I Really Want This Bike! The 6 Best Bikes I Found at Sea Otter Classic 2023

[@BuckleyJonathan-nr1wu]

Nice shirt - Path Less Pedalled?

[@davidarthur]

Yup

[@BrianRPaterson]

Decathlon has always made outdoor pursuits affordable. When my kids were little, inexpensive Decathlon ski helmets, boots and ski suits made it easy to keep up with fast growing boys. I've read good things about Triban road and gravel bikes. It'll be interesting to see how the new Van Rysels perform. And if they appear in the big races. Probably not for me though. I'm allergic to aero seatposts and internally routed cockpits. They look clean, but I'd have hard time doing maintenance and sourcing spares. Cheerz

[@davidnicholson6680]

Great choices. The Vitus looks like a nice option for lots of people, especially given the likely very reasonable pricing. The Van Rysel looks like a last-gen Venge which is a good thing. Also, maybe because I'm turning 50 this year, but the new crop of USA-made Ti road bikes have a lot of appeal for me. Moots, Seven (also check out their dual suspension MTB frames, wow), Firefly, Mosaic, and No 22 are all great and lots of newer brands like Blackheart and Haley keep cropping up.

[@brycegracey699]

Oh wow - absolutely flattered to make the cut!

[@alangrant7349]

Dude! Your bikes are beautiful. I am currently considering a new custom Ti frame for Road/Light Gravel and am glad to have watched this video. I will be in touch!

[@PeterSdrolias]

I am not surprised! Beautiful bike! 🇨🇦

[@lancescarborough1]

Agree Very nice shirt!!!

[@Bajbajoc]

Van Rysel isn't exciting? Indeed, it isn't new frameset concept but for a fraction of the price you get SL7-like bike. I bet if you scrape off the brand logo, you wouldn't tell whether it is regular Spec or VR.

[@notpablo8369]

Wished blackheart road ti will have road AL version in the future🥹

[@StanEby1]

Very interesting. Hope you'll cover Box Components Prime 9.

[@edmundhodgson2572]

Pretty much agree, probably why I subscribe! The carbon threaded bb though, If this level of engineering was applied to press fit, they would all be problem free and lighter anyway, surely?

[@cjohnson3836]

You can make a perfect press fit and its still shit. KZbin 5 year olds keep stammering on about round holes. But the actual reason no one wants press fit is because with threaded, I can use the same damn socket wrench I use for everything else around the house. Press fit is stupid because its a pain in the ass to work on.

[@edmundhodgson2572]

@@cjohnson3836 I use a hammer, never had a problem, headsets have been press fit for donkeys.... with your flash socket wrench

[@gregvassilakos]

The present generation of titanium bikes all seem to have carbon forks. What's up with that?

[@garagesale5948]

Bridge Bike Works threaded carbon BB is a recall in the making. Violating the laws of physics is not an innovation.

[@curtisgoodwin8962]

Carbon fibre spindles have been used in automotive racing for years. No human is producing the torque required to destroy those threads. Ever.

[@Ballistichydrant]

Paint it

[@maninblack1091]

All these bikes look the same

[@5891jonathan]

Form follows function.

[@cjohnson3836]

Which you should expect because physics doesn't magically change each year.

[@dryburn]

Bikes are all starting to look the same 🙄😴 Peak consumerism.

[@genelegend]

love the blackheart bike so much. got to test ride the all road ti bike not too long ago for a week and it's my dream bike. been saving for it.

[@dcv9460]

Nice Shirt! 😎💯💯💯

[@BuckleyJonathan-nr1wu]

A Path Less Pedalled has these for sale.

[@SoManyMiles]

Thank you for the great coverage of the Sea Otter 2023, David! Would love to see an affordable titanium gravel bike. Decathlon has one in its lineup for a very good price (made in Italy). Overall, these bikes are unterstandably really expensive.

[@davekashuba4730]

Titanium is a difficult material to work with - specifically welding. When not done properly, the weld can fail. Because of that, I'd personally avoid super-cheap titanium frames, although I guess there is no guarantee that more expensive ones are manufactured perfectly. I'd only go with a titanium frame with a good warranty.

[@sjoerdvandriel7201]

Out of all the videos from Sea Otter 23 this No22 Drifter is lonely at the top of my never able to buy list.

[@PeterSdrolias]

Yeah, the cost of these bikes is pretty crazy. I am looking at the Aurora. Slowly saving up.

[@jeffandersen6233]

All lovely bikes. I've been interested in Vitus for sometime as a good value option. Everything else is out of each but nice to dream about. I see Russ got to you. Nice shirt.

