Hotlines

Scalp still going strong after 200+ runs at Fort William

2011-12-05T16:14:00.007Z

...and still going!

When the Nukeproof Scalp was unveiled earlier this year it was met with much excitement and anticipation, mainly down to the value for money on offer opening up the chance for ‘normal’ riders to get their hands on a World Cup-ready race machine.

The Scalp was definitely worth the wait, proving to be one of the gems of the racing scene ever since – picking up awards, rave reviews and accolades from the cycling press, as well as being ridden to the podium by Team CRC/Nukeproof, the Nukeproof Junior team and Nukeproof-supported international riders. One of those riders – Alastair MacLennan – recently paid us a visit and told us about the incredible battering his Scalp has taken at the hands of Fort William’s brutal downhill track: 236 runs, (around 660km) and still going strong!

Alastair’s lucky enough to live on the doorstep of Fort William’s downhill track on the face of Aonach Mor, Scotland, one of the world’s longest and toughest downhill courses which descends 555m over 2.8km, and set himself the challenge of 100 race-speed runs on the Scalp frame.

“Fort William is a bike breaking course – I’d broken 10 out of 13 downhill bikes in the past! Since picking up my Scalp in May this year I’ve put in 236 full-on race speed runs on it, and even more slower-paced rides – it’s still looking nice, shiny and relatively new in my garage. The frame has held up perfectly!” Alastair said.

As well as the relentless hammering his Scalp has taken at Fort Bill, Alastair has also used the same bike for a full season of racing, dominating the Scottish Downhill Series as well as topping the podium at the European Masters in Slovenia, and taking the win at the Fort Bill Downhill Enduro.

Fogelsode Season 3 : Episode 3

2011-11-14T15:01:00.003Z

Fogelsode Season 3 #3: Bridge and Teva from Jack Fogelquist on Vimeo.

Nuke Proof, Straitline and Dirty Dog's Jack Fogelquist and Christian Wright had the pleasure of riding the Bridge Jumps, with Brendan Howey behind the lens with his broken ankle. They were joined by Dennis Langenstam, and later Eric Lawrenuk, Mark Matthews, and Kurt Sorge, making for some good times! With contests filling up everyone's schedules, it felt awesome to have such a chill day riding such flowy jumps! Jack threw in some footage from our trip to Teva Games as well!

Lapierre's Nicolas Vouilloz at Blausasc 2011

2011-11-14T14:49:00.003Z

10 times World Downhill Mountainbike Champion and possibly the most successful athlete to ever swing his leg over a mountainbike, Nicolas Vouilloz, proves his still got it as he is tailed by Italian pinner Gianluca Vernassa.

It's all neck and neck until 1:11 and Nico shows his ability to find a line that'll put him a few bike lengths ahead.

Bike Check : Sam Pilgrim's NS Bikes NS Majesty Park

2011-11-14T14:25:00.005Z

Sam Pilgrim has had an amazing 2011 winning the Red Bull District Ride in Nurnberg, Vienna Air King and Monster Energy Whitestyle in Leogang to name but a few.

Back on home soil, he has taken a few minutes to go over his Brazilian Acid NS Bikes Majesty bike at Lymington dirt jumps.

Bike Check: Sam Pilgrim's NS Majesty Park - More Mountain Bike Videos

Deity Launch 2012 Handlebar Range!

2011-11-14T13:56:00.007Z

The crew at deity is proud to announce the release of their highly anticipated lines of podium ready handlebars, firmly staking a claim in the high end handlebar market. The all new deity Blacklabel, Dirty30, Topsoil, and Villain series of handlebars are riddled with detail, strength, and a weight that places them at the leading edge of bar technology, with particular respect to the DH Race scene. Do you ride downhill? If so, 5 of you will also have the chance to win a deity handlebar for FREE! Just head to the Deity Components facebook page for a chance to win!

Read the full review on http://www.pinkbike.com/news/deity-The-Evolution-of-a-Handlebar-Line.html

Nuke Proof Junior Team : Dan Sheridan Winter Edit 1

2011-11-04T10:27:00.002Z

Not strictly a 'winter' edit this one, using left over footage from the summer in Italy and at the world Cup in La Bresse, Nuke Proof Junior Team rider Dan Sheridan has put together an edit of when the days were warmer and longer. A quick film up 3rock last week and it came together pretty good. Stay tuned.

DANSHERIDAN: WINTER EDIT 1 from Dan Sheridan on Vimeo.

Fogelsode Season 3 #2: Game of B.I.K.E.

2011-11-01T09:08:00.005Z

When Nuke Proof/Straitline sponsored rider Jack Fogelquist and his good friend Christian Wright were on our way up to Jump Ship in Victoria, they got to stay at Brendan Howey's house for a few days. With time to kill, they had some fun little seshes on his mulch jump, and Christian had the idea to play a game of B.I.K.E.! As you can see, it was a tremendously strict and serious game, with progression being the only thing on our minds...

Enjoy!

Fogelsode Season 3 #2: Game of B.I.K.E. from Jack Fogelquist on Vimeo.

Gaerne : Lampre-ISDs Final Outing for the Year

2011-10-31T09:23:00.004Z

Japan Cup will be the last outing for Lampre-ISD in 2011 but the team principal Saronni has already made an evaluation of the season on the basis of the numbers of the UCI World Tour ranking.

Giro di Lombardia was the last race of the UCI circuit, so the individual and team rankings are definitive.

For Lampre-ISD, the result obtained on Saturday by Niemiec in Lecco (5th place) is important because it allowed the team president Galbusera to end the season 7th place (784 points), at only 20 points behind 6th place of Garmin-Cervelo and with the satisfaction of being the best Italian team.

Also the best Italian rider in the individual ranking is blue-fucsia: Michele Scarponi is 5th with 357 points.

At the top of the ranking there's also Damiano Cunego, 21st with 203 points, while in top 60 there are Bole (52nd with 91 points) and Petacchi (58th with 81 points).

Thanks to his performance in Giro di Lombardia, Niemiec is 83rd, preceding Gavazzi (118th), Pietropolli (120th) and the young Ulissi (129th). Bono, thanks to his victory in Eneco Tour, is 163rd, Kvachuk is 186th and Malori 200th. All the details of the ranking concerning Lampre-ISD are on the website http://www.teamlampreisd.com/ , in the results and ranking section.

Giuseppe Saronni analyzed the situation using thee words: "The numbers don't give a complete review of the season, but they can be useful in order to guess how good are the results obtained and at which level the team lived: being the first Italian team, being blue-fucsia the best Italian cyclist, having 11 riders obtained points are all important elements that gives us good satisfactions. It's important to point out that our top riders Scarponi and Cunego were competitive during the whole season, except in some moments when they had to face illness. We're ready to face the future, relying in 2012 on 10 of the 11 cyclists that obtained points in 2011".

Tomorrow, on the website http://www.teamlampreisd.com/ , a video-interview with Scarponi about his 5th position in the World Tour ranking.

NialTV: BDS Final Round - Caersws

2011-10-27T15:53:00.004+01:00

Nuke Proof sponsored rider Nial Oxley put together these two videos of his runs at the final round of the BDS series in caersws, Wales.

Rain affected play for most in finals despite the weather being fine all day Saturday and the track was dusty and loose. Many were at the top of the hill with dry tyres on when the rain fell down in sheets!

Nial Oxley at Caersws BDS Round 5 from Ed Oxley on Vimeo.

Joe Barnes' Euro Blog - Le Grande Finale

2011-10-13T10:20:00.006+01:00

MTBcut's Joe Barnes has been living the dream all summer racing his bicycle all over Europe. With the nights closing in, there was a few good times to be sampled before the ski season starts.
Check out what Joe's been up to in his report below:

After arriving back from my big Euro Trip this summer the good times haven't stopped.

The drive back from Norway was made slightly easier by getting the Amsterdam ferry to Newcastle. Persuaded by the cabaret act that didn't disappoint. We rocked up to Fort William with a van that was beyond stinking, loaded up with every item of clothing wet and fusty and some worse for wear bikes. The luxury of a house was novel enough to keep me stoked for a while, swaggering about soaking in the real estate and the comfort of my couch.

It wasn't long before myself and my Dad trucked down to Innerleithen for the SDA race.

It was great to race in Scotland again and I was having great fun on the course. A classic Innerleithen style track with a pedally top half followed by some steep loose corners down the bottom. I came down in the first timed run to take the win and the fastest time of the day as well. I was really happy with this, to come back from a summer away and stamp a bit of authority on the Scottish scene. Leaving the race we swung by Airdrie to pick up my new van. It is a beauty of a transit van, same wheelbase but a good bit of overhang out the back. Work has already started to turn it into the Landship2 and be a luxury palace for next summer.

A couple of weeks at home was great after this. Time to get a bit of work in to restock the monies and to ride the trails around the Fort that had been missed over the summer. A great bonfire at Jamesy boy Shirleys' house topped it off nicely. James' pump track has had its final coat of bitumen and with a big fire in the middle of each loop some great night pumping (not in the way you were thinking) took place before the marshmallows came out.

My final race this year was the SDA final at Glencoe.

A pretty steep gnarly trail in places and nowhere to ease up over the condensed 2+ minutes trail. I was keeping it pretty pinned in practice and felt fast and within myself all weekend. A rainy day of practice was followed by a great day for Sunday's race. Conditions were perfect with watery, fast rolling mud and clear conditions overhead. I had a clean first run for a time of 2.21 to take the win and fastest time. A new course record from my previous best from over 3 years ago. It couldn't have been a better finish to the year taking my second consecutive win and on such a fun track.

Gaerne G.Mythos Plus Features on RBA Front Cover

2011-10-05T14:14:00.003+01:00

Check out this front cover of Road Bike Action featuring a rider putting the power down in his Gaerne Carbon G.Mythos Plus shoes. Nice!

Hotlines Cannock Dealer Show Under Way!

2011-10-04T17:09:00.007+01:00

We're slap bang in the middle of show season right now and after a successful international run of shows (Eurobike and Interbike), we've tuned our focus back on the UK to show 2012 product from our key brands.

Our Edinburgh show went well last week and now our Cannock show is ready to rock!

On who are at Cannock are :

Sombrio - see the new range.
Nuke Proof - 2012 complete bikes and P&A on show.
Ragley - 2012 complete full suspension bikes on show.
Ghost - see the new Race road models and the AMR Lector.
Lapierre - DH 720, X-FLow 512, Zesty 714 and Xelius 400 FDJ for your viewing pleasure.
Cratoni - see the full 2011 range
Lynskey - 26" and 29" MTB completes on display
Ciclosport - See the 2011 range of cycle computers.
Gaerne - 2011 range of MTB, road and ladies' hand-made, Italian beauties on show.
Leatt - 2011 DBX brace range.
OneTen - full new clothing range.
Pro-Lite - a complete Galileo frame, plus wheels and P&A.
Spank - a complete Tweet Tweet DJ frame, plus P&A.
Gravity Dropper
Hayes Bicycle Group - XC and AM setups from Manitou, Hayes, Sun Ringle and Answer.

Head down to the trail centre at Cannock Chase trails to see all the lovely wares we have on show.

The show is open tonight until 9pm and then running tomorrow 10am - 5pm.

Directions to the venue can be found on http://chasetrails/directions.php (Be sure to head to the trailhead rather than the DH trails, we'd love to be there but we won't be!)

Dealer incentives are available!

Ratio Bike Design Launch Their YouTube Channel

2011-09-30T09:42:00.007+01:00

RATIO is the result of years of experience exclusively in the cycling field and is the application of innovative materials and technologies important to obtain components' competitive performance.

Italian design, dynamics studies and ergonomics concepts will optimize a product's performance, their energy and their comfort in order to achieve the best goal for training and competition.

Each component is the result of great passion for cycling.

Request a catalog, learn more about our products and be surprised!

Beware of imitations, we will always guarantee the authenticity of our products.

We are RATIO the rational components company.

Check out this video of the RATIO brand presentation:

MTBCut's Hannah Barnes Wins the 2011 Tour de Ben Nevis

2011-09-29T12:02:00.007+01:00

Hannah Barnes may have been under the weather for this year's Tour de Ben Nevis, but some DH skills meant that a slower overall time didn't affect the overall reult. Chalk up another victory and another trophy for the already struggling Barnes mantlepiece.

Here's Hannah's full report:

Tour de Ben Nevis 2011

Last Saturday it was the 2nd year running of the Tour de Ben Nevis, another epic race run by No Fuss Events.

The event is a 72km circumnavigation of Ben Nevis, with 5 timed 'special stages' making up a points system to decide the overall winner.

The day before I was feeling pretty ropey so I loaded up on Lemsip Max and moped about whilst Joe did the pro tune on my bike. Jesus (Peter Scullion), Roger and Ricky all from Edinburgh, arrived in time for a massive pasta turbo load and then some of Rogers home made brownies. The boys' race preparation consisted of sitting in their pyjamas and sipping red wine (not Jesus, he's well pro).

There was big debate in our house as to which bike would be the weapon of choice. Joe reckoned a light and racey hardtail, but I decided to stick with my 5 for some comfort, and speedy fun descents.

I wasn't feeling too hot in the morning so I had a lemsip with my porridge and energy juice. The start of the race was great! All 330 riders got piped down Fort William high street before being led off by the trials bike. It was quite an impressive scene! The first road climb was pretty long and torturous, especially with not much of a warm up. I felt pretty ill and slow on the ride out to Kinlochleven and had a couple of small but unpleasant power spews.

The timed second stage was a sweet, gnarly descent, with loose corners and big drainage ditches. I tried a dodgy overtaking manoeuvre and washed out, smashing my arm and hip. The riders were still quite condensed at this point so it was hard to get a clear run.

The ride to the bothy and river crossing was sweet as there was a strong tail wind. I got some banter with Fos (founder of Off Beat Bikes), and downhill racer Ali Parkin. I gradually got into a good rhythm and felt fine after the initial wobbly stage.

It stayed nice and dry all day, and the sun even came out at times. The river was nice and low despite the high rain fall, unlike last years bike carry above head mission! The timed hill push up from the river was well worth it for the sweet ride down the other side. It was flat out fun singletrack, heather, rocks and mud!

The fire road descent into Leanachan Forest was really fast and fun, the corners were so fast it was scary!

The fith and final stage started on local classic, 'The Blue Crane', then joined onto another amazing XC trail which cut through the trees. From here it was a short and fast ride to the finish. It was cool how the race started and ended in the town square, it was a really great atmosphere.

I crossed the line 2nd female, however I finished 1st based on the points gained in the timed 'special stages'. Ruari Watt (on the same bike) won the men's race. Orange Mountain Bikes sponsored the event again, so we each won a frame!

The day finished with pumptrack action and a big bonfire at Jamesey boy's, with lots of pizza, toasted marshmallows and beer. Another memorable weekend of great racing, friends and good times!

Photos appear courtesy of Andy McCandlish and Michael Bonney.

Sicklines Feature Straitline's Hydraulic Gyro

2011-09-29T11:53:00.004+01:00

Straitline had a new prototype of their Hydraulic Gyro.

This device allows slopestyle riders to bar spin without having their brake cable tangle around the head tube. Slated to hit the shelves in 2012, they’re dialing in the seals and other bits to ensure it is a top notch performer. Pricing is still to be determined but so far the riders who are on them have only good things to say.

This one specifically was Darren’s but many riders have been on various versions all year including Casey Groves, Brandon Semenuk, Mike Montgomery, and Cam McCaul to name a few.

www.sicklines.com/2011/09/27/thomson-adds-colour-twenty-6-perdator-pedals-and-straitline-hydraulic-gyro-2012/

Straitline Premier Their Edge Factor "Gnarly Metal" at Interbike

2011-09-29T10:34:00.005+01:00

As mentioned in a previous blog post, Straitline did a full half hour TV show with The Edge Factor programme.

Interbike saw the opportunity to premier the show at the IMX in Las Vegas.

Host Jeremy Bout, Mike Montgomery and Casey Groves are on-location for this episode with DJ and Dennis from Straitline Components themselves.

.....From the shop floor at Straitline Components' cutting edge manufacturing facility to the Jump Ship barge in Victoria Harbour, to the mind-numbing loam found in the forests of BC, Canada. This episode traces the development, prototyping, manufacturing and inaugural competition testing of the new prototype hydraulic gyro from Straitline, a component that has already has been a game changer for several of today's top shredders.

Edge Factor host Jeremy Bout connects the biggest players in North American manufacturing and engineering education with the global mtb community.

Jeremy conveys his admiration for Mike's steezy riding to an appreciative audience.

The boys from Straitline in the house, rockin' the ties no less! Greg Parish provides some background behind the prototype gyro, and explains Straitline's involvement in the Edge Factor show.

Watch the full edit and the event footage by following the link below:

www.pinkbike.com/news/Gnarly-Metal-Full-Edit.html

2012 IXS Gravity Collection

2011-09-28T13:29:00.003+01:00

iXS have been busy bees recently and have come out with a brand new gravity range for 2012. Highlights of whcih are the new Metis full face helmet, an updated Phobos range that includes matching gloves and Storm EVO and Combat goggles, plus a new Darren Berrecloth Signture Slope EVO knee pad.

