It’s just a single photo, but Airborne Bicycles has posted a sneak peak photo of their new Guardian 29 on their Facebook page. Since the caption reads “A sneak-peak of one of the new models coming soon~!” there are probably more fresh designs in the pipeline! Speculation is running wild, but so far the consensus is a Full Suspension 29er.
…And, they have also provided a sneak peak of a yet un-named project that is expected to be out this summer.
But, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s all take some time to celebrate this testament to the value that Safe Routes to School, bicycling and walking have to our local governments and in our communities.
Your Favorite Trail Just Got Better
The Niner R.I.P. 9
Niner specializes in bikes designed around 29-inch wheels. They are so committed to the wheel size that the company has never offered a model with traditional 26-inch wheels and have no plans to do so. This laser-like focus has allowed them to concentrate all their resources, creativity and brainstorming on the large-wheel format. The result of this commitment is obvious from the first ride on the R.I.P. 9.
WHO IS IT MADE FOR?
The R.I.P. 9 is intended for flowing up and down trails and approaching every obstacle along the way with a can-do attitude. It can be ridden to the far recesses of the forest or used for the Saturday morning group ride. In short, it is true to the most basic expectation of what a mountain bike should be: a bike that can handle a little bit of everything.
Read the full review here: Bike Test: Niner R.I.P. 9
DEWITT (CNYcentral.com) — After he first tried mountain biking, Dale Cruce didn’t want stop when the snow started falling.
“When winter rolled around I said, where are the mountain bike parks? They said, no – we don’t do that. We just ski and snowboard and from then on I said, this is a great idea,” said Cruce.
It took almost fifteen years but Cruce’s dream is about to become a reality. Cruce and business partner Seth Fischer are putting the finishing touches on Cranx – a 90,000 square foot indoor bike park built in a warehouse off Thompson Road in DeWitt. The park will feature jumps, ramps, a road course and an elevated cross country course. The project cost approximately a half million dollars but is on track to open in early February.
The park will cater to mountain, BMX and road bikes. Fischer says they are expecting tourists from all over the northeast.
Cranx will be one of only four indoor bike parks in North America. The parks in Cleveland, Milwaukee and Ontario, Canada have been very successful at attracting the fast growing action sports crowd.
“We’ve already gotten lots of e-mail and correspondence from people in Saratoga, New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania and Connecticut,” said Fischer.
Much of the construction work is being done by local volunteers who are also experienced bikers who know just what angles will work best. Daily tickets will cost between twenty and thirty dollars. Fischer says that is a good value for what is really an amusement park for anyone interested in action sports
“To be able to come with your family and you could have someone in your family who gets paid to ride bikes and they’re going to have just as much fun as that person’s daughter that’s on training wheels,” said Jeremy Witek who helped design the park.
The park also has a flat road course running around the edges that will connect with a three acre outdoor section in the spring.
These are a few of my favorite cycling cartoons…
SAN DIEGO, CA (BRAIN) Feb 22, 14:40 MT—Three of the U.S.’s most powerful bicycle advocacy groups are considering merging their organizations.
Representatives from the Alliance for Biking & Walking, the League of American Bicyclists and Bikes Belong met in San Diego earlier this month and agreed to recommend the three organizations merge. In a joint statement released Wednesday, the representatives proposed completing a merger by next January. The merger still has to be ratified by the boards of directors of each organization.
A single group could “more effectively support and advance bicycling in the United States,” the statement said.
“The goal is to speed progress in creating a bicycle-friendly America, where bicycling is a viable transportation- and recreation choice for everyone and more people bike more often. This proposed unification would combine the significant resources of the three groups into one effective, powerful organization with a clear, integrated structure and a single voice.”
The group agreed on an acting board of directors for the new organization, and an acting CEO — Tim Blumenthal, who is currently the president of Bikes Belong. No name is being publicly proposed for the new organization, so far. The group proposed September as the deadline for a yes-or-no decision on the merger.
Blumenthal told BRAIN Wednesday that there is an enormous amount of overlap of each organizations’ missions.
“Just about everything” overlaps, Blumenthal said.
“Congressional relations, creating a bike-friendly America and mobilizing American cyclists to stand up and be counted,” are all duplicate functions, he said.
The groups have little overlap in membership, however. Bikes Belong’s members are suppliers and retailers, the League’s members are individuals and the Alliance’s members are local and state bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations.
