Airbone ZT-507 mini pump review
Airbone’s mini pumps are sturdy enough to take a few knocks, light enough for weight weenies (the 507 weighs 115g) and well enough constructed to reach high pressures without too much work. Because the valve attachments screw rather than just push on, they create a leak-free seal.
The 507 is set up for Schrader valves but comes with a screw-in Presta adaptor. This lives in a neat frame-mount bracket or can be left screwed in if you carry your pump in a bag. Function-wise, we’ve no moans at all: we got a few road tyres up to over 100psi and mountain bike tyres took around 100 strokes to reach 40psi.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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Mongoose Slayton Expert – First ride review
The GT i-Drive-esque FreeDrive layout of the Mongoose Slayton would be easy to dismiss as being a decade old and somewhat stale in the fast moving world of modern full-suspension mountain bike design. Of course, that would only really be true if the FreeDrive design didn’t work.
News for the shape haters out there – armchair critics who pass judgment without actually riding the bikes they diss – the FreeDrive system can and does cut the mustard. We had a blast on the Slayton, not because it blew our minds in any particular way but because it simply got on with the job of entertaining us with lots of honest hard work.
Ride & handling: Perfectly good middle-order trail bike
The Slayton’s 11.9kg (26.3lb) weight is reasonable for the money but means it isn’t going to win a flat-out sprint or a race to the top of the mountain, or even one back down again. But – drum roll, please… – in the right hands it can be hustled along at a rate that’ll make you feel more than qualified to call yourself a proper mountain biker. The Mongoose does the job asked with a flourish and without asking more from you physically than is necessary.
It’s the sort of middle-of-the-road, no-surprises bike that regular riders will find easy to live with, day to day. Before you think we’re not properly impressed, think again.We enjoyed our time on the Mongoose, hitting technical, twisty, root-infested singletrack with a commitment that normally only comes with much longer term attachment to a bike. That’s the friendliness of the Slayton shining through, letting you chuck it about without fear of being bitten back.
The tall look of the frame is a visual trick caused by the floating bottom bracket, and on board the bike feels smaller and more compact, which makes you feel you can hit those mid pace, low berm, singletrack turns faster and faster. If you’re an experienced trail rider looking for a new plaything you can push the Slayton’s limits a bit harder still.
Well, you would be able to but for two small issues. The first is the narrow Ritchey riser bar, which, if we were going to give the Slayton a permanent home, we’d immediately lose for something a bit wider and possibly with a shade less than the 20mm rise, to make it feel a bit more racy.
While we were in the shop buying the new bar we’d bung a shorter stem on there too. The stock stem is a bit of a tiller; while fine for long open fire road rides it really doesn’t do the handling of the Slayton much justice for diving in and out of the tight stuff.
The other item that holds the bike back in soft, damp conditions is the Kenda Slant Six tyre up front. Leave the Small Block Eight on out back, where the rounded, low-profile tread works a treat, gripping and sliding with predictability. But at the front we’d opt for something with a little more shoulder to give a better sense of grip in the turns, especially when it’s wet and muddy – maybe Kenda’s old-school but still fantastic Nevegal. Oh and some might find the SDG I-Beam saddle and seatpost a bit firm, too.
Frame & equipment: Quality chassis and suspension are worthy of component upgrades
Okay, we’ll readily agree with those who say the bike looks like a cut-and-shut welding job of two dissimilar halves of bike. We’ve told Mongoose before that the shape makes our eyes bleed but the designers are sticking with itresolutely and, well, looks mean little on the trail. And it’s on the trail that the 120mm Slayton chassis comes alive and delivers just the kind of friendly ride that makes hardened believers out of Mongoose riders in double-quick time.
The chunky butted alloy frame isn’t light but it’s stiff enough to resist being twisted into a knot, even by strong legs, and you get the feeling that it’ll shake off being parked in the bushes when you’ve made a minor miscalculation. The SRAM X7 transmission is solid, predictable and reliable. It’s also cheap(ish) to replace like-for-like and integrates perfectly with the more expensive SRAM kit if you decide to up-spec as you wear stuff out – the frame and suspension deserve it.
The suspension is a RockShox lockout, with a Monarch shock out back and a Reba fork up front doing sterling work to insulate the rider from the worst of the trail. We’d have liked a little more life and vitality out of the rear shock tune (having just ridden the 2012 Monarch, the difference was plain), but that can be fixed with a retune at service time, and it’ll be fine until then.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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Interview: Dom Mason, bike designer for Kinesis UK
What Mountain Bikeeditor Matt Skinner caught up with Dom Mason, creative director and bike designer at Kinesis UK, to talk big wheels, full-suspension, and disc brakes at the Tour de France. Here’s what he had to say…
Matt Skinner: What made you ‘believe’ in the 29er thing finally?
Dom Mason:Up until recently I wasn’t convinced by the whole 29in argument. Big bikes with ponderous handling didn’t really seem to work for the type of riding that we’re into or suit the Maxlight ‘fast trail bike’ style. So a ‘Maxlight29’ was logged and went into the file marked ‘Hmmm… interesting’.
The first time around, 29ers seemed to look and ride just like scaled up small-wheeled bikes. There was certainly something interesting going on but they just didn’t click with my thinking on what a bike should do. Some refinement and thinking was required with geometry and componentry.