Check out the catalogue below.

Open publication - Free publishing - More berrecloth

Spank/Sombrio's Morewood United Team Update

2011-09-27T17:08:00.005+01:00

The French Cup Series is over and no team stands above.

Mick Pascal locks up 1st overall in the French Cup series! (this after a TOP 5 FINISH IN THE WORLD CHAMPS)

Tim Bentley takes 3rd overall in perhaps the best season ever for a non-french competitor! South Africa!

Fabien Cousinie takes 4th overall...even after ending the season with a broken foot!

Morewood United Riders gear up with Spank Spike 777 Handlebars, "Director" Direct Mount Stems, and Oozy Ltd Edition stems, as well as Spank Locking Grips.

IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THAT FOLKS! Congratulations to the team

SouthernDownhill.com Cover Ragley and Nuke Proof at Eurobike

2011-09-27T16:47:00.002+01:00

Rob from Downhill has beamed us over his first look at the 2012 Ragley and Nuke Proof range. First impressions were good with the new complete bikes from both brands and the body armour on display from Nuke Proof.

Read the full review by following the link below:

www.southerndownhill.com/news/news/eurobike-11-nukeproofragley.html

Interbike : IXS Sports Division in the Spotlight

2011-09-26T16:56:00.007+01:00

Last week Las Vegas played host to the annual Interbike show. Lots of manufacturers were out in force displaying their wares to the media and industry types alike.

On show, and a brand that seemed to be in every Interbike round up was IXS Sports Division. Key lines from the 2012 IXS range were the new Metis full-face helmet and Darren Berrecloth signature version of the best-selling Slope EVO pads.

The Metis helmet will be available from November onwards in the UK and comes in 4 sizes (Small to XLarge), 4 standard colours and the flagship "Team Edition" colorway. Standard IXS technology is present again and carries over from the Phobos helmet. An ABS shock absorbant shell houses fully removeable and washable padding. The helmet will be secured by a double-D closure and also features and adjustable visor. All weighing in at a carbon-troubling 1100g.

The Darren Berrecloth Signature Slope-EVO is a natural progression of IXS' partnership with the freeride hero himself. The original Slope EVO pad was developed in conjunction with Darren, and the 2011 pad saw updates such as a wider rear opening and better side impact protection. 2012 sees the same pad available, but now in a slightly more eye-catching blue, orange and grey finish.

The "DClaw" Slope features IXS' patented Aeromesh technology which beats Neoprene hands down on weight, and it's wicking, antibacterial and ventilation properties. Another IXS signature feature is the KnockOut absorbant padding, KneeGusset formed cup prevents rolling when combined with the silicon grippers and spreads impact force. A Kevlar cover also adds abrasion resistance.

Check out this video of iXS USA's Lance Tueller running through the features of the Phobos helmet:

Below are links to the full reviews from Interbike from PinkBike, VitalMTB, RideMonkey, Sickilines and Decline:

BikeYard/Nuke Proof Team at The British 4X Nationals

2011-09-26T13:19:00.008+01:00

The Ice Rink

What a weekend for the final round of the British 4x series at Redhill, Gloucestershire.

We arrived early Sunday morning to a glorious sunny day but that wasn’t to last long as the heavens opened and turned the track from what was a dusty dry fast course to an ice rink which made for some good racing and also some good crashes.

The first set of motos kicked off and it was a case of hanging on to the bike and staying upright, even getting on the bike was a mission but it was great for the spectators as they got to see some really messy races with some great crashes, in some cases the riders were 50 metres apart as the first corner on the track was where most of the moves were made using the inside to block any riders from passing but was so slippery it mostly ended in carnage! The last corner covered in grass caused a lot of drifting seeing many riders choosing to run over the finishing line rather than attempt to jump back on their bikes.

All team members bar Cai Mahon qualified, Cai had a number of huge offs not giving him enough points for the quarters. Young Elliot Thompson Knight had a shaky start but finally for the first time all season he beat Dylan in his last moto giving him the confidence going into the finals. So this was it, the last final for the juveniles of the season , Elliot got the snap out of the gate and lead the riders all the way with only Dylan closing him down until Dylan crashed out . Elliot not knowing he had a huge lead peddled his heart out all the way to the finish then collapsing with sheer joy for his first top of the podium this season.

Josh sailed his way to the youth finals, clearly on top form after his collar brake from last season. With yet another snap out of the gate Josh lead from start to finish giving him is second win this year Josh quoted “ gutted I couldn’t enter the first few races this year due to my operation but I am glad I’m back to full fitness let’s see what I can do for 2012 I want the overall win”.

The team’s only senior rider Joe Billingham has improved all year but again was unlucky to crash out in the quarter finals after looking good all day with one of the toughest categories seeing 55 senior riders.

And finally the two team Elite riders Nathan Parsons and Billy Cheetham also had great motos easing them into the quarters but as sods law has it they were up against each other and the infamous Will Longden . True to form straight out the gate into the first corner we were all battling for that 1st and 2nd place but came together and took each other out leaving James Wilson to just stroll through whilst we all ran to pick ourselves and the bikes up, but unfortunately Nate got up first to finish 2nd in that moto which meant Billy and Will didn’t make it through.

Nate "The Natanator" headed up for the semis which he won leading Scott Beaumont the series leader all the way to the line to take him and Scott into the finals.
Nate was looking good and after beating Scott in the semi’s we thought it was Nath's day but again carnage corner got the better of him and left Nath battling from behind but just couldn’t get past, but with his 4th place on the day guaranteed him the 2nd place overall which was amazing as its Naths 1st year in Elite but only his 2nd year racing....watch out pro elite riders in 2012 thebikeyard/Nukeproof are here to stay!

Nathan Parsons – Elite – 4th
Billy Cheetham – Elite – 14th
Joe Billingham – Senior – 11th
Josh Bremridge – Youth – 1st
Cai Mahon – Youth – 10th
Elliot Thompson Knight – Juvenile- 1st

Team standings overall

Thebikeyard/Nukeproof came into the last round all in the top 5 overall so the pressure was on a bit to perform and boy did the team do well. Coming into the final round the team were 3rd with team slam 69/Dartmoor hot on our heels. But with fantastic wins from Josh and Elliot and a final from Nathan we managed to keep our ranking. Excellent work from a team who have all only raced for a couple of years ! From 6th in 2010 to 3rd this year we are looking for the overall team win in 2012!

1st – Naked Racing
2nd – Identiti
3rd – Thebikeyard/Nukeproof

Series points Overall
Nathan Parsons – Elite – 2nd
Billy Cheetham – Elite – 6th
Joe Billingham – Senior – 23rd
Josh Bremridge – Youth – 2nd
Cai Mahon – Youth – 9th
Elliot Thompson Knight – Juvenile- 3rd

We would like to say a huge thank you to our main sponsors Nukeproof for giving us amazing support during this season and for producing one of the best 4x bikes on the scene, also like to thank Will "The Thrill" Longden for looking after us all and sorting us out with components etc.

Lapierre's Pierrre Edouard Ferry at Nine Knights

2011-09-20T16:25:00.003+01:00

PEF at Nine Knights. from Vincent SACCOMANI on Vimeo.

The Suzuki Nine Knights freestyle competition took place on August 27th, with Lapierre's Pierre Edouard Ferry taking the "Ruler of the Trail" award just ahead of Geoff Gulevich.

Check out this edit of Pierre sending some MASSIVE booters on his Lapierre Spicy.

Straitline Feature on Edge Factor

2011-09-20T09:34:00.005+01:00

Straitline Components are producers of some of the sweetest mountain bike gear on the market. A combination of some brilliant minds, the best CNC machines on the market and a second-to-none anodized finish leads to a product that's always going to be at the top of everyone's wishlist.
Straitline are proud about the fact thay make everything for their products in-house.

Straitline are based in Victoria, British Columbia which is an ideal testing groud for their products. Pro riders such as Andrew Mitchell (Canadian DH Champion), Casey Groves and Mike Montgomery (slopestyle heros) are sponsored by Straitline and are on hand to test the products to the max.

Edge Factor's new series focuses on how ideas make it from conception to the finished product being used on the hill. The Straitline episode is suitably entitled "Gnarly Metal".

Here's the trailer:

EDGE FACTOR e02: Gnarly Metal Trailer from Edge Factor on Vimeo.

Dennis and DJ from Straitline run through the processes involved. Starting from the idea, CAD drawings and fine element analysis, through to prototypes and machining the finished product. All Straitline products are a labour of love. You'll not see anything in their product suite that is a mirror image of anything else on the market. This is typified by their Silent Guide and SC Platform pedal which are rapidly becoming the flagship products.

The Silent Guide takes the humble chain retention device to its most minimalist. A heavily machined aluminium alloy boomerang and bashguard make up what little there is of the guide. And rather than rollers that can clog in extreme conditions, they use two proprietory polymer sliders that are both simple and effective.

The SC Platform is another example of different thinking. A massive CNC'd platform sits on a heat-treated, Nickel-plated cromoly axle, running smooth on IGUS bushes. Simplicity is another apparent feature here. The pedal can be stripped in 5 minutes with a fork if that's all you have to hand. The concave platform offers masses of grip and the angled leading edges mean the pedal glances off rocks and other trail debris rather than digging in like a square edged pedal.

Watch the full Edge Factor episode featuring Straitline Components by following the link below. Grab a drink, a snack and get comfy!

www.edgefactor.com/ef_ep2

MTBcut's Hannah Barnes Demolishes the Big Ben Triathlon

2011-09-14T13:28:00.012+01:00

Team MTBcut is pretty good at picking riders than can keep churning out the miles regardless of conditions. None more so than their only female member, Hannah Barnes. A former tri specialist and current record holder for the women's full distance Big Ben Triathlon, Hannah was keen to beat her own record and got close, going only 6 minutes slower than her 2009 effort.

Here's Hannah's full report:

The Dare2b Big Ben Nevis Triathlon, run by No Fuss Events, is classed as Britian's toughest off road triathlon. The event consists of a 1900m sea loch swim, a 90km mountain bike ride, and a 21km run to the summit of Ben Nevis and back.

Pete Scullion arrived from Edinburgh on Friday evening just in time for the race briefing. Pete was doing the half distance triathlon, I was doing the full distance event. I last did this race in 2009, and still have the record by 51 minutes, it was great to do such a cool event again but I put the pressure on myself to pull one out the bag. On Friday night my brother Joe tuned up my bike and Pete did some last minute tuning on his bike too.

It was a 5.45am start, as the swim started at 7am. Pete and I forced down some oats and banana and some energy drink then headed to the swim start. There was no wind which was great, and the swim went well. Well, I though it was until I saw the dude swimming beside me had chosen back stroke as his stroke of choice. I did the 1.9km swim in a bow-wave-making 42 minutes.

The ride set off along the tarmac and soon went straight up a steep road which was a wake up for the legs! We then turned onto a track and up a long continuous loose climb up and around Cow Hill. The descent into Glen Nevis was a really fast and fun with good jumps and flat loose corners. I gradually passed people and by the top of the Glen I was top ten and now first woman. The short descent at the top of Glen Nevis was great fun, really muddy and rooty and a good place to make up time as most people walked down. At the bottom my Mum was parked in my van with a selection of goodies.

I found it much easier to eat going down the road than getting food at transition then straight up the hill of doom. I had a quick stop and gulp of tea and pasta at the van each lap, but sometimes would just have a quick bottle swap and grap a gel and carbohydrate bar. Joe rode alongside me down the road which was great, chatting and keeping the pace up. He said 'to finish first, first you must finish'. Wise words!

I felt pretty strong on the bike for all four laps, and they seemed to go past smoothly and quickly. Joe said 'all you have to do now is walk up the Ben, you'll easily manage that'. I was 8th overall after the bike section which was good, but was a bit concerned I'd totally die on Ben Nevis as I hadn't done much running in preparation.

I had a nice quick transition and headed off on the run. My Dad and Fergy-baby went up Ben Nevis with me, which was great having the moral support. I was stumbling up on hands and knees for most of it, feeling totally delirious and suffering with a really sore lower back. I couldn't believe I wasn't being passed. It was so great seeing all the happy marshals getting closer through the rain and mist, cheering me on. Towards the summit it was wild, really windy and raining heavily. It was great getting to the top, then turning round and enjoying the run down. We kept a good steady pace, and I felt good and relaxed coming down. I gulped down the water from the streams so as not to cramp on the road.

Coming into the finish it was great having everyone to meet me for the final stretch, then Chloe from No Fuss was at the finish to spray me with Champagne coming over the line!

I finished 1st woman and 5th overall, with a time of 8 hrs 25 mins. I was really happy to place up there with the top guys. It was a great race, with the really fun and relaxed atmosphere that is No Fuss events.

Victory for Gaerne's Lampre-ISD Team in Vuelta a Espana

2011-09-14T09:40:00.002+01:00

Lampre-ISD joins the club of the teams that have won at least one stage in Vuelta 2011.

The Blue-fucsia team thanks Gavazzi, who completed an outstanding race in the 18th stage (Solares-Noja, 174,6 km): Gavazzi pipped Vandewalle in a two men sprint at the end of a long breakaway that begun after 10km.

Gavazzi and Vandewalle escaped from the group of attackers with 2000m to go and they reached the final straight, on which Gavazzi used his speed to win the sprint and obtain his fourth season success (eighth in career).

No changes in the overall standing that is still led by Cobo.

"I'm satisfied for having completed an interesting breakaway in the best way - Gavazzi commented - In the attack there were some riders that could be competitive on the climbs, especially Paulinho and Rodriguez, but I had no problem and, managing my energies, I could still have energies for the final part of the stage. I knew I was the fastest but, when Vandewalle attacked at 2 km to go, I decided to follow him since I understood that the other riders were tired. It was a good move and then I perform a perfect sprint that gave me the victory: this success gives an extra value to a beautiful season of my team".

Sport directors Maini and Vicino, who were very skilful in managing the good fit of Gavazzi, were satisfied too: "We knew that Gavazzi was pedaling in a powerful way so we asked him to try to join the breakaway: he did it in the best way, giving the team the victory".

STAGE RESULTS
1st Gavazzi 4h24'42"
2nd Vandewalle s.t.
3rd Deniez 10"
4th Sijmens s.t.
5th Montaguti s.t.

Eurobike : Ragley and Nuke Proof Featured on BikeMagic, Singletrack and PinkBike

2011-09-13T13:45:00.004+01:00

The Hotlines Thundertruck rolled out of sleepy Oxfordshire bound for Friedrichschafen and Eurobike, the year's premier trade show.

On show were our lovely Nuke Proof and Ragley 2012 bikes, parts and accessories.

Interest was high and it was a busy show for all involved with lots of the UK and international media swinging by both the demo day and the stand to see what we had on offer.

New for 2012 are the Nuke Proof and Ragley complete bikes with full suspension models being added to the Ragley range.

All complete bikes from Nuke Proof and Ragley should be landing on our shores early 2012. Pricing and spec is still to be confirmed.

Check out a Ragley 2012 video starring 2 thirds of the Hotlines Marketing team:

More Mountain Biking Videos

And have a look at our marketing supremo running through the 2012 Ragley range for the guys at Singletrack:

Eurobike 2011: Ragley Bikes from Singletrack Magazine on Vimeo.

Alasdair MacLennan also did a first look at the new complete bikes, check out the full review below, as well as the Singletrack and BikeMagic articles:

www.pinkbike.com/news/Nukeproof-and-Ragley-Eurobike-2011.html

www.singletrackworld.com/2011/08/eurobike-2011-ragley-bikes-goes-big-wheeled/

www.bikemagic.com/gear/first-looks/ragley-debut-full-suspension-range-at-eurobike.html

NS Bikes' Ludwig Jaeger Back in Action!

2011-09-13T13:18:00.004+01:00

NS Bikes' sponsored rider Ludwig Jaeger has been off the bike for some time having ruptured ligaments in his knee in December 2010, just before New Year's Eve. A hard landing twisted his knee.

Surgery was the start of the long road to recovery and 7 months later he back on the bike and going BIG!

Here's Ludwig at the NS Bikes stand at Eurobike checking out the new fluoro 2012 kit:

This video shot and edited by Erik Holperl on Canon 5D is a proof that Ludwig is back in shape and riding better then ever!

2 day´s // LUDWIG JÄGER // after 7 month injury.. from CyKEL Tv by Ludwig Jaeger on Vimeo.

iXS Hack Pad Product Spotlight on VitalMTB

2011-09-13T11:14:00.004+01:00

For the Hack-Series, iXS Sports Division worked closely with René Wildhaber. The Swiss rider has collected no less than six wins at the Mégavalanche Alpe d’Huez, which is why he’s often called the “Mega Man.” Wildhaber has also been travelling around the world searching for virgin trails and getting incredible photo or video footage from exotic places such as Nepal, Kenya, Kamchatka or the Cape Verde Islands.

