BikeYard/Nuke Proof Team at The British 4X Nationals

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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: