Rock Shox answer to Shimano/Fox new axle.

The makers of Maxle, Rock Shox has recently announced Maxle Light. By the name, its obvious that Maxle Light is a lighter version of the current Maxle, but what really is Maxle Light?

Maxle Light is a ongoing RockShox project for awhile and so far much info bout is enclosed behind closed door, expect more info sometime in April.

So far, what we know is:

Maxle Light is 50grams lighter then the current Maxle.

Maxle Light will come in 20mm which should mean that 20mm hubs will work on it

Most of the weight saving came from a thinner axle body and aluminium skewer

Maxle Light is marketed for Trail or Light AM use

What we are not sure is if RockShox has any plans in releasing a 15mm version of their Maxle Light, the possibility is quite high cause Shimano and Fox has a bigger market share then RockShox and Sram.

Anyway it looks like it will be a great year for trail bikers.

A New Standard for Trail Bikers!!!

Trail bikes or Light All-Mountain Bikes (as some call) riders usually end up in a dilemma when it comes to choosing their forks.

Most riders want a 20mm version without having to live wit h the weight penalty. Although some riders dont mind the extra weight, they are still a large group of riders who wants a stiffness of 20mm axle fork but with the weight of a normal axle fork.
Well, you can now throw away that dilemma because Shimano (aint they great at introducing new standards? although we might not like it, remember low-normal?) is introducing a new axle diameter standard, the 15mm. The good news is Fox already has a 15mm fork prototype model.

Image taken from BikeMagic.com.

Shimano is introducing 15mm versions of their hubs and wheels in their XTR and XT product line sometime middle to end of year.

It's uncertain when the rest of the fork manufacturers (RockShox, Marzocchi, Manitou and etc.) will introduce the new standard into their product line. (Lets hope we see some prototypes during InterBike 08). Anyway the new standard is certainly a good newss for us trail riders. Expect to see the new 15mm hubs from other companies later this year (maybe next year) and hopefully it will become a new trailbike standard for 2009 and beyond :cross fingers:.

*Update: So far I have recovered from pneumonia and I am happy cause I can continue adventuring into the woods, problem is....im not as fast as last time (poor me). Oh well guess more training and exercise for me.

Chaoz

CrankBrothers surprise.

Recently I went to cyclingnews.com and I found a very interesting article. It seems CrankBrothers has now join the ranks of fi'zi:k, Brooks, and Selle Royal because CrankBrothers has merged with Selle Royal. The good news is CrankBrothers will stay as the CrankBrothers we knew now. For more information, head to cyclingnews.com.

For those who didn visit CrankBrothers website yet, you will realise that it has been updated but to most of our surprise, it seems CrankBrothers Cobalt SL cranks and Wheelset is missing from the website. So far the products that are shown in its website is :

pedals | bottom brackets | directsets | seatposts | pumps | tools | accessories.

Its odd that they remove the crankset link and still show the ISIS bottom bracket. And the absence of the 2 products that are shown in last year interbike is a surprise. Guess we have to wait for this year interbike. I am hinting that CrankBrothers still has to sort out some problems with the new products.

Anyway Happy Chinese New Year!.

Happy New Year and surprised?

Hi, first of all I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year although it 28days has passed since the New Year. As you all might know, I announced that I wont be posting until March because I ended up in a government programme called National Service, unlucky for me (and good for you guys), I fell sick and ended up in hospital for a weak, turn out I got pneumonia.

Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung.[1] Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) inflammation and (abnormal) alveolar filling with fluid. Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, including infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be officially described as idiopathic, that is unknown, when infectious causes have been excluded.

Quoted from WikiPedia

The doctor gave me a 1 month holiday and I wondered why until I started cycling 3 days ago.

Day 1 -
I decided to cycle in my neighbourhood and not to enter the woods, I realise I got tired while climbing the hill faster then before. I believe its a lack of stamina due to not cycling for a month.

Day 2 -
I went to the same place to practice and somehow I felt a bit better but my performance is still below expectation.