There is more overlap when it comes to funding sources, as several bike suppliers write checks to several of the organizations.
Blumenthal estimated that the three organizations have a combined annual budget of close to $10 million. He said a merged group would represent roughly a million constituents and be a more attractive organization for non-cycling corporations looking to bask in cycling’s active lifestyle glow.
The recent fight in Washington over the federal transportation bill highlighted the need for a combined group. In fact the three organizations, along with IMBA, Adventure Cycling and the Association for Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals worked together on America Bikes, a coalition formed to focus on federal bike funding. Bikes Belong is the primary funder of America Bikes.
The acting board of directors for the proposed group contains board members from each of the three current groups: Trek Bicycle’s John Burke, Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives, Chris Fortune of Saris Cycling Group, Leah Shahum of San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Gail Spann of the League of American Bicyclists and Hans Van Naerssen of the League of American Bicyclists.
Blumenthal said it’s too early to say where the new organization would be headquartered except that it would “need to have a strong DC office.” The League and the Alliance are each based near Washington. Bikes Belong is based in Boulder, Colorado.
Escondido, California (February 22, 2012) – The ‘US Grand Prix of Mountain Biking’ is pleased to announce its race calendar for the 2012 season. As the top national-level mountain bike calendar in the country, the MTB GP was created to consistently provide world-class athletes, as well as aspiring amateurs, with a competitive and fan-friendly atmosphere.
Dylan Dean, MTB GP Director, “I’m thrilled to be working with such great venues this year! Having the ability to build up the new national series from scratch has been a long & hard road, but it’s great to see the final product come together. With world class teams, racers, & industry supporting me, there is no limit to the potential!
The MTB GP kicks off in Port Angeles, Washington on April 28-29 with a stop at the NW Cup. The second round of the series heads to the east coast the weekend before two North American World Cup rounds, with a stop at Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont on June 16-17. Following the World Cups, the MTB GP’s third round will take place at the Highland Bike Park in Northfield, New Hampshire on July 7-8. The final round of the MTB GP will conclude back on the west coast the weekend before Crankworx on August 4-5 at Stevens Pass Resort in Skykomish, Washington.
Scott Tucker, NDub Productions, “We at the NW Cup are excited to take part in the inaugural US Grand Prix of MTB. Gravity racing in the US is clearly on the road from obscurity on the world level, and a legit national points series is key in continuing on that path. Dylan Dean has worked tirelessly to make this happen and I’m sure 2012 is just the tip of the iceberg. See you at the races!”
Mark Hayes, Highland Bike Park, “Our first Grand Prix event at Highland Mountain Bike Park is shaping up to be our biggest race to date. The race comes just 1 week after the Windham World Cup event and if the stars are going to align it seems likely they will do it during the Grand Prix race at Highland. We have worked with Dylan Dean in the past and he has proven to be the guy who can attract the racers. As a venue we need to prove that we can step it up so anticipate the Highland crew to add some new flavor to a course that seems to be a favorite among racers. It’s great to be working with Dylan Dean again and hosting a Grand Prix at Highland.”
The MTB GP will recognize the top professional and junior cat 1 amateur (age 17-18) racers in downhill utilizing a new points structure, offering overall titles for pro and jr cat 1 categories.
For more information please contact MTB GP director Dylan Dean at jdd@mtbgp.com or call 760-443-3344.
USA Cycling announced Thursday the dates and venues for its 2012 American Mountain Bike Challenge (AMBC). All AMBC events will serve as qualifiers for the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships.
Entering its 16th year in 2012, the 23-race AMBC series will visit 16 states in a six-month span. Racing begins with the U.S. Cup East Southeastern Regional Championship Series (SERC) #1 in Gainesville, Fla., on March 18, and concludes with the Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival in Rocksprings, Texas on Sept. 1-2. The complete AMBC calendar is as follows:
The AMBC was created in 1996 to provide opportunities for mountain bikers of all ages and abilities. Each stop on the series offers cross-country events, and several stops offer short-track cross country, downhill, time trials, or super D competitions as well. The top 10 finishers in each respective age group and ability category at an AMBC event will qualify to compete at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships. Visit the AMBC webpage to learn more about the nationwide calendar.
via Dates & locations for 2012 American MTB Challenge revealed – USA Cycling.
The return of the legendary Ritchey Mountain Bike. Tom Ritchey applied over 40 years of racing, designing and building steel mountain bikes into a new model—the P-29er.
