Vouilloz and Moseley win it!

Courtesy of NSMB.com | Shot by – Cam McRae
The Demo started out life rather crudely – as a 50lb steel prototype that hangs to this day on the wall at Specialized headquarters. (more…)

Some inspirational stuff from Jonny Coté in pinkbike.com

September, the best time to ride!

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Fox Racing Shox quietly debuted both their prototype telescoping seatpost and incredibly impressive one piece titanium tapered steerer tube and crown combination during Interbike. That’s right, a tapered steerer tube and crown that is manufactured from a single piece of titanium by Fox. There are photos and audio explaining the how’s and why’s inside, just in case you don’t believe me!

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The US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application Thursday for a “Smart Bicycle System” that would use an iPod or iPhone to monitor sensor data and wirelessly share information. (more…)

All new, all mountain assassin

Words by Connor Macleod. Photos by Derek Dix.
Date: 2010-07-07

When a Handjob won’t do and picking up a STD is out of the question, it’s time to take another look at the G-Spot. For 2010, Cove completely redesigned the venerable G-Spot from the loam up.

The biggest change for the G-Spot is the suspension design. Gone is the rocker arm linkage with pivots on the seat stays and around the bottom bracket, in favour of the same floating pivot point suspension design as its big brother, the Shocker. So, how does this new version of a Shore classic ride? Good question… (more…)

The live feed issue has been up and down recently so it’s good to hear that the World Cup stream will be free to watch again largely due to the efforts of Martin Whiteley, President of IMTTO.

Press release snipped from VitalMTB.

With immediate effect all UCI Cross-Country, 4X and Downhill World Cup LIVE webcasts and replays will be accessible without need to purchase an access code, in an unprecedented move to continue the growth of mountain bike race viewership on the internet.

Freecater.tv was created in 2004, at a time when large-scale access to action sports videos did not exist on the web. In 2010, lack of sponsorship revenues forced Freecaster to go pay per view, negating our purpose and undermining the company vision of building mass awareness of our favourite sports. Pay per view was undertaken as a temporary and limited measure during a period of challenging economic circumstances.

IMTTO, the International Mountain Bike Trade Team Organisation, worked hard during the interim to reach an agreement to support Freecater’s efforts to offer the rest of the 2010 UCI World Cup free-of-charge.

“International Mountain Bike Teams, Technical Support companies and Event Organisers enjoyed a steady growth in viewership in mountain bike races throughout 2008 and 2009″ observes Martin Whiteley, President of IMTTO. “A key factor in this is the LIVE webcast technology Freecaster has developed, allowing race fans around the globe to watch simultaneously as one online community. Such technological development and support comes at a cost, and in most sports, such costs are borne by the viewer through subscriptions to pay-per-view services. However, our IMTTO members feel that mountain biking is more unique, and should be accessible to the widest audience, as much as possible. As such, key members of our organisation have chosen to contribute towards maintaining a free live webcast service on Freecaster.”

“We would like to thank the IMTTO members and our existing advertisers for their shared vision in the future of mountain bike racing on the internet” says Raymond Dulieu, founder and CEO of Freecaster.tv “It was a tough, but necessary, decision to charge for the World Cup coverage and we welcome the return to free access. The World Championships will now be the only paying event this season. We hope viewers will acknowledge our efforts elsewhere by tuning into this season finalé in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada. With six free LIVE World Cup events still to go this season, viewers have plenty of opportunity to tune in and check their system can handle LIVE streaming prior to the World Championships.”

“On a personal level, I’d also like to thank those amongst you who understood the reality that nothing is free in this World and respected our decisions” Raymond added. “We’re already looking at an appropriate way to give something back to those who supported us thus far. Freecaster was created out of a respect and passion for a great sport, and our friends within it and we will continue being fair and providing the best service we can to the action sports community.”

The next free World Cup will be the Cross-country in Offenburg, Germany, LIVE on Sunday 23rd May from 10:45 CET with the Women’s Elite race, followed at 14:30 CET by the Men’s Elite.

With the launch of SRAM XX last year it was inevitable that arch rivals Shimano would soon follow suit and launch their own 10-speed mountain bike groupset.

Industry rumours suggested they would introduce the extra gear on their top-end group, XTR. But instead they’ve chosen to debut it on updated versions of Deore XT and SLX.