Now, the movers and shakers have filled that evolutionary gap. New thinking on geometry and vastly improved suspension forks, wheelsets, tyres, headsets and also the acceptance of 2×10 drivetrains has turned the idea of the big-wheeled bike from an eyebrow raiser into a really exciting new branch on the riding tree. Now it’s worth sitting up and taking notice.
The wider availability of longer-travel forks and larger-volume tyres that aren’t designed solely for endurance racing was the catalyst that spurred me into action. Warp-speed, flowing singletrack, tempo-pace climbs and fast dips and crests are where the Maxlight frames excel. Twenty-nine-inch wheels are fast, so if we could harness that speed and work it into a ‘fast trail friendly’ package, we knew we might have a winner.
If a 29er is going to have the Maxlight name on it, it needs to take 2.2s with sideblocks, it needs a 100-120mm trail fork up front, and it has to be capable of being ridden aggressively. Hold on, don’t 26in bikes do all that rather well? Well yes, but speed is the key here. We know 29ers are capable of steamrollering trails and going rather fast over the bumpy downhill stuff, so adding a dollop of legendary Maxlight handling into the mix might just lead to a trail destroyer!
What’s the thinking behind your 29er prototype, and what can you reveal about it?
I wanted to make a 29er that worked for more aggressive trail riding. Super-light weight and riding for hours round a circuit weren’t high on the tick list when I started thinking about a 29in frame worthy of the Maxlight name. Quick handling, fast trail prowess and big grins were firmly at the top. The 29in Maxlight, now called the Maxlight FF29– you can make up your own ‘FF’ combinations– turned out to be one of the most difficult frames I’ve ever designed.
The 29er is a packaging nightmare. You know exactly where you want to put all the centres and contact points for it to ride right but there are many physical barriers to doing that. Key areas to get right are chainstay length, BB height, stack height and trail. The large wheel size throws up all sorts of problems you just don’t get with a 26in wheel, like front mech, chainring and toe clearance. As soon as you try to deal with them you run into handling issues and you’re back to that ‘ponderous’ word again.
Dom displays the new Kinesis Maxlight FF29 29er– one of the most difficult frames he’s ever designed, but worth the effort
The first prototypes felt wrong. They wouldn’t accelerate because the bars were in your chest, and manuals and wheelies were an effort because the rear-centre was too long. But although I was quite ready to throw my hands up and say, ‘There, I told you 29ers were rubbish’, it amazed me with how much fun it was to ride, really encouraging some playfulness and not what I was expecting from the 29er experience. So we moved to prototype numbers two and three.
I played with head tube lengths, front- and rear-centre dimensions, BB drop, dropout types, stay profiles and seat tube shapes. I found that by putting a 2.5° radius bend on the base of the seat tube I could increase mech clearance and tyre clearance, and shorten the stays to lighten up the front end. I’m dead against weird S-bend seat tubes or slack angles that move your saddle too far back.
BB height is now virtually the same as on a 26in Maxlight, and short head tubes with integrated 1.5in tapered headsets help keep the bars low. These factors are essential for stable cornering, strong acceleration and climbing. I settled on a medium length rear-centre as I felt it had the right combination of high-speed stability, manual-ability and tyre clearance. It also keeps the front wheel planted on steeper climbs.
I ditched swappable dropouts for a specially developed post mount dropout. 2×10 helped to sway this decision–it meshes well with the 29er ‘fast trail bike’ concept and helps out with clearance. A steep head angle keeps the trail dimension as close to a small-wheeled Maxlight as possible and ensures lively handling.
The prototypes were tested by as many riders as possible, including our Kinesis Morvélo Project riders, under all types of conditions and with many build types. There’s a lightweight ‘XC race’ version with carbon stays out on the winter circuit–we’ll hopefully introduce this for 2013.
The Maxlight FF29 will be in the
Does wheel size actually matter?
Yes, certainly. If you take it to extremes and imagine your mountain bike with 20in wheels– assuming the geometry was designed to take them–you’d have a bike that accelerated like lightning and would relish the smooth, firm, tight stuff. But get it near rocks, ruts and roots, and you’d be off into the bracken! It would also get submerged when the going got bog-like. Huge wheels, on the other hand, would take an eon to spin up to speed and coax around corners but would iron out the bumps, take huge lean angles, glide over soggy bits and once you got them going, wouldn’t want to stop.
Twenty-six-inch wheels will always have their place, I don’t believe they’ll die. They’re better at accelerating and weaving through ‘baby’s head’ size rock gardens, for example, and will always rule on super-tech, tight trails. For high-level XC racing though, I think that if you’re on 26in wheels you’re now at a disadvantage.
The new 29er was developed with help from theKinesis Morvélo Projectcrew
Twenty-nine-inch wheels certainly bring a different aspect to riding, and with advances in wheel/tyre technology can now be light enough to spin up almost as fast as a mid-level 26in wheel. I wanted to harness the speed, handling and ‘steamrollering’ virtues, and build them into a frame that could wring every last bit of enjoyment out of the type of trails we ride. I hope I’ve done that. There’s certainly a fashion aspect and ‘next big thing’ appeal to the 29er. The bike industry needs this and has embraced it.
There’s still huge debate over the 29 v 26 thing but it’s always great to get people talking and if it inspires people to try something new, get back out on a hardtail and ride with their mates, then great! After an initial large dollop of scepticism, I;m convinced that they have their place in the riding landscape, just like the skateboard, or dreaded micro-scooter, started as a fashion craze and has now become engrained in riding culture.
