Mountain Biking

There seems to be a new spark in trials mountain biking that we haven’t seen since the peak of Hans “No Way” Rey. A lot of this is thanks to the recent YouTube superstardom of Danny MacAskill. David Bonzon is the Junior World Champion…and he has some skills. Check out the video from Epic TV.

“David Bonzon rides a trials bike and only happens to be the best in Switzerland. And Europe. And in the world. Yep, he holds the world champ titles in all three junior categories. He lives only an hour away from the Epic headquarters, so we asked him to give us a tour of his hometown of Montreux, Switzerland. He took us to one of the most unlikely trial spots, the Chateau de Chillon, and this is what happened.

EpicTV would like to thank the staff at the Chateau de Chillon, for more info go to www.chillon.ch

To find out more about David Bonzon, go to www.davidbonzon.com”

I don’t know about you guys…but Nepal might have to go on the bucket ride list now. It looks like an awesome place to visit with some hidden riding spots that are incredible.

“Far away from the cliché of a wild Nepal, which would be ideal for a backpacking trip, our shaper and rider Pierre-Edouard Ferry went on to share his knowledge and expertise with Kathmandu’s youngster. In a city where paradox are found at every corner and which teems with life in a doom’s day atmosphere, pumptrack riding can be perceived as the symbol of a whole new generation of Nepalese riders for whom riding as a mean of escape. The wheel is spinning in Nepal.”

The reputation of the RIP 9 is unassailable – in the six years since its introduction it has helped define the new-school genre of trail ripper both with riders and the cycling press.

So how can it be improved? Keep the attitude, boost performance, shed unwanted weight and build on the legend. The changes to this new beast can’t really be called “evolutionary,” because the word implies a slow process of incremental gains and small strides. That just doesn’t describe the changes to the new RIP 9 – there’s nothing incremental about a kick in the pants.

Niner RIP9

The Niner that is at home on just about any trail or any terrain – The RIP 9 incorporates global rider feedback as well as Niner’s rigorous progression of alloy design, engineering and testing standards. The RIP 9 has over 30 glowing media reviews for ride quality and handling – the new RIP 9 takes these characteristics and ups the ante with air formed aluminum alloy tubes that redefine performance, a lower weight, ISCG compatibility and additional travel.

• AIRFORMED ALLOY FULL SUSPENSION FROM NINER
• 125MM OF PATENTED CVA SUSPENSION IS EFFICIENT IN EVERY CHAINRING
• COMPATIBLE WITH 120-140MM FORKS
• TUNED FOR CVA – ROCK SHOX MONARCH RT3 HV
• ISCG 05 TABS AND OFFSET LINKAGE DESIGN FOR CHAINGUIDE COMPATIBILITY
• FORGED SUSPENSION LINKAGE AND UNIQUE NINER ALLOY HARDWARE
• 142MM X 12MM REAR SPACING
• 6.85 LBS / 3107 G W/ FRAME, SHOCK, HANGER
• 7 LBS / 3175 G W/ FRAME, SHOCK, MAXLE, HANGER & SEAT COLLAR
• LICORICE BLACK OR NINER GREEN

Niner RIP 9 in Niner Green

Airformed Alloy Frame – Shaping the frame tubes with compressed air in a heated mold gives us greater control over wall thickness and material uniformity, allowing the use of less metal. Tubes that are manipulated using this process can be up to 25% lighter than a similar hydroformed shape at the same strength.

Niner RIP9 in Action

To progress as a rider you need predictability, balance and nimble handling. We are proud to be the company that first made these attributes a reality in 29ers. Climbing or descending, the geometry of the RIP 9 is tuned to keep you in control and ready to conquer new terrain at every turn. The RIP 9 is intended for 120 to 140mm forks, allowing riders to further fine tune the ride.

Niner RIP9 CVA Suspension

The RIP 9 features Niner’s patented CVA™ suspension (U.S. Patent No. 7,934,739) and delivers 125mm of fully active travel with superb compliance and damping via a tuned for CVA™ RockShox Monarch RT3 HV shock. For those seeking the technical advantages of 29″ wheels combined with pedaling efficiency across all chainring combinations (not just the middle ring), CVA™ is the front-runner. The result? A faster, smoother ride up and down the trail.

