Scalp still going strong after 200+ runs at Fort William

...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

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

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

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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: