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!.

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.

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.

The Best just got Better

Okay, if you are a frequent mountain bike magazine reader, they are a few bikes that seem to always get rave reviews from any magazine, regarding the author or the origin of the magazine. One of the bike which seem to always get a perfect or near perfect review is Ibis Mojo.

Ibis Mojo, is by far one of the best multi-purpose XC bike, its light enough to compete and abusive enough for drops.
The only thing that cause it not to get a perfect score sometimes is cause of there ain't any water bottle mount. But at the price they are offering you, its hard not to choose a Mojo if you are looking for a full carbon bike without breaking the bank. Take note that the Mojo is priced at USD1899, that price is cheaper then the all-aluminium and part magnesium bike Ellsworth offers (no offence).

The Mojo is a sub 6lbs 5.5"(140mm) all purpose XC bike. It uses the world renowned bicycle linkage, DW Link.


So from my title, its obvious that the Mojo is getting a improved version for 2008. Introducing the Mojo SL!!!!!


The Mojo SL is definitely a improved version of the current Ibis and its a must have upgrade for weight weenies. This model drops 1lbs from the current Mojo, which makes it as a sub 5lbs 5.5" rear travel frame.

Okay so where did Ibis manage to squeeze out the 1lbs cause I don't want to own a frame that is less durable?
Ibis manage to drop the weight by using ultra high modulus fiber enhanced layup which helped the bike to reduce weight at certain areas. Besides this the seat tube insert, head cup and dropouts have been changed to carbon (the dropout receives a steel sheath so the carbon is not damaged in any way), the pins have been switched to Ti to reduce weight and Ibis uses DT Swiss SSD shock instead of Fox RP23 to reduce weight even more.

To make it more interesting, Ibis will be the first MTB company in the 20th century to use rubber paint instead of the traditional carbon coating/paint for the Ibis SL. The paint purpose is to make the bike easier to clean (which all riders would greatly appreciate) and its more durable.


For those people who likes custom stuffs, the Mojo SL should definitely be in your list cause the links are offered in designer colours. The pic above of the Nude Mojo SL is a excellent example of what I'm talking about. Damn the designer coloured links will totally compliment your hubs (Hope/Chris King/Industry 9).

So how much do all this will costs me?
This sub 5 lbs frame will cost you USD2499. Some of you might think that the price isn't cheap (don't worry, Ibis still offer the normal Mojo) but at what Ibis offer for the Mojo SL, its all worth it and you must agree that its better packaged then some bike frames out there. Anyway, like the Mojo, the Mojo SL is also offered as complete bikes which will make it cheaper. Click the link below to go to the official Mojo SL component specs.

Mojo SL parts picks


The weight of the parts picks have been listed in their site and from the Mojo parts and pricing history, its most likely the parts that the MojoSL complete bike package will make other company be ashamed.

*Pics are taken from the official Ibis site and both the Mojo and Mojo SL paint is clear/matte clear.

*Update #1: Recently I visited MTBR site and I found some cool photos that future Mojo SL owners would greatly appreciate:

Mojo SL : Matte Clear

Mojo SL : Brown

Mojo SL : Gray

Titanium bolts and Designer Colour Anodized links, current Mojo owners will be very happy cause this links are compatible with the current Mojo.

Updates and first SplitPivot bike?

DW Link spreads it wings article has been recently updated, be sure to check at the bottom of the blog post. Below is a URL Link to the post.

DW Link spread its wings

Anyway, Yeti bicycles is releasing a 7" bike named the Seven and what makes it eyecatching is the absence of the driveside chainstay. By the way, im not going to write about a 7" enduro bike, but what Im trying to point out is that there seem to be a concentric pivot on the non-driveside of the seven, which is similar to what Dave Weagle's SplitPivot is. It is not confirmed if this is Dave's Split Pivot so dont get your hopes up. Below is the pic of Seven non-driveside taken from bikeradar.com.

DW Link spread its wings

For years, most of us who are looking for aluminium DW Link bikes can only find it on IronHorseBikes , but fear no more cause for 2008 they will be a new company who will use DW Linkage, some of you might heard of it and some of you might not, but anyway Chris Cocalis (ex-Titus) is launching his own bicycle company named PivotCycles. Okay I know the site havent been updated yet but the bike has been shown at Interbike which is happening now.

So what do PivotCycle will offer us?
First up is the bike as stated in my first paragraph will be made out of aluminium. Secondly is it will be available in both 4" and 5" version. The bikes a named Mach 4 or 5 depending on its travel (it must be fast cause the name says it all). There is still no official weight of the bike yet and riders dont need to worry about the rear linkage because as I said before, its using world renowned DW Link (which can be found in IronHorseBikes or Ibis).