The singletrack that René seeks is in remote regions - meaning climbing and sometimes hiking. Lightweight protectors with minimal pack size are perfect for this – and that’s exactly what the Hack-Series offers. Whether it’s the elbow, knee pads, or the shin guards you benefit from the use of proven Nock Out padding, highly breathable and antibacterial AeroMesh, and VentMesh. These fabrics offer both protection and comfort. Wear them when you need them, stuff them into your pack when you don’t.

Check out the full review here:

www.vitalmtb.com/product/feature/Product-Spotlight-iXS-Hack-Series-Soft-Pads,79

OneTen First Look Love for Hotlines' New Brand OneTen

2011-09-13T10:17:00.004+01:00

With the assistance of clothing expert James Lamont, we've launched a new clothing brand called OneTen.

Designed to deliver great performance without leaving nothing but moths in your wallet, the OneTen brand is definitely worth a look if you need some new road clothing.

Our stock has landed and we were very quick to get samples out to the magazines to see what they made of it.

Cycling Weekly and Cycling Active were the first to give us a review of the new kit.

Two Bronze Medals for Team Lapierre International

2011-09-13T09:48:00.004+01:00

Two bronze medals for the Lapierre Teams last weekend at the World Championships in a soaking, World War One-style Champéry (Switzerland).

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot finished third on Thursday in the U23 category only 6 minutes behind the eventual winner, France's Julie Bresset.

On Sunday, Sam Blenkinsop finished 3rd behind Danny Hart and Damien Spagnolo.

Nirvana Cycles' Nuke Proof Mega Demo Bike

2011-09-08T17:21:00.004+01:00

Simon at Nirvana Cycles has just sent us shots of their new Nuke Proof Mega demo bike. The Mega frame comes almost fully Nuke Proofed, with wheels, pedals, stem, bars, grips and saddle.

Nirvana Cycles are our premier Nuke Proof dealer for the Surrey area and definitely know anything worth knowing about bicycles. If you're in the area and fancy a shot on one of the hottest all-mountain bikes on the market at the minute, then give the Nirvana Cycles team a call on 01306 740 300.

MTBcut : Joe Barnes Euro Blog Part 3

2011-09-08T16:33:00.007+01:00

MTBcut's Joe Barnes has been on an EPIC summer road trip that started some time in June, shortly after the Fort William World Cup. He's just crash-landed back in the UK with a van full of smelly pants.

Team MTBcut are supported by Straitline Components, Nuke Proof and IXS Sports Division.

Find out what he's been up to recently in his latest excursion:
It has been a while sine the last report and a lot has happened. Last time we were stranded in Chamonix with a broken van and races to be getting to. Long to short we got spannering on the van and fitted a new water pump in the sports centre car park and made it to the next race in Alp D'uez (Oz) the following weekend. The next few weeks passed very quickly, racing a Euro DH cup, 2 world cups and lots of gid single track decents.

The trip definitely picked up on the arrival of Fergy baby and the lure of the drive to Sweden. The catch phrase of the summer (f*ck it boys we're going to Sweden) was about to come true. We finished off Val Di Sole World cup and driving down the road were in two minds, throwing in ideas of just going to morzine down the road of going home. "f*ck it boys were going to Sweden"

I am not going to lie, the drive was not to pleasant. a good 2100miles of straight trucking. A good chance to test out the new air conditioning pipe for the tranny through hot Germany and then over the ferry and the remarkably Scottish like drive through Sweden. After a night and large bonfire beside the baltic sea we headed over to Are for the Maxi Avalanche enduro race. After catching up with some friends we got set about learning the race course. Its a different style of practice to DH, looking for over takes, protecting inside lines and then just knowing your way down as well is good. The track was great fun with a good mix of singletrack and open rocky sections. After some rain and general autumnul conditions the track was pretty muddy. In my Quali run I was sitting good in 2nd when my mech hanger pulled of in a rut and i had to walk it home to 10th. not ideal for my grid position the following day. In finals I fought through the field and was making the pass for 4th after Al stock crashed but then his bike caused me to flip over the bars and my brake lever to snap off. The race was one disaster for me but was a great laugh and practice for the series next year. Fellow "Dudes" man Liam man had a great race to finish 9th for his best result this year.

The last week has been a highlight for me, after a couple of days freeriding it up in Are we hit the road to Norway and have generally just faffed about for a week. Driving until we see a bridge then getting the dig depth test stick off the roof, giving the water a prod and then hucking it. Doctors orders for the knee stop me from the good ones but as chief stick man I still feel required. We have ridden some sketchy Norweigen walkers paths and had a good fire of an evening. The weather has been pretty mixed and the van has started to smell a bit (not that it didn't before) but we are making the most of the last week away and have just arrived in Hafjell bike park for a weekends riding before the truck home.

Almost forgot to mention, a scooter has been obtained and we no longer have to walk anywhere anymore. Yes

NS Bikes' Craig Potter Reports from Dirt Wars UK

2011-09-08T16:02:00.003+01:00

Our NS Bikes grassroots rider Craig Potter competed in the 4th and final round of Dirt Wars UK at Wisley. Here's his report:

After a long weekend off working and not getting in till 2:30 in the morning from work, I was up at 11 ready for the fourth and final round of Dirt Wars UK.

It was a murky Sunday morning after the rain that dropped within surrey on the Saturday the trails were pretty sticky and not really the perfect conditions to be holding a competition luckily the boys at Wisley trails got up nice and early ready to get the jumps running for all the mountain bikers ready to get the competition underway.

As usual everyone signed up and got fuelled up on Rockstar Energy ready to begin the competition, with only 6 people entering the open comp they decided that finals would only consist of 3 riders so only half the riders would qualify for the finals so they all wanted to get that top three spot. Up for grabs was a frame and a set of wheels for the top two riders and a few goodies for the third place rider.

One thing that has amazed me over the years is the quality of the riders in the open class, some of them really should be hooked up by someone seen as they all can put down flawless runs like they do it as a day job, all 6 riders in the open class were throwing out tricks everywhere, Wig and his younger brother Sam obviously ride solidly all the time seen as they were both throwing tricks left right and centre. Freddy Pulman, Jack Scrotford-Smith and Callum Gribble were going crazy, Callum was 360ing mid set, Jack was barspinning and Freddy was throwing huge superman’s. After qualifying Freddy, Jack and Wig qualified ready for the open finals.

Elite qualifying consisted of about 15 riders, top 7 qualifying, personally I absolutely adore Wisley and it most definitely showed on the day, easily the most flawless runs I have achieved so far this year which made my position within the day’s rankings well known. My best run in qualifying was probably 360 x-up into 360 into 1 footed table in big tuck no hander on the left hand hip finally into a huge super tailwhip. I was competing mostly against Daryl Brown who was throwing 360 barspins, Clinton Johns who was 360 tailwhipping mid set, Ryan Nangle barspinning mid set, Danny Pace flipping mid set so everyone was riding and pushing themselves at Wisley. I qualified in 3rd, easily my best result so far this year, I was really happy seen as I was only behind Ryan and Clinton, qualifying ahead of Daryl, Danny and even the likes of Chopper Fielder seen as he was one of the riders I looked up to as a kid this put a smile permanently on my face.

Finally the open finals came about, all 3 riders Jack, Wig and Freddy were trying to get the win, unfortunately for Wig he messed 2 of his 3 runs up which placed him in 3rd. After that both Jack and Freddy upped their game, Freddy did a wicked run including 360’s, superman’s and no footed cans. Jack wanted the win just as much and was throwing barspins on the transfer line and a big flip on the last jump.

After the open had finished their runs finals for elite had come about, I decided to keep with what I was doing just cause it worked before and the only person pushing themselves a lot further was Clinton Johns, he was desperate to end up with the top spot. Unfortunately for me like Wig I mucked up 2 of my 3 runs, which but me slightly lower down the final scores.

Open results ended up being Freddy Pulman in 1st with Jack in 2nd and Wig in 3rd.

Elite results ended with Clinton in 1st, Daryl in 2nd and Ryan in 3rd, I ended up coming away with 6th behind Ray Samson and Danny Pace which I was pleased with seen as I had beaten the people that I got beaten by at the beginning of the year, I know that I’m improving and becoming more of a contender for the podium spots now.

Thanks again to Cliff Barbeary for putting on the Dirt Wars series, as he’s stepping down for 2012 wish him all the best for the future.

Also thanks to Sam Davies for use of the wicked super whip photo.

Jack Fogelquist Double Whammy!

2011-09-08T15:31:00.007+01:00

Nuke Proof and Straitline's Jack Fogelquist has been a busy boy of late.

Check out this shot of him in Decline Magazine at the Teva Games:

Also, if you're struggling and the onset of autumn has you down, the watch this video of some guys on bikes loving every minute of it:

Meet Fraser McGlone

2011-09-08T12:21:00.006+01:00

Another cracking MTBCut edit featuring team rider Fraser "Wee Baz Frazzy Baz McGubbins" McGlone on home soil.

Team MTBCut are supported by IXS Sports Division, Nuke Proof and Straitline Components.

Meet Fraser McGlone >>

Lampre-ISD's Grega Bole Wins in France

2011-09-08T12:04:00.004+01:00

Grega Bole of Gaerne's Lampre-ISD team has taken his first victory in the GP de Plouay-Bretagne.

Find out more below:

Marvellous victory by Grega Bole in Gp Plouay (248,3 km). Preceding on the arrival Gerrans, Voeckler and Hushovd, Slovenian cyclist gave Lampre-ISD its fist victory in the French race.

Bole's success is only the final part of a perfect performance by the whole blue-fucsia team, that took the head of the group with Malori and Loosli at 50 km to go in order to decrease the gap from the 8 attackers (breakaway begun at the 26th kilometre).

Lampre-ISD's riders could limit the gap from 6' to 2'30" and then, thanks to the good job by Pietropolli and Spilak, the last attacker was caught on the last hill of the circuit, at 3,5 km to go.

Suddenly, just after the top of the hill, Bole attacked from the group (there were also Hondo and Cunego for Lampre-ISD) and he could resist to the attempts by Gerrans, Voeckler and Hushovd, who tried to follow the Slovenian cyclist.
For Bole, 26 years old, this is the 2nd seasonal victory and the 12th in career.

"This is the best victory in my career, because it's my first success in a classic and because I got it at the end of a very good performance - Bole explained - After Tour de France, I realized important performances and I was always in the top part of the races standings, finally today I won. I thank my team mates, perfect during the whole race, and Lampre-ISD, that always supports me".

"Well deserved victory for Bole and for all the team members, who all performed a perfect race - sport director Tebaldi said - We knew Grega was in a good fit, that's why we decided to work hard in the head of the group in order to chase the attackers: it could be a risk, but Bole, thanks to the outstanding attack in the final kilometers, made all that work very useful".

1° Bole
2° Gerrans
3° Voeckler
4° Hushovd
5° Nizzolo

Spank Industries Oozy Rims Reviewed on PinkBike.com

2011-09-08T11:26:00.002+01:00

Spank Industries is one of Hotline's most recent additions to it's portfolio and we're all pretty excited to get the new range in stock, especoally the top of the range Oozy gear.

PinkBike have just done a review on the Oozy EVO rims and were very happy with them. Mile Levy, PinkBike's tester puts them high on his list for a lightweight trail or XC rim, that's strong enough if you want to lace them onto a set of all-mountain wheelset.

Read the full review here:

www.pinkbike.com/news/Spank-Oozy-EVO-Rims-Tested-2011.html

Bike Yard's Nathan Parsons Reports from Val Di Sole

2011-09-08T11:10:00.005+01:00

Team Bike Yard/Nuke Proof's tallest man, Nathan Parsons was out in Italy for the UCI World Cup 4X. Here's his full report:

After a busy season of racing it was finally time for the World Cup finals so I packed my bags - destination Italy. Val-di-sole in the Dolomites mountain range was my home for the next week. After driving from the airport I arrived Wednesday afternoon ready to sign on and walk the 4x track. From what I could see the track was the same as last years layout with the only changes being made was that the track had been resurfaced. It was to be a big talking point as it looked like a hardcore surface which would usually be used as a sub base on BMX track which was very stony looking and loose.

Thursday came quickly and was soon time to get my bike built up and get my kit ready for the first session of practice. Lets just say first practice was a shock with the temperature reaching 32 degrees everyone was making use of the uplift service. From the first run down I loved the track despite never riding on such a loose surface anywhere ever before it felt good and got plenty of full runs in after hitting the pro line which was really causing some problems for riders due to the surface being deep in places and also very flat takeoffs.

Friday came and although there were a few black clouds and a few crackles of thunder it was to be another scorcher for practice and qualifying. I was feeling good in practice despite the conditions of the track being tough with it being hard to really find any kind of grip on the loose surface but it was the same for everyone. On the good side there was a racing line appearing which gave a lot more grip around most of the corners and through the pro line. After a very cautious qualifying run I ended up finishing in 42nd after also getting a flat tyre in the rock garden.

Saturday turned out to be the hottest day so far and due to the cross-country was running late it meant there was no uplift for most of practice, which meant walking up so made sure to keep the fluids up. Practice time went very quick and I was feeling happy with my lines that I had been practicing with all the other Brits the evening before. First race I had 3rd gate pick which left me with a lot to do as Milan Pesko and Felix Beckeman were inside me and both had good gates. The Gate dropped and we all came into the first corner and I went high and cut on the inside and came out in 2nd and manage to hold Pesko off to the finish to go through to the next round. Next I had Guido Tschugg , Beckeman and Pascal Seydoux and I was in lane 4. My gate was not great and went for the same move again but couldn’t make a place and ended up trying a few moves but couldn’t make anything stick which meant I was out but happy with my riding. Definitely my most enjoyable World cup of the season with some of the greatest racing I’ve ever seen. Thomas Slavik took a well deserved win, what a incredible final.

Thanks to everyone that has helped me and made this season happen, bring on 2012!

Team Lapierre International Get Silverware at the last two World Cups

2011-09-08T09:53:00.005+01:00

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins the XC World Cup in the U23 category!

Pauline had won 4 WC races and finished 3rd in Nove Mesto and 2nd in Val di Sole, so she logically won the title !

Congratulations !

A new podium for Cameron Cole in the World Cup ! The New-Zealand rider finished 5th of the Val di Sole race – just like he did 2 weeks earlier in La Bresse. He is ranked 7th place of the general classification.

In Val di Sole, Loïc Bruni did well too since he finished 2nd in the Junior category and 17th of the general classification, among the best riders.

MTBcut's Hannah Barnes in Scandinavian Photo Challenege

2011-08-17T16:21:00.007+01:00

Hannah Barnes made up 1/4 of Team Britain (or Monkey and the Woos if your Rich Cunynghame). Here's the edit of the event including the full slideshow and clips of the riding. Are in Sweden looks like a great place to ride!

MTBcut are supported by iXS Sports Division, Nuke Proof and Straitline Components.

More Mountain Biking Videos

KillSwitch Weekend - Adam Hauck Edit

2011-08-17T16:06:00.003+01:00

Black Market sponsored rider Adam hauck has produced this edit of a weekend riding his KillSwitch bike. Filmed by Highland Mountain Bike Park. This guy has some serious skills!

Favourite bit is 0:29 with the skid-manual-nosepick. Amazing!

killswitch weekend from adam hauck on Vimeo.

Tahnée Wins with Fastest Time of the Day in Pila...

2011-08-17T15:45:00.005+01:00

With over 400 riders from all over the world the IXS European Cup in Pila was a 5 minute course with a starting altitude of around 2000 meters - a tough race for all competitors.

There was a great women's field at this race with riders from Australia and New Zealand getting in some practice for the World Championships in Champery in a few weeks time.

We headed over to Pila with the scottish lads that had been camping outside our house for the past week!!

Pila is a high altitude resort with some amazing tracks. For the IXS European Cup, they use the 2005 World Cup track - although this year they put in some new sections… and with the weather they have had, it was an awesome track to ride.

The course has everything rocks, drops, big jumps and pedalling sections its a track that even the best riders struggle to put a complete clean run together. Also with the 400 riders ruts and holes appeared all weekend making it even tougher!

After chatting with Ruaridh about how best to cope with such a demanding track, Tahnée had decided to take it easy in qualifying, keeping to her lines in the tough sections and just keeping it mellow in the easy ones… had her U17 category pretty much sealed after qualifying on Saturday with a 5.24 - over 60 seconds faster that the girl leading the series!! Tahnée was 3rd fastest overall and on form Miriam Ruchti coming down first in a 5.09… she knew what had to be done and could not wait for race day.

The course was giving the bikes a real beating - thank you soo much to Dave Garland at Stendec who had Tahnée's forks working amazing for Sunday…

Sunday brought the rain - not loads but it had been 'spitting' all day and everyone thought the dusty track might start running faster.

