This year’s edition of Sea Otter was awash with cool new road bikes, mountain bikes and gravel bike tech, but ample nuggets of charming niche weirdness could still be found.
Sea Otter is not the wacky free-for-all that is Eurobike, where thousands of brands vie for attention by hawking odd wares, but gems such as a bikepacking BMX and plastic handlebars were still found nestling between taco trucks and mainstream tech.
Here are our five weirdest and wonderful-est cycling tech highlights from this year’s edition of Sea Otter.
Paul Components x HotSalad x Sierra Nevada Sierra Roamer bike
Paul Components has now commissioned a one-off custom bike in conjunction with neighbours, Sierra Nevada Brewing, for seven editions of Sea Otter.
This year’s bike – a monster cross drop bar shred sled – from HotSalad Bikes is quite something.
The bike is decked out with a SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain, White Industries M30 cranks, a handsome polished Manitou Mattoc fork, Sim Works To Smile bars and, of course, full Paul Components regalia.
Custom anodising perfectly matches the harlequin-wrapped bars.
Igus injection-moulded plastic handlebars
Igus, better known for its one-piece plastic frames, is developing handlebars (and other components) made from recycled plastic.
Igus uses a patented process, over-moulding an outer plastic layer over a lattice core to provide stiffness similar to an alloy bar.
The bar is fully recyclable and weighs 380g in an unspecified width. Igus says this compares to an average of around 300g for an equivalent alloy bar.
Different colours will be available by compounding pigments during the moulding process. Igus intends to offer colour-matched cranks and pedals.
Igus expects to see the bars specced by OEMs on kid’s bikes, bike share schemes and commuting bikes, with the potential for aftermarket availability.
Igus says it is also about to begin manufacturing its one-piece plastic frames, which first appeared in 2022, having invested in a 20-ton mould “the size of our Sea Otter booth.”
Kogel Kollosos oversized pulley wheel cage
Oversized pulley wheel systems are a popular marginal gain for drivetrain friction weenies.
Larger pulley wheels reduce drivetrain drag because the chain articulates less as each link moves through the derailleur.
Kogel has taken its oversized pulley wheel system a step further with the Kollosos – an oversized pulley system hidden beneath a striking aero fairing.
The cage debuted on a wild custom Scott Foil RC made by Dangerholm – a large Swedish man with a penchant for short shorts and custom bikes.
Kogel does not supply claimed aero savings for the cage, but heck at least you’ll look fast with it fitted to your bike.
The cage is available for SRAM 12-speed or Shimano 11-speed road bike derailleurs in a black or silver finish.
Kyoot Itty Bitty minivelo/bikepacking BMX
Kyoot’s – pronounced ‘cute’ – Itty Bitty minivelos were a highlight of the show.
Developed by BMXer and industry veteran, Phil Bailey, Kyoot’s bikes are designed to be ridden hard – jumps are strongly encouraged here.
Pitched as a minivelo, the bikes are based on simple standards. Except a 20in disc wheelset, 100/135mm spacing, 31.6mm seat posts and a standard ISO bottom bracket, your very own Itty Bitty can probably be built with spare parts.
The bikes are similar to the Velo Orange Neutrino, though slightly simpler, foregoing sliding dropouts, featuring fewer accessory mounts and using less ornate tube shaping.
They’re also slightly cheaper, at $699 for a frameset versus $825 for the Neutrino. A complete itty bitty can be yours for $1,599.
Kyoot’s bikes are currently only available in the US but is seeking international distributors.
Sava STJARN 8.0/Dream Maker integrated aero road bike
We’ll end on a bike with a foot firmly in the weird camp of this weird and wonderful roundup.
The Sava Stjarn (or Dream Maker, depending on where you look) is a wild aero road bike with an unusual dual crown fork.
Unlike a conventional dual crown fork, the blades of the Sava’s wide stance fork bend outward near the top of the hourglass-shaped head tube, joining the one-piece cockpit beneath the ramps of the bars.
Fork blades (or stanchions) generally attach to an additional crown above the head tube on a dual crown fork, hence the name.
Factor employed a similar(ish), albeit far narrower, design on its Vis Vires road bike launched back in 2013. However, it’s on the track that wide-stance dual crown forks have found favour.
Beyond that, the bike demonstrates many common contemporary aero features, with dropped seat stays and aero-shaped tubing.
Available in two sizes, for €6,699 you get a full Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, Sava’s own carbon wheelset and a Fizik saddle.