Niner RIP9 CVA Suspension

The RIP9 in Black Licorice and Niner Green

The increased surface area of a tapered headtube allows for a larger downtube, increasing strength and rigidity at this critical intersection. Tapered fork steerer tubes measurably reduce fork deflection, which means your Niner tracks straight and true. The full spectrum of riders from XC racers to All Mountain shredders benefit from these features which is why we incorporate the technology in all our frames.

Forged Pieces New RIP 9

From the head tube to the rear axle, we looked at every single detail and asked “can it be done better?” We’ve revised the shapes of the forged yokes and attachments, subjecting them to mechanical and real world testing to ensure they’re as light and strong as possible.

The New Niner RIP9 Linkage

New linkage shapes increase strength and stiffness and shed a few more grams, the lower link has a pronounced asymetrical form to make room for ISCG tabs and increased chainstay clearance. Larger pivot hardware and a switch to 8mm alloy shock mounting bolts shave weight and increase the bling we love so much. Saving weight doesn’t mean skimping – pivots are still outfitted with Enduro Max full complement sealed cartridge bearings for smooth, friction-free suspension.

Niner RIP9 Rear Axle

This newest member of the RIP 9 line up will be available for demo across the country, beginning this Thursday at Sea Otter. It is available for order from Niner dealers now, with first frames shipping internationally May 7th. Pricing on this frame has not increased over the original RIP 9 – MSRP $1849 USD. It is also available as a complete bike – full details here.

For complete specs and geometry, see www.ninerbikes.com/rip9

I have been riding bikes for over 15 years now and I have never had a professional bike fit until this month.

I thought that would be a great way to start this experience just to give you guys a baseline. I have always done my own fits based off of feel on the bike. Over the years, I have grown to know my body, my riding style and where I am most comfortable. It was not until my recent back issues (not biking related…just hurts while on the bike) that I considered getting a bike fit done to make sure I was not further agitating the condition.

I will say…my “just on feel” theory was wrong after having a real fit done, so here is the story.

The Professional Bike Fit

I called up a friend of mine that owns Reality Bikes in Cumming, GA. We have been talking a lot over the past couple of months about my back issues and what do to on the bike that could help that out. With the help of doctors and his first hand knowledge, I had gotten to the point that I was comfortable on the bike again.

When the Specialized Venge came in for review (first look article coming soon), I knew there was going to be a lot of saddle time involved. It was time to throw away my old way of doing things and make sure that everything was perfect. I told Todd what was going on and he scheduled me in that week to see where the current fit stood and what we could tweak to make sure I was getting everything I could out of the bike with the least amount of body error that might agitate my back or any other parts of my body. I fit the measurements of the Venge directly to what I had been riding on the previous Tarmac. This is also what I had been riding on for the shakedown rides.

Pedal Right Fit Studio with Retul

Todd uses the Pedal Right Fit Studio with the Retul fit system. What is really cool about this whole process is that he essentially traces your bike to find your baseline measurements. Then…once the fit process is complete…we retraces it to give you your measurements. This allows you to have the data to transfer the fit to other bikes. It also satisfies the data geek within me.

Tracing the bike with the Retul system.

Using a scanner and several key points on the bike, Todd was able to draw my current setup virtually. It really reminded me of the Xbox Kinect as he went from point to point. It is really cool how far technology has come over the years.

The Retul Scanner

After all of the baseline measurements were taken, Todd had me get on the bike and warm up a bit. After I had gotten comfortable and into my stride, he started to have me stop the pedals at 6 o’clock and 3 o’clock to check alignments and measurements as I sat on the bike. As many of you already know, bike fit is essentially a science.  There are certain geometrical solutions that create the most power at a healthy angle for your body.

So what was the outcome of my “feel fit”?

Well…I ended up having the most common problem in bike fits…my saddle height was too low. Ironically, most of my other measurements were pretty dead on, but that doesn’t mean a thing if the saddle height is not correct as that is probably the biggest factor in a correct bike fit.

Todd got to work on the saddle height and then started tailoring the rest of the measurements around that. As we continued working on the fit, we noticed another glaring problem. I had been telling him how I feel like my heals want to point out on the bike. As it turns out, my pedals were so far inward that the laser was not even showing up on my foot when lined up with my kneecap.

A couple of washers later…and I had a straight line heading from my leg to my foot. As you might have heard before, your leg is like a piston in producing power. You want the straightest line possible to the ground to insure there is no power loss in side to side torquing motion (as a gear head I love that analogy). I was losing power due to not striking the pedal straight on. That can also be a source of knee pain over time as I was essentially torquing it to the side.