Day 3 -
Its Sunday which means its my MTB Group ride, today they decided to cycle in my neighbourhood (there is a few trails in my neighbourhood). I followed them but I got tired as soon as I reach the rubber tree plantation, sadly I turned back because I fear I might lose consciousness while cycling that small steep path. I returned home looking very exhausted.

Later on that day, I start experiencing chest pain and this feeling is unlike the previous chest pain, this time it really hurt and lasted for a few minutes.


So how long will I recover? Only time will tell. So meanwhile I am going to continue with my blog which will focus mainly on my road to recovery.

Sorry, they will be no postings till 11 March

Hye,
Guys and gals, I am goin to sound like a jerk or loser but I must sadly say that I will be away starting 30th Dec until 11th March to undergo my NS camp. Also I deeply apologize for not posting anything in my blog for a very long time. My emotion is currently sad and heartbroken so finding the urge to write something properly in the blog has been a challenge. So Im sorry.

Tomorrow is the day!

Well, today I completed the Cycle Hunt and aint it a fun event. Anyway tomorrow is the real deal. I will be writing a full review of Kayuh Lasak 07 on Monday and hopefully will be able to finish it ASAP (with pictures). So sorry to keep you guys waiting. Stay tuned

Sorry for not posting bout my ride

Okay, as my title states, I apologize for not posting bout the ride that Im planned to. The reason the process is slow cause I took about 200 pics and sorting out which to appear in my post is harder then you think (this is also due to my PC being slow again). Also I have been busy studying to pass my learning driving license and busy checking out my bike to make sure its in good condition for this weekend ride cause Its Kayuh Lasak!. Below is the map of this year trail.



It seems this year trail is going to be more challenging from last year. There are 2 major hills to climb which is Penang Hill and Iron - X.

To those who dont know what Im talking bout. To climb Penang Hill, you must use a jeep. Meaning a normal car wont be able to go up Penang Hill (this should give you a rough idea bout how steep the hill is). And Iron X (a.k.a IronCross) is a hill with a constant 30-45 degree elevation.

So it seems this year its going to be more challenging, lets hope Im up to the challenge. Slow and steady finish the race :D.

Its Over!!!

Woo hoo!!!, my exam has finally over and now Im busy taking my driving license course. Anyway tomorrow morning is the day where I start to train for Kayuh Lasak. Although its not a competition, but finishing before the sun rises (around 12.00-1.00) is always better cause chances of you feel dehydrated is less.

Well If my mom allows me to bring her camera phone while riding tomorrow, hopefully I would be able to take some pics and give a report of the ride. The venue is goin to be near my neighbourhood and I decided to make my own loop. This trail has many routes so what I meant by making my own loop is cycling most of the trail for the whole morning. Hopefully this training session would improve my performance for the jamboree. I have practiced a couple of days during my exam so my stamina is okay I guess.

Its Workiing!

Hey guys n gals, originally Im planning to write a post announcing that my big examination will be coming to an end in a week so Im happy to announce that I will get to my original mood of posting soon. Anyway this post is supposed to appear yesterday but my PC seems to have a hardware problem. Its a 5 years old PC and i though that something is broken, so when I opened it I could feel that the internal is very hot, I guess it has something to do bout me not shutting the comp down for almost a year stuff. It was very dusty so I decided to do some cleaning up and when I turned back it on, guess what happen? It worked and my PC speed is returning back to normal. Thank God! Its amazing how cleaning the vent ports on your PC would speed things up back. Morale of this story is : Make sure your PC has enough ventilation.

Im sorry

hey,
Well recently I have not been posting much, and I sadly say that Im still lost. Somehow I dont know why I cant think of a topic to talk about. So, I would like to announce that I will be taking a break from posting till I finish my important end year exam which is at November. Sorry

Kayuh Lasak : Beyond Limits!! update

Well the registration for 08 Kayuh Lasak has closed and for those who missed it, dont worry, this event is held every year so make sure you dont miss the fun next year. Names of those who are registered are posted here

Ellsworth Rims

Okay, Im finally back from my holiday and honestly speaking, I totally have no idea in what to write. I would appreciate if some readers would contribute topic bout what I should write. You can email me at XCRIDER@MTBNNETWORK.TK

Anyway back to my topic, after searching through MTBR for inspiration, I ended up with Ellsworth wheelset. Its very interesting bout Ellsworth making their own rims cause so far only Specialized makes their own rim and with Ellsworth making carbon rims it makes it more interesting. Yeah, they are many company who make rims, but there are only a few bike company which make their own rims.