It was a good, relaxed atmosphere in the pits all weekend and going up for her race run Tahnée confident. She really wanted to push for the fastest womens time of the day and things were going amazing until she washed out in a dusty corner - she held onto the bike and was able to continue without too much of a stall but that was it she now had to give everything to the finish line.

Tahnée was only one of a few girls to hit and clear the huge double that brought you down into the long straight you could see from the finish.

She crossed the line in 05:11.204 - over 12 seconds quicker than her qualifying time but she did not think it was quick enough for the fastest time…. its a track that really suited the more powerful rider and she thought Miriam would take but she crossed the line in a 05:11.272 - Tahnée had taken the fastest time of the day by .068!!!

Tahnée said: "We had been joking around in the pits about - not leaving anything on the hill - and apart from the lay down half way down, I felt i could not do anymore. Physically I felt strong although my lungs were burning when I crossed the line… something to work on for next year. I was a bit gutted there was not a scratch podium!!"

Thanks to everyone for an amazing weekend - it really was good fun!

Nukeproof Snap Reviewed by Dirt Magazine

2011-08-17T15:33:00.003+01:00

Dirt mountain bike magazine have just tested the Nukeproof Snap in their Hammered test section, and have praised the blend of performance and value offered by the 4X race frame.

Designed in conjunction with Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof rider Lukas Mechura, and ridden by the Mechura brothers during this year’s World Cup season, the Snap is built to race straight from the box. Constructed from 7005 grade aluminium, the Snap uses a tube selection designed to combine light weight with front-end stiffness, enabling fast gate-exits and precision cornering under load.

Here are a few snippets from David Jaquin’s review: “I have done some racing on this frame, practiced I don’t know how many gates, and given it some flat pedal drifting through my local woods. Each time I pick this bike off the hook I know it’s going to be predictable.”

“It feels precise and if you have a bit of gas in your legs you will be duly rewarded with fast acceleration and evidently good cornering capability.”

“With such a good blend of performance, and such a reasonable price tag, it’s not surprising that there already seem to be a whole load of these frames at races, and I can only see that number growing.”

Nuke Proof Junior Team : La Bresse World Cup France

2011-08-17T12:39:00.004+01:00

Nukeproof Junior riders Chris McGlinchey and Dan Sheridan raced at the UCI MTB World Cup in La Bresse over the weekend, rubbing shoulders with the best in the world and gaining valuable experience on the European race circuit.

After setting up the Nukeproof Junior pits on Thursday, Chris and Dan headed onto the course for the all-important track walk. “First impressions were good,” Chris said. “The track was different to most on the World Cup circuit; flat out at the top through some fields then down some steep rocky fields with a small forest section lower down, with a massive jump to finish."

Friday’s practice went well for both riders, and after six full runs and another track walk it was time for a top class meal and an early night ready for qualifying the next day.

Qualifying started well for Chris, but at this level a small mistake can make a huge difference – so when he went off the track he knew that getting to the Finals was out of his reach: “My quali run was going well. I was hitting all my lines and feeling quite fast; then I made two small mistakes going off the track into some loose rocks and blew wide coming into a steep section. I then just pushed it the whole way to the bottom, coming down in 79th and I knew I didn’t make it as there were over 80 riders still to come down."

Dan was feeling confident for qualifying though, putting in three good practice runs before his timed run, but rode into a tricky switchback and never recovered from there, eventually finishing in 109th place – just two more seconds and he would have qualified; four seconds quicker and he would have hit the top 50. Dan said: “I knew I was riding well so I just wanted to get down without crashing so I’d get through - I rode quite carefully but hit some sections pretty quick.”

“About half way down I came into a tight switchback section which was destroyed since practice and missed the turn and got caught in a tree. I pulled myself out quickly and got going but had no speed and rode the whole next flat bit clipped out missing the jump lines. I then nearly had a massive over the bars at the bottom which I am lucky to have held! With a massive field of about 250 riders it wasn’t too bad.”

Dan and Chris now head to Val di sole, Italy, for the next round of the UCI World Cup (21st August) followed by the World Champs in Champery, Switzerland on September 4th. Good luck guys!

MTBcut's Ben Cathro Lands 10th at the La Bresse World Cup

2011-08-17T11:29:00.005+01:00

Another weekend, another race for the MTBcut lads. This time in the small town of La Bresse, nestled in the Parc Naturel Régional des Ballons des Vosges in western France.

The course, designed by French enduro specialist Remy Absalon was super short and quite technical once the upper section had been dispatched. Any mistake would be punished with a poor result. The track could be described as quite British especially when the rain arrived on Saturday night.

Find out how the baeys got on through the eyes of downhill's tallest man:

The Real Deal.

3 years ago I steered my Orange 224 to 8th place at Fort William. It was my first top ten at a world cup but I didn't feel I deserved it. It was the year of the fabled Mojo skinsuits and although we were giving a metaphorical middle finger to the image over function mentality I felt like we were cheating. Since then I've been trying to prove to myself more than anyone that I can do it again...

Race day in La Bresse started off with rain. Everyone was firing the wetscreams on and getting loose. Joe was getting wild back wheel-steering his 322 down the hill, feet on as always and loving it. Race run time for Joe was a steady affair, he had a decent run but just didn't push it enough. Top 60, not too shabby.

Fraser spent race day shredding Joe's wee bike and chatting up race mums. Qualifying was a nail biting time for Fraser, a decent run saw him on the edge of making the cut. Unfortunately as the riders went by Fraser saw himself miss out by only 1 second. Gutted.

My run went by in a blast. There were no dramas and I was at the finish before I knew it. Straight into the hotseat and I was stoked. I was hoping for a top 20 but as time went on I kept creeping closer to the top 10. I didn't want to get my hopes up but my excitement was building. When the final results were posted I was sitting in 10th. Boom! Thank-you very much!

The team's rocked into morzine now for some supreme braking bump action. Next up, Val di Sole WC.

Cathro

Sam Pilgrim and Blake Samson Visit NS Bikes HQ

2011-08-17T11:10:00.007+01:00

Sam Pilgrim (NS Bikes) and Blake Samson (Octane One) took the opportunity to visit the NS Bikes/Octane One headquarters while out for the FMB World Tour bronze event at Dirt Town - Jelenia Gora.

Read the full report below and check out the video the guys made of their trip:

The dirt jumping scene in Poland is very strong however not many top level international riders have been visiting this country so far. This situation is changing quickly due to the number of events and skilled riders representing our country in the best competitions worldwide.

This year Octane One was the main sponsor of one of the Dirt Town events in Jelenia Gora, Poland. This competition was also ranked as a bronze event in this year’s FMB World Tour. That is why we asked our best team riders to come to Poland and give local riders an opportunity to meet and compete with Sam and Blake.
After some problems at the airport in UK our riders finally arrived in Poland. Jelenia Gora welcomed everyone on Saturday with nice weather and amazing crowds who gathered near the town hall to see the event. The track may not have been as demanding as some of the other courses at the biggest events but it was fun to ride and Sam decided to show why he is on the top of the FMB World Tour rankings. Thanks to the international status of the event the lineup was pretty strong and there were a lot of riders from several other countries. The overall level of the competition was high.

Laying down sick tricks that included front flips, no-hand backflips and amazing flares on the quarter at the end of the Dirt Town’s track, Sam Pilgrim won both best trick and main event and went home with 2500€ and points in the FMB World Tour ranking. Our second NS Bikes team rider – Bartek Obukowicz was 4th and Blake Samson finished 6th.

When the competition was over it was time for a polish style afterparty at the glider hill. Chicks, a great crew and music by DJ Sam Pilgrim (that’s right... Sam is also a skilled DJ!) made everyone party till the early morning.
On Sunday it was time to wrap everything up and hit the road and head up to the north of Poland. The NS Nissan Navara bombed down our amazing Polish “highways” (“Sooooo Zimbabwe” – Blake Samson) and the guys had 10 hours to admire the famous polish roadside girls, the beautiful Polish countryside and taste some polish specialities before we reached Gdynia in the evening (the specialties did not include the girls!).

As we had a really tight schedule on Monday we started the day early by shooting some photos and videos on a wooden pier in Gdynia with Radek Drozdowicz, who joined us at the final part of the Polish Trip to make a great video which you can see below. Our next stop was the NS Bikes / Octane One headquarters.
Our crew welcomed Sam, Blake and Bartek in a typical polish style – with a shot of vodka. Then it was time to meet our project/design team and show the guys some new stuff we prepared for 2012 season along with few surprises.
We also had a moment to visit our warehouse where guys got some new parts and gadgets.

While our riders were visiting our home town we could not forgot about local riders so we decided to organize a small dirt jam so that they could meet Sam, Blake and Bartek and see them in action. We have selected Piret’s Backyard - one of the best spots for riding in Poland. The local BMX Division crew had been working hard for a couple of days to prepare the course while Piotr “Piret” Kolodziej was playing guitar with his band at Glastonbury. We planned this to be small event and even though there must have been at least a hundred people and event local TV news crew.
After a couple hours of riding it was time to visit Sopot which is one of the best places to chill and party.

After a nice dinner at a Mexican joint we were ready to hit the local clubs and pubs. Even though it was Monday we managed to get some action. We don't really remember what happened later that night but at least the boys managed to catch their flight back home in the morning!

We have saved the best for last. Check out this cool video by Radek Drozdowicz from Sam and Blake's visit in Poland. The video footage from Jelenia Gora was made by Kuba Klawikowski (asfstudio.pl). We would also like to thank two polish skilled photographers Bartosz Wolinski (wolisphoto.com) and Piotr Staron (staronphoto.com) for great shots!

Molson World Team Add MTB Enduro

2011-08-16T14:29:00.006+01:00

Molson World Team boss Geoff Walker recently visited team sponsors, and one of the UK’s top Nukeproof dealers, Bike Station UK as well as CP and the crew at Mojo Suspension to build an awesome ‘all mountain’ bike for use on training and team demo days, as well as gravity enduro racing in the hands of Rich T and anyone else who cares to have a crack at pedalling uphill and ripping down again… The Nukeproof MEGA frame was used and the bike was built in the Bike Station UK Pro Build department.

We wanted the build to remain simple and effective and I think Big Pat gripped and ripped it on the build with great input from the team to get every part running sweet. We are all super pumped with the final build on the MEGA and testing has gone great. The bike's suspension was simply ‘pressure set’ on the air and it absolutely kills the gnarliest terrain we have tested so far.

The ‘enduro’ market in mountainbiking is growing fast so we are now on board the heavy breathing, hard and gnarley work-train which is ‘gravity enduro’… This side of the mtb sport fits perfectly with the teams philosophy of multi-sport racing and riding on, and in different vehicles, whether powered by legs or engines. With the dirt bike and mountainbike enduro scene’s close to the teams structure now this is another step forward.

Rich T headed to the Gravity Enduro Series round to take the teams Mega to the ultimate test in race conditions. Here is his view on the event and how it unfolded…
First race test for the all new Molson World Team, Nukeproof MEGA, all mountain bike.
In a break from World Cup racing the team decided to follow a different MTB direction on the new steed in the set-up. The Mega was prepped and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and get to the awesome, 661 gravity enduro series round 4 at Eastridge.
A totally different format to the downhill racing I am used and trained for, in as much as you race over 5 timed stages, and the fastest combined time over the stages will win… all good, however, you have allocated transition times to ride between the stages, so your busting your ass to get to the top of each stage. Amazing fun for the first 2 stages then lactic acid sets in on the tough uphill transitions as well as the ripping downhills….

With a chance to try out all the stages on the Saturday we rode around the 20km loop trying each of the stages and looking at the transition routes, it soon became clear that this would not be a walk in the park. After one lap around all riders qualify to seed for Sundays race, this here on stage 5, so with one practice we set off qualification, this time with some pads and the full face, the stages are full on, bit of pedalling but also very fast, long and technical. Completely spent I set of on a track I didn’t know taking some wild risks, this paid off and I qualified fastest, a complete shock, but this meant for Sunday I would be last man around the course.

After some nice long rest and a few beers it was up for the start of the race, around 10am I set off, and the day was great, a really fun but hard work day, great atmosphere, something new for the team. So much happened over the 4 hours of riding and racing it cannot be put down into words, ups and down, sketchy moments, punctures, getting lost, riding stupidly fast for not knowing where the tracks went and finally a solid 4th place finish in elite men, not bad for a first go in the experienced 18 man field, to get this result I posted 2nd in stage 1 then 6th, 4th 3rd then 4th.

Overall a great experience and well worth the drive, the team would recommend the final 661 gravity enduro to any budding MTB racer at Afan! They really are great fun…. Beside the legs on Monday morning…!

Over and out for now

RT

Hotlines Staff Ed Ibbetson's Custom Lynskey 29er

2011-08-16T10:10:00.006+01:00

Hotlines HQ office manager Ed Ibbetson has recently taken delivery of his custom Lynskey Titanium 29er frame, and what a beaut she is!

Based around the geometry of the Pro29/Ridgeline 29, Ed made some changes to make the bike his own. Gone is the standard top tube and in is the cross-braced dual top tube to give the bike a unique look, the chainstay yoke is that of the Pro29 Lefty frame that offers extra clearance and stiffness and a Helix downtube is both cosmetic and functional.

On a recent ride in Glentress the bike was super fast across the ground, very comfortable in the air and pretty fantastic at wheelies.

Jack Fogelquist Reports from Colorado Crankworx

2011-08-15T13:49:00.004+01:00

Nuke Proof and Straitline sponsored rider finished 11th at the Colorado Crankworx. here's his report from the event:

Paul, Wyper, Howey, and I loaded up the ol’ Ranger on Tuesday morning, and departed from Whistler at 2:00 PM. The truck was full to say the least, but lightened up a bit once we dropped Howey off at his house.

The 31 hour drive was on, making it to America, and passing through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, until finally making to Colorado! It was good times nonetheless, picking up fireworks, cowboy hats, and eating breakfast at an awesome little place called Snake River Grill!

We arrived at Winter Park around 9:00 PM, and quickly met up with Brett Rheeder, who’s dad generously gave us a place to stay and even cooked some awesome meals for us! The next morning we checked out the course, and started practicing once Dual Slalom finished. They did an awesome job with the course this year, making good use of the hillside available. Previous years had always started big, gotten small in the middle, and ended big, making for tons of braking and pedaling. This year started really small, but got bigger and bigger, making for a course that flowed great and was fun to ride. It didn’t take long to get it dialed, so everyone was quick to start tricking! Luckily I was prequalified, which took off some stress, and finals were on for Saturday! The weather was great and there were some amazing sunsets as well!

Finals were windy to say the least, and unfortunately gave most riders problems. I got lucky, as it died for my first run. My run went perfect to plan, with a flip off the step-down, 1-foot x-up out of the satellite, no-foot-can up the step-up, tailwhip off the step-down, 1-foot-x up the box, straight air off, flip on the Hooter Booter, 1-foot-x on the long and low, to a tailwhip over the last jump! My 2nd run didn’t go quite as well. It started the same as the first, but I cased up onto the box and had to stop because I didn’t have the speed to jump off. My first run was good for 11th place though, so I’m psyched on that!

Full Results:

1 Cam McCaul 93.00
2 Brandon Semenuk 92.00
3 Sam Pilgrim 91.67
4 Cameron Zink 91.00
5 Yannick Granieri 89.33
6 Martin Soderstrom 85.33
7 Amir Kabbani 84.33
8 Greg Watts 83.33
9 Jarrett Moore 82.67
10 Ben Glassen 81.00
11 Jack Fogelquist 80.00
12 Josh Hult 79.67
13 Eric Lawrenuk 78.00
14 Reece Wallace 75.67
15 Conor McFarlane 71.33
16 Brett Rheeder 57.67
17 Paul Genovese 50.67
18 Anthony Messere 31.67
19 Kurtis Sorge 21.67
20 Mitchell Chubey
19.00 21 Andrew Taylor DNS

Nuke Proof Body Armour - Core Saver

2011-08-15T12:19:00.004+01:00

Our core saver vest has been developed in conjunction with the Nukeproof downhill and 4X team and is fully Leatt Brace-compatible.

We’ve used SaS-Tec protection foam on all impact areas for maximum energy absorption and impact protection, combined with a removable back protector plate. The SaS-Tec foam adapts ergonomically to your body, absorbs 50% more impact energy and is 60% lighter than traditional hard-shell protectors.

The breathable, wicking base layer has sublimated Nuke Proof graphics and has vented areas to keep you cool when the going gets rough.

Nuke Proof Launch Body Armour Range - Back Protector

2011-08-15T11:42:00.006+01:00

Our lightweight back protector has been developed in conjunction with the Nukeproof downhill and 4X team and features SaS-Tec protection foam for maximum energy absorption and impact protection.

Designed to perform at the highest level of gravity competition, the Leatt Brace-compatible protector has adjustable shoulder straps and a flexible Velcro waistband for the best ergonomic fit. The Nuke Proof armour is 60% lighter than hard shell protection and absorbs 50% more impact energy than a traditional hard shell protector.

