2026 Sea Otter Finds Part Two

Neil and I just wrapped up another fantastic day at the 2026 Sea Otter Classic, and we’ve kept busy trying to navigate over 1,000 vendors at the show. Given the number of brands and the fact that there are just two of us, our job is to showcase a curated selection of bikes and products we think are interesting, stand out from the others, or are of interest to readers at BIKEPACKING.com. We’ve been slowly making our way through pre-arranged meet-ups, but some of the best finds are the unplanned ones or those from folks who don’t even have a booth at the expo. Without further delay, dig into our second roundup of finds from the 2026 Sea Otter Classic below. And if you haven’t seen it yet, find part one here.

Vivo XC Air Derailleur + XC Linear Stealth Shifter

John Calendrille of Vivo Sport Vision didn’t have a booth at the show, but he reached out to say he’d have some goodies to show us, and we’re glad we finally got to meet in person. John has been working in the cycling industry for about 30 years and has an impressive resume. He started with the Grunge Guard, a kind of rubber cover for your derailleur, which eventually morphed into a totally new, fully sealed derailleur. He eventually sold the patent to a larger company and then began consulting on design for brands like FOX and TRP.

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Vivo entered the market in 2024 with the 12-speed F3 Shifter, followed by the Enduro II Derailleur, as the shifter was lost in the market without a meaningful pairing. The derailleur is a piece of art, with titanium hardware throughout, cartridge bearings at every pivot point, and everything is CNC-machined from 7075 aluminum. Early this spring, Vivo released a lighter-weight system: the Vivo XC Air Derailleur and XC Linear Stealth Shifter, pictured above.

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The Vivo XC Linear Stealth Shifter features a super-compact design that sits parallel to the handlebars and grips. The Vivo XC Air Derailleur is essentially a super lightweight version of the Enduro derailleur, with all unnecessary material machined away. The attention to detail and machine work are downright impressive, and the final weight is just 276 grams, compared to the Enduro’s 321 grams. All of Vivo’s components are cross-compatible, and the shifters play nicely with SRAM Eagle derailleurs. Find all Vivo’s components at VivoArtisan.com.

The New Marin Tam

The Marin Tam launched at Sea Otter yesterday, and beyond the wild paint job, it’s actually a pretty awesome-looking bike for anyone planning long days of riding. It’s designed around an aluminum frame, 130mm fork, and 120mm shock. As Marin puts it, “Whilst this is an ‘XC’ bike, it is not an out-and-out XC race bike, it is more targeted at long days in the saddle. The geometry very much lends itself to be very confidence-inspiring and playful on the trail, whilst also being efficient at putting the miles in.”

The Tam is named after Mount Tam, which some consider the birthplace of mountain biking, in Marin County, California. The name is fitting, considering Marin was founded just north of Mount Tam in Sonoma County. The model shown here is the top-end Tam XR, which retails for $5,499 USD, but it’s great to see a Microshift/Xfusion build kit that costs $2,399. Learn more at MarinBikes.com.

Ortlieb

Our friends at Ortlieb didn’t have anything launching at Sea Otter, but we were able to get a closer look at the newly released Velo-Sling Flex. It’s a two-in-one shoulder bag/handlebar bag that mounts easily to any bike using Ortlieb’s Bar-Lock mounting system. The Bar-Lock is a quick-release bracket secured to the bar with two cords that cantilever it against the stem. It’s simple but effective and stable for off-road riding.

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The Velo-Sling Flex is available in two sizes, 5L (pictured here) or 2.5L. Like all of Ortlieb’s bags, it’s 100% waterproof, uses a simple roll-top closure and magnetic buckle, and there’s an internal zipped compartment to keep small items organized. They had the Kona LBF we reviewed kitted out with all of their bags, a Quick-Rack, Fork Packs, and panniers. The folks at Ortlieb also showed us a neat hack that involves adjusting the QL3.1 mounting clamps on the rack to match the Fork-Pack’s mounting brackets for trips when you don’t need big panniers. We plan to experiment with this and share more soon. Stay tuned!

