Thanks to Scott Cartwright at www.eggraphy.com we’ve a few snaps from this weekends racing at Hamsterley.
The Descend Hamsterley team put on their ‘Fast and Furious’ this weekend with uplifts, cash prizes, 3 runs per racer and BC points. At £47 quid for the whole lot it could well have been the best value for money race of the year.
A full report will be in Issue 10 – for now check out Scott’s photos and head over to the Descend Hamsterley website for results.
We caught up with Cy from Cotic at the Cycleshow to get the low down on the all new Cotic BFe…
With the advent of the new CEN testing standard and the general proliferation of hardcore hardtails in the market Cotic have completely revised the BFe.
Still the all round hardcore bike it is capable of alpine descending, twisty UK downhill, 4X racing and all round ragging. The frame is capable of 100 to 160mm forks, depending on your discipline – and is tough tough tough. Weighing in about 5.2lbs it’s no featherweight but respectable for the construction, intended use and quality build.
Cotic have also bucked the trend, and with feedback from Robbie Rickman, their 4X rider (and from me) they’ll be putting out an XS size for the 2010 model – great news and we’ll have one on test first thing in the new year when the production batch arrive. Even better news is the price drop down to under £400!
So in the meantime sign up your interest on the website and enjoy these cheeky pre-production shots snapped by Jamie at Cycle.
We’ve been excited in the office for a long time now after seeing design and prototype snaps of Brant Richards new hardtail design… Well Brant goes back a long way to On-One fame, and as the northern correspondant at Wideopen I’m pretty interested in hardcore hardtails. This one looks a peach and has some really nice design features, the machined bottom bracket chainstay yoke, nice dropouts, clever cable guides and I love the fact you can stick the stickers where you like them… very BMX!
We’ll be building it up with a full set of Nuke Proof gear, as previously mentioned on the blog. Keep your eyes peeled in Issue 10 for a preview snap, and a full writeup in Issue 11.
Designed by award winning designer Brant Richards of Shedfire, manufactured for us in the best frameshop in Taiwan we’ve ever seen, this is a hardcore long forked trail hardtail, designed to take everything you can throw at it.
Tubeset:
Though the word “revolutionary” is used a lot, some of the tricks Shedfire and Ragley have pulled on this custom triple internal and externally butted tubeset are right up there. The lightest long travel steel hardtail in it’s class to pass and exceed the demanding new CEN 14766 test for frame strength and durability.
Hand welded from custom drawn chromoly tubing, aligned on precision alignment table after manufacture, this is a true new-school steel hardtail with a ride that belies the strength and toughness the frame’s had built into it. Give it everything you can throw at it, and it’ll take it all. Featuring huge tyre clearances, bombproof cabling systems, and “new school” handling when coupled with contemporary long travel forks (between 130 and 150mm).
Geometry:
Featuring a slack 67.5deg head angle, coupled with a long top tube, these frames are designed to run a short stem (between 50 and 70mm) to give fine control but amazing stability, with the handling that will work at high and low speeds, through rock gardens and drops. A seat angle that puts the rider central on the bike, whatever their size, and a chainstay length that balances tyre clearance, traction and hill climbing ability.
Frame Details:
“Three Finger” chainstay bridge is exclusive to Ragley. Allows massive tyre clearance so you can fit up to 2.5in rubber, massive chainring clearance which is happy with 36t middle rings, resilience to any attempted chainsuck/derailment. Bridgeless design gives better mud clearance. Bracing to non driveside stay provides high BB stiffness for stomp-and-go power input.
• Bridgeless seatstays give awesome ride and huge mud clearance.
• Chainstay mounted disc brake calliper means lighter gauge seatstays can be used to promote sublime ride quality, give a stiffer mounting for the rear brake, and a neater mounting location.
• Rear slotted seat tube provides proven extra durability over extended front slotted models.
• Bolt on cable guides give multiple options for cable routing and replaceability.
• Custom sticker kit lets your personalise your frame your way.
• Two choices of colour
Frame Specs:
• Front Derailleur: 28.6mm Top Pull
• Seat Post: 27.2mm
• Seat Collar: 29.8/30mm
• ChainLine: 50mm
• BB Shell 68mm
• Headset 1.125in standard
• Rear disc size up to 203mm
• Fork length 130-150mm optimised.
I’ve also taken a set of blingy bling bling titanium bar end caps (after losing one of my alloy ones at Lee Quarry) on test… are they worth twice the price of the alloy counterparts? Hmmm first impression is very very nice – quality machining and lovely finish. £39.99 worth? I’d stick with alloy, but hey, titanium sparks when you catch a rock! Cool. Here’s the lowdown…
Bar caps are often thought of as bike “Bling” however there have been many documented accidents resulting from uncapped bar ends, some of which have even been fatal!