Anyway below are the pics of the new Mach 5 (pics provided by Cyclingnews.com)




From the pics, the linkage supporting the shock is interestingly design, it looks like they are 2 pair of pivots on the upper link and the bike features a top mounted shock position and there is no seatstay bracer which could possibly means that the bike would mostlikely to perform flawlessly in muddy condition (very usefull for UK weather) and will most likely have the feeling of a very flickable bike. None of this is confirmed yet but we will see what the journalist comment on the bike in future bike magazines.

Update #1 : okay, I recently browsed through BikeRadar.com and found a Mach 4 pic. See below:

2008 SRAM updated

Okay, I got another update, SRAM has fully updated its 2008 site, that includes SRAM, Truvativ, RockShox and Avid. SRAM, Truvativ and Avid seem to add another link for their 08 site which is S/T/A Technologies. Its a brief and quick overview of what do they offer and this make it convinient for people who want to know about their technology all on a single page.

Below is the link for each technology page:

SRAM - Mountain

Avid Brakes

Truvativ

Please take note that although all the site have a new makeover, RockShox product line hasnt been fully updated yet. RockShox site

So my thought bout the new site look? Nothing special, but they make it more convinient and its definately a upgrade from 07 site. Enjoyyy.

There is something that I wonder though, listed in the site bout Avid Juicy 3, it states that the three has similar power and geometry feel as its brothers but at a price that makes it perfect for just any bike. So I was wondering, is the Juicy 3 still OEM or its not?

Zipp, now powered by SRAM

Well, its just announced that popular carbon wheel roadbike manufacturer has been acquired by SRAM. Hmm, it seems SRAM is expanding its empire. Anyway basically, Zipp will stay as the Zipp now so owners and dealers shouldnt worry much. Well moving to the interesting side, since SRAM is originally a MountainBike company, they are some rumours speculating that Zipp in the future might produce MTB wheels, whether the material of the wheel is aluminium or carbon remains mystery. So anyway thats all and sorry for this short post, my exam is going to end this Monday and I got some pretty decent article to write about. 

So lets see, SRAM basically owned Sachs Derailleur (now SRAM), Rock Shox, Truvativ, Zipp and PitStop (a bike cleaning stuff). Its interesting what company will SRAM own next. And by looking at the company SRAM is getting under their empire, from derailleurs to wheels its obvious that SRAM want to throw Shimano out of its bicycling dominant. Only time will tell. 

And just for your interests, HB Group (Hayes disc Brake) has bought over Answer Products Manitou company, I know its old news but it just to make you guys remember and also PaceCycles the company who make carbon forks have been owned by DT Swiss. :D

Oo, did I feel some static?

Its been awhile since I posted and my exam havent finish yet (by next week), so since today I have some free time. Im going to give a quick info bout Scott's Marathon XC bike, Spark.

Hmm, so why do I categorize it as a Marathon XC bike instead of the usual full suspension race bike? Well my reason is because this bike is build for marathon usage, which means that its geometry isnt that stressful for the rider. Dont worry, you can still race on this bike because its one of the lightest 110mm full suspension out there (belive me there are lighter bikes but they can be categorize as not safe cause its build at a certain weight range). Oh did I forget that its also a good trailbike due to its carbon stiffness.

So enough intro and time to talk bout the bike:


Okay from the pic, its clearly that Scott decided to use a very conventional design. No bendy tubes, weird linkages or etc. The Spark uses a conventional faux bar linkage (pivot on the seatstay or Single Pivot Linkage), this simple design doesnt add unnessary weight and its proven by many manufacturers who used faux bar, those that should be noted are Turner Bikes.
But then you realise something, is that a piggy back reservoir shock? Yes you got it right, Scott as usual has designed their own shock with DT Swiss called the Nude shock which weights 240grm.



So whats so special bout the Nude shock? The advantage is, the rider is able to reduce the travel of the bike from 110 to 70 and dont forget that the shock offer a lockout feature. I belive the reason of the reservoir is so that when you reduce the travel (the height will reduce, hence better centre of gravity) the shock dampening wont be affected. Anyway the shock features a remote control called the TracLoc system which weights only 28gram, the rider would be able to change the travel with the use of his thumb .