Revel Bikes Concept Labs

It was great to see Adam Miller, owner and founder of Revel Bikes, back at Sea Otter once again after the company was sold in 2025, and Adam bought it back a month later. Revel had some new employees helping out at the tradeshow, and it was also awesome to see our friend Chris Reichel back as Revel’s Global Brand Strategist.

Revel has a large collection of bikes on display, but we wanted to focus on their Concept Labs program, which is a place for all of the brand’s wacky ideas and one-off prototypes to exist for the world to enjoy, but not ride. Deep down, the Revel team is just a bunch of bike nerds, so Concept Labs is an outlet for their ideas to flourish, rather than be snuffed out. First up is the RaTical, a titanium full-suspension mountain bike built from 3D-printed lugs welded to standard 3/2.5 titanium tubing. It is designed around a 140mm travel fork, 130mm shock, and an experimental CBF layout with a vertical shock. Learn more about RaTical here.

The next Concept Labs bike we took a closer look at was the Project El Jefe Grande we shared earlier this week. They built two titanium hardtails to experiment with 32-inch wheels, but this one is a size medium with a 32″ front wheel and 29″ rear wheel, a combination Revel calls “Mega Mullet.” It’s inspired by the El Jefe, Revel’s fast and versatile titanium hardtail, but with tweaked geometry that lets Revel experiment before bringing anything to market. The last thing they wanted to do was rush a bike to market, so this is their starting point.

We also spotted a new carbon full-suspension bike on display at their booth, but Revel sneakily blocked out any identifying labels or decals. If you look closely, there’s a 120mm rear shock label, so we can only assume a new short-travel Revel is on the way. I wonder what it might be…

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The New Stinner Romero

The Stinner Romero is another bike that launched at Sea Otter, and both Neil and I were eager to take a closer look. Chris, the Project Manager at Stinner Frameworks, explained that they wanted to design and fabricate a trail bike that rode like a production bike from a bigger brand, not a whacky concept bike. The Romero is Stinner’s first full-suspension mountain bike, with a TIG-welded Velospec air-hardened steel front triangle paired with a 6061 aluminum swing-arm, both manufactured at Stinner’s shop in Santa Barbara, California.

The Romero uses Ministry Cycles’ patented 3VO dual-link, co-rotating suspension system. Chris Currie began developing 3VO in 2004 and has spent two decades refining the design, eventually offering it to a select group of custom framebuilders, including Stinner. The Romero is designed to work with 130-140mm of rear travel and a 150mm travel fork, and it’s available in seven frame sizes from XS to XXL.

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Alongside the Romero, Stinner launched the Romero LT, or long travel, which is essentially a bigger version of the same platform with a 150-160mm shock and 170mm fork. Compared to the standard Romero, it has a slacker front end, longer reach, and longer wheelbase, shifting it further into the downhill/enduro spectrum of mountain biking. The Romero is now available, with the first complete bikes shipping in the first week of June. Framesets start at $2,999 USD, and complete builds start at $6,200. Visit StinnerFrameworks.com to learn more.

Fresh Velocio Threads

The folks at Velocio and Polartec gave us a rundown of all the latest in cycling apparel and fabric tech, but we were most impressed by the new UltraPack series and Delta Trail Longsleeve. I’ve actually been testing the UltraPack Pants for a few months now, and packed them as my only pants during my ride on Baja’s Cape Loop. They are amazingly stretchy, super packable, and block the wind nicely when you need some added warmth. The UltraPack Shorts offer similar specs and look like they could make a great lightweight riding short for warm days, or even just a simple camp short when relaxing after a long day on the bike.

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The Delta Trail Longsleeve is made from Polartec Delta, a cooling fabric with a tiny grid pattern that elevates the fabric off your skin, creating channels for better air circulation and faster wicking. It has a fit that’s tuned for mountain biking, and sounds like it would be a great layer for both cool mornings and hot days. See more at Velocio.cc.

