MONTEREY, Calif. (BRAIN) — If you enjoy farmers markets because you can talk with the farmer who grew the vegetables you plan to eat, then check out the following companies that make products in their U.S. factories in a state near you.
Rolf Prima (Booth 437) hand-builds its wheels in Eugene, Oregon. The rims on its Eos3 carbon clinchers are made in Washington state. The aluminum rims on the gravel/adventure-targeted Hyalite disc-brake wheels are extruded in the U.S. and rolled and drilled at the factory in Eugene. And many wheels are built around hubs made by White Industries in Petaluma, California.
“We are very focused on manufacturing in the U.S., and over the next 12 months we will have transitioned all of our alloy rim models to being made in-house,” said Brooke Stehley of Rolf Prima.
The Hyalite wheelset sells for $1,199 and weighs 1,505 grams. Rims are 21 millimeters inside bead-to-bead, and 23 millimeters deep. The hubs adapt to old-style quick-release or most through-axle designs.
It’s all lightweight road racing performance for the 1,295-gram Eos3. The $2,799 carbon clincher has an internal width of 17 millimeters and a 32-millimeter depth, and is equipped with ceramic bearings.
If you mount more equipment on your handlebar than cops carry on their belts, you are probably already familiar with K-Edge computer mounts in Booth 639. The Boise, Idaho, company runs its CNC machines making mounts so you never have to stop adding stuff to your bars.
“Computers come with their own mounts, but when people look to upgrade they are looking for color and quality. Knowing our mounts are all made at our factory in Boise is a big plus,” K-Edge’s Rich Miller said.
K-Edge is showing an entirely new line of single and double mounts in a wide range of colors.
“The biggest change is we went from a two-bolt clamp to a hinged one-bolt clamp. We think it’s more user-friendly, only one bolt to tighten. And for us it makes it easier to offer mounts for 31.8- and 35-millimeter handlebars,” Miller said.
The combo mount, as its name implies, allows a rider to mount two devices, like stick a GoPro under a Garmin, or run a light with a GoPro mount under a Wahoo, CatEye or Pioneer computer. Prices range from $25 to $65.
White Industries, located just up the coast in Petaluma, started making bike parts in 1978. Bike hubs is their biggest product line, and if you want to talk about Boost spacing, or a hard-to-get through-axle specification or even an unusual color, stop by Booth 407 and talk with them about its XMR mountain hubs.
Pride of place this year falls on the company’s new crankset, MR30 (price to be determined). It may look like a two-piece crank built around a 30-millimeter-diameter crank spindle, but it’s a three-piece design with road or mountain width spindles being shown. They also offer a super wide spindle for fat bike use but may not bring those into production.
“The MR30 has a Direct Mount ring design, and we are offering single chainrings from 28 to 48 teeth. We are providing a double option with our Variable Bolt Circle rings that mount the small ring to the large one,” said Alec White of White Industries.
The Variable Bolt Circle rings give riders the option of spec’ing chainring combinations you cannot get with traditional chainring spiders. For example, the small ring is available in 24 to 38 teeth, the large ring from 38 to 52 teeth. Riders can spec any combination they choose.
“Shimano recommends 16 teeth as the largest jump between big and little rings, but some of our customers say they get great shifting over a 20-tooth jump. I’m not recommending that; I’m just saying what we hear,” said White.
If you have problems finding good gifts for your significant other, head on over to Abbey Bike Tools (Booth 185). Like Rolf, they live and make what they sell in Eugene, Oregon, and focus on bike tools to make a rider’s life easier.
A $300 carbon fiber, titanium-lugged no-mar hammer? Rest assured your significant other does not have that.
“I went with a carbon handle so the hammer would be laterally stiff and vertically compliant,” quipped company founder Jason Quade.
And if you have ever been frustrated backing off a cassette lockring, then an Abbey visit is a must. Their “Crombie” tool, named after a friend of the company, attaches a handle to a finely machined lockring wrench, making cassette swaps a breeze.
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Rolf Prima’s Hyalite gravel/adventure disc-brake wheelset weighs 1,505 grams and retails for $1,199.
