It’s the black heart of winter in Minnesota. But bikes are on the minds of the thousands of dealers, shop owners, and reps who congregate at the Frostbike show, an annual event organized by Quality Bicycle Products to offer a peek at what’s soon coming to market. We were on the Frostbike scene today for a few hours to kick tires and scope out new wares. Here’s an inside look at some of the two-wheel tomfoolery and innovation we found. —Stephen Regenold
We rode our frosty bikes to the show. Typical Minnesota winter commute
Lazer time trial Wasp helmet — “Need for Speed!”
Through the looking glass: A peek at the Frostbike show floor
On a monitor in the show hall; typical class for the day
John Deere aesthetic, Surly fatbike guts
Salsa tandem bike
Bike tube vending machine
Custom Salsa Warbird bike, Almanzo edition. Chris Skogen, founder of the Almanzo 100 race, sizes it up
Fyxation Gates Pedal Strap kit
Bike boots on ice. 45Nrth Wolvhammer winter boots
SRAM gets into the snow biking world with fat-bike oriented cranks
Thule makes a handlebar mount for the iPad. Google Maps, anyone?
Really? Brooks’ “leather trouser straps”
Built-in blinker: Arrow points to adjustment knob on Lazer helmet that also houses a tiny red LED light
Shimano shows off its Zee components in a rippin’ little freeride bike build
All City goes with disc brakes on its latest steel cyclocross bike
Drool. . . Ritchey’s C260 Superlogic Carbon Stem
Obnoxious 65 lumen flashers from Knog to keep you visible on the road
Pearl Izumi X Project shoe (flexes when walking, stiff when clipped in to spin)
Contributing editor T.C. Worley grips some “royal antler” handlebars on a Surly bike build
—GearJunkie covers cycling every week on its Biking Category channel.