How does the relationship between Kinesis
They approached us in 1999 because they’d seen what Giant, who started as a frame building company, had become. They make frames and carbon forks for many well known brands and wanted to promote Kinesis as a brand name across
It was called the Racelight R. It worked okay and sold okay, and made me realise I could put my engineering and riding background into frame design. Shortly after, I designed the first Maxlight, then the Crosslight CX frame and then the Racelight T winter trainer. Our Kinesis UK range now includes 18 framesets, four bikes and 12 forks.
We have a pretty special relationship with Kinesis International. They’re the masters of alloy tube manipulation and design, and use the most advanced welding techniques. It’s fantastic to be able to work with them to develop tube shapes that work exactly for a frame design I have in mind, or pick from a vast catalogue of tubes and forgings for a new project or update. Tooling up for a new forging or carbon frame is very expensive, but by working in conjunction with Kinesis International we can afford to do it.
They’re happy to use our riding and geometry experience, and we’re more than happy to use their huge expertise in manufacturing. Our ADP (Advanced Development Project) frames, like the carbon Maxlight KM810, are made possible by this approach. We get to use the developed parts and tubes first, and then they can roll them out for other brands to use in their own way.
How long has your first full-suspension bike been in the pipeline for and what will set it apart from the crowd?
We’ve been playing with suspension ideas for as long as I can remember. It’s such a difficult area, because as soon as you’ve settled on an idea, technology moves on! The big boys are pushing suspension technology so hard that it’s tough to keep up. Kinesis make suspension frames for some of the best, so this year we’ve convinced them that it’s worth investing in some tooling to make our own.
Development is still in progress but I’m very excited to say that we’re getting pretty close to finally having our first Kinesis
Dom (left) hits the trails with Jo Burt of Mint Sauce fame
Was ‘mismatched’ travel a ‘must’ all along, or an idea that’s evolved?
I like the idea of getting over the front and taking out the big hits with a longer-travel fork, then getting some more feedback from the rear and using your legs to react to the terrain, so that’s the way we’re going with it at the moment.
What’s your view on the effect(s), if any, of the tough economic conditions right now – on both the rider/consumer, and the industry?
When things get tough economically, the last thing that people will give up is their sport–their passion and escape. When times are hard these things take on even more significance and importance. We all know how precious and cathartic riding is in our lives. Sport and the objects of desire that surround it help give a feeling of security and purpose in testing times. Riders will hang on to their favourite bike long after selling everything else!
The bike industry is thriving at the moment. People are quick to realise that they really don’t need to take the car. It can be quicker to ride and, hold on… it’s fun! Beat the traffic jams and tighten those flabby muscles. More people are riding bikes out of necessity and then deciding they might ride at the weekend and trading up to something that performs better. The kids get involved and all of a sudden the whole family are out on the trails. More children will grow up with bikes in their lives, so long-term it looks good for cycling.
Is the Government doing enough to support British manufacturing and/or the bike industry?
The Government and our beloved banks could do more to support innovation in small businesses in the bike industry and to encourage entrepreneurship in startup businesses as a whole. More and more young people are willing to go it alone as their chances of employment dry up. If the bike industry continues on a high then there’ll be more opportunity to become part of it and make an idea into a business. There’s plenty of creativity and energy in the riding community. If lending dries up it’s going to be virtually impossible to kickstart a UK business that could be helping to underpin our economy in years to come.
Generally speaking, what have been the biggest dead-end trends you’ve seen over the years – things that promised to change everything but never did?
Hmmm, tricky. Here are a few I can think of: 20in-wheeled downhill and road race bikes; belt drives; mountain bike disc wheels; drop bars for mountain bikesd two-wheel drive; 24in rear wheels on downhill bikes; tiny narrow bars where your lever hoods touched in the middle; skinsuits for downhill; overuse of the word ‘Epic’; ‘Reverse Rise’ mechs; super-elevated stays and tucked-in rear wheels; Alpinestars style; Oakley 3 grips (ouch! Google ‘em); hydraulic shifting; solid tyres; elastomer suspension; suspension hubs; suspension pedals…
Conversely, what’s been the most significant development?
Difficult to pin down one thing, but materials developments passed down from high-tech industries have always been a strong driver for the bike industry. Chromoly steel, titanium, scandium and manipulated alloy tubing have all been passed down and spurred huge advances in our industry. Carbon is a relative newcomer to bike design. I remember the distrust that many riders had for our Kinesis carbon forks 12 years ago! Now carbon’s even found its way into downhill bikes and can be used for very highly stressed suspension parts.
The human can supply so little power, relatively, that any material that can deliver more energy to the wheel and lighten the bike has huge benefits in performance. So, yeah I guess advances in material technology will always offer the most significant developments in performance for bike design. Oh, and those 5kg jars of Nutella.
What’s on your radar as the one trend to watch, in 2012 and beyond?
Disc brakes in cyclo-cross is an interesting one. The newCrosslight Pro6went down very well. Disc brakes for road race bikes will be next, as soon as the standards have settled… Boom! Discs make loads of sense for road bikes; it’s more about lightness in control and the related lack of fatigue where the benefits lie, rather than outright braking power. We’re so used to discs in mountain biking that we’ve forgotten how bad rim brakes were. Also, all those precious carbon rims won’t be overheated and worn away; no doubt they can be made lighter to compensate. Discs will appear on the ProTour one day, for sure.
It’s trails like this that keep Dom going; that and huge jars or chocolate spread!
What’s been your favourite bike event of the year, and why?
Eurobike is the best of the shows. I really enjoy the relaxed attitude there and the social aspect– you’re actually allowed toridebikes! It’s great to see what all the small European builders are up to and get a feel for the direction the industry is taking. There always seems to be a completely new brand with a 50-bike line-up every year, too. Weird.
For riding events, it’s got to be theBrighton Big Dogpromoted by those fine chaps atMorvélo Bicycle Appareland organised and manned by local riders. Great atmosphere and friendly racing.
What keeps you getting back in the saddle?
Riding is wonderfully freeing. The harder the riding situation, the more you have to focus on just that one moment. Thinking about the tax return is simply not possible when you’re pushing your limits a bit. I’m never going to be a super-fit, race-winning athlete, but that’s never been the draw for me. I like riding fast and pushing things until I get a little out of shape or making myself try something that I’m not sure I can do. Sessioning a spot, riding with friends and maybe crashing a few times are all part of the fun for me.
What’s the best way you’ve found to conquer your demons out on the trail?
I tend to get a bit fixated on a riding spot and ride it again and again with a thousand-yard stare until I nail it and realise everyone else has ridden away. If it’s a drop or climb, I visualise myself at the bottom or crest and don’t think too much about how I’m going to get there, just imagine that I’m there already. Remembering to relax, look far ahead, drop my shoulders and heels and flow normally takes half the ride but when it all comes together on a tight, tree-lined fast and flowing trail, that’s when the demons are left behind. Until a tree reaches out and grabs your bars…
An abbreviated version of this article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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Interview: Dom Mason, bike designer for Kinesis UK
What Mountain Bikeeditor Matt Skinner caught up with Dom Mason, creative director and bike designer at Kinesis UK, to talk big wheels, full-suspension, and disc brakes at the Tour de France. Here’s what he had to say…
Matt Skinner: What made you ‘believe’ in the 29er thing finally?
Dom Mason:Up until recently I wasn’t convinced by the whole 29in argument. Big bikes with ponderous handling didn’t really seem to work for the type of riding that we’re into or suit the Maxlight ‘fast trail bike’ style. So a ‘Maxlight29’ was logged and went into the file marked ‘Hmmm… interesting’.
The first time around, 29ers seemed to look and ride just like scaled up small-wheeled bikes. There was certainly something interesting going on but they just didn’t click with my thinking on what a bike should do. Some refinement and thinking was required with geometry and componentry.
Now, the movers and shakers have filled that evolutionary gap. New thinking on geometry and vastly improved suspension forks, wheelsets, tyres, headsets and also the acceptance of 2×10 drivetrains has turned the idea of the big-wheeled bike from an eyebrow raiser into a really exciting new branch on the riding tree. Now it’s worth sitting up and taking notice.
The wider availability of longer-travel forks and larger-volume tyres that aren’t designed solely for endurance racing was the catalyst that spurred me into action. Warp-speed, flowing singletrack, tempo-pace climbs and fast dips and crests are where the Maxlight frames excel. Twenty-nine-inch wheels are fast, so if we could harness that speed and work it into a ‘fast trail friendly’ package, we knew we might have a winner.
If a 29er is going to have the Maxlight name on it, it needs to take 2.2s with sideblocks, it needs a 100-120mm trail fork up front, and it has to be capable of being ridden aggressively. Hold on, don’t 26in bikes do all that rather well? Well yes, but speed is the key here. We know 29ers are capable of steamrollering trails and going rather fast over the bumpy downhill stuff, so adding a dollop of legendary Maxlight handling into the mix might just lead to a trail destroyer!
What’s the thinking behind your 29er prototype, and what can you reveal about it?
I wanted to make a 29er that worked for more aggressive trail riding. Super-light weight and riding for hours round a circuit weren’t high on the tick list when I started thinking about a 29in frame worthy of the Maxlight name. Quick handling, fast trail prowess and big grins were firmly at the top. The 29in Maxlight, now called the Maxlight FF29– you can make up your own ‘FF’ combinations– turned out to be one of the most difficult frames I’ve ever designed.
The 29er is a packaging nightmare. You know exactly where you want to put all the centres and contact points for it to ride right but there are many physical barriers to doing that. Key areas to get right are chainstay length, BB height, stack height and trail. The large wheel size throws up all sorts of problems you just don’t get with a 26in wheel, like front mech, chainring and toe clearance. As soon as you try to deal with them you run into handling issues and you’re back to that ‘ponderous’ word again.
Dom displays the new Kinesis Maxlight FF29 29er– one of the most difficult frames he’s ever designed, but worth the effort
The first prototypes felt wrong. They wouldn’t accelerate because the bars were in your chest, and manuals and wheelies were an effort because the rear-centre was too long. But although I was quite ready to throw my hands up and say, ‘There, I told you 29ers were rubbish’, it amazed me with how much fun it was to ride, really encouraging some playfulness and not what I was expecting from the 29er experience. So we moved to prototype numbers two and three.