We got done with the rest of the measurements and Todd gave me the final data. These sheets aren’t of any real value to you unless you are my exact same proportions and measurements, but I thought they would be cool to post here so you can see how things changed.

The Proof in the Pudding: The Rides After the Fit

It is amazing how much little changes can make a big difference. The bike feels great right now and it is the most comfortable I have ever been on a road bike. Obviously, the biggest changes I can feel is the pedal placement and saddle height. I really don’t feel like I am fighting anything on the bike anymore during my pedal strokes. Fellow riding friends have even said that it looks more comfortable as we are riding in a paceline.

So…long story short…I was wrong.

This is something I should have done a long time ago regardless of the issues with my back. I started thinking about how much power I have left on the trail or the road due to not being lined up correctly on the bike. How many more miles could I have ridden? How much faster could I have been with that extra energy and by getting the energy I did have straight to the ground?

I’ll never really know the answers to those questions…but I do know that I am sold. If you are in the local area, Reality Bikes is a great place to get a fit done and I have always highly recommended their shop for a lot of things…so check them out. Otherwise, get a fit done at your local shop as it will help your riding.

It is great to see Danny MacAskill coming back from injury and getting back into making videos again. This series is going to be awesome and it will give us insight into the life of Danny MacAskill…arguably the best trials mountain biker currently spinning the cranks and clearing the impossible.

“‘In the Balance’ – As Danny embarks on his most ambitiously creative project to date, an old injury flairs up threatening not just the project but his career as a rider.”

Ever since SRAM came out with the XX1 group, we’ve been wondering if companies would create a similar front ring, but one that worked with normal cranks rather than the 76mm BCD of the XX1 crank. Wolf Tooth Components made that a reality with their line of Drop-Stop Chainrings. Their chainrings come in all kinds of tooth counts and standard 104mm BCD, Shimano 88mm BCD, SRAM direct mount, and finally Middleburn direct mounts. This opens up some great options for riders to drop their chain guides, provided they have a clutch type rear derailleur.

Wolf Tooth Drop-Stop Chainring

We picked the 34 tooth 104mm BCD ring to test out, as it will be a perfect fit for the SRAM Stylo SS crank currently residing on our Salsa El Mariachi. In the past, we had to use a C-Guide chain keeper to keep the chain contained on the 1×10 setup, but with this Wolf Tooth Components chainring, we are looking forward to dropping the chain guide and cleaning up the look of the bike at the same time.

Closeup. Check out the alternating wide/narrow teeth which prevent the chain from dropping off the ring.

 Along with the 1×10 setup on the El Mariachi, we will be testing the chainring on the 1×11 setup on the Trek Remedy as well. This will let us test the chainring in a variety of conditions, as the El Mar is the smooth trail, around town ramble, bike, while the Remedy will see some rough terrain and All Mountain style riding.

Getting a new mountain or road bike is one of the many exciting parts of the sport of cycling. Let’s face it…there is nothing quite like a shiny new sled. You get to act like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. However, there is a process you need to go through with each new bike purchase to insure that the excitement keeps rolling forward and doesn’t turn into a stoke ending catastrophe.

For many, this process will be aided through your local bike shop, but let’s lay out the top 5 things you need to do on your new bike when you first take it into possession.

Top 5 Things Every Rider Should Do When They Get A New Bike

So here they are…the top 5 things every rider needs to do when they get a new bike…

Swapping parts between the Specialized Tarmac and the Specialized Venge

#1 – Swap Parts

Even if you are buying a complete bike that is ready to go off the shelf, there are probably some parts that you have upgraded on your old ride or parts that have to do with fit (handlebars, stem, seatpost, seat, etc.) that you will need to swap over to your new ride. It is best to go ahead and get this process started right away even if you really just want to tear it out of the box and start getting it dirty. Now is also a good time to look over the frame and add 3M protective film to anywhere on the frame where there might be cable or foot rub. That will keep your bike looking new for the long run and prevent those heart breaking first scratches.

This is also the time to check the torque with a torque wrench (all riders should have one) on all of your bolts to make sure nothing randomly falls off on your first ride. Nothing kills the new bike fever worse than a bad wreck.

Bike Fit Done by Todd at Reality Bikes in Cumming, GA

#2 – Get A Bike Fit

Many riders know exactly how they fit on the bike down to the millimeter, but many do not. A proper bike fit will insure less injury and more power from your legs getting transferred to the ground. This is also a great time to get a new fit done to begin with as your new bike’s geometry is most likely not the same as your old one. There will be tweaks to the fit that need to be made.