The Back Protector features adjustable shoulder straps, a flexible Velcro waistband and is fully Leatt Brace compatible.

Nuke Proof Tahnee Seagrave at the Nissan European Cup

2011-08-03T15:07:00.007+01:00

Nissan European Cup / Oz-en-Oisans / France

Wow the weather had finally come out for us!!! Having missed Friday's training, Tahnée was eager to get out on the revamped Oz-en-Oisans course. She was loving it new sections, new jumps and new finish it really was a great track.

Saturday afternoon was first qualifying and you could hardly keep her off the track. Crossing the finish line after her run, Tahnée was stoked to have finished 2nd between Myriam Nicole in 1st and 3rd placed Celine Gros. She said "I was having so much fun and carrying so much speed on the track that I just wanted to cruise qualifying without pedalling and see where I got - I put in a few pedal strokes and got a 3.21 putting me in second. Myriam was on a 3.12 in 1st but I knew I could get closer to her"

On Sunday there was another qualifying at around midday - the track was a little bit wet in the morning and during the second qualifying run disaster struck. Coming into a technical but slower section Tahnée went over the bars - winding herself, blurring her vision and getting her feet stuck on her pedals!! The track officials helped her back up but she had to wait for another 3 riders to pass - she was not pleased with a 8.01 for her second qualifying!!!

The finals started at 3 and started in order of the fastest qualifying runs - Tahnée's 3.21 from Saturday had her in 3rd place for the women so she was the first rider down from the top 40 riders that were going live on Freecaster!

Tahnée crossed the line with a 3.15.46… a little annoyed as she felt she was holding back after the earlier crash. She ended up winning the Womens Open and finished third in Elite behind winner Myriam Nicole (3.10.28) and second placed Celine Gros (3.12.59).

She was then interviewed for French TV and Freecaster then took away the cash for winning the overall series which she was pleased about!

Gaerne's Lampre-ISD Giro di Polonia

2011-08-03T13:45:00.002+01:00

Tour de Pologne (31 July-6 August) is always an important appointment for Lampre-ISD, that's why this year too the blue-fucsia selection for the race organized by Lang Team will be very competitive.

Directed by the duo Bondariew-Lerici, on Polish roads there will be Kvachuk, Marzano, Niemiec, Righi, Scarponi, Spezialetti, Spilak and Ulissi. The members of the staff will be masseurs Bertolone, Bolzonaro and Padlo, mechanics Carminati and Romanò and doctor Ronchi.

"My colleague Bondariew and me will direct a very competitive group of riders - sport director Lerici said - Scarponi, Ulissi and Spilak will aim to be in the top part of the overall standing, supported in the usual perfect way by the expert Righi and Spezialetti. Kvachuk will try to join the breakaway, while Niemiec and Marzano will be perfect for the climbs".

You can discover the team selected for Tour de Pologne watching the most recent video uploaded on the website http://www.teamlampreisd.com/

Dan Sheridan Unlucky at Irish Champs

2011-08-03T12:01:00.004+01:00

Nukeproof Junior team rider Dan Sheridan competed in the Irish National DH Champs last weekend. Current holder of the Under16 title, Dan moved into the Junior category with high hopes for the win - here's his round-up.

Irish champs – biggest race of the year in Ireland and defiantly the race I wanted to win the most this season.

Held in Carrick, Co. Wicklow, not too far from me and is defiantly my favourite Irish race track, which is flat out and rough with minimal pedalling.

We arrived Saturday morning and set about getting ready. Pit set up, sign on and get the bike ready. Bike mods consisted of going down 20mm in bar length to 740 compared to the 760s ive been using on the WC tracks , Schwalbe ‘Big Betty’ tyres front and rear with quite a hard tyre pressure in the back due to the big puncturing rock gardens on track and finally a bit less HSC in the shock.

I got 5 practice runs in on Saturday and was having so much fun smashing runs with Daniel Wolfe (shown in headcam below!), felt up to speed and confident for race day.

Sunday morning I smashed out another 2 runs with the D-MAN himself with a near perfect final run. I headed back to the camper to rest up for seeding….

I planned on doing a cruiser run in seeding as I didn’t want to be last off for the finals, had a clean run which was actually quite fast as its tough to go slow on the high speed course! Anyway I came down and went into 1st place by 2 seconds, which although wasn’t what I wanted, was quite reassuring. My time was 3rd in Elites for seeding, only 2 seconds from fastest time of the day.

Quick power nap before finals and I went up for my run. I set off real fast out of the gate and nailed the top section, getting a bit loose after sprinting off the first rock drop. Then just after the top rocky section my front wheel went flat and I knew instantly my run was over. Nothing to do except roll down to the finish….

Huge disappointment but not much I could do.

MTBcut's Hannah Barnes Reports from Whistler's Crankworx

2011-08-03T10:25:00.004+01:00

MTBcut's Hannah Barnes has been out in Canada getting some quality bicycling in. She recently raced the Kokanee Crankworx Enduro where she finished 5th in Pro Women.

Hannah rides Nuke Proof bars, iXS protection and Straitline stems and chain guides.

Read her report below:

Last weekend we loaded up the wee wagon and headed up from North Vancouver to Whistler for Crankworx. It was awesome to be in Whistler, which I'd heard so much about, as the place to be for mountain biking!

We rode all day every day, interspersed with smoothie stops and cruising about Whistler village enjoying the chilled, fun atmosphere of Crankworx. It was cool watching all the events throughout the week. The pumptrack race was cool, and even more cool that there was a bear cutting about at the side!

As I was racing the enduro on the weekend I spent some time during the week getting to know the 5 timed stages we'd be racing. I rode my Orange 5 all week which was the perfect all round bike to hit the boom gnarly rocky, rooty bike park trails and also the fast XC trails at Lost Lake.

On Saturday I seeded 4th Pro for Sunday's race. It was amazing to race alongside the likes of Anne-Caroline Chausonn. I was the only British rider in my category, Whistler local pinners and Anne-Caro made up the rest.

The race consisted of 5 timed stages with riders set off at 30 second intervals, and a cut off time to get to each stage, making up the format of enduro racing.

The first stage was in Whistler bike park which was fast, loose and dusty. The next two stages were at Lost Lake, which were longer xc style sections which were lung bursting and hot! The fourth section was on Blackcomb mountain which had a brutal steep loose fire road climb to the start. This section was probably my favourite, it was really natural with a variety of steep, loose rocks and roots, some short, tough climbs, and fast, flat, loose corners to finish.

Danny was great team support, being on hand for XC/DH helmet swaps and giving me food and juice. It was nice and sociable riding between each section, getting to know the other riders.

The final stage was on Whistler Bike Park. Getting to the start we went zooming past a bear right beside the track eating grass. This final section was live on Freecaster which was cool. I loved the track. It was such a fun mix of tight, rooty sections and fast, power-down, pedaling sections. I finished 5th Pro female. I was really happy with the race, it went smoothly and my bike was perfect for the job. Anne-Caroline Chaussone and Brian Lopes took the win.

Now it's back to Vancouver for the next wee while to session the trails on the North Shore!

Dan Sheridan Shreds his Nuke Proof Mega

2011-08-02T16:53:00.004+01:00

Nuke Proof Junior Team rider Dan Sheridan has just built up his Nuke Proof Mega frame and was understandably keen to get out on it.

Check out this short edit of dan shredding home turf.

Nukeproof Mega from Dan Sheridan on Vimeo.

Damiano Cunego Leads the Gaerne's Lampre-ISD team into the Basque Country

2011-07-29T09:41:00.003+01:00

Damiano Cunego will lead Lampre-ISD in Clasica San Sebastian, scheduled on Saturday 30th July.

Having just finished Tour de France in 7th position, the blue-fucsia captain will rely on Bertagnolli, Bono, Gavazzi, Kostyuk, Mori, Perez Arrieta and Pietropolli.

The team will be directed by Bruno Vicino, supported by mechanics Carminati and Gaia, masseurs Borgognoni and Inselvini and doctor Guardascione.

"Cunego is the main athlete, but I think that the whole team will be very competitive" sport director Vicino said "In fact, at the start of the race there will be many our riders that took part in Tour de France and are in a top form".

Team Lapierre International at Crankworx

2011-07-28T15:02:00.004+01:00

The boys at MTBCut have put out this banger of an edit of the Team Lapierre International downhill riders seemingly having a lot of fun at the Kokanee Crankworx festival out in Whistler. Enjoy!

Lapierre at Crankworx - More Mountain Bike Videos

Nuke Proof Scalp 4.5/5 in MBUK

2011-07-28T13:18:00.003+01:00

Mountain Biking UK magazine have just put the Nukeproof Scalp downhill bike through its paces, and we’re pleased to say they love it as much as we do!

The widely anticipated bike – as ridden by the TeamChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof downhill team – is on sale now and judging by the MBUK review, it’s been worth the wait. There are anodized black, silver or ‘NukeProof yellow’ frames available either with no shock, a Cane Creek Double Barrel shock or a RockShox Vivid out back.

Here are a few snippets from the review: “Once we had the shock dialled in, the Scalp really came alive – the rear end reacting well to big hits, and retaining great small-bump sensitivity. There was barely any pedal kickback when you really put the power down on the rough stuff.”

“The Scalp turns on rails, with a real confidence-inspiring dark side, and persuades you to stay off the brakes into the next corner and let the bike do what it was made for.”

“Great performance at a reasonable price.”

Straitline's Adam Brayton takes 3rd at British National Downhill Champs

2011-07-28T11:49:00.003+01:00

Keswick-based gas-to-flat master Adam Brayton galloped to a 3rd place finish at the British national Downhill Championships. The Llangollen race track is super steep and technical in the trees leading into a mess of super loose turns in the open leading down to the finish.

You can watch Adam getting loose in this video by the guys at Wideopen Magazine:

Wideopenmag British National Downhill Champs Llangollen 2011 from Wideopen Mag on Vimeo.

Find out how Adam got on below:

It’s been a while since I’ve done a race report and that’s mainly due to poor results to be honest, but after the national champs at the weekend things are starting to look up, actually the more I think about it things really picked up at the Windam world cup where my chain snapped on the start straight and I boshed a tree in my run and was 13secs down on old gwinner, so I got a huge boost of confidence there.

After America I haven’t ridden until the National Champs, I was pretty worn out so it was a good chance to get some rest and just chill out.

I landed down at Lang G on the Friday night and got right to bed in the Scudo hotel next door to Baz (Harry Heath) I could hear his suspension squeaking all night, God knows what he was up to in there.

Saturday morning I got up the track early and checked out the new wooded section it was looking mean as, just how it should be!

I was pretty chilled in practice and just having fun, there is some great turns on the track and the cut wet screams were hooking up a treat, my whole set up just felt dialled in and Saturday was done and dusted with 4 runs in the book.

Saturday night was just chilled, Six Pac (Scott Mears) came round with his new bible, so he read me a few stories out of that then I left him for a bit to make some phone calls and when I came back he was still reading his bible and we had a good time, he’s right into the old bible bashing, but he put in a solid performance this weekend so I’m stoked for him!! Well done 6 Pac.

Sunday and my goals were pretty clear in my head and that was to win so once I qualified 1st I was real happy with that and I knew I could build on it for finals.
Going up for finals I was so chilled, it’s amazing how much a bit of confidence changes you! I was focused and ready for it, at the top it was a mean feeling of being last man down, it was my 1st time in this situation so knowing everyone waiting down at the bottom seeing if you could do it was pretty sick!

Right out the gate I went hard, this run was all or nothing and I took some great risks but that’s what it takes to win, you have to put it all on the line and that’s the best feeling ever, there was some insane moments up there that all added up to cost me time but I felt like I attacked every inch of that track so crossing the line in 3rd was a huge disappointment at the time but once I got back to the van and thought things though it was a great day, I put it on the line and gave it everything and that’s all you can do, I didn’t cross the line and think ohh what if I had done this or that... there was none of that so it was cool to put down a solid run and that feeling for me is as good as winning!

Old Ruaridh he put in a stormer well done mate!

iXS and Answer's Chris Hutchens Wins at The Endurance Downhill

2011-07-28T09:37:00.011+01:00

It had been a few years since I last entered the 6 hour downhill event. A last minute change of plan saw me head to Fort William to compete instead of down to the British Championships in Wales which I was disappointed not to be able to go to.

I was looking forward to the pain I was going to be putting myself through though and seeing a lot of good riders fight it out over the hours descending one of the longest race tracks in the world. It’s rated as the best on the downhill world race circuit due to its speed and bike breaking reputation.

The running start kicked off the race before the climb to the halfway point of the track. I made an early break on my Orange 225 leading halfway up the climb before some weapons came past me. Luckily I pressed on and made it onto the first Gondola car with 2 other riders. This gave me an early lead where I grabbed an open track at about 4pm.

Hutch taking an early lead after the Le Mans start.

I hadn’t ridden at Fort William for a few weeks and didn’t practice earlier in the day so took a few steady runs to get into the rhythm of things and to pace myself for the full 6 hours. The first 8 runs went well while I pushed further ahead of 2nd placeman, MTBcut's, Stu Thomson and gave myself a 4-minute lead.

A perfect evening and perfect light to capture the team colours.

I then seemed to hit a bit more pace; warmed up and the blisters appearing on my hands plastered I put in some faster runs. James kept me up to date on the times. James is still injured after a crash in Europe, he’ll be back soon! Al MacLennan was putting in faster run times than me but with my good start and steady runs I was probably 10 minutes ahead in total so I was banking on getting in an extra run at the end or for my continuing improvement in run speed to improve my overall time.

I headed up for run 12 of the day feeling like a good 17 or so was on the cards with a remaining 1 hour and 40 minutes left. 5 more following this was definitely doable. A red flag appeared at the top of the track while I was on the gondola. Not surprised I thought it would be clear by my arrival at the start. Unfortunately it wasn’t and after 40 minutes of waiting around it was decided that we would all do a final run from the top and call it a day as it was 9.15 PM and about 100 riders were queued at the top. That’s when my advantage went but I put in a fast run, the fastest of the day. The important thing was to get the casualty off the hill; I hope he makes a speedy recovery from his injuries.

Depsite being an endurance race Hutch found the time to send some sweet jumps.

Everyone grabbed their stuff following the last run while being devoured by the clearly starved midges. Results were printed and the rumours James warned me of were true. Bumped to 2nd overall but still winning my Category. It was all friendly competitions under the circumstances and a fantastic evening of racing. In total we clocked up over an hour of descending,…..I’ll be getting new wheels now!
Shall I be doing it again next year? I hope so and would recommend it to anyone wanting a challenge and to get a lot of riding done.

Thanks to No Fuss Events for another fantastic event with a super atmosphere. The next No Fuss event for my will be the Tour De Ben Nevis.

Left to right; MTBcut's Stu Thomson, Hutch with a HUGE trophy and 3rd place Ben Arnott.

It’s been a good month of racing for me with 3 races and 3 podiums - One 1st place and two 2nds in three very different disciplines.

Next for me is the SDA at Glencoe but for now a rest is needed! James heads to the next Gravity Enduro in Wales in 2 weekends time, hopefully he’s all fixed up.

Photos appear courtesy of Michael Bonney.

Irish Downhill Mountain Bike Championships - Carrick - 24th July

2011-07-27T16:27:00.005+01:00

Nema and Leatt's Scotty Laughland takes a podium at the Irish National Downhill Championships. Find out how he got on below:

The past weekend saw the National Champs for me in Ireland. For those of you who don't know I was born in Belfast and lived there for a couple of years whilst my Dad was working for BP. I made the decision a few years ago to have a Irish license and haven't looked back. I've made a great group of new friends and really enjoy going back across for the races they hold there, but this was the big one, it was National Champs weekend!

Dad, Mum and I got the ferry across on the Friday morning and got there late afternoon in time to set the pits up and do a track walk. The track looked great; rock and technical up top, fast bermy middle section with; jumps, fast tree sections and flat loose turns before dropping through the gully to finish. A good time for elites would be sub 2.20.

Practise went well, I did 6 runs with several of them being full ones. The majority of the regualar top 10 boys had been up for a bit of sneaky practise the weeks before so I gave it a good walk and found some new lines to experiment with the following day!

Race day!!! We awoke to another great day, slightly more overcast but blue sky a plentiful, I headed up and was first rider down, I put in two good runs and my new lines were working well. Seeding I put down a solid run and came in 6th, I made a few little tweaks to my forks and I was set for finals determined I could put in a 2.14.

I left the start and got a bit to wild blowing my feet off the pedals I got them back on and carried on, with a messy top section I was determined to nail the bottom and that I did. I came into second and eventually finished 5th on a 2.19 a little dissapointed but on the podium!

Thanks to everyone at Epic DH for putting on a great event! I now head out to Europe for 6 weeks non-stop racing! Can't wait, I'll keep you posted!

Weather... It's following Us

2011-07-27T10:07:00.004+01:00

Nukeproof components sponsored rider Tahnee Seagrave took the win at the Rhône Alpes Cup, at Morillon. Check out how Tahnee got on.

