Last Friday, Neil and Phil were joined by Cycle Monkey friend Charlie for a day in Monterey at Sea Otter Classic, one of the bicycle industry's largest festivals. Sea Otter is the event at which most companies debut their most anticipated new products, so our trip to Laguna Seca raceway, where the festival is held, gave us a chance to do some important product research. After a long day at the festival seeing old friends and checking out new products, we got a chance to get an evening ride in at the neighboring Fort Ord National Monument.
Cycle Monkey had a busy three days in Sacramento during the 2012 edition of NAHBS. This year's show was the biggest to date with over 8100 attendees and 171 exhibitors. Friday was busy, Saturday was very busy, and Sunday was steady. There were many beautiful bikes on display, though we didn't get to see the whole show because it was difficult to get away from the booth. The Schlumpf and Rohloff cutaway models that we had on display attracted a steady crowd of onlookers, and the two bikes we had mounted on trainers offered visitors a chance to try out the Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, Schlumpf Speed Drive, and Gates Carbon belt drive system.