[@LVQ-so5th]

Your coverage of the show has been the best. Thanks for sharing. Love the No. 22 bikes.

[@stevebarratt6912]

David:you have no idea how helpful this video was, cheers mate.

[@charlesblithfield6182]

Love the party pace tshirt, path less pedaled

[@rah4981]

No.22 titanium fenders cost 900 dollars in the cheapest version. If you want them in the cerakote anodized version you have to pay 1500 dollars. Incredible.

[@bikesavvy3654]

My wife asked if I would like a titanium bike for my 60th. I still have the Merlin Extralight frame from the 80’s. The Black Heart looks good

[@andrehendrik]

you're a lucky man: own an 80s Merlin and have a wife asking you if want another Ti bike!

[@justwhenithought]

Your idea of painting Ti bike on the front and show the natural color in the back sounds good David. That's one of my dream bike too, and probably would remain a dream for a long time.

[@hardmtnbiker]

I agree! I own 2 custom Ti bikes free Seven Cycles but I been searching for a bike that I can easily take with me traveling. That Drifter is perfect! BTW I’m traveling the Philippines now with a Ti commuter bike I retrofitted from my old Mtn bike frame and old Mavic 700c wheels

[@dicconhill5593]

Great pick with the Van Rysel. Saw it at around 3..5k with Ultegra Di2 and some deep carbon wheels. But I think they'll be hard to find in stock. No22 very nice.

[@Loekie-de-leeuw]

That Van Rysel will be my new bike. Hopefully they get production up and running fast. A Focus Izalco Max 9.7 (with 20% off) is another contender. Shame the Focus is not covered by any legit (KZbin) reviewer.

[@bitgeist21]

I love your list! I hope you had a great time at Sea Otter, David!

[@JoshuaBorrow]

On the “road bike that can fit big tires” front, that’s why I just got an all city cosmic stallion. Lightweight (for steel), somewhat racy geo, 2x rival…

[@MrSandperson0]

I saw the No 22 Drifter at the Sea Otter also...the tolerance on that breakaway coupler is absolutely insane!! It was almost like magic when the rep showed off the test coupler.

[@jevgeniardassov]

I think carbon threaded BB was rolled not cut, which is much better from an engineering perspective… But I do agree. 👍

[@leobesa2887]

They all look the same, smh

[@rickrichardson1141]

Really looking forward to you getting your hands on that Bridgeworks

[@MrBerry67]

Do Haley cycles deliver internationally?

[@rudyelizondo1935]

Good show nice bikes! If possible you need to disclose weight of all these bikes too, I’ve been riding bikes since I was 10 years old and am now 71 n still riding, believe me, weight affects the ride. Thanks

[@damonbonnett6983]

Haley is a San Francisco brand made in Colorado.... just clearing that up!

[@KevinMatassa]

Vitus looks a lot like my Factor LS (which I use for the same dual purposes road / gravel)!

[@garethdunsmore9913]

Black Heart OR J. Laverack?

[@benm9469]

What I don't understand is why do the small bike manufacturers have to ape the big brands? That is not creative. Why are not built away from the mainstream classic road bikes with rim brakes at interesting prices ... But no all want to build racing bikes for 10k euros ... stupid

[@cjohnson3836]

Sea Otter is the Dubai auto show of bikes. Its about showing off the premium builds. There's plenty of people, even custom boutique builders (esp custom boutique builders) making rime brake bikes with upper tier tubes. You have the internet, you can do a search yourself for them.

[@stevek4382]

All road with 45mm tires, I’ll be looking for this one.

[@Speedy.V]

The Vitus bike is what I've been wanting for years.

[@howlinhauler]

drifter 4sure! need one with mavic motor.

[@designeddifference6907]

So many bikes, so little room to keep them!

[@dominicbritt]

Vitus is a French brand.

[@davidarthur]

It was but has been owned by Chain Reaction Cycles/Wiggle for a number of years now

[@tony5269]

Wicked Pissah Cool Bikes David!

[@steinfossgard5210]

Nice t-shirt!

[@endcensorship874]

You pretty much nailed why I love my gravel bike (a Rodeo-Labs, by the way. Check them out) in that I really love the wider tires because where I live the roads are absolutely crap and not about to get any better soon. And my county thinks improving the roads is doing chip seal. And if you know what chip seal is, then you know how bad it really is and why a gravel bike is perfect for that.

[@DilbertMuc]

I like the decent logo on the Van Rysel RCR "Ready to Win" which is a kick in the ass to Cube with their RFR "Ready for Race". Winning is superior to just racing.