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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Words by Stuart Kernaghan. Photos by Stuart Kernaghan. (www.nsmb.com)
Date: 2010-08-10

Shimano launched its flagship XTR mountain bike component group in 1991, and over the last 20 years, it has become the standard for high performance. The group originally consisted of a modest array of parts – disc brakes and wheelsets weren’t available way back then – but now incorporates a complete drivetrain system (shifters, front and rear derailleur, chain, cassette, crankset, chainrings and pedals), hubs and rims, and disc brakes.

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After a nasty injury sustained in a training accident last year (2009) Lance McDermott is back on track with a new sponsor in Saracen. Check out his progress and his efforts to get ready for Crankworx in this excellent (as usual) short film by MTBCut.tv (more…)

We’ve been working the design team hard here at Kona. Testing, drawing, refining, inventing, creating, coming up with entirely new models, while ensuring existing models are the best they can possibly be. In this series of 2011 Sneak Peeks, we get up close and personal with our product team on the why’s, how’s and wow’s of a few highlight bikes that will be hitting stores a few months from now.In this installment, we catch up with Freeride/DH product manager, Chris Mandell, offering up the first official, break-it-to-the-world look at our entirely new Downhill series…the Operator. (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…)

e*thirteen have merged with Hive, putting their name to the super light DH cranks you see below. Available at the end of July, check out the press release and ALL the details below:

Petaluma, CA and Leominster, MA

The Hive proudly announces a merger with chain retention manufacturer e*thirteen. Independently, both companies are dedicated to designing and manufacturing industry-shaping cycling components. Together, we’ll build on our shared philosophy of strong engineering principles and quality manufacturing to deliver even greater innovation to a discerning customer base. Neither company would exist without loyal customers and industry families, so we thank you for being an integral part of our progress and inspiration. In the near future, we’ll be revealing several new products to be released under a shared brand. In an effort to get you back on the bike instead of in front of the computer, we’ll keep this short and sweet: e*thirteen is integrating into the Hive, replacing the Fifteen.G Offroad product phylum. Current Fifteen.G cranks will be re-branded as e*thirteen and we’ll soon have additional product offerings under the e*thirteen offroad phylum–both gravity and XC. From here on, the Hive consists of e*thirteen Offroad, Chub Wheelgoods, and Revl Road. Since we all love to ride anything with two wheels, we are happy to offer groundbreaking products for all categories.

More details about the merger can be found on www.e13bythehive.com, an informative website specifically set up to provide the details of the merger.

Details about the new DH crank are as follows:

More information and pictures can be found on the merger site here: e13bythehive

e*thirteen DH Crank – Finally a lightweight DH crank without strength sacrifices.
• Forged and then machined 7050 Aluminum arms.
o 7050 is 40% stronger than most common hollow forged alloys.
• 30mm heat-treated cromoly spindle.
o It is 200%+ stiffer than 24mm steel spindles commonly used in external bearing cranksets.
• German DIN 32711-P3 Polygon interface provides 100% surface contact between spindle and crankarm
o Eliminates fretting corrosion – the prime cause of dreaded crankset creaking and loosening.
• 14mm pedal thread engagement + 7050 arm construction + quality pedal washers.
o Eliminates the need for costly and unreliable pedal thread inserts.
• High quality titanium-nickel hybrid spindle coating.
o Increases durability and extends material life (to just about forever). Tell your machinist friends. They might hug you.
• Standard 104 BCD
o Of course!
• Lengths:
o 165mm, 170mm and 175mm lengths.
• BB:
o Larger BB 6806 (7×30×42)Bearings carry 20% greater static load and dramatically increase BB durability.
o 68/73mm and 83mm BB shell versions.
• New: 24-38 Shift ringset option available.
o For you core freeriders who like to earn your downhill.
o Inner ring bolts to outer ring requiring no inner ring tabs on crank.
• Weight: 870g: Crank weight: 759g (165mm x 83mm) / BB weight 111g.
• MSRP: $349 w/BB and BB install tool.

Ring Configurations
• e*thirteen guiderings: 32-40T in one tooth increments. Available in black, silver, blue, red, green, and purple. 36-72 grams.
• 24-38 shiftrings: 9 & 10speed compatible. The 24T chainring bolts directly to the 38T chainring to optimize tooth location and provide the greatest amount of modularity and compatibility seen in a heavy duty All Mountain / race weight DH crankset. No grinding of granny tabs and eliminating front shifting options. 138 grams.
• 22-36 shiftrings: same as above, slightly lower gearing for our comrades in steeper locales. 130 grams.

Release Date: Global availability by the end of July 2010.