Basically, nothing much is known bout this rims, my concern is the durability cause Ellsworth frames are known for cracking and they are experts at aluminium but their knowledge bout carbon is questionable. I said this cause they are 2 types of rims Ellsworth is producing which is carbon and aluminium. Carbon rims? Yeah, so far DT Swiss is making carbon rims and it just amazes me that Ellsworth is also producing carbon rims while other known wheelmaker (

2008 CrankBrothers Conclusion

Well, this article is just going to be about the summary of all the 08 CrankBrothers articles. It seems that CrankBrothers have been planning new products for quite a while cause they released 2 new product of their own, 1 revised version and 1 licensed product.

So anyway, it seems CrankBrothers is really into the cobalt, sage or etc names. Their wheels uses the same name as their headset and its no suprise that we might see DH and FR wheels in the future. It is possible that CrankBrothers might change the name of their pedals into this new names. Anyway below is the links of all the posts, so knock your self out :

2008 CrankBrothers:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Now I got some announce to make, as some of you might know, Ramadan is coming to an end and today (in Malaysia) its the last day of Ramadan so Im going back to my parents hometown. I'll be going back for about 1 week which means MTBN Network wont be updated around that time. Im very sad that I wont be able to update and add new articles but I hope you guys understand. Sorry.

2008 CrankBrothers (Part 4)

Ahh, finally part 4 of our coverage and this is the final one. Thank God!

Anyway, time for part 4 : If you have been doing a lot of browsing over the net, you might realise that CrankBrothers isnt the first company to make a 4 sided pedal. Look is actually the original maker of 4 sided pedal. So what am I trying to point out?
Well for 2008, instead of going through the trouble of inventing a new adjustable seatpost, CrankBrothers decided to use another company adjustable seatpost design and relabelled it as theirs.

The product is called Joplin (see pic below)



Those who have been a frequent reader will notice that the seatpost look very familiar. Well of coarse you do!, I posted a article bout adjustable seatpost before ( click here, if you forget about it).

So anyway its obvious that the seatpost has been bought from Maverick, CrankBrothers have been very secretive bout its newly bought product. So far what I can guess is since its bought from Maverick, its mostlike to have this specifications:

Length : 382mm
Weight : 454 gram/16.01 ounce
Diameter : 30.9 and 31.6

Im not sure if CrankBrothers is planning to release a remote version of Joplin and if CrankBrothers is planning to release a different diameter (smaller is good) of the seatpost. Also if they are going to be a lighter weight version of the seatpost. There is no word bout the price yet.

The advantage of CrankBrothers taking over Maverick Speedball seatpost is it will be easier to obtain and customer support will be no problem.

Hmm, so I have covered all of CrankBrothers new and improved product for 2008, the rest of the current product will just get some slight updates, so I wont be writing bout them. Please email me if you are interested in me writing bout them too.

Update @ 11 OCT

I recently added a photo of CrankBrothers hub cut out in yesterday post, so be sure to check it out.

2008 CrankBrothers (Part 3)

Now its time for the third chapter of 2008 CrankBrothers extensive coverage, so far I have covered the crankset, their hoops and now I'm going to elaborate bout a unit which is placed between the fork steerer tube and headtube. The unit im talking bout is the headset.

CrankBrothers call their headset as Directsets. There is one word to describe CrankBrothers headset and that is....light. Its seriously light and its heaviest duty platform weights at 110gram. So how light is most of the range? Try 50 - 70 gram. Its lightweight will appeal to weight weenies and Chris King headsets weights around 90 - 120 gram. So CrankBrothers headset is about half the weight of a CK headset. CrankBrothers manage to get the weight down is cause of the headset simplicity.



