After yesterday's sparse report, we've got loads to say about the first day of the indoor expo. Our first target was ICE, but on the way there we ran into Randy Schlitter at the test track where he was watching over a Trizard. A Trizard with mounted panniers. Hmmmm. We didn't make it to the RANS booth today.

We did, however, make it to the ICE booth where we learned all kinds of stuff. The 2010 models do not have a solid release date yet, only "some time in 2010". Don't look for these in the first quarter. But here is what's known. There are three models: the Adventure, the Sprint, and the Vortex. All three trikes feature the new ICE Trice folding mechanism which is a thing of beauty. We were asked not to shoot video of it, and we complied, but believe me when I say that the ease and speed of folding will have you wondering if its time to sell your current trike.

ICE has simplicity as a goal next year. They are reducing the product line from the mix of Q, QNT, T, TNT, and the varieties of stock colors to three trikes with one color each. This allows for a much clearer marketing message and a reduced headache for dealers who like to stock all the available models.

The Adventure, in blue, is the basic model. The Sprint is the mid-range model with suspension. The Vortex is the speed machine with a 700c rear wheel. Its black and red detailing is certainly striking.

Joining us was Pat Franz of TerraCycle. He pulled us off to the side and dug into his bag of TC goodies to show us a few items. I took a photo, but no notes, so you're going to have to guess what it is you're seeing. The mystery is part of the fun, right?

I've got more to post, but it's 2AM. I need sleep. But here's what's coming in the followup, which will end up being the Day 4 report - Draftmaster, Triton, and Hase.

There are more Day 3 photos available at our Facebook page.

Tom (aka steamer) is a loyal RBR customer. How loyal? He bought a Trice, then sold it and bought a Kettwiesel and a Trizard.

But then he took things to the next level and wrote an in-depth review of the RANS Trizard. Give it a read!

We headed back to the Outdoor Demo today, but there was little new to see aside from the recumbent conversion of the KidzTandem bike. The KidzTandem bike has had a recumbent version for a while now, but what makes this unique is that it can be converted from recumbent to upright and back again.

This particular revision of the semi-recumbent is still undergoing some design. The seat, for example, is a stock Sun seat with a single support. It had a noticeable lateral wobble that was acknowledged by the German producer of the bike. I also suggested changes to the seat that would allow for lateral trunk supports for those kids who have upper body control issues. The builder also mentioned the addition of chain tubes for the final version and the optional incorporation of a stoker freewheel.

To reiterate from yesterday's report, the stock tandem is $1950 with the recumbent conversion adding another $1000.

And.... That was it for recumbents for day 2. We should have a ton of stuff to post tomorrow night after spending a day at the indoor portion of Interbike. Until then, enjoy these random photos from the Outdoor Demo and us goofing around at Madame Tussauds.

Today was the first day of Interbike in sunny, oh so sunny, holy crud it's sunny Las Vegas. It was a bad day to be a bald man who forgot to bring a hat.

It was also a bad day for recumbents at the Outdoor Demo. We originally looked forward to seeing RANS, Hase, and J&B Importers (Sun) at the demo, but in the end, only J&B had a presence. Having spent a few hours there, I can understand why. The outdoor demo is all about mountain bikes, what with the MTB trail, the ubiquitous dirt and gravel bed, and almost no good place to actually ride a recumbent.

Still, I have to think that Hase's Kettwiesels could have done well in that environment.

But there were diamonds in the literal rough. First up was NuVinci with their variable hubs. Not much new to learn there, but they did have their cross-section cut hub on display and were showing off a DF with a NuVinci hub and a Gates carbon drive.

Next was the KidzTandem bike. I've followed this company for a while as part of my research for BikeAble. I've always been interested in them as a solution for kids unable to bike on their own due to mild balance or other slight physical issues. It was great to meet the owner, take a tandem out for a ride, and learn all about their semi-recumbent conversion kit. Unfortunately, the kit wasn't available today, so all I could do was take photos of where it mounts. KidzTandem said they'll have the conversion kit on hand tomorrow. The normal KidzTandem bike goes for $1950. The recumbent conversion adds another $1000.

Around the bend was Day 6 and owner Kelly Hutson. We stopped in mostly because we have a Day 6 electric conversion coming up and wanted to take some notes, but also because we've all really enjoyed the Day 6 we got in the shop per a customer request. We're thinking of stocking them.

We found J&B Importers among a sea of dusty DFs (to be fair, everything was dusty) with the only recumbents at the demo. They had an E-1, Tomahawk, Tour Easy LE, and USX on hand. The E-1 was sporting Sun's new recumbent comfort seat, which even they admitted might lack the ventilation necessary for the 100 degree heat of the Nevada desert.

Nothing too exciting up to that point. But then we stopped by the Rotor booth to follow up on the discontinuation of their Rotor crank triple. Yes, it's off the market. The last full production run failed to sell, so they've seen the writing on the wall and pulled the triple. But wait, what's that? The person with whom we were speaking turns out to be Phillip Lucas, a former designer for Optima responsible for the Cougar. We got out of him some opinions on Optima vs. Challenge, why he left Optima, and what the future holds for Rotor cranks and recumbents. According to Phillip, a lighter "super" Rotor crank is on the way. I managed to snag a bit of video of Phillip, though I apologize for the sounds - noisy crowds plus strong winds equals a workout for in-camera mics.

And that rounds up day 1 of Interbike for RBR! We'll be heading back out tomorrow to follow up more with Day 6. After that, it's indoors to the Sands Expo and the big show. Here's a sneak peek of things as they were being set up today.

Things have been a little crazy this week preparing for the RBR trip to Vegas, so our photos from Bike Philly have been languishing a bit. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia invited us down for the ride, so we packed up 8 people and headed to Philly. Two of those were my wife and youngest son (too young to be on the ride), so we only have photos of some of the crew.

The ride was beautiful with perfect weather (a nice, cool morning) and car free city streets. I recommend this ride to everybody every year, so it was nice to go out with people I knew. It's a 3.5 hour drive from RBR, but it's worth it.