Like any Ritchey, this bike is born to go fast without sacrificing comfort or durability. Heat-treated, triple-butted Ritchey Logic II tubing in our own unique butting profiles results in a frame that balances rough trail compliance with sprint-winning stiffness.
The 29er-specific geometry was defined by the best way we know: countless hours of saddle time under Tom Ritchey, World Cup legend Thomas Frischknect and other racers. The result: nimble handling that captures the benefits of the big wheels, stable but not sluggish, equally at home on all-day epics or tight, technical singletrack race courses.
The instantly-recognizable tri-color fade is a tribute to the classic Ritchey P-series racing mountain bike.
BikeRumor.com is working on their “Project Fatbike”, and just did a review of the new Origin-8 Devist8er tires. The Devist8er tire is a 26 x 4.0 fatbike tire. It has a folding bead and a very good off-road tread pattern. So, here is the review from Bike Rumor.
(BikeRumor.com February 10, 2012) Last year at Interbike, while trudging around the desert finding bikes to ride, and avoiding torrential downpours, we noticed an interesting tire in Vee Rubber’s booth. It happened to be a fatbike tire that was 4 inches wide and had a tread pattern that looked great. Also at Interbike that year, we saw the same tire on J&B’s new prototype fatbike, the Crawler, only this time it was branded as an Origin-8 tire. When the time came to get some rubber for Project Fatbike, I was too intrigued not to check into the Origin-8 tires first.
Origin-8 was happy oblige, and soon we had some Devist8er 2′s to throw on Project Fatbike.
Find out why this is a bigger deal than you might think, after the break.
As Fatbike’s popularity have grown, one thing has remained mostly constant until recently: the tires. For what seems like forever, the majority of tires were branded as Surly, made by Innova, and sold through QBP. There were a few tires that were available through other channels (remember the Innova Spider?) but even as the amount of fatbike tires increased, they all seemed to be out of QBP. The Vee Rubber or Origin-8 Devist8er 2 is a departure from that mold, and a big one for one specific reason – price.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all too familiar with the difference between an expensive tire and an inexpensive tire (we’ll get to that in a bit), but at these prices the Devist9er 2 will surely get a few looks. Whether riders are looking for a cheap summer tire, or simply can’t afford a $70 Larry or Endomorph, the 60 tpi Devist8er 2 should fit the bill with a retail of $39.99!
In addition to the 60 tpi wire bead model, Origin8 will also be offering the Devist8er 2 in a 120 tpi Kevlar bead model which still seems like a bargain at $55.99 retail. It seems the specs have changes a few times in the process of creating the Devist8er 2s, but as far as I know these are the final specs.
So what are you sacrificing for such an inexpensive tire? Weight, for one. Regardless if you’re talking the claimed weight of 2000g or the actual weight of ~2140 grams, the 60 tpi Devist8er 2s are heavy. However, thanks to their Kevlar Shield flat protection, it should also mean they’re fairly bomb proof, as in I’m pretty sure you could ride these as fast as possible over the most jagged rocks you could find and still be all right. The tires earn the name Devist8er as they will crush anything in their path.
The only other downside? Even after quite a few times installing and inflating the tires, the casings still have a fair bit of irregularity that is visible as the tires spin. Fortunately, with how large the tires are, and how low of psi you run fatbike tires at, it isn’t noticeable when you ride. Hopefully, the 12o tpi tires are more uniform, though at $40 a tire any faults should be easily overlooked.
When it comes to sizing, the Devist8er 2 is a true 4.0, well 3.996 to be exact. This was when mounted to an 80mm wide Vicious GFS rim front and back. As you can see from the photo above, the White Brothers Snowpack still has plenty of clearance on either side and should be no issue for those wishing to run a Surly BFL. On the Pugsley, the clearance in the rear is tight with the Devist8er 2, but still manages to clear the chain (just barely) with a triple and full 10 speed cassette. Getting the tire into the frame is a bit of a struggle, but once it’s in place it’s all good.
I haven’t gotten chance to ride the Devist8er 2s in the snow yet, though if the weather stays on course that will change by this weekend. Crazy that all year we had more rain than we’ve ever seen, yet when it’s cold enough to snow we get nothing. Hopefully we will have a set of the Kevlar 120 tpi models in soon to test and weigh as well. Stay tuned.
armandarekian.com 