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

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.

Update @ 11 OCT

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

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

Kayuh Lasak : Beyond Limits!!

Okay so what is this post going to be about? Its not going to be about Mountain bikes gears though, but rather towards a MTB Jamboree which is the last MTB event in Malaysia (thats between Singapore/Indonesia for some of you guys who never heard of Malaysia). The date of this event would please riders who still want to ride in the winter (without the cold weather :D ) and enjoy their holidays.

This event for your information is a jamboree which means that its not really a competition, to make it quick and not boring, medal is awarded to each participant who managed to complete the jamboree and at night, there is a dinner where riders talk bout the morning ride and laugh at each other, for this year, the first 500 participant who registered is entitled to a free sponsored cycling jersey, and when you wear it (the free sponsored cycling jersey) during the jamboree and complete the event (by collecting 8 checkpoint stickers) will entitle you to a 10 special lucky draw prizes . Also for those who missed to be the first 500 participant shouldn be sad cause like past years, they are the normal/traditional lucky draw for all the participating participants. Which means this year they will be a special lucky draw and the traditional lucky draw event.

The event is a 2 day event, which is held on the 1st and 2nd of December in Penang Malaysia, officially the Kayuh Lasak 30-40km ride is on 2nd December (Sunday), on the 1st December there is CycleHunt event in the morning where you will be able to cycle on road around Penang town area, which is can be considered as a tour around Penang town and later that night is a pre-ride briefing that is compulsory to all riders. On the 2nd December, the bike event will begin and at night, there will be a jamboree dinner where local food will be served.

Okay I participated in last years jamboree and I will shed some facts bout it, the Jamboree trail for each year doesnt change much, so last year Jamboree is a very interesting experience for me since its the first Jamboree I participate. Its pretty hard for me to explain but believe me that the terrain will challenge riders from almost every aspect of Mountain Biking so you will be entertained.

For more infomation, you can go to the official site: kotrt.com.my

Before I forget, Kayuh Lasak is in Bahasa Melayu which if translated into english means Pedal Hard/Challenging. It sounds weird if translated to english so its best to just pronounce it as 'ka-yuh la-sak'.

Make sure you register ASAP because only the first 500 participant will be entitled for the free sponsored jersey and the special lucky draw event (if you manage to complete it that is). For additional information, the registration usually last about 1 week (Im trying to point out that many riders register for this even ASAP) So make sure you reserve your hotel accomodation (I recommend staying near the Tanjung Bungah area cause they are a lot of hotels that area and the jamboree will start near there).

You can also email me at xcrider@mtbnnetwork.tk if you have any enquiry.

Below is the map link of Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia:

GeorgeTown, Penang, Malaysia Google Map Link


*please take note that I have edited this post cause they are some mistakes, sorry for the inconvenience

Updates @ 29/9

I recently added new stuff in yesterday 28/9 post, make sure you check it out :

Ibis Mojo/Mojo SL 2008/The Best just got Better

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.

Updates @ 25/9

2008 Trek Remedy blog post has recently been updated, be sure to check Update #2. Click the link below to go directly to the post.

2008 Trek Remedy blog post minipage

MTBN Network going to slow down

Sorry to make this a short notice but MTBN Network posting will be on hold for 2 weeks cause I got a exam coming up and I wont be able to post as usual. Sorry guys. Hope you guys can enjoy reading my posts and keep on riding :D

No updates today

Sorry guys, they wont be any news today considering that I got a very bad flu, writing this post is like hell already. So lets hope I will cure as fast as possible.

Updates @ 2/9

I recently updated the 2008 Rock Shox SID, be sure to check it out, click the link below to go directly to the post:
2008 RockShox SID