The bar caps are compatible with ODI lock on style grips, as well as conventional grips. Has a recessed face to minimize graphic scraping. The Straitline logo is laser etched on the outer edge allowing customization of the prominent end face. These are roughly twice the price of the alloy version but will last 5 or more times longer. Also, they shoot sparks when you lay it down!
• Laser etched
• 6Al-4V Titanium
• Last 5 or more times longer than the average Bar Cap
As usual with Issue deadline time things are mad busy with Jamie and I – and we’re more than aware of our humongous lateness with Issue 10. Things outside of Wideopen have conspired against the pair of us but trust me when I say we’re pulling out the stops, working through ’til dawn and hammering the coffee hard to bring you another storming issue.
So hold on tight – we’re nearly there!
Well a tasty parcel arrived at Wideopen towers last week from our friend Bert at Madison – with the latest ‘entry level’ full face helmet from Bell, the ‘Drop’.
The spec and finish are anything but entry level – really impressive fit, finish and great quick release neck strap and removable pads. I think the shape is a little less attractive than some of the similarly priced equivalents out there - but there are a whole heap of designs and for the money it’s well worth a look.
Expect a full test in the next issue of the mag!
http://www.bellbikehelmets.com
Us northerners like things simple – and hard… tail that is!
We’re expecting a new slinky hardcore hardtail frame in the office soon, and the lovely chaps at Hotlines have helped us out with a full ‘all mountain’ set up from Nuke Proof. The familiar Warhead stem, bars and post are joined by a set of Generator ‘AM’ wheelset and Warhead headset… plus a set of socks! hmm!
We’ve tried the post and bars before and commented on their excellent value for money – we’ll see how the headset and wheels go – watch out for more news when the frame arrives and the build gets started!
Oh and who’d have thought a stripped out 106 Rallye would ever be used as a photo studio!
For general arsing around riding in the UK it’s sensible to have a decent jacket, and Madison are hoping to plug the gap with a range of really well priced and specc’d options for you to choose from.
We’ve just got a Trail jacket into review, which is a lightweight, waterproof, breathable shell – priced at just shy of £80 RRP.
Hopefully I won’t have much chance to wear it this summer, so expect the first proper test later in the year… although with the UK who knows! I could be wearing it in August! First look in Issue 10 (in production at present).
Just spent a very pleasant morning visiting the guys at Fli Distribution in Glossop, just up the road, for a feature in Issue 10. The place has a great vibe and buzz about things, and we finished off the coffee whilst perving over the latest Twenty6 goodies (my god the pedals are amazing) and had a sneak peak at the 2010 O’Neal gear (helmets, protection and riding gear) which looks pretty special.
Picked up a Skad helmet for longterm test in the mag as well – so keep your eyes peeled. It looks awesome and matches the Wideopen race jerseys!
…starring Shandro, Simmons and Turenne
Got this through on the email over earlier in the week – slackness on my part sorry guys… check out the vids!
Shimano has teamed up with Anthill Films to produce a series of videos that uniquely showcase its 2009 mountain disc brake technologies through the eyes of some of the best in the sport. Appearing as a series of six themed videos that will debut online throughout 2009, Shimano team riders Andrew Shandro, Wade Simmons and Darcy Turenne are traveling the globe with the Anthill crew, hitting trails that put Shimano’s mountain disc brake systems through the ringer and tell a unique story in each video. The second video debuts today and can be viewed at Shimano’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ShimanoVideos
Viewers will see the riders push themselves and their Shimano goods to the
limits through high-definition cinematography and unique point-of-view
perspectives that provide a deeper connection to the athletes and the
components they rely on.
With 2009 being a big year for new Shimano mountain bike component
introductions like the new SAINT and SLX components, the exciting new
product and technology advancements are captured in the videos that cover
themes ranging from power, to control and confidence.
The collaboration with award-winning adventure filmmakers, Anthill Films,
is a continued relationship for Shimano and Anthill company founders – the
masterminds behind The Collective films. Shimano is the title sponsor of
Anthill’s first release, Follow Me, to debut in spring 2010.
It’s a little smaller than our usual rigs… a PUKY balance bike for my 2 year old daughter. Expect a mini writeup in Issue 10!
PUKY are made in Germany, and make a full range of kids bikes. This one I’ve bought myself, why? Because it’s well made, light and will last forever. Much better than the cheap stuff in Halfords.
Check out their site in the meantime http://www.puky.net/
More pictures here:
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| Elly’s new PUKY – 4/6/09 |