I played with head tube lengths, front- and rear-centre dimensions, BB drop, dropout types, stay profiles and seat tube shapes. I found that by putting a 2.5° radius bend on the base of the seat tube I could increase mech clearance and tyre clearance, and shorten the stays to lighten up the front end. I’m dead against weird S-bend seat tubes or slack angles that move your saddle too far back.
BB height is now virtually the same as on a 26in Maxlight, and short head tubes with integrated 1.5in tapered headsets help keep the bars low. These factors are essential for stable cornering, strong acceleration and climbing. I settled on a medium length rear-centre as I felt it had the right combination of high-speed stability, manual-ability and tyre clearance. It also keeps the front wheel planted on steeper climbs.
I ditched swappable dropouts for a specially developed post mount dropout. 2×10 helped to sway this decision–it meshes well with the 29er ‘fast trail bike’ concept and helps out with clearance. A steep head angle keeps the trail dimension as close to a small-wheeled Maxlight as possible and ensures lively handling.
The prototypes were tested by as many riders as possible, including our Kinesis Morvélo Project riders, under all types of conditions and with many build types. There’s a lightweight ‘XC race’ version with carbon stays out on the winter circuit–we’ll hopefully introduce this for 2013.
The Maxlight FF29 will be in the
Does wheel size actually matter?
Yes, certainly. If you take it to extremes and imagine your mountain bike with 20in wheels– assuming the geometry was designed to take them–you’d have a bike that accelerated like lightning and would relish the smooth, firm, tight stuff. But get it near rocks, ruts and roots, and you’d be off into the bracken! It would also get submerged when the going got bog-like. Huge wheels, on the other hand, would take an eon to spin up to speed and coax around corners but would iron out the bumps, take huge lean angles, glide over soggy bits and once you got them going, wouldn’t want to stop.
Twenty-six-inch wheels will always have their place, I don’t believe they’ll die. They’re better at accelerating and weaving through ‘baby’s head’ size rock gardens, for example, and will always rule on super-tech, tight trails. For high-level XC racing though, I think that if you’re on 26in wheels you’re now at a disadvantage.
The new 29er was developed with help from theKinesis Morvélo Projectcrew
Twenty-nine-inch wheels certainly bring a different aspect to riding, and with advances in wheel/tyre technology can now be light enough to spin up almost as fast as a mid-level 26in wheel. I wanted to harness the speed, handling and ‘steamrollering’ virtues, and build them into a frame that could wring every last bit of enjoyment out of the type of trails we ride. I hope I’ve done that. There’s certainly a fashion aspect and ‘next big thing’ appeal to the 29er. The bike industry needs this and has embraced it.
There’s still huge debate over the 29 v 26 thing but it’s always great to get people talking and if it inspires people to try something new, get back out on a hardtail and ride with their mates, then great! After an initial large dollop of scepticism, I;m convinced that they have their place in the riding landscape, just like the skateboard, or dreaded micro-scooter, started as a fashion craze and has now become engrained in riding culture.
How does the relationship between Kinesis
They approached us in 1999 because they’d seen what Giant, who started as a frame building company, had become. They make frames and carbon forks for many well known brands and wanted to promote Kinesis as a brand name across
It was called the Racelight R. It worked okay and sold okay, and made me realise I could put my engineering and riding background into frame design. Shortly after, I designed the first Maxlight, then the Crosslight CX frame and then the Racelight T winter trainer. Our Kinesis UK range now includes 18 framesets, four bikes and 12 forks.
We have a pretty special relationship with Kinesis International. They’re the masters of alloy tube manipulation and design, and use the most advanced welding techniques. It’s fantastic to be able to work with them to develop tube shapes that work exactly for a frame design I have in mind, or pick from a vast catalogue of tubes and forgings for a new project or update. Tooling up for a new forging or carbon frame is very expensive, but by working in conjunction with Kinesis International we can afford to do it.
They’re happy to use our riding and geometry experience, and we’re more than happy to use their huge expertise in manufacturing. Our ADP (Advanced Development Project) frames, like the carbon Maxlight KM810, are made possible by this approach. We get to use the developed parts and tubes first, and then they can roll them out for other brands to use in their own way.
How long has your first full-suspension bike been in the pipeline for and what will set it apart from the crowd?
We’ve been playing with suspension ideas for as long as I can remember. It’s such a difficult area, because as soon as you’ve settled on an idea, technology moves on! The big boys are pushing suspension technology so hard that it’s tough to keep up. Kinesis make suspension frames for some of the best, so this year we’ve convinced them that it’s worth investing in some tooling to make our own.
Development is still in progress but I’m very excited to say that we’re getting pretty close to finally having our first Kinesis
Dom (left) hits the trails with Jo Burt of Mint Sauce fame
Was ‘mismatched’ travel a ‘must’ all along, or an idea that’s evolved?
I like the idea of getting over the front and taking out the big hits with a longer-travel fork, then getting some more feedback from the rear and using your legs to react to the terrain, so that’s the way we’re going with it at the moment.
What’s your view on the effect(s), if any, of the tough economic conditions right now – on both the rider/consumer, and the industry?
When things get tough economically, the last thing that people will give up is their sport–their passion and escape. When times are hard these things take on even more significance and importance. We all know how precious and cathartic riding is in our lives. Sport and the objects of desire that surround it help give a feeling of security and purpose in testing times. Riders will hang on to their favourite bike long after selling everything else!