Shimano are calling their new drivetrain technology Dyna-Sys, and insist they haven’t simply added an extra cog to the cassette. In fact, they’re calling it “a whole new way of shifting.” Both groupsets will get new cranksets, chains, cassettes, derailleurs and 2-Way Release rear shifters.

Only a triple chainset will be available (42-32-24T) – an interesting decision, given that one of the main perceived advantages of a 10-speed cassette is that you can ditch a front chainring yet still retain an adequate number of gears.

The Big S say that having a wider gear range at the back, more closely spaced gears at the front, and improved rear mechs and shifters, creates smoother and more intuitive shifting, more efficient and powerful pedalling, and allows the rider to stay in the middle and largest chainrings for a higher proportion of the time.

“The larger the chainring size, the lower the chain tension, the lower the impact on rear suspension and ultimately the most efficient transfer of power,” they say. It should also produce a straighter chainline, which will reduce drivetrain-induced suspension movement on bikes with rear shocks.

Shimano also reckon the Dyna-Sys setup with its smaller large chainring (42T rather than 44T) and larger small chainring (24T rather than 22T) will reduce the number of ‘recovery shifts’ needed at the rear when changing at the front, making it easier to maintain your pedalling cadence.

Cosmetically, the updated groupsets will look identical to the current XT and SLX, and brakes and front shifters will be unchanged. All Dyna-Sys components will be inter-compatible, so, for example, you’ll be able to use an XT chain with an SLX cassette. However, Shimano say the new parts – which will be available from June 2010 – won’t be compatible with their nine-speed mountain bike components or 10-speed road components.

Deore XT Dyna-Sys

Cassette (CS-M771-10): The XT cassette is available in three configurations: 11-32 (not available at launch), 11-34 or 11-36T. To save weight, two three-ring spiders are used, along with an alloy lock ring. RRP is £59.99.

Chain (CN-HG94): The new HG-X 10-speed chains are directional (the right-hand side is optimised for front shifting and the left for rear shifting), so make sure you fit them with the logos on the outside. The zinc alloy plated XT version costs £34.99.

Crankset: At present only a triple crankset is available (24/32/42T), with alloy inner and outer chainrings, a carbon fibre/steel composite middle ring and a choice of four crankarm lengths: 165, 170, 175 or 180mm. RRP for the Hollowtech II unit is £189.99.

Front mech (FD-M770/1): A key aim with Dyna-Sys was to offer riders a range of front mech mounting positions in order to get the best possible chainline and minimise chain rub. The XT derailleur is available in four versions: Top Swing (£34.99), Down Swing (£34.99), Direct Mount (£29.99) or E-Fit (£29.99). It features a hollow link pin to save weight.

Shadow rear mech (RD-M773): The low-profile rear mech is available in GS (medium cage) or SGS (long cage) versions for £64.99. Both pulley wheels roll on sealed bearings (on current nine-speed XT, the guide pulley runs on a ceramic bushing).

Rapidfire shifter (SL-M770-10R): The new 2-Way Release rear shifter with alloy main lever and removable optical gear display is available on its own for £49.99 or with a front shifter for £89.99.

SLX Dyna-Sys

Cassette (CS-HG81-10): The SLX cassette is only available in two sizes: 11-34 or 11-36T. It doesn’t have its big brother’s second spider or alloy lockring. RRP is £49.99.

Chain (CN-HG74): As with XT, the SLX chain is directional. RRP is £29.99, and it comes in a grey finish.

Crankset: The SLX Hollowtech II crankset gets a steel inner chainring and glass fibre/steel composite middle ring in place of the XT’s alloy and carbon fibre/steel equivalents. It’s available with 170 or 175mm arms, for £139.99.

Front mech (FD-M660/1): The front derailleur is available in the same versions as the XT unit: Top Swing (£29.99), Down Swing (£29.99), Direct Mount (£26.99) or E-Fit (£26.99).

Shadow rear mech (RD-M663): Available in an SGS (long cage) version only, the rear derailleur costs £49.99.

Rapidfire shifters (SL-M660-10R): The SLX shifter does without its bigger brother’s alloy lever. Cost is £59.99 a pair or £29.99 for right-hand only.

Non-series

A cheaper non-series Dyna-Sys crankset will also be available, the FC-M552, in black or silver. It has solid instead of Hollowtech arms. Pricing has not yet been set for this crankset, and it may be an OEM-only product (ie. supplied with complete bikes but not available aftermarket).