With something like 50 bike races — road and mountain — spread over four days, the Sea Otter Classic has become the unofficial kickoff to the U.S. cycling season. It has also, between the racing and the beer tents, become an important quasi-trade show for the bike industry, with demos, meetings and major product launches. For bike geeks, no event can match Sea Otter’s mix of racing action and pure gear porn.

Of course, we’re not racing (have we mentioned the beer tents?). We're prowling the festival grounds in search of product highlights. Here are some of the standouts from our first afternoon at the show, from the likes of Shimano, Santa Cruz, SRAM and Ibis. Check back for more.

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Shimano's workhorse XT group gets a top-to-bottom makeover for 2011 that borrows heavily from the top-end XTR group the Japanese company launched last summer, including dual pedal options for race or trail applications, redesigned hydraulic brakes with cooling fins to dissipate heat, and a 10-speed rear cassette.

"XTR is the group for bike fanatics," said Shimano PR manager Devin Walton. "XT is for bike enthusiasts, people who ride a lot but also have maybe a surfboard, a snowboard. People who have a lot of fun and need dependable gear."