Kali Protectives minds roadies’ noggins, too K
ali Protectives first gained industry attention with its
lightweight, in-molded full-face helmets, and now sells more cross- country MTB helmets than any- thing else in its bike line—“which is funny, because we’ve built this image as a downhill brand over the years,” said Bryan Mason, bike sales manager for Kali. But at Booth 441, the brand is putting the spotlight on an entirely new category: its first road helmet. The $189 Maraka, which
was released this spring and is also available as a cross-country mountain lid with visor, boasts all the technological advances that have gone into Kali’s off-road line, plus some new tricks to overcome challenges particular to producing a safe but lightweight brain bucket for hardcore roadies.
Those riders demand massive
front vents in their helmets, forcing manufacturers to pack hard, highly dense foam into scarce real estate, Mason said. Harder foam equals a harder impact to the head.
Maraka road helmet To use its lower-density
foam, Kali surrounds the Maraka’s biggest openings with propri- etary Supervents, PVC-like ring structures that flex down on impact and spread the load over a greater area. This allows Kali to use a foam almost a third less dense than foams found in many high- end road and mountain helmets, Mason said. The Maraka also introduces
Kali’s new Bumper Fit system, a 2-millimeter cushion of padding— somewhat like Memory Foam, Ma- son said—that molds to the head for better fit, eliminates hot spots and further disperses impacts.
Yuba loads up its proven cargo bikes with upgrades A
t Booth 170, Yuba Bicycles is taking the humble, utilitar-
ian cargo bike to new levels of sophistication.
Building on the sales success
of its cargo cruisers, the compact Boda Boda and more stretched- out Mundo, Yuba is unveiling the new Boda Premium and Mundo Premium.
The Mundo Premium features a NuVinci N360 continuously vari- able planetary hub from Fallbrook Technologies, offering riders infi- nite gearing to fine-tune their ca- dence for maximum efficiency and easy pedaling. The Boda Premium features front and rear lights pow- ered by a Shimano hub dynamo, full fenders for all-weather riding and Schwalbe Big Apple tires. Yuba also offers the el Mundo and el Boda Boda electric-assist e-bikes with a 350-watt BionX motor providing four levels of assist—25 percent, 50 percent, 100 percent and 300 percent—with a top speed of 20 mph and range of up to 37 miles. Yuba will offer demo rides
Yuba’s el Boda Boda, with BionX electric assist
from its expo booth and, for the brand’s electrics, at Sea Otter’s new e-bike test track. With its sales and product
line both growing, Yuba recently moved from Sausalito, California, to larger Bay Area digs in Peta- luma. Founder Benjamin Sarrazin sees the expansion as evidence of Yuba’s success in growing the market for cargo bikes in the U.S. “Our aim since the beginning
has been to show people that you don’t need a car for many short trips such as grocery shopping, bringing your kids to school or get- ting your surfboard to the beach,” he said.
APRIL 18 - 21, 2013
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