I always like to match up the fit from my old bike to the new as close as possible…then go in and get a fit done to fine tune the process. That also gives me an awareness on how the new bike fits differently than the old.

#3 – Shakedown Ride and Attitude

Now this is the tough one. Just when you want to go out and prove the new bike actually does make you faster…you can’t. The first ride on a new bike should always have an adjustment in riding attitude. During this first shakedown ride, you should pick a trail or road that you know very well. Preferably…one that is close by the car or tools so if you need to make adjustments you can.

During this ride, you are riding slower and not as intense as usual. You should be getting used to the new handling characteristics of the bike, watching for any loose bolts or fitment issues and taking it easy while observing all of these things at once. Shakedown rides are also shorter in distance as changes will need to be made and you are trying to just shake everything loose on the bike.

Just take this ride easy and make sure it ends well. Your time to push the bike is coming soon…

Shakedown on the new Specialized Venge

#4 – Recheck Torque Settings

After your shakedown ride, it is time to get your new bike in the garage and recheck all torque settings with a torque wrench on the bike. You are going to be surprised. That first shakedown ride popped a couple of things loose that you are not going to want to fall off on the trail or road. This is also a great time to double check all of the areas that you put 3M film and make sure it is doing its job. In many cases, the first shakedown ride has also pointed out new places that I want to keep components or other factors from hitting the frame.

#5 – Post It All Over The Internet

You know you want to and are going to. Part of the fun of getting a new bike is taking pictures of it out on the trail…in your car…on a couch in the house while your wife is not looking. Have fun with it. We all get excited over new bikes even if they aren’t ours.

What are some of your initial setup procedures?

We finally got our XX1 drivetrain in here at Bike198. I’ve been dying to try it out after hearing all the ravings about it, missing a couple of the recent bike Expos, and not being able to ride it until now. Also came right on time, as one of bigger races of the year, the 6 hours of Warrior Creek is this weekend. As soon as the kit got here, I pulled the XX 2×10 drivetrain off the Trek Superfly 100 and threw on the brand new, shiny, and lighter XX1. I didn’t weigh all the components before the install as there are plenty of places online that have detailed exact weights down to the gram.

Ever since I tried 1×10 on my Trek Remedy, I knew that XX1 was going to be the perfect drivetrain for me. The 1×10 was missing “just that little bit” of gearing and needed a chain guide to prevent drops, and the XX1 fixes both of those problems with seemingly no compromises. With a 32T front ring, 32×10 on the fast end and 32×42 on the granny side gives me pretty much the same gearing as my old 2×10 setup. The only thing I really give up is the 39×11 fastest gear and I’ve never used that during any races. If I’m ever going that fast down something I can go a bit faster by stopping pedaling and tucking. One of the great things about XX1 as well is the interchangeable front ring. If we are going somewhere super hilly I can put a 30T on the front and have a nice granny gear, but if I’m going to be riding a lot on Florida, I can throw the 34T or even 36T on the front and go fast.

XX1 shifter came with all the housing and ferrules necessary for install

The drivetrain came with absolutely everything needed to install including the cable housing, ferrules, and even had grease applied at all the right spots. Made for a very easy install. I went ahead and pulled off my old cable housings and used them as a guide to cut the brand new ones. Swapping out the freehub on my NoTubes Crest wheelset was also simple. The old freehub popped right off and on with the new one. Easy peasy. The setup of the rear derailleur was a touch different than the 10 speed stuff as the B screw adjuster distances are a little bigger, but the SRAM manual is pretty clear about it, and the install was straightforward. What surprised me was how effective the front ring really is at holding the chain on. If you get pull up on the chain while it’s directly over one of the “grabber” teeth, it’s hard to pull the chain of the ring by hand. No wonder this drivetrain doesn’t need to come with a chain retention device.

XX1 crank and interchangeable front ring

I got to take the drivetrain for it’s first shakedown on our local trail system at Blankets creek in Woodstock, GA. The trails are a mix of fun intermediate easy riding, with a nice technical rocky trail, along with some fast and swoopy bermed sections. The drivetrain passed with absolute flying colors. The whole system sort of makes itself “invisible” on the bike. It’s a bit hard to describe, but it’s quiet, smooth, and just like the 1×10, just frees your mind from having to worry about front shifting. That in itself lets me enjoy the ride so much more. Just a couple of clicks with the my right thumb and I’m either flying or climbing with a high cadence.