This week end was a Rhône Alpes Cup, at Morillon, a race that our bike club organises - usually quite well attended with some fast racers and a good field of girls.

It was a new track that ended in the village which was great for spectators. It has been raining here in the French Alps for the past 2 weeks there has been breaks of sunshine but nothing that would dry out a mountain bike track. Another complete mudfest which was a real shame as the track could have really flowed in the dry - there were sections of uphill that were made un-rideable in the weather!!

Kaos was the opening rider (still too young to race) so he got to train all weekend with me which was fun. There was a few technical bits on the track and by the end of training on Saturday I had nailed them all even the really sketchy road gap - Mum was stoked as she was a marshal at that point on the track!

With it being so muddy, it was really good to be able to drive the 1 hr home for a long hot shower at the end of training!

Race day and Kaos opened the race coming down in a 4.53 with a couple of crashes so pleased for him as it would have put him 3rd in the 13-14 category! Errrrrr it was also faster than my terrible 5.12!!! My run didn't go as planned - I was last girl to go… which is great in one way but means that I have to overtake so many people!!! I caught up at least five girls that were piled on the floor within the first 2 mins! I even had to stop and wait, as two had crashed in a corner after a steep bit. After that was the road gap, it was so slippery that pedalling in to it I ended up facing the opposite way!!

I then had chance to push a bit… coming into the last tight wood section that was quite fast, I saw two girls. Managing to get round them both, I was pinning it out into the open when I hit more mud and went flying - passed again by the two girls!! I was over it! Picked up my bike, and headed for the finish line overtaking the girls - again. I was second in Elite female.

In the second round it was not so eventful - the mud had turned to thick gloup and when I got to the start all the girls were there. Someone asked if I wanted to go first which I jumped at! A couple of slide outs and a few paddling moments but I got down in a 4.45 beating all the girls and Kaos - much happier!!

Next week - Nissan European Cup and the weather looks good!!!!!!!

Win at Endurance DH for Alastair

2011-07-27T09:46:00.004+01:00

Nukeproof Scalp rider Alastair MacLennan took part in the No Fuss Endurance Downhill where he managed to bring Orange Mountain Bikes dominance in this event to an end. Here's his round-up of the event:

This weekend saw around 160 racers line up for the Le Mans start at the 4th annual Endurance Downhill Race at Fort Williams World Cup Track .

After running 200m to the bikes racers then had to cycle uphill on the fire road for around 1.5 miles before joining the downhill track. Once the first racer reaches the gondola at the bottom station the 6 hour clock starts counting down and racers have to pile in as many downhill runs as possible in the 6 hour time limit. Each descent is against the clock, so in the event of riders doing the same amount of descents, the rider who does them in the quickest total time wins, simple!

I decided to take it fairly easy on the grueling uphill pedal on the DH bike and conserve some energy for later on as in previous years I have felt ill for the first few runs after pushing it too hard on this stage.

By the time I got onto the downhill track there was around 15 bikes ahead of me and I knew I was going to have to move through the traffic quickly so as not to get held up over the next few runs.
Pic - Paul Davey of the 'Outlaw Riders' thanks for them for all the heckling and encouragement at the race.

On the first full run I managed to get past most of the field in front of me with the leading pack not far in front.

The main competitors were always going to be Chris Hutchens and Stu Thomson, Chris being a regular World Cup Rider and Stu a former World Cup Rider of note.

With 160 riders on course the field was well spread out and we started lapping people on lap 2 while trying to put in good times, so there were a few dodgy passes, near misses etc.

By around lap 8 I was in the lead by around 1min and feeling good having put in very consistent lap times when disaster struck as I got a rear flat. Riding on regardless as fast as possible I trashed my rim over the loose boulders and bedrock to the finish to lose some time overall.

Fixing the problem quickly I soon got going again and put in another 3 good laps making more time up again before a red flag closed the track for an injured rider.

With the track closed for around 1 hour most of the riders were stuck at the start at the top of the track with light fading and the clock ticking away.

Once the track cleared we only had time for one last run and were set of at 20sec intervals to space the backlog of riders out. This was a flat out run with everyone trying to gain as much time over their rivals as possible.

After the computer sorting out all the combined laps and times I was very happy to have held onto my lead and take the overall win with Chris Hutchens coming 2nd overall and Stu Thomson 3rd

Another good test for the Nukeproof Scalp in one of the toughest races out there.

Next Race: SDA Glencoe

Claire Buchar - Canadian National Champ

2011-07-26T17:00:00.003+01:00

Claire Buchar of Kovarik Racing won the Canadian National Champs at the weekend - here's her round-up:

You’re looking at your new Canadian National Champ! It didn’t come easy either. I consider myself lucky this time. The girls were riding fast! I seeded fastest on Saturday with more fuel in the tank. The track dried out quite a bit by race time and I knew girls would be going a lot faster. I was going to have to pull off a clean run to win. I barely did it after an unexpected pole and tape in a high speed section of track forced me to weave around into some loose rocks and I almost got bucked off…so scary. Missed my line into the next section and there went my flow through the rock garden bit. Didn’t really need that to happen as I was already not riding the most amazing that run, don’t know why. Pressure? Nerves? Anyways, so I am happy that I achieved my goal but would be happier if I performed my best. That is kinda what I’m always after.

Great job Casey and Miranda! You girls rip, watch out for them! Congrats to Drew Mitchell and Kyle Sangers for grabbing the Elite and Junior mens titles with super fast times! And of course, Lauren Rosser-our Junior World Champ- taking the Junior Womens Title. Micayla and Danice both had crashes, would have both been up there.

Chris came along for support and since he’s not a Canadian citizen, the CCA were good enough to make him Fore Runner. So he basically used the weekend as race practice and for bike set up, pretty invaluable as we only got our bikes built just before Crankworx….

Been a pretty successful week considering….grateful and stoked for that!

Thanks to all of my supporters, glad I could win you a title!

This ones for you, Schinken!

Claire.

Jean-Paul Stéphan Brings in the Rainbow Stripes for Lapierre

2011-07-26T15:29:00.005+01:00

Lapierre's Jean-Paul Stephan has won the World Masters Cross Country Championships in the Masters 2 category aboard is Lapierre X-Control.

This is the 5th time Jean-Paul has brought home the rainbow stripes. Good work sir!

Top 10 for Rich at National Champs

2011-07-26T15:16:00.004+01:00

The good times keep rolling with the team and Rich T is pinning the MWT Nukeproof Scalp on the mountains of the UK at the National Downhill Champs, while on the other side of Europe, in Romania, Team sponsor and Rider Jonny ‘bravo’ Kingston together with Jason ‘the destroyer’ Eccelstone have been smashing their way through the Evil Carpathian Mountains in the famous Romaniacs Extreme Enduro.

Jason has managed to turn a brand new 2012 KTM 300 EXC into what can only be described as…‘destruction’… I have worked on and ridden bikes all my life and I have never seen anything like this amount of damage. The race is one of the toughest on earth and both guys have put their all into it and come out with heads held high, if not a little battered and bruised. Jon nailed an outstanding 17th place in the super tough expert class and we are still waiting to hear the result from Jason’s efforts in the Hobby class. The tough Australian maniac was the fastest guy in his class, but a couple of navigational errors cost him time, and in the end the bike, as it flew 250 feet off a mountain side landing on rocks and costing Jason the chance of riding into the finish on the last day. Like I said before… Molson World Team DESTRUCTION…

Well done Jon and Jase for a great job and roll on next year’s event.

Back to the MWT downhill mtb action with Rich’s take on our awesome National Champs weekend.

Rich Thomas

British National Champs 2011.

Well it seems it was only a few weeks ago when we were packing the van for the Halo BDS round at Llangollen… Though here it is and we’re off up the road again, this time for the big one! At the BDS I was on for a top result but decided to press the Nukeproof eject button near the finish and crashing out finishing in 25th….. Not for me really, so this time it was on.

We arrived Friday to set up the Molson World Team pits and walk the track; we did this in horrendous rain… The track slightly different for this race with a proper gnarly top section, like, ridiculous steep, big respect to all the younger riders, because when Steve ‘Sheffield Steel’ Peat leaves the start hut and is over the bars within 50 meters causing a red flag situation, you know things are wild! Anyway, the forecast for the weekend was promising so all good. The weather app doesn’t lie and we woke up Saturday morning to clear skies and what would become a hot weekend.

So the interesting part, the start of the riding, Saturday morning was tough, learning the track and hitting some of the big lines, it is hard to put things together on a track this steep because there are crashes, stricken people and bikes all over the place, wild times and Saturday with lots of uplift queuing and waiting for red flags to clear. Never the less, we got in some good runs on the awesome drying track and with some new factory Mojo Suspension parts the MWT Nukeproof felt better than ever!

Sunday, race day……

We had an early start eager to get some final practice for the race, with limited time unfortunately we only managed one run before the qualification run, on a rapidly changing track this is not ideal but that was the hand that was drawn. Because of this I was cautious during my quali run checking out the track for new lines and blown out sections, I came across the line in 12th position, a solid basis for the final and a confidence booster in the 160 rider deep British senior men field. With a quick ISO2 Recovery and re-hydrate, a prep of the Nukeproof and chill it was time for the final… A tough and fully focussed couple of minutes of riding to determine your National Champs placing for the next 12 months, I was up for it!!!!

Within no time I was sat in the start hut waiting to go, I had a great first half, crossing the first split in 7th place, I knew I was riding well and had flash backs of what happened at the earlier BDS round, because of this I just eased it off slightly at the bottom to make sure I didn’t have a repeat of the eject button incident and made sure I got to the finish, I managed this crossing the line in 9th place, only dropping a few places in the second half of track, so I was pumped, reaching the teams goal of a top 10 in the massive field felt great!
A massive thank you to all the sponsors for their help and support.

Top banana! RT

XC Podiums for Junior Team

2011-07-26T14:59:00.005+01:00

The Nukeproof Junior team consisting of Dan Sheridan and Christopher McGlinchy took part in the Irish National Cross Country Championships at the weekend.

Christopher ended up finishing second ahead of team mate Dan Sheridan who suffered from cramps for the duration of the race and behind fellow Downhiller Gavin Carroll in the Junior category.

The guys said the track was amazing, full of flowy singletrack sections with a few hard climbs and some tricky section.

Speaking after the event Christopher said "I ended up finishing in second which was great as i didnt think i was going to finish half way through. The Mega was amazing, good on the climbs and was just like i was on my downhill bike on the way back down."

Meanwhile Dan explained his race tactics "I set off third planning to sit behind for the first two laps to not blow myself up, and then moved into second mid way through the first lap. I was sitting comfortably behind first for the first 2 laps and then I started cramping up so bad. Chris caught up pretty soon after I lowered the pace and we had a pretty tight battle for the last lap. Then in the last forest section I got off to run up a rooty climb but my legs cramped straight away and I fell to the ground unable to move my legs, watching Chris cycle past! It took me about two minutes until the cramp faded and I could finally get up and carry on. This was probably one of the worst pains I've ever experienced however I ended up finishing 3rd which was pretty cool as 1st, 2nd and 3rd were all pure DH riders!''

Well done to Christopher and Dan on their results. The guys' next race is in the Irish National Downhill Championships in County Wicklow.

Hotlines Staff Tackle the Glen Nevis River Race

2011-07-26T11:43:00.006+01:00

No Fuss Events are well know for breaking the mould when it comes to outdoor events. The Captain Morgan's Spiced Glen Nevis River Race was no different.

Hotlines Europe had a contingent at the event a trio comprising of office manager Ed Ibbetson, marketing assistant Pete Scullion and sales/tech support advisor Paul Downie. This was the first time at the event for Ed and Paul, Ed being slightly apprehensive about getting in the river. Having done the race the year before, Pete thought he'd help Ed long by organising with No Fuss to have Ed first in the river. This almost paid dividends, but he ended up chasing Ed down the river!

The No Fuss Events describe the event as "a crazy lilo race on the river nevis, involving some jumps, rapids and brute strength. Not for the faint hearted but guaranteed to be lots of fun."

Despite the water in the River Nevis being very low during Friday, as sure as the sun will rise in the East, the heavens opened on Friday night and the rain persisted long until Saturday afternoon. River levels, therefore, matched that of last year's event which saw the river at record levels.

Owing to the amount of rain, the course was cut short and the competitors entered the rapids in The Dead Dog Pool just below the Legbreaker Falls. The shorter course barely reduced the risk to the 170 odd foolhardy folk who had signed up for the wildest 20 minutes of their lives.

Straight in the river, man (or lady) and inflatable were swept hard right down a narrow channel cut by the water through the rock immediately after which the river spreads out and shallows. The challenge is then to avoid the rocks and stay where the water is deep and fast to keep the momentum going. Struggling to find traction on the rocks at the river bank, followed by a quick jog to the Lower Nevis Falls where a 20 foot leap in the churning white water awaits. There simply is nothing quite like feeling the rush of gravity pulling hard on your body as you step off the precipice.

Below the Lower Falls, negotiating two rapids is the only real test before the river flattens off and competitors have to muster whatever strength they have left to get them to the end of the course.

Having hauled themselves out of the water successfully enough with arms burning, first task was to get to the caterers who were handing out free soup, then recount tales of how we got down the river in one piece.

Paul had a few issues at the Lower Falls, having forgotten his school lifesaver training, stayed straight as an arrow when he hit the water and shot right through the white water and was suitably kicked about by the water. A solid first attempt, a time of 22:35.3 which was good for 70th overall and 62nd in senior men.

Pete also had issues, but this time at the start of the course. Far too eager to get on the hunt for Ed, he jumped over his airbed and landed face first in the river under the watchful gaze of Captain Morgan and almost the full compliment of competitors. A time of 19:51.2 was good enough for 27th overall and 23rd in category.

It was Ed however who took the top honours out of the Hotlines crew. From what we can gather, an issue free run was had by the man least inclined to jump in the wet stuff. Dragging himself out of the water in a very respectable 19:00.9 slotted Ed into 17th place overall and 14th in category.

Watch the video from the event, featuring Pete's faceplant in the water:

Lapierre's Francaise des Jeux Tour de France Round Up

2011-07-25T17:11:00.004+01:00

With the Tour de France finishing yesterday in all its splendour under the watchful gaze of the Arc de Triomphe and with the Place de la Concorde at its base. The Australian Cadel Evans took the Yellow Jersey in Saturday's solo time trial which secured him the win over Andy Schleck.

The FDJ Team had a busy Tour with a rider involved in almost every breakaway of the competition. Here's a round up of the final 3 stages and the final classification results:

STAGE 19 - Modane Valfréjus to Alpe-d’Huez 109.5 km

Best result for Arnold Jeannesson (24th), the FDJ team is ranked 5th place of the stage classification.

STAGE 20 - Grenoble - Grenoble (Solo Time Trial) 42.5 km

Sandy Casar and Jérémy Roy finished 26th and 27th of the time trial.

STAGE 21 - Créteil to Paris Champs-Élysées 95 km

One final breakaway for Jérémy Roy who showed his determination and fighting spirit until the end!

Unfortunately no stage victory for the FDJ, but a great Tour full of performance:

- A FDJ rider nearly everyday in the breakaway. Jérémy Roy and Mickaël Delage have ridden 1528 kilometers in the breakaway!

- 5 Fighting Spirit Awards : Mickaël Delage (stage 3), Jérémy Roy (stage 4), Mickaël Delage (stage 11),Jérémy Roy (stage 13), Sandy Casar (stage 14). Jérémy Roy is awarded the Super Fighting Spirit Award.

- Arnold Jeannesson wears the white jersey after stage 12, and Jérémy Roy wears the polka dot jersey after stage 13.

- Jérémy Roy triggers the breakaway and leads stage 13 on his own.

General classification:

Arnold Jeannesson - 15th
Sandy Casar – 27th
Gianni Meersman – 77th
Jérémy Roy – 86th
Anthony Roux – 101th
Arthur Vichot – 104th
Mickaël Delage – 132th

Points classification: (3 riders in the Top 20)

Jérémy Roy – 11th and 1st French rider
Mickaël Delage – 13th
Sandy Casar -17th

Team Classification:

FDJ 9th

Climbers classification

Jérémy Roy 7th

Young rider classification

Arnold Jeannesson 4th

James Shirley's Road Trip Adventures

2011-07-25T10:50:00.008+01:00

Enduro specialist James Shirley has been racking up the road miles recently with a trip out to Europe for the Megavalanche, The Mountain of Hell and some French enduro races.

James is kept looking good by IXS Sports Division and steering straight with Answer Pro Taper bars, stems and grips.

Here's Jamesey Boy's round up of events as they happened:

I set off from the croft with my friend Emma Holgate whose father lived up the hill in Inverroy. There was only enough space in the van for one bike each so I took my Five which is the perfect all round cycling machine. In my bag I had a helmet, passport, phone, wallet and enough Bawbags to see me through the next two and a half weeks. We trucked down to Dover and just managed to catch our ferry to Dunkirk.