The bike industry is thriving at the moment. People are quick to realise that they really don’t need to take the car. It can be quicker to ride and, hold on… it’s fun! Beat the traffic jams and tighten those flabby muscles. More people are riding bikes out of necessity and then deciding they might ride at the weekend and trading up to something that performs better. The kids get involved and all of a sudden the whole family are out on the trails. More children will grow up with bikes in their lives, so long-term it looks good for cycling.
Is the Government doing enough to support British manufacturing and/or the bike industry?
The Government and our beloved banks could do more to support innovation in small businesses in the bike industry and to encourage entrepreneurship in startup businesses as a whole. More and more young people are willing to go it alone as their chances of employment dry up. If the bike industry continues on a high then there’ll be more opportunity to become part of it and make an idea into a business. There’s plenty of creativity and energy in the riding community. If lending dries up it’s going to be virtually impossible to kickstart a UK business that could be helping to underpin our economy in years to come.
Generally speaking, what have been the biggest dead-end trends you’ve seen over the years – things that promised to change everything but never did?
Hmmm, tricky. Here are a few I can think of: 20in-wheeled downhill and road race bikes; belt drives; mountain bike disc wheels; drop bars for mountain bikesd two-wheel drive; 24in rear wheels on downhill bikes; tiny narrow bars where your lever hoods touched in the middle; skinsuits for downhill; overuse of the word ‘Epic’; ‘Reverse Rise’ mechs; super-elevated stays and tucked-in rear wheels; Alpinestars style; Oakley 3 grips (ouch! Google ‘em); hydraulic shifting; solid tyres; elastomer suspension; suspension hubs; suspension pedals…
Conversely, what’s been the most significant development?
Difficult to pin down one thing, but materials developments passed down from high-tech industries have always been a strong driver for the bike industry. Chromoly steel, titanium, scandium and manipulated alloy tubing have all been passed down and spurred huge advances in our industry. Carbon is a relative newcomer to bike design. I remember the distrust that many riders had for our Kinesis carbon forks 12 years ago! Now carbon’s even found its way into downhill bikes and can be used for very highly stressed suspension parts.
The human can supply so little power, relatively, that any material that can deliver more energy to the wheel and lighten the bike has huge benefits in performance. So, yeah I guess advances in material technology will always offer the most significant developments in performance for bike design. Oh, and those 5kg jars of Nutella.
What’s on your radar as the one trend to watch, in 2012 and beyond?
Disc brakes in cyclo-cross is an interesting one. The newCrosslight Pro6went down very well. Disc brakes for road race bikes will be next, as soon as the standards have settled… Boom! Discs make loads of sense for road bikes; it’s more about lightness in control and the related lack of fatigue where the benefits lie, rather than outright braking power. We’re so used to discs in mountain biking that we’ve forgotten how bad rim brakes were. Also, all those precious carbon rims won’t be overheated and worn away; no doubt they can be made lighter to compensate. Discs will appear on the ProTour one day, for sure.
It’s trails like this that keep Dom going; that and huge jars or chocolate spread!
What’s been your favourite bike event of the year, and why?
Eurobike is the best of the shows. I really enjoy the relaxed attitude there and the social aspect– you’re actually allowed toridebikes! It’s great to see what all the small European builders are up to and get a feel for the direction the industry is taking. There always seems to be a completely new brand with a 50-bike line-up every year, too. Weird.
For riding events, it’s got to be theBrighton Big Dogpromoted by those fine chaps atMorvélo Bicycle Appareland organised and manned by local riders. Great atmosphere and friendly racing.
What keeps you getting back in the saddle?
Riding is wonderfully freeing. The harder the riding situation, the more you have to focus on just that one moment. Thinking about the tax return is simply not possible when you’re pushing your limits a bit. I’m never going to be a super-fit, race-winning athlete, but that’s never been the draw for me. I like riding fast and pushing things until I get a little out of shape or making myself try something that I’m not sure I can do. Sessioning a spot, riding with friends and maybe crashing a few times are all part of the fun for me.
What’s the best way you’ve found to conquer your demons out on the trail?
I tend to get a bit fixated on a riding spot and ride it again and again with a thousand-yard stare until I nail it and realise everyone else has ridden away. If it’s a drop or climb, I visualise myself at the bottom or crest and don’t think too much about how I’m going to get there, just imagine that I’m there already. Remembering to relax, look far ahead, drop my shoulders and heels and flow normally takes half the ride but when it all comes together on a tight, tree-lined fast and flowing trail, that’s when the demons are left behind. Until a tree reaches out and grabs your bars…
An abbreviated version of this article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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Endura Deluge winter gloves review
Endura’s Deluge winter gloves have plenty of features, but aren’t always as amphibious as the name suggests. The double cuff gives good sleeve sealing and there are plenty of reinforcing panels.
The snot wipe isn’t on the thumb but all the way up the forefinger, meaning there’s a decent length to wipe your nose with when the cold weather causes it to run. The fit is great too. The movement between the outer shell and inner thermal liner reduces feedback though.
The multiple ‘Gel Zone’ padded areas on the palm didn’t give the best feel, and the callous-covering ridge of padding meant our hands felt as though they were more on top of the bars than wrapped around them. The palm sometimes tended to bunch up towards the thumb and that was a little uncomfortable.