Now that I’m truly in love with the drivetrain, I’ll be testing it further this weekend during the 6 hours of Warrior Creek. It’s looking to a beautiful weekend and the bike and myself will get a pretty good workout. It’s also crunch time for Cohutta 100 training and I’ll be getting a lot of seat time over the next 3 weeks in preparation, so the drivetrain is going to get put through it’s paces very quickly. I’ll report back on how it handled the races and how it’s doing with all the trail riding. After this first bit of racing, the drivetrain will move over to my Remedy to see how it handles Pisgah. Can’t wait!

XX1 rear derailleur and cassette. The giant 42T ring looks right at home on a 29er.

It occured to me as I was talking to a few friends of mine that over the last few years of riding bikes and also getting into racing, I’ve learned quite a lot about bikes, riding them properly, exercise, racing and otherwise having a blast on 2 wheels. There are quite a few things that I would have been better off if I had known about them when I got started, or at least before I stared getting “more serious” about biking. They would have saved some rides, prevented injuries, and saved me some money, so I figured I should share them (in no particular order) and hopefully provide some advice to others. As always, I’m open to comments or additions, or arguments, so if you have any please feel free to share below.

1) If you are ANY sort of mechanically inclined, learn how to work on your own bicycle. You don’t have to do the things that require very special tools, but spend $250 on basic bike specific tools, a cheap repair stand, open youtube and get cracking. If you have to get your headset pressed in, destroyed one of your shifters, or need a wheel dished, absolutely take your bike into the LBS, support them, and get some work done, but for things such as cleaning/lubing, derailleur adjustments, simple wheel/rotor truing, re-cabling, part swapping/upgrading and basic fork/shock maintenance, you’ll be able to get by a youtube video. Not only will you save money in the long term, but almost more importantly, you’ll know what to do when you are 20 miles away from the car and you can’t get your bike to stop ghost shifting.

You don’t have to be a full mechanic, but learning the simple stuff will go a long way

2) When you go on “epic” rides, carry  spares and a basic first aid kit. I know that inside we are all weight weenies and we want the lightest setup possible, but if you are going out for a big day on the bike, especially if you are riding with a group, it’s going to pay off to have some very simple spares. Things you wouldn’t normally think about carrying, but they can absolutely save you or your buddies day. I’m not talking about the basics like a tube and pump, but here some of the items I now take with me and boy have they helped:

• - Extra derailleur hanger
• - Derailleur cable (it weighs almost nothing and can save you or a friend’s day)
• - 2 SRAM quick links (carry one extra, they weigh nothing)
• - One extra bolt of each kind (3,4,5mm, cleat bolt, stem bolt, seat post bolt, etc)
• - Leatherman Freestyle (pliers + knife)
• - Electrical tape, Duct tape, White Athletic Tape (2-3 ft of each wrapped around my pump)
• - Along with your regular tire pump, carry a shock pump, especially if you ride a full suspension bike

If it’s an epic ride, carry your spares, it will be worth it!

3) Get a basic bike fit and cross train. Especially when you up your mileage and start riding more than a couple of times a week, make sure that you aren’t going to cause yourself any injuries. If you have the money and desire, a Professional Fit like 55 Nine Performance is absolutely awesome, but if you don’t, at least spend a few minutes measuring yourself and make sure your seat and bars are close to being in the correct spot. Competitive Cyclist has a great free fit calculator that is easy to use. Also, don’t just bike. Make sure you prepare your body for mountain biking, especially for longer rides. There are great exercises you can do to make sure that you are using all of your leg muscles (I’ve detailed them in the past here) and also, core work is very important. Again, you can spend some money and do structured programs that are intended for people that at more serious, but you can just hit some squats, lunges, push ups, planks, and pull ups on a regular basis and you’ll be much better off than not doing anything.

4) Ride TO the trail. I know that this will really depend on how far away you live from the trail and how much riding you want to get in, but this has been a big eye opener for me in the last few months. I’ve been struggling to get enough ride time in for training purposes and was crying the blues about spending time in the car to go mountain biking. Then I realized that I’ve got trails 15 miles from my door. Add into that 10-12 miles or riding on the trail itself, and I just rocked out a great 40-45 mile 3-4 hour day and I was able to leave from my front door. No wasted time! Just grab a blinkie to throw on the back of your bike, and enjoy not only getting more exercise, but also doing some “rambling” while you are out and about. Hit a few pieces of dirt, go down that stair case, jump off some of those curbs on the way. It’s way more awesome than sitting on traffic on the way to the trail.