The journey was going smoothly until halfway between Dijon and Lyon when the fan belt snapped off. Luckily I had a spare and fitted it without too much hassle. In the process I noticed that the water pump pulley bearings were a bit shoogly so I didn’t know how long the new belt would last before it got spat off as well… Turns out it wasn’t long at all. About 30 seconds in total. Balls. We were on the side of the motorway and it was getting dark. Soon enough a highway security van pulled up and phoned a recovery truck for us. We got picked up and towed through a little gate off the highway to a garage in some random little farming town.

Still not totally sure where we were we bedded down for the night and got up the next day to find that the guys in the garage didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak very good French. It transpired that the van would take about 5 days to fix so we arranged with the breakdown insurance people for us to hire out a van and continue with our journey. On arrival at the hire place we discovered that our so called hire van turned out to be a Renault Modus: a tiny little matchbox car. Half the contents of the van were squeezed into the boot of the midget mobile and we were on our way again.

By the time we arrived in Alpe d’huez it was late and we had nowhere to sleep so we started trying to break into the abandoned lifty sheds that were dotted across the hill side. Eventually we got lucky with a little shed, or chalet as I liked to call it, next to the bins on the edge of the village. We lay down the foam bedding and made ourselves a wee home that any real hobo would be proud of. At 7am we were woken by the laughter of a delivery man who had found us in the shed. He dropped off some cheese and meat for a local business and left us to snooze as he closed the door behind him.

When we woke up for real, the sun was shining and it was time to get our lift passes and get some practice done for the Vaujany Enduro in 2 days time. The course was awesome. Four hours of proper alpine adventure along walkers’ paths, over open hillside and down a few flowing sections of bike specific trails.

Seeding took place on Sunday afternoon on a stage which was to be used as the last stage for Monday’s race. It started above town and took riders along a rocky, wall lined path between some fields and down into Vaujany itself across closed roads to the finish in the village square. Joe Barnes took 3rd place and I was just 0.3 seconds back in 4th.

That night, the landship crew of Joe, Liam and Ruari joined us down in Vaujany. Emma and I decided to sleep, this time, in the tourist info hallway in a corner next to some cupboard doors. The next morning we were rudely awoken by an angry looking cleaning lady who wanted access to her equipment inside said cupboard. Up bright and early we were ready for some serious racing action.

The start of stage one was at the mid-station of the only gondola out of Vaujany. It was a fast section that made use of a long downhill fire road with bits of bike track that cut off and rejoined again. The 2nd stage started off quite flat and then dropped steeply down the hill side with some tight switchbacks at the end. Riders cycled back to the gondola where they ascended to the very top this time. It was a long traverse to the start of stage 3 and due to bad timing with the gondola most people missed their start times and the stage was cancelled. It would have been a good one though because the course was set so that you could pick any line you wanted across a rocky open hillside.

Avalanche Enduro 2011

Stage 4 was the longest stage. It started with a fast land rover track which took us onto a walker’s path that descended all the way down to the start of the last stage.

The results can be found on the following link:

www.avalanchecup.com/photos/pdf/675.pdf

I finished 1st place senior and 2nd overall behind Joe. Liam had a big crash in the first stage and came 11th. Ruari should have been 7th but he managed to pick up a mysterious 1 minute time penalty which dropped him down to 15th. Emma rode well beating Lyndsey Carson to first place.

After a successful day it was time for rest. We set up our beds underneath Joe’s easy up outside his van and got some shut eye. The next day we got a phone call from the garage and the van was ready to be collected.

That evening we set off in high spirits looking forward to a good night’s sleep in the van. When we arrived, some 3 or 4 hours later, we found the van locked up inside the garage compound. With no way in we were forced to find some temporary accommodation for yet another night! It was a warm, clear night so we drove out of town and found a nice little field. Sleeping under the stars was a unique experience. I think Emma was pretty fed up with recent sleeping arrangements by now but I rather enjoyed it. I slept really well until the rain woke me up at 5am! Luckily, the rain wasn’t heavy and I continued to doze until opening time at the garage. We transferred our stuff back into the van, dropped off the car and headed back for the Alps.

On Thursday, all five of us did a team practice of the full Mega track. In the scree at the top, I got a bit out of shape and ended up riding with a foot unclipped and with my bum sitting on the top tube. The front wheel then found a conveniently shaped hole which sent me flying over the bars and put an end to my riding for the day.

After a healthy dose of painkillers I set off for my qualifying run on Friday morning. I was in one of the early races and I set off in good time. Unfortunately I was greeted at the bottom of the lift by an enormous queue of super keen idiots who weren’t due at the top of the hill for another few hours! I pushed my way past the majority of the crowd but still ended up missing my spot on the front row. My bad start was made even worse by the fact that everyone else seemed to jump the gun by a good 3 seconds or so. Never the less, I pressed on and worked my way to 6th place which put me on the 2nd row for the real thing.

Sunday soon came and my ribs were still a bit sore. The girls told me that the snow was soft for their race on Saturday so I lined up for the race on the rocks on the right hand side of the track. However, the sun was hidden behind the clouds on Sunday morning which meant the snow stayed hard and fast. Therefore, my tactics didn’t pay off and I got a bad start. I also rode on the cautious side because I didn’t fancy having another crash. After the first few corners I had already lost a whole load of positions and found myself stuck behind a queue of traffic on the single track traverse. All the way along I could see Liam on his bright yellow bike not far in front. He had also had a bad start with someone taking him out in the first 5 seconds of racing. It was pretty good fun following him down as we cut our way back up through the pack. Although the race didn’t go according to plan, I still enjoyed it and finished 47th out of approximately 1800 male entrants.

On Tuesday I hung out with Mark, Lyndsey (who came 17th with a broken arm) and Emma by the lake in Allemont. Emma was standing in the water up to her knees but was complaining about the water being too cold for a swim. Being the comedy genius that I am, I thought it would be funny to try and splash her with a big stone. As I let go of the rock, some of the muscles in/around my ribs also let go with a satisfying pop. With my freshly acquired cripple status it was a good time to move up the valley to Les Deux Alpes. For the rest of the week I hung out by the lake whilst the others played on their bikes and raced the Mountain of Hell.

I am now back at home writing this ridiculously long report/story as I wait for things to fix. I might go for a gentle road ride tomorrow and hopefully I’ll be back on the trails again soon…

Till the next time,

James

Joe Barnes Euro Blog Part 2.

2011-07-25T09:49:00.010+01:00

The last couple of weeks have been a mixture of good and bad with some racing, hot lines, comedy euros and breakdowns.

After the Vaujany enduro we drove round the hill in the landship to the Mega. The race tracks were slightly different to last year and always have pretty slack taping so some good practice was needed. We practiced the top of the mega a couple of times as this is where the deciding part of the race takes place. It was pretty gnarly this year combining snow, ice and scree. I had managed to fit my 5ive and Patriot into the van and went with the theory that if I got a good start I would be better on a bigger bike on the rough top section with a clear run in front of me to get a good lead.

First off was the qualifier and on a equally fun trail, this time mostly bermy and loose. I got a pretty good start and after the first minute got into 1st in my heat. Winning this and also getting the 2nd fastest time of the day, this put me in a prime position for the Mega.

What is the deal with the early start at there races? We got up at 5 staggered onto the lift and got ready for the big run. I managed to drink some tropical juice, a caffeine drink and a GO gel. I was pretty wired for the race but then exploded the sugary goodness all over the snow. I felt much better afer a good chunder. You learn something every time and this time was to not over do the sugar at 6am. Lining up on the start beside (Remy) Absalon and (Rene) Wildhaber with an empty belly and a lovely taste in my mouth wasn’t good.

The tape went up and the carnage prevailed. A chief (read professional weapon) beside me took a tumble on the snow taking me out and several others and once I got going could only watch the leaders pulling a lead as I was stuck behind folk. I waited patiently and got past a few with an entertaining cross scree dash to Alex Stock's amusement who was following. With a few more overtakes I equalled last years effort of 10th. I was pretty pleased and have gained some good experience for next year. Team spirits were pretty high with Liam in 41st and James 47th and a little celebratory mini golf session took place. Ruari’s disastrous non seeded quali ment he raced a later final but put in a good time for a overall position.

After dropping Ruari off for a flight home we went for a cruise about Grenoble with the hope of finding a scooter to relieve the feet from all the walking about. We soon got raging of the city and left for Les2alps with no scooter (we now have a pedal and pop on route to Morzine with friends from the more scooter rich Deutschland). Les Deux Alpes is a funny place full of kids with massive t-shirts and tight jeans. There is skiing all year so it was pretty mobbed with ski chiefs cruising about on micro scooters.

We are in Chamonix now with a van with no water pump pulley. Its stranded in a lovely carpark outside town unable to move. The lack of riding bikes has gotten slightly annoying but the part is on order and we should be on the road on Monday. We have resorted to filming random “dudes” action, buying bangers and xc rides to the garage and back.

Hopefully in next blog we will be in Morzine and trucking after hitching a lift to the Maxi(avalanche) in Cervinia this weekend.

Hannah's Scandinavian Photo Challenge Report

2011-07-21T10:14:00.009+01:00

MTBcut's Hannah Barnes was recently out in Åre, Sweden for the Scandinavian Photo Challenge as part of Team UK. The team comprised of Miss Barnes herself, Rich Cunyngham, Mike Smith and Helen Wainright on the bikes with Canadian photographer Grant Robinson behind the lens.

Team UK eventually finished 2nd behind Camilla Stoddart's team. Here's Hannah's report from the event:

Last weekend I arrived in Are, Sweden for their annual bike festival. I was there as part of one of the five teams invited to take part in the Scandinavian Photo Challenge. Five of the world's best mountain bike photographers from around the world were invited to take part in the competition, each selecting four riders to be in their team. The photographers were Grant Robinson from the UK (whose team I was on), Mattias Fredrikson (winner of Deep Summer Photo Challenge 2009) from Sweden, Kristoffer Kippernes from Norway, Camilla Stoddart from New Zealand, and Marcus Gerber from Germany. I had never done anything Iike this before so it was really exciting.

I arrived a day before the rest of the team, so I drank lots of tea, ate local fika (cake) and caught up with head judge Seb Kemp. We did the Pilgrimsloppet race on Sunday, an XC race for the festival. It had lots of fast fun singletrack, and went through a field of scary cows galloping about, and through farms and people's gardens with ladies topless sunbathing who were cheering and waving! I was on my Orange 5, so I was really happy with 2nd female. Then there was a kids race doing a lap of the church, the race organiser and commentator is the local vicar and a total dude and rad biker!

The rest of our team arrived and it was great to meet everyone. The other riders were Helen Wainright, Mike Smith, and Richard Cunyngham. The organisers got all the teams a sweet apartment to stay in, with a drying room and sauna, which was amazing for after the long days of riding.

We had three days to shoot a variety of riding and lifestyle shots, and two days to edit a 5 minute slideshow with music. We made a rough plan of what theme we wanted to have, but each day had no real structure and our team seemed pretty laid back in comparison to the others. Each day of shooting was long and full on, especially as the sun never set so each day ended when we all had jelly arms and were delirious and starving! We had every type of weather, from scorching hot to torrential rain, thunder and lightening. The riding in Are is amazing, there are about 5 lifts in the bike park with so many great trails down and around the mountain, between 15-40 minutes long. We saw lots of lemmings and some caribou, which we tried in a delicious stew with mash.

On Friday night the slideshows were shown in front of 700 spectators at the award show. Camilla Stoddart got top honours, with our team second, and Mattias Fredrikson third. It was a fantastic week and Are is definately a place to keep coming back to!

Hannah and the remainder of the MTBcut team are kept looking good, safe and fast by iXS Sports Division armour, Nuke Proof Precision Engineered Products and custom anodised Straitline Components.

The slideshows will be online soon, one slideshow will be released each week starting with last place. Look out for them at http://www.arebikefestival.com/

Scandinavian Photo Challenge slide shows will appear soon on http://www.dirt.mpora.com/

All images appear courtesy of Grant Robinson http://www.grantrobinson.com/

Sam Blenkinsop wins the Garbanzo Downhill at Crankworx

2011-07-20T10:53:00.003+01:00

Team Lapierre International's Sam Blenkinsop takes the win at possibly the hardest downhill race on the planet, the Garbanzo Downill at the Kokanee Crankworx festival.

Sam took the win on the super long course with a time of 13:44.52, 12.71 seconds ahead of 2nd place. He takes home a novelty-sized cheque with some big numbers on it.

FDJ's Jeremy Roy 7th in Stage 16 of the Tour

2011-07-20T09:47:00.004+01:00

STAGE 16 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Gap 162.5 km

Jérémy Roy is once again distinguishes himself by being in the breakaway on stage 16. He is in the chasing group for the majority of the race and finished 7th.

As far as the general classification in concerned, Arnold Jeanesson is ranked 16th place and 4th in the Youth classification; Mickaël Delage and Jérémy Roy are respectively 9th and 10th in the points classification. Sandy Casar is 4' 35" behind Jeremy Roy in 21st in the general classification.

Claire Podiums at Crankworks

2011-07-19T14:27:00.003+01:00

Nukeproof components and wheels sponsored rider Claire Buchar got second place at the Canadian Open in Crankworks at the weekend. Here's her report:

Considering the situation and being thrown into such a gnarly and greasy track, I felt pretty good on my new M9 and I was pretty sure I was riding well. It was my first race since the Aussie Champs in February in which I slid out so I was feeling the nerves and anxious to get back into “race mode”.

I knew I had to hold it together to have a chance against these girls, although a few disappointedly did not start(for good reason but we need more girls!), as there were some really strong riders on the start list.

I beat my confidence demons and put down a good run and was really stoked with my result. 2nd place behind Rachel Atherton. Amazingness. The “Champ”, Miranda, had an issue near Heckle Rock but finished with a podium in 3rd. Bummed for Manon who flatted, the young ripper would have posted a fast time, we are sure.

Womens Podium:

Rachel Atherton Amazingness 3:34.45

Me 3:38.75

Champ 3:50.75

Chris, unfortunately, had a mishap earlier on the track and had to do the roll of shame past the hecklers at Heckle Rock. Hecklefest was crazier than ever this year, someone even had a chainsaw up there…

Super stoked for Stevie Smith pinning it to win it for the Canucks.

Mechura Brother's on the Podium at the Czech 4X Cup

2011-07-19T14:10:00.005+01:00

Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof 4X riders Lukas and Michael Mechura finished second and fourth, respectively, at the Czech Mountain Bike Cup over the weekend.

The track was super fast and the sun shone all day for one of the Czech Republic’s biggest mountain bike competitions. Here’s Lukas’s report:

On Saturday I felt good and after a slow qualifying run I got to the main final along with Michael, Michal Prokop and Kamil Tatarkovic. I was on line four and shot from the gate to take first place into the first corner. I was leading the whole track into the last corner where Michal Prokop took the inside line and passed me. It was very hard to make a perfect line choice on the corner, but I took the wrong one, finishing second.

Michael got to the main final as well but during a battle for third place in the final corner he crashed and finished fourth.

National championships

Both Lukas and Michael rode in the Czech National Championships on Sunday, where Lukas finished fifth following a collision in the first corner, putting an end to a decent result. Meanwhile, after leading the race in his first heat, Michael slipped and crashed over the bars – putting an end to his race.

Nema and Leatt's Scotty Laughland Takes the Elite Win at UK Gravity Enduro

2011-07-19T11:30:00.004+01:00

The UK Gravity Enduro series visited the perennial venue of Innerleithen for round 3.

Our man on Nema and Leatt took the Elite win and 5th fastest time of the day.

Here's Scotty's round up of events:

Well Friday the 15th saw practise begin for the Innerleithen UK Gravity Enduro, it was to be a Friday/Saturday event so that locals could celebrate "Games Week" and burn "The Devil"!

I sent a chilled lap with The Boss (my Dad) and had a look at a few of the stages. I knew the majority already having ridden there over the winter on training rides. The format of the event saw you have 5 timed DH stages and the fastest acumlative time would win the event. However you had a set amount of time to reach the next stage and if you missed it then you had a time penalty!

Stage 1 was the Cresta DH run, which was fast, couple of jumps and then some switchbacks.

Stage 2 was a "secret trail" that was very muddy and pretty technical, lots of tricky rooty and rock garden sections to catch you out before sprinting up the hill to finish.

Stage 3 was part of the red run XC trail and was really fast and flowing if a bit pedally come racing!

Stage 4 was the old classic DH track, which was mega, I've only ridden it a couple of times but it's so much fun, really step, rutted turns.

Stage 5 was the matador on to Caddon bank for a mix of berms and jumps.

Qualifying on the Friday was to seed you in your respective category, on the way up I noticed my gear cable had snapped at the shifter so unable to pedal I cruised in and took 48th place overall and 6th in Elites, a start!

A good night's sleep and a bit of pasta in me, I awoke to a very wet morning, quick tyre change to something more grippier than a rear slick and I was set. I rode pretty solid throughout the day and made only a couple of mistakes across the 5 stages. I pedalled hard on stages 3 and 5 and was absolutely smoked by the end.

