Vegas baby, Vegas!

Kerry hit it out of the park and shipped the prototype chainrings to my hotel here in Vegas. I tore into that box in a heartbeat. My first impression was that they looked very prototype-ish, which was cool. The rings were raw and were not coated (the production rings will be hard anodized and gray, similar to Campy 11 speed rings) due to time constraints, so they had the natural patina of raw 7075 sheet. I was also really impressed by the machining around the mounting locations. They looked just like OE Campy rings (I'll come back to this when talking about installation). The ramps and steel shifting pins on the back side of the big ring looked like they will provide great shifting. And, of course, I was psyched with the tasteful Z treatment.

Installation went really easy. Everything lined up perfectly and the added machining meant the rings ran perfectly straight and true. I only shifted the bike on my makeshift stand in the hotel room, but the chain transitioned very smoothly. I can't wait to get them out in the dirt and test them under load.

These are the Campy CT 38/44 combo. Kerry finished the Mastercam files for the Campy CT 36 and 42 and now he is working on the 46 and the 110 bcd files. We're hoping to get a batch to the anodizer over the next couple of weeks and then real testing begins.

Walking around the show has been fun. The bike is front and center in the TRP booth and is getting some looks. It's a great feeling seeing it there. I really appreciate Lance saving a spot for me.

More Interbike impressions later...

Thanks for reading!