Scott is famous for its CR1 carbon manufacturing process, but to make the Spark lighter, Scott engineers need a new method to make the bike lighter and yet without taking away important features. IMP is the solution. By using a patented process, Scott Engineers manage to produce the bike's headtube, toptube and downtube in a single process which has able them to reduce the bike weight without compromising the bike's overall strength. If you guys are a frequent reader of cyclingnews, Specialized rider, Christopher Sauser (a racer famous for not having unnessary weight on his bike) has his Epic custom made, his bike doesnt have a cosmetic carbon layer, the Spark has that feature too, its called Naked External Tubeset (NET) which help to save precious grams. So to sum it up about the frame, the whole bike feature Scott's latest IMP carbon manufacturing process except for the seatstay which is made from CR1 and also NET.

Below is a summarize of the difference between the bike frames offered by Scott for 2008:

Spark LTD Frame:
Scott Spark
HMX carbon fiber / NET / Integrated Seatpost
IMP top, head & down tubes
CR1 carbon swingarm / carbon cable stops & dropouts with replaceable hanger
Sealed aircraft bearings / optimised SLS kinematic / 110 mm rear travel
Frame: 3.42 lbs (1550 gr) + Nude TC shock: .53 lb (240 gr) Total : 3.95 lb (1790gr)

Spark 10 Frame:
Scott Spark
HMX carbon fiber / NET
IMP top, head & down tubes
CR1 carbon swingarm / carbon cable stops & dropouts with replaceable hanger
Sealed aircraft bearings / optimised SLS kinematic / 110 mm rear travel
Frame: 3.42 lbs (1550 gr) + Nude TC shock: .53 lb (240 gr) Total : 3.95 lbs (1790 gr)

Spark 15/20/30 frame:
Scott Spark
HMF carbon fiber / NET
IMP top, head & down tubes
CR1 carbon swingarm / carbon cable stops &
dropouts with replaceable hanger
sealed aircraft bearings / optimised SLS kinematic
110mm rear travel
HMF Frame: 3.64 lbs (1650 gr) + Nude TC shock: .53 lb (240 gr) Total : 4.17lbs (1890 gr)

Take note of the following:
Spark LTD lighter then 10 because of the integrated seatpost.
Ritchey carbon seatpost weights 260 gr / 0.57 lbs

The difference between HMF and HMX is its exclusively produced for Scott and offers 20% more stiffness and it has been reinforced to areas that need extra rigidity and at the same time to reduce weight. You save 100gr by buying a HMX frame.

Fork offering:
LTD - DTSwiss XRC 100mm
10 - Fox 32 F100RL (Black)
15 - Fox 32 F100RL (White)
20 - Fox 32 F100RL (White)
30 - Rock Shox Reba SL

So that's all, and take note that 08 models will be available in the US between October to January 2008, Scott is releasing the each model at different time.

So if you are a rider who loves to ride long distance and sometimes race and would love to own a lightweight full sus bike. Make sure the Spark is in your list.

Usefull links:
USA Scott Spark Product Site
Scott Spark minisite


Pic provided by BikeMagic.com

2008 Bianchi

A company that has been very well known in the road industry decides to expand its Mountain lineup. So what has Bianchi offer us for the upcoming year?

First up is the hardtail. Bianchi Oetzi hardtail will receive a redesigned seatstay and BB for 2008. Bianchi has also used their nano tech carbon (the same found on their road bikes) onto the bikes. This made the frame to weight at a respectable 1.2kg.

Oetzi pics (provided by BikeRadar):




Next is Bianchi's XC/Marathon Full Sus, Camos, it features a 80mm of rear travel and the suspension design is rather new and unseen in the market, they used a shock mounted on a bar link to suspend. The front part of the bike is carbon while the back part is alu. This combination made the bike frame to weight at a decent 2.4kg. From the pics, it seems the pivot is located on the chainstay, it is possible that Bianchi managed to escape the HorstLink pattern with the pivot location. So thats all the info bout 08 Bianchi MTB range and now is pics of the new Camos!

Camos pics(provided by BikeRadar)

2008 Felt MTB's

Hmm, it appears last year as a hyped product, so what happened? Well the Equilink hasnt dead yet and Felt are expanding its range for 2008. Sadly, their first Equilink equipped bike doesnt get as much attention as it should. You rarely will find a online owner owning it. Partly is cause they are better bikes out there, if you compare it with the price range of Felt Virtue bikes.

So anyway, lasts year biggest complaint is that the price of the Virtue is very expansive and Felt answer that the price is kinda pricey is cause of the seatstay carbon and that isnt a good answer. So for 2008, Felt decides to make the whole Virtue rear triangle to carbon, and it does look very stunning indeed. Felt engineers also claimed that the new design increases stiffness. So how bout the price? Sadly, Felt hasnt announce the price of the 08 Virtue or its component, lets hope they make it cheaper.

