hiding under the seat? It allows you to change your saddle angle to three pre-set positions. Neutral, angled down for more comfort (and power) while climbing, and tilted up for descending. There’s a new two-position version in the works, too, if you’re only interested in the climbing part.

Race Face Era carbon fibre(-ish) chainrings

Era carbon cranks came with a metal scuff guard. Now Race Face takes the mixed-materials concept to a new part

That chainring? A mix of carbon, steel and aluminum

A hard outer ring of teeth should be durable for a long life

While the carbon keeps things light and the aluminum core provides a solid mounting point

After a steady start with Era carbon cranks a couple of years ago, Race Face is rapidly expanding its Era line. Recently released wheels were followed by bars and, most interestingly, a carbon fibre chainring. Well, mostly carbon fibre. Steel teeth are attached to a carbon spider and, for durability, an alloy mounting ring. The perfect mix of weight and durability? Or just a really expensive chainring? We’ll find out soon.

Ride Wrap recycles

Ride Wrap is spicing things up with a run of pro and special edition wrap kits

The Whistler brand started with Sea-to-Sky icon, Jesse Melamed

His Canyon Lux Flight Control, obviously not his usual race bike, is fully wrapped with the most comprehensive "Tailored" kit

His pro kit sits on top of that. Which Ride Wrap is Ok with, as it adds a bit of extra protection and lets you freshen up your bike's look

Where the custom kit doesn't cover, you can see the detail of the Tailored kit, which covers 95 per cent of the frame

Ride Wrap has an extensive line of many tens of thousands of frames that its Tailored kit covers

Kits come in gloss or matte finish

The new Lotus Pro material is designed to cleanly wrap around the complicated curves of modern mountain bikes

Details details details

Ride Wrap covers gravel bikes, like this Trek, and road bikes, too, and supports LA Sweat's fleet of Cannondales

Born in Whistler but now with global reach, Ride Wrap wants to keep your frame safe. Now, the frame protection brand wants to be green, too. The new Lotus Pro protective layer is made from 77 per cent recycled material, the first for any protective coating in any industry. Ride Wrap is engineer for bikes, though, and should easily come off the frame when you want it to and without any damage to the factory paint or reside left behind. Preserving your pristine bike and its resale value.

SixtyFive goes custom, fast

SixtyFive uses sublimation, so your club or team can do any design

Whether the design is complicated

Or simple

SixtyFive was the official apparel for the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup round

The jersey is nice and light, though theres a tougher material option if you choose

The shorts and pants use a film transfer, as shorts are more high-wear. So rubbing on the saddle won't mess up the material

There are pants in junior, women's and mens sizing

They have zippered and open pockets

And are also customizable

The shorts come in kids, junior, women's and men's sizing, so your whole team will get a proper fit

Quebec’s SixtyFive apparel brand is bringing quality custom work to mountain biking. The newer brand is promising four week turn-around on its team clothing, including two weights of jersey, pants and shorts.

Project 321 G3 hub goes live and in colour

Project 321 is back with an array of 12 anodized colours for its G3 hubs

Which you can mix-and-match to suit your frame

The G3 uses the 6-Lock design, which allows center lock rotors or...

An adaptor to six-bolt rotors

Why? Well, ever strip a center lock lock ring or six bolt thread? Kinda hard to fix the hub shell.

This changes that, making the six-bolt mounts replaceable

The system is clever for sure

Three parts, plus rotor

Which, of course, can also be colour matched

So many colours

Or just go with classic Gold

First shown at Sea Otter last year, now-Canadian brand Project 321 is releasing its innovative G3 hub in an array of anodized colours. The creative 6-Lock disc rotor mount system means stripping a bolt is no longer a hub-killing mistake. it also allows for another layer of colour co-ordination. Oh, and it has very fast engagement via P321’s magnetic pawl system.