Instead of the traditional headset which usually has about 8 - 11 components in it (vary to manufacturer), CrankBrothers Directsets have simplify some of the parts, for example : the headset cup is the bearing itself (outer race of the bearing is outside). The disadvantage of making it so simple is the bearing aint replaceable, meaning you need to replace the whole headset once the bearing worn out. Dont worry bout this though cause the price isnt too shabby either (depending on which model you are getting). CrankBrothes opted for 3 different price points, The most expensive models will be priced at USD 300, middle range is USD 130 (Chris King price), and the lowest range is USD90. The weight between the 3 different pricepoints is very marginal (if its me, Im getting the cheapest model). Again, Crank Brothers decided to stick to their 08 product names, see below:



Cross Country : Cobalt (Blue)
Ti - 58g : USD 300
SL - 65g : USD 130
C - 65g : USD 90

All - Mountain : Iodine (Copper)
SL - 65.5g : USD 130
C - 65.5 : USD 90

Downhill : Opium (Red)
SL - 70g : USD 130
C - 70g : USD 90

Freeride : Sage (Green)
SL - 92g : USD 130
C - 110g - USD 90

* SL and C difference is SL stands for Stainless Steel while C stands for Steel. I guess this has something to do with the headset internals, considering the same weight but different prices (except Sage).

With all this headset choices, CrankBrothers certainly will be a worthy competitor in the headset department. The heaviest headset weights at 110g which is design for heavy duty purposes and its as light as most XC headsets out there. Well since this headset havent been released yet, guess we have to wait for some real world reviews. From the specs, this headset sure sounds good.

*Pics provided by cyclingnews.com and mtbr.com interbike page.

*Update #1 :
I recently checked BikeRadar.com and I found a cut out of CrankBrothers Hub, enjoy!

2008 DT Swiss Site is up!

Well after drooling over DT Swiss 2008 lineup, DT Swiss finally updated their site and its a definate improvement over their previous website design. The XRC wheels is sweet

DT Swiss official site

2008 CrankBrothers (Part 2)

Sorry for the late post, been busy studying for end year examination. Anyway time for part 2 of 08 Crank Bros extensive coverage. CrankBrothers has build their reputation from their 4 sided clipless pedal and last year they expand their range to crankset. This year its planning to expand its production, one of which I would like to post about today is their new range of wheelset.

For 2008, CrankBrothers will be releasing 2 wheelsets for different purposes. For cross country (XC) usage, its called the Cobalt (blue coloured), while for all-mountain (AM) is Iodine(copper coloured) (Gotta love the names). The wheels is only offered in a set, which means you cant get just the rims or the hubs or the unique spokes.




So what so special bout CrankBrothers wheels? From the pic CrankBros has decided not to stick with traditional rim design in favour of a 'Y' shaped rim design and it has eliminated the need of drilled rim holes, except the valve hole. The advantage of this is the wheels will be much stiffer and at the same time reduce weight cause the wheels wont be needing any unnecessary metal. Being hole less naturally mean its a tubeless rim. The design of the rim is clean and simple, I wonder why no company ever though of this design.

The most eye catching part of the wheelset is the spokes. The spokes is a CrankBrothers exclusive 2 piece spoked called 'TwinPair Spokes'. Its made out of 2 materials (the coloured is made out of aluminium while the silver/non-coloured is steel). The spoke is connected to the rim via a plug (see the small silver round shaped thing?) and is connected directly straight to the hub. This 2 piece spoke design is totally a new design so they is nothing can be said bout the durability of the spokes.




Next is the hubs, the 6 bolt disc hub works on four cartridge bearings and incorporates a six-pawl driver mechanism. The body of the hub is made of aluminum. CrankBrothers is plannning to offer the front hub in both 9mm quick-release and 20mm thru-axle. There is no news if CrankBrothers is planning to offer the 6 bolt disc hub in Shimano Centre Lock configuration.