2008 Felt Virtue rear triangle

Some of you might notice that there in MTBR bike review page that the Felt Redemption is listed in the site but you cant really find any info bout it from Felt's website. Well the Redemption has presented itself in this year Eurobike and it features 165mm of rear travel, that makes it into light freeride MTB range. Anyway pics! and damn the Redemption has one sweet paint theme.

2008 Felt Redemption

Lastly, Felt is releasing their all-mountain bike to complete the lineup, with a rear travel of 145mm, introducing Compulsion!. The bike looks like a Redemption little brother rather then the Virtue. It comes with a full aluminium frame, top to bottom. So here are the pics!!!!

Felt's All-Mountain platform bike, the Compulsion

So thats all the updates that Felt is offering for 2008, lets hope next year they will have better media attention and lowered their bike prices. The weight of their 08 bikes hasnt been confirmed yet, I will update as soon as I found out. Thats all for now

Pics provided from cyclingnews.com

A new trend?

Honestly speaking, I totally got nothing to talk about today but after accidently seeing the review of Pace latest full suspension bike, I realise a similarity about its floating shock mount design. The bike is smoother. Thats exactly the same comment as Trek's Full Floater.

BikeRadar states: Pace's patented Free Floater suspension design sandwiches the shock between ultra stiff 3D CNC'd linkages. These combine to bring the back wheel first backwards and then increasingly upwards and round through the 130mm (5in) stroke. They also manipulate leverage on the DT shock for smoother start and end phases but, thankfully, much less mid-stroke 'hammock. The Free Floater rear end is spot on too, making the DT HVR shock feel fantastically supple. It's smooth enough to stop eye blur on washed-out wooden steps, it rolls easily over square-edged hits without taking a momentum kick to the kidneys and it lands proper drops with a very calm catch.

CyclingNews states: According to Trek, the 'Full Floater' design allows for better fine-tuning of shock leverage ratios throughout the travel range, delivering a more supple feel at the top of the stroke and a more 'bottomless' feel at the other end.

As you can see, the comments is pretty much the same, especially commenting about the manipulated leverage ratio. Below are the two pics of a floating shock mount.(Left: Trek Full Floater, Right: Pace Full Floater)

So basically the advantage of this design is it allows the manufacturer to custom tune the leverage ratio of the shock throughout its travel without resorting to complicated design like DW Link

2008 BMC Fourstroke

Hmm, what is BMC? A bike company?. I never heard of it. BMC is a swiss mountain bike company, they are not that popular in MountainBike but roadies should know BMC. So anyway they make some interesting moutain bikes too, the quality of their bikes are superb (considering its built in Swiss), so far their lineup only offers hardtails and full suspension ranging from cross country to all-mountain.

BMC uses VPS which is something like a virtual pivot bike (seems most bike manufacturer are using virtual pivot concept nowadays). Their XC full suspension bike, FourStroke receives some changes for 08, so what do the Swiss company has offered us for 2008?

08 Fourstroke 01 VPS rear linkage and Easton unidirectional CNT

For starters, they did a makeover on their top XC full suspension bike, FourStroke01. Its now offered in full black and it features Easton CNT (thats right, they use the same type of carbon tube that you found on your Eason carbon MTB products). Above is the picture of the rear linkage. It looks beefy and stiff for a XC bike, the weight hasnt been confirmed yet (lets hope its light shall we).

To improve stiffness, the lower link for 08 models have been widened.

Knowing European bikes, the mud clearance for the Fourstroke doesnt disappoint. And the carbon bracer is actually curved upwards for better rigidity and it looks good too.

The Fourstroke 01 also receives a newly redesign head tube bond that increases the front stiffness.

So before we move to the aluminium model, there is a bit of change that will affect both the carbon and aluminium model which is BMC unique toptube/seattube joint. It has been redesign and it looks beautifull.

The newly redesign toptube/seattube joint

The aluminium version of Fourstroke also recieves a new hydroformed head tube joint which elimantes the use of gussets, thus save weight.

So basically those are the changes that 08 BMC Fourstroke will undertake and I must say that the carbon bike aint going to be cheap. But since the carbon is made from Easton which produces one of the strongest carbon fibre parts in Mountain Bikes, EC90 seatpost, MonkeyLite Handlebars, durability should be assured. Below are the pics of the new Fourstrokes and take note that in the second pic, the bike located in the middle is 07 Fourstroke, as you can see the toptube/seattube junction is different.

2008 BMC Fourstroke 01 (carbon) - It aint goint to be cheap

07 and 08 BMC Fourstrokes (Aluminium version - front is 08 and the middle one is 07)

Pics provided from CyclingNews.com