We’ve had wildly varying experiences with the weatherproofing of the Endura gloves. We had one test pair that would getcompletely sodden in a few minutes in any serious weather despite their waterproof claims and Deluge name – not good. But another set wastotally waterproof, even passing the hand-in-bucket test. Getting your hands back in when they’re damp is a fight.
This article was compiled from reviews inWhat Mountain BikeandMountain Biking UK
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Zach Hutlelin sets manual world record
It was an impressive ride, especially as it was done on just a single wheel. Sixteen-year old Zach Hutlelin broke the world record for a “manual,” a wheelie without pedaling, at Markham Park in Sunrise, Florida last month.
The sunshine native, who lives in nearby Plantation, FL rode his Specialized P.3 for 686.25ft/209.2m, setting the new world record for the Longest Manual on a Mountain Bike according to World Records Academy. This tops the previous Guinness world record, which was set at 334ft/101.8m by Jim DeChamp for the MTV television show Nitro Circus.
Guinness officially recognized the new mark on 12 January.
Hutlelin said he was inspired to try for the record after seeing DeChamp set the mark. Part of the preparation for Hutlelin was built making sure he didn’t have to worry about the bike, a Specialized’s P.3. “A well tuned bike is everything on a simple day or breaking a world record,” he told BikeRadar. “My attention is on the task at hand and not whether or not my bike is working properly.”
Hutlelin said that his background has mostly been on racing BMX, which honed his skill of manualing. “My dad was always yelling, ‘pedal, pedal,’” Hutelin said. “But I did it because the fast kids were doing it.”
For his record attempt, Hutelin’s father, John Hutelin, brought in a number of third-party experts to document and verify the course and the distance, including the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society and Sunrise Police Officers. “It was pretty cool,” Hutelin said of the record ride, which came after 11 attempts that day. “In practice, I had ridden almost 800 feet. But that was on a good day. The day of the record attempt we had really bad winds.”
Hutelin more than doubled the previous record — marked by the Specialized flag in the background — on a windy day
For the new year, the new record holder looks to further mix it up. “This year I am going to make the transition to downhill and dual slalom, and plans are being made to run the Gravity East series,” said Hutlelin.
The teenager knows transitioning to downhill may be an uphill challenge of sorts. “I understand this year will be a big learning curve as this is a major transition for a kid from Florida, but I am really looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
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SDG I-Beam seatpost review
The SDG I-Beam system isn’t new, but you’ll be seeing a bit more of it in 2012 as several other manufacturers have licensed the design. The seatpost uses a tough single pivoting head and a pair of pinching clamps all working off a single 5mm bolt.
You have to use it with an I-Beam saddle; various models are available, all of which have a single central rail with serrations on the underside. Loosening the seatpost bolt allows you to adjust the tilt of the saddle and slide it fore or aft.
While it doesn’t look like much, it’s actually pretty bombproof – the fact that many downhillers run the system is testament to that. The 350mm-long post can be had in carbon fibre or alloy and with inline or 20mm set back clamps. We chose the alloy inline version which doesn’t weigh much more but costs a lot less.
Conventional saddle design often uses flex in the rails to add a little comfort; there’s none of that with the I-Beam system, which results in quite a ‘direct’ feel. The post does flex slightly though, if you’ve got enough exposed shaft, which takes the edge off bumps.This feeling is amplified a little more (adding to the comfort) in the more expensive (and lighter) carbon version.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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House Tries To De-Fund Cycling, Don’t Let Them!
From MassBike
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Last Fall, you helped us defeat Senate attacks on biking and walking. But now the House of Representatives is launching its own attack. Next Thursday, February 2nd, we can expect the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to vote on its version of the surface transportation bill, called “The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.” Alarms went off when we learned that the two primary sources of federal bike funding, Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School, will be eliminated.
The legislation will be open for amendments for only a short time in the T&I Committee. If you live in Representative Michael Capuano’s district, a high-ranking member of the committee, we need your help. During Thursday’s vote, he could be the key to making sure that a pro-biking amendment passes. Will you ask him today to vote to preserve funding for biking and walking in the transportation bill?
Let him know that in his district alone:
- Nearly $2 million in Safe Routes to School funding has gone to making the streets safer for children trying to walk or bike to school;
- Transportation Enhancements has supported over $34 million in bike and pedestrian infrastructure, improving the experience for all users of the road;
- Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding.
Representative Capuano’s office phone number is (202) 225-5111, or you can email him by clicking here. Please take action today:
1. Call and/or email Representative Capuano TODAY, tell him why bicycling is important to you, and ask him to do two things:
- OPPOSE any move to eliminate the Transportation Enhancements or Safe Routes to School Program
- SUPPORT an amendment to maintain the funding to bike and pedestrian programs
2. Email action@massbike.org and let us know you contacted him!
If you don’t have time to call or email, then you can fill out an automated form here, though personalized messages are always preferable. Don’t know who your representative is? Find out here.
Even if you don’t live in District 8, feel free to contact your representative. While he won’t be able to act on this legislation until it hits the floor in February, it can’t hurt to let him know that biking is important to you. Thanks for your support, and for helping us work toward a better state (and country) for biking.
Race Face Turbine ¾ riser bar review
Turbine is Race Face’s top-end aluminium line, with only the carbon fibre Next and SIXC ranges above it. With high-strength 7075 aluminium construction and a shot-peened finish, this riser bar is in it for the long haul.