5) I really struggle with this one, as I have a BAD case of “shiny new thing” syndrome, but be happy with the bike that you have and ride the hell out of it. When stuff breaks, upgrade. The bike companies are in the business of making you want that new part. But don’t waste your time and money upgrading that 1×10 setup to 1×11. Sure it’s going to be nice and shiny, but as much as you think you will, you won’t get that much money out of your used part on the open market. And that 1×10 works awesome, and it’s going to continue being awesome. Just wait until it’s time to replace those worn out parts and then, yup, then go blow your hard earned money on that shiny new smelling 1×11, oh I want it!!!!

This Turner is now 4 years old, but still a BLAST to ride!

In what looks to be almost another breakthrough in shock performance, Cane Creek pre-launches the 17-way adjustable CHURN, the only shock of its kind. In an equally unprecedented move – this shock will not be sold to the current generation of riders. Details are still rolling in, but we do know several key ingredients that make the CHURN so very far ahead of its time. It took Cane Creek’s engineering team 7 years to develop the CHURN – 1 year of product development, 1 year of testing, and another 5 years writing the Owner’s Manual.

The CHURN is the first of a family of products developed by the Double Barrel-Advanced Generation division (DB-AG). DB-AG was created inside the marketing department of Cane Creek to challenge the standard model of engineering.

According to Holly Colson, Global President of Marketing at Cane Creek, “We are not encumbered by formal engineering training so ignoring the actual ‘laws’ of physics allows us to shift the paradigms of product development. Every idea we have is so out of the box, we don’t even have boxes anymore. The key to DB-AG is to focus on coming up with kickass names and acronyms for stuff we want and the engineers come up with something for our great names.”

For the CHURN, Cane Creek developed an entirely new, organic and renewable suspension fluid and shaft coating, code named G.O.L.B. (Good Ol’ Liquid Butterfat).

“We were getting tired of always hearing the comparisons to butter,” said Josh Coaplen, R&D Commander President. “It was always, smooth as butter, or buttery smooth, or some other lingual permutation involving the words smooth and butter. So now, instead of being “like” butter, it is butter.”

Josh was quick to point out that the system is self-lubricating, so that as the suspension is used, G.O.L.B. becomes butter. This keeps everything, ahem, buttery smooth.

On the CHURN, each of the four standard Double Barrel adjusters is itself adjustable, leading to an exponential growth in adjustability. That’s right, adjustable adjustability. For those riders who demand a high level of tuneability, just “turn up” the adjuster’s adjusters. For riders who like to “set it and forget it”, there is a straightforward tuning process for adjusting out the adjustability. The 17th adjustment is a big red button, “that doesn’t really do anything,” says Jim Morrison, Elder Design Engineer at Cane Creek. “Marketing just said it had to have a button.”

According to Cane Creek, 100% of riders cannot reap the benefits of the CHURN. Literally, there is nobody alive that is qualified to ride the CHURN. For testing, Cane Creek built a bike riding robot, BikeBot, to explore the CHURN’S limits. BikeBot was programmed to only speak French so we could not interview it, though we overheard the sound “braaaaaap”.

Applications for CHURN shocks are being accepted for children under 5 that, through extensive physical and DNA testing, are found to have a statistical likelihood of winning at least 20 World Cup races. To date, only two applications have been approved, Bam Hill and Duke Hannah. Applications are downloadable in The Lounge on www.canecreek. com.

About Cane Creek Cycling Components:

Cane Creek has a long, rich history in taking bicycle suspension technologies beyond compre- hension and is among the world’s largest producers of corn mash. Located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, the employee-owned company designs and manufactures class-leading bicycle components, mason jars and performance enhancing supplements. To learn more about Cane Creek contact (800) 123-DBAG or visit www.canecreek.com.

From 198:

Obviously this is an April Fools press release…and it really made my morning. Hilarious!

A friend of mine posted this video on my Facebook timeline as a joke for a project for my son and I while my wife is out of town this week. While I thought it was hilarious given my need to go over the top with things…this video and GoPro setup is truly EPIC.

What do you get when you put 15 GoPros on a beam together? Awesome that’s what…

What is the world coming too? Serrated blades buried in a bike trail?! What if someone got seriously injured by this? I guess there is no cure for crazy.