2010

Yes, it's June, and the 2010 bikes are already starting to show up on bike sites, blogs, forums and the like.
Apparently lower end Trek and Specialized bikes are already for sale in the UK.
Specialized bikes continue to get uglier. Last year they gave the Hardrock a curved top tube, and a paint scheme with matching fork. This year, they've done the same with the Rockhopper.
Strangely, the Enduro seems to be a completely new design, despite redesigning it last year. I have no idea who came up with that paint scheme, but he should be fired immediately. Maybe he gt the idea from this? Let's hope the rest of the Enduros have a different one, as it seems like an interesting bike.
The travel on the Stumpjumper has been bumped up to 140 from 120, and been given the same shock arrangement as the Epic.
It's nice to see that Fox are now doing their suspension, rather than Specialized/X-Fusion/Triad.

Although their mountain bikes seem less and less appealing to me, their road bikes get sexier every year. Is this not the coolest looking bike ever? (Look closely at the chain!)
I don't bother too much with the road bike specs though, the bikes just get a few grams lighter and more expensive each year.
I have mixed feelings about this Di2 (Shimano's electronic shifting system). I was talking to a mechanic at OBB in Nanaimo on Saturday, and he says he's ridden it, and that it was absolutely perfect, but he thinks there's too much to go wrong, and that it will be unreliable. I agree too a degree - I can see how shifting would be greatly improved with a derailleur that knows where the chain is and can adjust itself accordingly, and I agree that they would likely be unreliable to start with, but I'm sure the electronics in cars were unreliable to begin with, and the first mountain bike disk brakes were probably terribly unreliable, along with suspension forks, but they improved and now everyone uses them (except for weight weenies). I think they'll iron out any issues, and we'll all be using electronic shifting systems soon. And so what if it is unreliable? Cannondale "forks", Alfa Romeos, Toshiba laptops, and plastic kitchen utensils are unreliable and people still buy them.
Specialized are also doing a load of power-coated get-around bikes. As is obvious from the website, these bikes are all about looks. A few of them have internal gearing, which is starting to show up more and more. I want a belt driven bike with a rear coaster brake, a disk on the front, and either one gear or internal hub gearing (sort of like the Trek Soho... but it seems over-priced).
Transition have re-designed their Covert this year, which is definitely interesting. The travel has been bumped up to 6", and they do it in a cool green colour:

And while we're at the Transition website, this is worth a look.
White definitely is the new black. The finishing kit on bikes used to be all chrome, then they went to black. A few years ago riders started putting white aftermarket stems, rims, bars, saddles, and bits on their bikes, but lots of bikes have come with white kit stock in 2009. I don't like it. I think a white frame is cool with all stealth black finishing kit, but a white stem and saddle look weird to me on a bike with everything else black.

I'm hoping for more belt-driven bikes in 2010, and want to see the new Trek Remedy.

UPDATE: I've just come across this from Nicolai (known for their gear-boxed downhill bikes), of all bike manufacturers.
(I still can't understand why some commuter bikes get suspension at the front!)