It has a bit more upsweep than most bars – only a little in terms of degrees, but by the time you get to the grips the difference is significant, promoting an over-the-front, elbows-out riding position. There’s also a little more scope for rolling the bars back without them becoming uncomfortably flat. The usual alignment grid on the bulge aids setup.
At 680mm (27in) the Turbine isn’t the widest bar, but not everyone wants a 700mm+ span. Race Face win on informative cutting guides, with the lines etched not just with the length you’re taking off but also the weight you’ll save by doing so – 0.4g/mm if you’re interested. The Turbine scores well on looks, and it’s available in six colours if that matters to you.
This article was originally published in What Mountain Bike magazine.
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Pro bike: Zdenek Stybar’s Specialized CruX
This weekendZdeněk Štybar (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) is hoping to complete a hat trick, going for three world championship cyclo-cross titles in as many years, and he’ll be doing so on a bike that he’s only been racing for a month.
The Czech racer already owns six world championship medals–he took two world titles as a U23 rider, plus bronze (2008), silver (2009) and two golds (2010, 2011) in the elite category– and has spent the past four seasons on the same bike, Ridley’s carbon X-Night.
So changing bikes, especially mid-season, must be nerve wracking. However, the reigning champ has taken it in stride. “I really enjoyed it,” he told Specialized for a promotional video after the GP Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium where hedebuted the bike wearing a pink fedora. “I’m actually very impressed by this frame. I never expected after seeing the frame for the first time that it would be so good.”
“The bike is incredibly stiff,” added Stybar in a Specialized press release. “I can feel the power going right into the bike. Plus, it’s 400g lighter than the previous bike I was riding, which is always a great benefit–especially when you have to carry the bike!”
The change of bike hasn’t happened quietly – Stybar’s CruX stands out from the crowd thanks to its pink paintjob. The colour was chosen tocommemorate Specialized’s first mountain bike squad, Team Stumpjumper, who used pink bikes (fitted with drop bars) in the early 1980s. What we would have given to be a fly on the wall when Specialized pitched the Czech rider on the marketing stunt– we imagine much may have originally been lost in translation.
Man and machine will bid for a third elite world title this weekend
He’s surely now happy with the bike, and its color, after having taken his first World Cup win of the season with the CruX at the penultimate stop of the series in Lievin, France, which he then followed with a strong secondplace to Kevin Pauwels at the finals last weekend in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands.
Stybar’s CruX is the only alloy bike at the front of the race, and maybe the only metal bike that’s now being used in the elite men’s World Cup competition (note that Ian Field, the UK’s national champ, rides a CruXtoo). Stybar’s personal rig– actually, he has four 54cm CruX bikes–is custom not only in color but also geometry.
“It’s slightly custom but most people would have a hard time differentiating it from the stock 54; minor, minor adjustments in geometry,” Specialized marketing rep Ben Delaney told BikeRadar. “The only change was a slight increase in the seat tube length to give him just a bit more clearance for his arms when shouldering the bike.”
One other custom tune is available to Stybar: the ability to swap between two fork rakes for different course conditions; he has both 49mm and 51mm options available. We’d expect him to be on the longer rake for the sand at Koksijde this weekend, but Delaney said he’d make the final call after training on Saturday.
All of Stybar’s kit comes from the SRAM family, with a Black Red transmission paired to Avid Shorty Ultimate brakes–set narrow for more power–and supplemented with Specialized’s S-Works carbon crank. Cockpit and wheels come from Zipp in the form of their alloy Service Course bits.
You can see Stybar talk about his pink CruX in the video below, from Specialized
Complete bike specification
- Frame:Specialized CruX, 54cm, custom geometry
- Fork: Specialized CruX carbon, 49mm and 51mm rake available
- Headset: Specialized S-Works ProSet
- Stem:Zipp Service Course SL, 130mm, +/-6°
- Handlebar:Zipp Service Course, 44cm
- Bar tape:Specialized Roubaix
- Front brake:Avid Shorty Ultimate, set narrow
- Rear brake:Avid Shorty Ultimate, set narrow
- Front derailleur:SRAM Black Red with steel cage
- Rear derailleur: SRAM Black Red
- Levers: SRAM Black Red
- Cassette:SRAM PG1070, 12-26t
- Chain:SRAM PC1090
- Crankset: Specialized S-Works SL FACT, 172.5mm, 46/38t
- Bottom bracket: Specialized S-Works
- Pedals: Shimano XTR M970
- Wheelset:Zipp 404 Firecrest
- Front tire: Dugast, all-models (course dependent; shown with prototype Pipisquallo)
- Rear tire:Dugast, all-models (course dependent; shown with prototype Pipisquallo)
- Saddle:Specialized Body Geometry Toupe 143
- Seatpost:Zipp Service Course SL Speed carbon
Critical measurements
- Rider’s height:183cm/6ft
- Rider’s weight:71.5kg/157.6lb
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 770mm
- Seat tube length, c-c: 510mm
- Tip of saddle to center of bar:560mm
- Head tube length: 140mm
- Top tube length (virtual): 549mm
- Total bicycle weight: 7.7kg/16.97lb
Note: this pro bike profile was done remotely through Specialized’s global marketing department, which provided details from Stybar’s mechanic and photos from tdwsport.com photography.
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