Crankworx: Full-colour gear from Whistler Village

Crankworx moved to a new mid-July date this year and, to match the mid-summer heat, many brands brough very brightly coloured wares to show off in Whistler Village. Some were custom but many were new limited-edition options that you can bring home to brighten every ride. Here are a few of the more eye-catching bits from 2023 Crankworx.

Norco’s multi-coloured Fluid FS Carbon

Sure to turn heads at the trailhead

All the colours you could want

Not just a show bike, this Fluid FS Carbon will be for sale, soon

Just like a normal Fluid FS C, but brighter

To mark the recent release of the carbon fibre version of its popular Fluid FS trail bike, Norco has a very bright multi-coloured frameset and bike in its booth. Unlike most show bikes, this one isn’t an athlete special or a project bike. Norco will release 50 of these fancy framesets. The best part, other than the colour? They’re the same price as a standard colour frameset.

Racer

Racer Alpha Plastron is a chest and back protector

Thick straps allow the Alpha to be modular.

A full back protector can also be worn on its own

Thick padding, breathable materias

Motion Knee 2 is a more breathable version of Racer's knee pad.

There's thicker D30 and a new hard knee cap piece on the outside

The best part is how breathable the new pad loos

Racer's Motion Top Women's is a full-body women's-specific piece. Like the men's, it features removable sleeves and pads and some sneaky storage for essentials.

French protective wear brand Racer had a few interesting things in its booth. A women’s version of its motion top body armour is one of the very, very few sets women’s specific body protection out there. Two new products coming to North America soon are the modular chest/back protector and a more breathable version its Motion Knee pad.

Knolly: New Endorphin Gen.6 and a flashy Fugitive

Knolly Endorphin Gen. 6

Good to see the Endorphin name back in Knolly's line

And good to see XS and Small frames with huge dropper post clearance. The XS fits a full 200mm post.

Still Knolly's Four by 4 suspension layout, but with updated kinematics

And a new straight top tube

It's aesthetics, but it gives the Gen 6 Endorphin a very different look

Still the same Knolly BB area

There's also new Post-Mount 180 standard out back

The Fugitive 138 was updated last year. This year it gets a flashy "Tequila Sunrise" colour

This limited run is also available to buy. You can get the Fugitive in less bold colours, but why would you?

Starts pink

A fancy fade

... into bright yellow

A bike that'll brighten up the gloomiest North Shore winter rides

Last year at Crankworx Knolly was showing off the prototype of a new Endorphin. After a long absence from the Knolly line, many riders were happy to see the Endorphin name making a comeback. The new version is built around a 27.5″ rear wheel with 135mm or 150mm travel and either a 27.7 or mulleted 29″ front wheel. Knolly went out of its way to make a proper XS verion of the Endorphin. It works for riders 4’10” and up, whether that’s a younger shredder or shorter adult. The XS frame fits a full 200mm dropper post and can run a reservoir rear shock easily with a water bottle. There are a ton of other details, like Knolly’s own machined UDH hangar, a new straight top tube, a top tube tool mount and updated, Gen.6 Fourby4 kinematics. All of which will be available when the new Endorphin is released on September 1.

NOBL Oval

One product from Crankworx you can’t buy – and probably don’t want to anyway – is Vancouver Island wheel brand NOBL’s Oval wheel. The very custom wheel was built for NOBL’s annual April Fools video, and the brand is not planning on making any more. Not just because it’s a joke, but the wheel turned out to be very hard to build an oval wheel. Each spoke is a different length and one side is laced radially while the other is a two-cross lacing pattern. Not great for riding, but the Oval was a good prop for tunning a giveaway in the NOBL booth.

Canyon K.I.S.

Canyon K.I.S. mounted on a Strive:ON eMTB

Obviously not a production verion, but interesting to try out

Canyon launched its K.I.S. (Keep It Stable) steering stabalizer (the Germans are not calling it a steering damper) earlier this year on select Spectral models. The production version is tucked away neatly in the top tube. Canyon had a very not-production version mounted to several Strive:ON eMTBs in a similar fashion to how Troy Brosnan was testing the system at the Lenzerheide World Cup. While not pretty, it did a better job of showing exactly what was happening in the K.I.S. system while you ride. I had the chance to do a few rain-kissed laps on the K.I.S-equipped Spectral:ON. More on that experience to follow.

Leatt

Leatt had some wild pro-models on display. Like Thomas Lemoine's wood-grain/electric rainbow model.

There are also more subdued colours, if you're not feeling so flashy.

South African protective-wear brand Leatt had a few new things to show at Crankworx, though they’re not ready to show the public quite yet. Until then, they had a wide range of their bullet-proof goggles on display. The tough goggles come in a wide range of colours, from subdued to several wild pro-model options. And, yes, they are tough enough to stop a bullet, though Leatt really strongly suggests not testing that at home.