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Sour Pasta Party 32 + New Astral 32-Inch Rims

Displayed at the Wheels Manufacturing booth sporting their fresh titanium cranks, the Sour Pasta Party 32″ was released earlier this year, but it was the first time I’ve seen it in person. The Pasta Party 32″ builds on their regular Pasta Party platform, but it was designed from the ground up to accommodate 32-inch wheels. It’s built up around a custom-drawn, multi-butted Chromoly steel frame, boost hub spacing, a 73mm threaded bottom bracket, a 100-120mm travel fork, and has clearance for 32 x 2.4″ tires.

Astral Cycling, one of White Industries’ sister companies, was showcasing its upcoming 32-inch Jester rims on the build. The Jester has a 30mm internal width, sturdy 6069 alloy construction, and is fully rated for trail riding. They landed on a 30mm internal width because it seems most 32-inch tires are landing in the 2.1-2.4″ range so far. Find the Astral Jester 32-inch rims here.

Loren, Astral’s director of sales and marketing, also showed us their new Outback 32″ rim, which is based on the existing aluminum Outback rim. It’s available in 20″, 27.5″, 29″, and now 32″. He describes it as their “gravel/adventure platform” with a 25mm internal width, alloy construction, and 32-spoke count. You can find the Outback 32-inch here.

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Lastly, the Pasta Party 32″ was kitted out with Vittoria Peyote 32 x 2.4″ tires, which look nearly identical to the 29″ version with a low-profile alternating center tread and Vittoria’s familiar V-formation. The tires aren’t available right now, and we don’t have pricing or any additional specs to share, but Vittoria assured us they will be launching soon. Sit tight, 32-inch dreamers!

A Small Salsa Fargo 32

Yesterday, Salsa released a 32-inch Fargo, one of the most beloved drop-bar mountain bikes of all time. Neil was able to log some miles on one ahead of the release, and he shared his thoughts here. Although it might just seem like yet another 32-inch bike, there’s something that sets it apart: a size small. As far as we know, this is the first complete size run of a production 32-inch bike, fitting folks as short as 5’2″. Whether or not short folks benefit from 32-inch wheels is a different story.

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Salsa’s lead engineer on the Fargo 32 project happened to be 5’2″ and was the driving force behind making a small option. She made identical 29″ and 32″ versions, tested them, and had other small riders test them, and realized some of the changes they already wanted to bring to the 32″ Fargo also helped them accommodate shorter riders.

One of these changes is using shorter 60mm stems on the small and medium sizes, which also opens the option to run a longer 90-100mm stem with a flat bar. The Fargo 32’s 75° seat tube angle also helps push the front end out, decreasing toe overlap, which is an obvious potential issue with 32-inch wheels on small bikes. Salsa is also taking advantage of shorter cranks, which, again, suit shorter riders well. In the end, Salsa saw brands dismissing the idea of 32-inch wheels for shorter riders, so they pursued it.

If the fork looks familiar, that’s because it’s essentially a rebranded Whisky fork that Salsa retested to ensure it could handle the higher forces generated by larger wheels. From an axle-to-crown perspective, the fork is equivalent to a 32 x 80mm or 29 x 120mm suspension fork. Reusing the fork already in the QBP catalog allowed Salsa to move quickly and bring the bike to market sooner. Learn more at SalsaCycles.com.

Viral Pinion Titanium Cranks

Everyone deserves titanium bling, even Pinion users! We can’t think of a better-suited brand to bring titanium pinion cranks to the masses than Viral, which has been laser-focused on producing titanium, Pinion-equipped bikes for all sorts of adventures. Although they aren’t the first titanium Pinion cranks, they are available in an impressive seven lengths, from 155mm to 175mm. They are also welded, not 3D-printed or forged, and are made from 6AL-4V titanium.

They are only about 100 grams lighter than the stock forged aluminum Pinion cranks, but Steve at Viral says they really wanted to offer something robust. The Viral Pinion Titanium Cranks cost $899 USD and are available for pre-order from Viral.Bike.

A reminder that Neil and I are shooting attendee bike portraits this morning, April 18th, from 11 a.m. to noon. We’ll be set up at the entrance to the bike valet area beside the Newman Building at Laguna Seca. See this post for details.

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info…