Lastly, its the QuickRelease lever (QR). CrankBrothers again has decided not to follow other wheelmakers in the QR design. CrankBrothers QR works on a 2 step process. As you can see in the Iodine QR (see below pic)



CrankBrothers said the reason for this design is to reduce the effort needed to close the QR with the same clamping force compared to conventional QR design and it will be very sad once you get scratches on the beautifully design quick release lever.

CrankBrothers have been secretive bout the price of the wheels and when it will make its debut so only time will tell. BikeMag states in their site that the Cobalt wheelset (XC-usage) will weight around 1550 - 1600 gram. Being CrankBrothers, the price of the wheels most probably aint going to be cheap and with the weight around 1.5-1.6kg, CrankBrothers need to make it lighter to make the money spent worth it.

*Pic taken from MTBR.com CrankBrothers Interbike virtual booth

2008 CrankBrothers (Part 1)

CrankBrothers, the company which is known for producing the best mud shedding clipless pedal in the industry. For part 1 of my 08 CrankBrothers blog posts, Im going to elaborate on their Cobalt SL crankset. Somehow the Cobalt SL crankset didnt get any limelight from any magazines. Partly is cause the Cobalt SL crankset is using ISIS BB and the price of the crankset aint cheap. Riders dont want to spend that amount of money on a ISIS BB when they can get a XTR crankset which is currently the best crankset out there by spending slightly more.

So for 2008 CrankBrothers is releasing the Cobalt SLi, i as it stands means integrated (not sure what are they integrating, but from the pics, it looks like the BottomBracket is attached at the non drive crankarm side). Also the crank will feature external BB. (pic below, taken from cyclingnews.com)



There is no official word why CrankBrothers decide to change to external BB eventhough they give comments why they decide to stick to ISIS in their Cobalt SL mini site. Below is a quote of why they stick to ISIS (taken from CrankBros Cobalt SL minisite)

Why ISIS, when everyone else is going integrated?
We choose not follow a trend just because everybody else is. We don’t consider the “new” external bearing two piece crank system to be the best solution to attach the crankarms to the frame. As we see it, these integrated cranks do not have any big advantages and in some cases they have disadvanages: Weight and stiffness is not necessarily improved in an integrated system. Integrated crank systems rely on the frame manufacturer for bottom bracket alignment, and misaligned bearings wear faster. We think that integrated cranks are yet to be proven. ISIS is already proven. The ISIS system offers flexibility, durability, stiffness, reasonable cost, and choice. ISIS bottom brackets have evolved and improved since they were first introduced. With the Cobalt SL, you have the freedom to choose your BB, which gives you the flexibility to customize the weight, durability and price of your setup.

Overall, whatever the reason is, changing to external BB is a good move for CrankBrothers cause riders never liked the idea of ISIS crankset since external BB appear in the market, furthermore external BB is much stiffer then ISIS. Hopefully CrankBrothers have fixed the cracking issue which are found on the current Cobalt SL cranks. You can read all bout the cracking issue here.

So for those who doesnt know about Cobalt cranks, to make it short and simple, its chainring is created by Truvativ and the crankarm is made by a combination of 2 materials (outer side: steel, inner side: aluminium)

Oh yeah, CrankBrothers is also releasing a SingleSpeed Cobalt crank for 08 which is known as Cobalt S. There is no word if CrankBrothers is planning to keep the current ISIS Cobalt SL cranks for 2008.

Be sure to check back for more extensive 08 CrankBrothers coverage, only at MTBNNetwork.tk.

P.S: Registration for 2008 Kayuh Lasak MTB Jamboree is still open (see bottom posts), so be sure to join if you want to skip winter for a couple of weeks and to enjoy a well deserved holiday.

Update @ 2 OCT

Yesterday I wrote a post about Kayuh Lasak 2008 and I made some mistakes, so please re-read again and sorry for the inconvenience, the post can be found below this post or you can click the link below to go directly to the post:

Malaysia MTB Event : Kayuh Lasak 2008 : Beyond Limits!! - 1 & 2 Dec