The guys over at Maxxis sent us some of the 29er Ardents to test along side the DH casing 26er versions we are currently running on the Terremoto. So far, we are extremely impressed with the performance out of the 26er version, and we are excited about getting our hands on the 29er set.

As the blog continues to grow, navigation across the posts and the site becomes increasingly harder. In an attempt to make this easier for you guys, I have created some new categories and created a listing that you will now find at the bottom of the page.

As lined out here in a previous post, HIP/VIP is a time when a group of us off the MTBR board get together for some great riding in the Asheville, NC and Pisgah National Forest area. This is the mecca of east coast mountain biking with more epic trails to ride than you can handle. This year we went with Bent Creek, Laurel Mountain/Pilot Rock, Black Mountain and Dupont State Forest.

Walking into the front door, you come straight into the final assembly and order staging area of the plant. You can see by the pictures below they stock your spokes and hubs in white boxes and the rims go on the other wall. Finished prototypes are hung on one side of the room and the finished boxed wheelsets are stacked all over the place.

At that time, he was riding a 32 lbs. red RFX that seemed to be fitting the bill for the new Asheville, NC local. Due to an attempt at flying incident on Green’s Lick at Bent Creek, MP dented the RFX and had to build up the newly painted Sultan in a hurry to be ready for our HIP rides over the past weekend.

What is HIP? An excuse for a bunch of riders with the same interest (Turner Bikes) that get together to ride some killer North Carolina single track. Most own Turners, some are former Turner owners and some are just along for the ride, but it originates on the Turner board of MTBR.com.

Thule Sweden bought the T2 design when they acquired Sportwerks. When this buy out was completed, Thule owned the patents to the best rack design on the market. With a couple of Thule “tweaks”, the rack became what it is today. The main design stayed the same, but the addition of adjustable rails, locking arms and replaceable straps gave the rack the Thule quality with the trusted Sportwerks design.

Fred Cuthbert of Wolfhound Cycles builds what is considered a true work of art. His fillet brazed, custom steel creations not only look like nothing else on the trail, but they are the best riding steel frames that I have ever had the pleasure of testing. Hambone’s orange Wolfhound 29er rigid is featured on this site.

he paint jobs coming across the Specialized mountain bike line seem to be getting worse with every release. For me, it all started with the “candy corn” SX Trail. A fellow riding friend, APPBLING, sent his off to the powder coater straight out of the box to get stripped and re-coated silver.