I finished 1st elite and 5th overall on the day. I was mega happy with how the event went and will definitely be doing one in the future!

Loic Bruni Takes the French Junior Downhill Title!

2011-07-19T10:37:00.004+01:00

Team Lapierre International took young Loic Bruni under their wing for 2011 and have recently seen him well and truly come into form.

A 14th place at the UCI Mountainbike World Cup at Windham is surely the shape of things to come and his result at the French National Downhill Champs in Meribel is another solid result.

Loic was the fastest Junior and 5th fastest time of the day. The Meribel track is, by all accounts, difficult enough in the dry, but mother nature conspired against the riders and World War One conditions were produced for race runs.

In the XC Champtionships, Alexis Vuillermoz, still recovering from a pre-season injury finished 5th while Lapierre's new R&D rider, Pierre-Geoffrey Plantet came in right behind him in 6th.

Lapierre's Team Francaise des Jeux Tour Update - Stages 13-15

2011-07-19T10:19:00.003+01:00

STAGE 13 - Pau to Lourdes 152.5 km

Jérémy Roy triggers the breakaway and is followed by 9 other riders. He quickly distances them and starts riding alone. He is unfortunately beaten by Thor Hushovd 3kms before the finishing line. He is once more awarded the Fighting Spirit Award, and takes the polka dot jersey !

The FDJ is ranked 3rd place of the team classification for this stage.

STAGE 14 - Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille 168.5 km

Sandy Casar is in a breakaway and is awarded the Fighting Spirit Award. Arnold Jeannesson and Jérémy Roy unfortunately lose their respective (Youth and KoM) jerseys.

STAGE 15 - Limoux to Montpellier 192.5 km

Mickaël Delage is once again in the breakaway and takes the points of the first intermediate sprint, but drops back towards the peloton with 22 kms remaining.

MTBcut : Team Lapierre International at Windham World Cup

2011-07-18T10:18:00.003+01:00

Another weekend, another World Cup mountainbike race.

Team Lapierre International seem to be having a lot of fun on and off the bike. Definitely living the dream!

Another cracking edit from the MTBcut boys.

More Mountain Biking Videos

MTBcut : CRC/Nuke Proof at Windham World Cup

2011-07-15T16:02:00.005+01:00

The MTBcut boys have been busy out in North America and have produced this cracking edit of the CRC/Nuke Proof team getting back up to speed on the East Coast.

More Mountain Biking Videos

Lapierre's Pierre Edouard Ferry Rides Chatel

2011-07-15T14:10:00.007+01:00

Check out this helmet cam run of Lapierre sponsored rider Pierre Edouard Ferry. There's some serious gaps on this trail, so it's definitely not for the faint hearted!

Pierre Edouard Ferry Châtel

Lapierre's Team Francaise des Jeux Cooking on Gas

2011-07-15T11:06:00.004+01:00

STAGE 11 - Blaye-les-Mines to Lavaur 167.5 km

Mickaël Delage is in a 6 riders breakaway, and takes 20 points at the intermediate sprint. He was awarded the Fighting Spirit Award for the second time.

William Bonnet (10th), Arnold Jeannesson (11th) and Gianni Meersman (15th) helped place the FDJ at the top of the team classification of the stage.

STAGE 12 - Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden 211 km

Jérémy Roy is once again in the breakaway but is being caught before the finish.

Arnold Jeanesson is ranked 12th place for the stage, 13th of the general classification and takes the white jersey with a lead of 1' 37" ahead of Rein Taaramae going into stage 13.

Cycling News spoke to Jeanesson after he took ownership of the white jersey. He had this to say:
"The white jersey is not something I believed I could take when the race started this morning, even though I knew it was actually possible. I saw that Gesink had been dropped, and then Taaramae also lost contact on the final climb. So my main rivals were behind me. In fact it the rider who held the longest in the group of favorites was, ah... well, apparently it’s me!

“I was selected at the last moment in the team, I was not meant to do the Tour de France but I got a last-minute call-up. Now I think Marc Madiot will not regret that he selected me. I’ll have to try to keep this jersey and, if possible, to move a little higher in the overall standings.”

Cycling News : FDJ are the Kings of the Intermediate Sprint

2011-07-15T09:25:00.005+01:00

Madiot disappointed that more breaks haven't succeeded in first week

The new rule of only one 'hot spot' sprint rather than three highlights the strong presence of French team FDJ in the breakaways of the first half of the Tour de France. The squad directed by Marc Madiot has had a rider in almost every breakaway. Only one of them was in a winning move but Sandy Casar came third behind Luis Leon Sanchez and Thomas Voeckler on stage 9. Despite that the four-leaf-clover team has dominated the hot spot sprint competition.

Jérémy Roy was the winner in Avrillé on stage 1 - and second to Johnny Hoogerland on stage 4. He paved the way for Mickaël Delage to also be first in St-Hilaire-de-Chaléons on stage 2, in Buzançais on stage 7 and in Gaillac on stage 11. Anthony Roux took the sprint in Vassy on stage 6, so did Casar in Neuvéglise on stage 9 and rookie Arthur Vichot in Maurs on stage 10. It makes seven wins out of ten, as one of eleven stages was a team time trial.

"I didn’t count them but they are our stage wins at 1500 euros each," Madiot reacted to Cyclingnews with the hint of a laugh. Intermediate sprints don’t only award points but also earn a handy 1500 euros in prize money for every winner. With seven wins they've earned themselves a cool 10,500 euros so far in the race - of course a stage win by itself is 8000, but it's not nothing.

"We are not particularly looking for these sprints," Madiot said. "We don’t plan such moves but our riders have been really keen to go for breakaways. They’re very motivated, so we let them go, and once they’re at the front, when there’s money to collect, it helps for the morale of the troops."

Listening to Madiot, hot spot "primes" seem to be a compensation for the impossibility to win stages. FDJ won the team classification for the day with William Bonnet, Arnold Jeannesson and Gianni Meersman all making the top 15 - at the top end of the stage for a change!

"Today there wasn’t much missing for the breakaway to succeed," he noted. "But it seems like all the teams of the sprinters ride behind breakaways no matter what. In the past, when a sprinter dominated, his team had to do all the work. And now, Garmin or Lotto ride with HTC although they know [Mark] Cavendish has nine chances out of ten to win. Lotto even rides for losing the green jersey! What if Philippe loses the points classification by five points? They might regret what they’ve done today."

Unsurprisingly, Madiot was disappointed by the first week of the Tour, considering his team has featured in so many breaks with little reward. "Except for the crashes and the winning breakaway of Casar and [Thomas] Voeckler, which has also been favoured by a crash, nothing has happened really [for us] since the start," the Frenchman said

Adam Williams -NS Bikes Pinkbike vid of the day

2011-07-14T13:52:00.000+01:00

Adam Williams 2011 on pinkbike.com

POD on PinkBike.com for Nuke Proof and MTBcut

2011-07-14T10:35:00.004+01:00

The guys at MTBcut have been busy cats out in the US making team videos for the likes of the Nuke Proof World Cup Team and Team Lapierre International. When they find a spare minute though, they can drop the video camera and pick up the SLR and grab a shot like this.

One of the CRC/Nuke Proof team riders throwing up some of the east coast loam at the UCI Mountainbike World Cup in Windham.

Danger Zone - Paganella Bike Park DH Race # 3

2011-07-14T09:40:00.003+01:00

Our Italian Nuke Proof distributor, Danger Zone, were heavily involved in round 3 of the Paganella Bike Park race series that took place last weekend. We've already brought you the write-up, but now, get ready to be jealous of the endless dusty corners with this edit.

3# DH Race Danger Zone Fai della Paganella from Paganella Bike Park on Vimeo.

Francaise des Jeux - Tour de France Stage 10 Aurillac - Carmaux 158 km

2011-07-13T15:30:00.002+01:00

Stage 10 of the Tour de France saw a brief breakaway, before the riders were swallowed up by the peleton which rode to the finish.

Arthur Vichot is in the breakaway and takes the first 20 sprint points available at Maurs. Unfortunatley he’s joined by the peloton a few kilometers before the end of the stage. Mickael Delage takes 4 points for 12th at Maurs, while William Bonnet takes 10 points for 11th at Carmaux.

William Bonnet finishes 11th with Gianni Meersman close behind in 17th. Arnold Jeannesson and Sandy Casar are towards the back of the peleton, finishing 51st and 68th respectively.

The FDJ finished 5th of the team classification.

Lapierre Announce New R&D Rider

2011-07-13T15:18:00.005+01:00

It has been always been in Lapierre's culture to forge strong links between R&D and competition. Nicolas Vouilloz, who combines both functions, illustrates this best.

We never miss an occasion to strengthen this link further.

Following this logic, it just made sense to integrate Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet into our Lapierre International XC Team during the season.

Pierre-Geoffroy not only works as an engineer in our R&D team, but effectively combines his high intellect with high performance in XC racing. He participated in the North American World Cups in Mont Ste Anne and Windham under Lapierre s colours and his presence in the team is already confirmed until the end of this year.

Danger Zone DH Rd. 3 - Paganella Bike Park

2011-07-13T10:34:00.004+01:00

Sporting a brand new set of trails, the PBP (Paganella Bike Park), on a hot July day hosted the DH Race # 3 Danger Zone regional downhill race.

Throughout the weekend the riders became familiar with the race track on Saturday and many have also taken the opportunity to check the trail of other PBPs.

Sunday morning check cards, mandatory tests and immediately after the lunch break, at 13.30 the first of two races planned.

The race starts right away with a shudder, the first rider off got the entry wrong into the Federica Zanotto road gap, landing badly. After a few moments of anxious waiting, he got up and just under an hour later, the road gap was closed.

The rest of the race flew by, interspersed with music from the timely information of exceptional speakers, Barbara Pedrotti, who has accepted this challenge for a "return to roots".

The Danger Zone ASD Racing Team took the honors with a massive presence of its riders throughout the weekend, and with the excellent performance of Rosa Carpano (1 Cat), Martin Stefani (3 Cat), Louis Malfer (2 Cat), Mark Dorigatti (2 Cat), and in particular Stefan Laimer (1 Cat) who dominated his category and also the fastest amateur, continuing his strong performance this season.

For helping organise of the event, we thank the main sponsors Nuke Proof, Contour, POC, and support Trentingrana Mezzacorona Cellars, PBP staff collaboration, Mountain Rescue and all those who assisted in the organisation of the event, and in particular the City of Fai and spa facilities Paganella 2001.

Nuke Proof World Cup Team Report from Windham, NY.

2011-07-13T09:48:00.008+01:00

Team ChainReactionCycles.com/Nukeproof raced in Windham, USA, at the fifth round of the MTB World Cup over the weekend. Young Lewis Buchanan finished an impressive 18th, Matti Lehikoinen 25th, Joe Smith 29th and Matt Simmonds 49th in the downhill finals. There was no 4X this week so no racing for the Mechura brothers.

The track at Windham was shorter in time and distance from the previous rounds this season, but the race action was as exciting as it gets. Team manager Nigel Page said: “The track was not the steepest, nor did it have the scariest of technical sections but it was more than challenging for the racers to say the least. Each rider had to absolutely pin every part of the track 100% and there was no room for any mistakes. If you made it through the technical rocky sections and big jumps clean you had to pedal where you could and pump the track where you couldn't pedal to gain every millisecond as the times were so close.”

With only 11 seconds separating the top 50 men the times were so close. Lewis Buchanan had a great weekend, qualifying 19th and finishing 18th in the finals, a fantastic result and a great return to form for Lewis. He also had the second fastest speed of the race through the speed trap section and was the third fastest Junior in the competition. We’re expecting this performance to secure Lewis a place on the GB Junior Worlds team for Champery in September.

Matti Lehikoinen finished in a disappointing 25th place after a less than perfect run. Matti’s time was less than three seconds off the top ten, so he needs a bit of luck and a good run to place him where he should be in the results.

Joe Smith had a solid run placing 29th, also with a great time less than one second off the top 20. Joe’s practice runs are up there with the best, so just needs to put together a similar performance in the final runs to bag the result he deserves.

Matt Simmonds finished in a solid 49th place and is still in search of his pre-injury form. We’re sure he’ll find it soon.

Nigel Page said: “A big thanks to Dave and Carl for their hard work keeping the Nukeproof Scalps running sweet, and all our sponsors for their continued support.

We fly back home tomorrow and have one week off before the National Championships in Llangollen.”

Team Lapierre International Get a Good Haul at Windham

2011-07-12T10:07:00.004+01:00

Last weekend saw the 5th round of the UCI Mountainbike World Cup at Windham, New York State (US).

Team Lapierre International XC

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot takes another victory at a World Cup! The competition was fierce and Pauline finished 18 seconds ahead of Norwegian rider Sveun. She currently leads the U23 classification.

Team Lapierre International DH

Sam Blenkinsop lands into the top 10 with a solid 7th finish. First year Junior rider Loïc Bruni, who’s only 17, caused a stir by finishing 14th. Good work young man!

Megavalanche

Nico Vouilloz is ranked 4th place of the infamous Alpe d’Huez Mégavalanche. His time of 43:31.550 was 49 seconds off the eventual winner Remy Absalon.

MTBcut : Joe Barnes on Ben A'an

2011-07-12T09:51:00.007+01:00

Joe Barnes is well reknowned for his ability to ride a 140mm trail bike like a god on some seriously horrendous terrain. This latest MTBcut edit showcases Joe's riding talent on the steep, rock-strewn path on Ben A'an, near Callander.

Jack Fogelquist Gets Friendly with Miss America!

2011-07-12T09:21:00.006+01:00

The guys at Root One Media have put out this cracker of a video that will do nothing if not ride your bicycle.

Jack Fogelquist is sponsored by Straitline Components and Nuke Proof parts.

Bangin' Miss America - More Mountain Bike Videos

Lapierre's team Francaise des Jeux Turn Up the Heat in Le Tour

2011-07-11T16:35:00.004+01:00

STAGE 7 - Le Mans - Châteauroux 218 km

Two FDJ riders are in the breakaway: Mickaël Delage, once again, and Gianni Meersman. The race is won in a sprint to the finish. William Bonnet and Arnold Jeannesson finished respectively 5th and 12th. Rémi Pauriol, injured after a fall, left the competition. We wish him a speedy recovery!

STAGE 8 - Aigurande - Super-Besse Sancy 189 km

Best result of the stage for Arnold Jeannesson (29th), who also finished 3rd in the Youth classification for the stage. Anthony Roux takes 3 points (4th) in the King of the Mountains classification; Mickael Delage takes 1 point for 10th.

STAGE 9 - Issoire - Saint-Flour 208 km

Sandy Casar is in the thick of it; a 5 then 3 rider breakaway, and finishing 3rd just 13 seconds bacj on the winner Sandy also takes the full complement of points (20pts) in the Points classification for the stage. The 2nd French rider of the general classification is none other than Arnold Jeannesson who took 3rd spot on the stage in the Youth classification. The FDJ team is 3rd of the team classification for this stage.

Next stage on Tuesday: Aurillac - Carmaux 158 km

Lapierre in the Library

2011-07-11T13:11:00.003+01:00

With the recent theft of the Fox Racing Shox truck at Mont Saint Anne, nobody is leaving bikes in the pits overnight at World Cup events these days.

Being a race mechanic is a full-time job that often stretches well into the night before race day. The Lapierre mechanics certainly got lucky when they landed this rather fetching hotel library as their workshop.

Photo credit : Colin Meagher

Sam Pilgrim Lands Yet Another POD on PinkBike.com

2011-07-11T12:55:00.003+01:00

NS Bikes superstar Sam Pilgrim is currently wrapping up competition podiums all over the globe and is currently in the process of taking over PinkBike's Picture of the Day.

Another day, another sweet photo. This time a flair out of a dirt quarter pipe.

Lapierre Team FDJ : Stage 6 Tour De France Dinan - Lisieux 226.5km

2011-07-08T09:57:00.003+01:00

Stage 6 of the Tour on Thursday 7th of July saw a general increase in activity at the head of the pack from Lapierre's Francaise des Jeux team riders.

A new breakaway for the FDJ Team, and this time it’s Anthony Roux who distinguishes himself taking the full 20 points available on stage 6.

The stage is concluded with a sprint, and two FDJ riders are in the top 10: Arthur Vichot (6th) and Arnold Jeannesson (10th). The two also sit 3rd and 5th respectively in the Youth classification.

The FDJ team now have two riders in the top 5 of the King of the Mountains classification with Anthony Roux in 2nd and Mickael Delage in 5th.

Straitline Machines on the new AMPedal

2011-07-08T09:49:00.003+01:00

Straitline use some of the best CNC machines on the planet to make their stems, pedals, bar caps, chain guides and chainrings. The ability of the machines to move independently of eachother means they can be massively precise whilst milling material from the billet.

The video below shows the CNC machine finishing off the new AMPedal: