Mountain BIke Component Reviews

Cane Creek Double Barrel – Long Term Review

Robb SuttonApril 5, 200874.2K views

The Double Barrel was developed by Cane Creek in conjunction with Ohlins Racing. Their goal was to produce the best performing rear shock on the market for a mountain bike. Ohlins Racing’s United States branch office is located in Hendersonville, NC a stone’s throw away from Cane Creek’s headquarters. Ohins Racing is known for producing some of the best shock absorbers on the market and with more than 200 World Championship and other major titles, they have earned the right to claim that they are one of the best in the industry.

Ibis Mojo and Push Industries – Full Review

Robb SuttonMarch 31, 2008226.2K views

he shake-down ride actually ended up being a time trail at Big Creek’s Two Ways in a Day. Big Creek is a Atlanta local trail that provides great insight on how a bike will act in tight, twisty, quick up with quick down situations. As you can see by the elevation map, you really don’t get a break at this place when you are going for the lowest time. The trail still, even after all of the traffic it receives, has loose rocks and steep climbs.

2008 SRAM X.0 Rear Derailleur

Robb SuttonMarch 28, 200833.1K views

SRAM’s X.0 rear derailleur went through a redesign for 2008. The most visual of these changes is the new 20th anniversary gold accenting on the mounting bolt and graphics. What you will also see is a new 6061 aluminum backing to the carbon Blackbox cage.

New Shimano Component Groups – SLX and LX

Robb SuttonMarch 26, 200834.2K views

Say hello to the new component group from Shimano…SLX. Set to replace the Hone and LX line for mountain biking, the SLX is marketed as a heavier duty all mountain group for the Shimano line. So far from the pictures, it appears that Shimano mixed the previous LX and Hone together and added a new look along with the some features that were added to the XTR line. The rear derailleur shows some XTR-like characteristics. This line will still fall below the XT line in price and is designed around the growing popularity of 5″ and 6″ trail bikes.

650B Wheels – 198's Thoughts…

Robb SuttonMarch 20, 200892K views

Honestly…how many different wheels sizes do we need? With the introduction of the 650B (27.5″) wheel size, we are now up to 3 different available wheel sizes for mountain bikes if you don’t include the 24″ variety. The idea is that you get the same rolling power seen in 29″ wheels with the agility of 26″. I am not jumping on the bandwagon that fast for several reasons.

Cane Creek Reserve 110

Robb SuttonMarch 18, 200812.6K views

So what does a 650.00 headset look like? Here it is…the Cane Creek Reserve 110 headset. So what do you do with a handmade, precision-machined titanium, inlaid with maple or mahogany headset?

The "New" 15mm Thru-axle Standard from Fox and Shimano

Robb SuttonMarch 18, 200843.3K views

Everyone that is saying that 15mm is going to be lighter than 20mm has no engineering background at all. All things created equal…the difference with the same materials and parts would at most be several grams…and this small difference would not be felt on the bike when it is actually ridden.