2011 Giant Anthem X 29er 9 Jul 2010 6:05 PM (14 years ago)

Singletrack has posted some photos and info on Giant’s 2011 line up. The Reign, Trance X and Anthem X will see significant frame updates for the next model year but I‘m only really interested in the Anthem X 29er. Final geometry, pricing and other models in the Anthem X 29er range remain to be seen. As far as looks go, I think the polished, black and blue colour combination looks stunning.

Features include:

- Giant’s excellent Maestro rear suspension

- 100mm (4in) travel front and rear

- Giant’s Overdrive tapered head tube

- A PowerCore press-fit bottom bracket

- Post Mount front and rear

- Space for a 2.3in rear tire

- 2395g claimed frame weight

- Fox fork with 15mm through axle and tapered steerer

- 3x10 Dyna-Sys Shimano XT

Fisher dreamed. Trek Unleashed. 16 Jun 2010 11:25 AM (14 years ago)

For the 2011 model year Gary Fisher Bikes will become the Gary Fisher Collection under the Trek brand name. The subtle graphics and outline/shadow “Trek” name on the down tube give me the sense that Trek are trying to ease the transition. I’m sure the frames will be back to looking like one big ad all too soon though. At first glance the frames look relatively unchanged for next year but look a little closer and there are quite a few differences. For instance, the Paragon gains a tapered head tube/steerer, 100mm travel fork, press-fit BB, quite a few odd little geometry changes like longer chain stays and a 30spd drivetrain. Several models also benefit from new lower spec levels and WSD variants. The only new MTB model appears to be the Sawyer, a steel frame cruiser not only with sliding dropouts but a split dropout for the fitting of a belt drive. Judging by the response on forums this model is going to be the one everybody wants but nobody can get!

Maxxis Aspen 2.1in 29er tires 26 May 2010 3:26 PM (14 years ago)

As I mentioned previously, my only real complaint about the KHS was the weight. Reducing the weight of rotational components like the wheels and tires is where it’s going to make the biggest difference to the ride. The wheels will be upgraded, but not until later in the year. At well over 800g each the WTB ExiWolf tires were the obvious choice for an upgrade. After looking around I found the new Maxxis Aspen 2.1in tires were arriving in the UK this month, are reasonably priced and around 530g. I’m not the kind of weight weenie that actually weighs components when they arrive. Just look up the claimed weight, check some sites to make sure it isn’t too far out and hope to appreciate the difference while out riding. Installing them was a bit of a pain, both tires required soapy water to get them to pop into place on the rim straight. Once they were mounted I took the bike for a quick test ride past the gold course. Right away the bike felt a lot quicker to accelerate with around 1.3lbs of rubber removed. It will be interesting to see if the Aspen can provide enough grip and puncture proofing for a front tire. If it doesn’t then I’ve got a backup plan involving the rear Ardent on the Swift.

One year on the Swift 5 May 2010 3:27 PM (14 years ago)

I’ve been riding my Singular Swift for over a year now. Hopefully I’ll still be riding it after another year. Last week it received a spring cleaning, having not been properly clean since last year. Phil Wood’s excellent EBB has kept the chain tight since new but it finally got too long recently. This posed a bit of a problem for me, having several chain rivet extractors, all of which were bent or broken. So I picked up a Super B one, only £8 and very smooth to operate. First ride after the spring cleaning and chain shortening was a bit hard on the bike. It rained for the first time in ages so conditions were muddy, then near the end of the ride I pulled what appeared to be some kind of stone age implement out of the rear tire. This left the bike requiring another cleaning and maintenance session. Tuesday’s ride was much better though, I even found the wood near Barns Green had developed a carpet of Bluebells.

Giant Anthem X 29er prototype 17 Apr 2010 5:01 AM (15 years ago)

There's been years of internet speculation and rumours surrounding this bike. A Giant Anthem X 29er prototype has been spotted at the Sea Otter Classic. Features include a tapered headtube and Giant’s Maestro rear suspension. This second generation prototype and the 2011 production models will be aluminium, with a carbon framed version set to join the range for 2012. Carl Decker (pictured) has already won a Super D race aboard the Anthem X 29er at the Sea Otter.

Norco Shinobi 29er prototype 16 Apr 2010 4:06 PM (15 years ago)

Pinkbike has uploaded some photos of a prototype 140mm travel Norco 29er seen on display at the Sea Otter Classic. It has a tapered headtube, front and rear through axles, 140mm travel Rock Shox Reba and is called the Shinobi. Very nice!

2011 Sram X0 and X9 groupsets 13 Apr 2010 11:37 AM (15 years ago)

This year's Sea Otter Classic starts on Thursday, 15th April in Monterey, California. We all know what that means…lots of new products being released this week. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing any new 29ers that are on display, perhaps something from Yeti, Giant, Salsa??? Also interested in what Shimano has to show. Today saw photos of Sram’s 2011 X0 and X9 groupsets get leaked. X0, X9 and X7 will all join XX in being 2x10 next year, a concept I‘m very interested in trying on a bike in real life. What I have tried is their current shifters, which left me desperately hoping Sram will soon sort out the mechanism problems that have plagued mine. So hopefully the new shifters haven’t just received a facelift and a different number of gears. It must be said that the new X0 looks much better than it did in images leaked earlier in the year. It’s also nice to see a larger range of colour options. Singletrack World has galleries of both the X9 and X0 component "families".

Lynskey Pro29 8 Apr 2010 3:08 PM (15 years ago)

Nirvana Cycles recently got in and built up a Ti Lynskey Pro29 for a customer. The frame is a size Large 2010 model and currently retails for £1499. Something rather unique about this year's Pro29 frame is the Helix shaped top and down tube. This is to add stiffness, especially around the head tube and bottom bracket, making handling more precise and increasing pedal efficiency. It's set up geared here but looks like a prime candidate for singlespeed with those beautiful sliding dropouts. 29ers aren’t something you see everyday in this particular shop, hopefully someday though. I must say the new Canon 550d is working a treat and the Pro29 looks stunning. More photos in this Flickr set.

KHS Flagstaff 29er 31 Mar 2010 1:22 PM (15 years ago)

After some time riding the Paragon, or not as the case may be, I decided that I don’t need two hardtails. So earlier in the year I started looking around at the various full sus 29er frame and whole bike options. Of which there’s a remarkable number that are either not available in the UK, out of stock for long periods, have quirky geometry, or are too expensive. That really only left the KHS Flagstaff, available here after a short wait with no quirky geometry for a very reasonable £1200. Some companies are charging more than that just for similar frames. Steve from KHS UK was great to deal with, answering all of my questions, keeping me up to date, getting the bike here on time, setting it up and even delivering it himself last Saturday. I believe this is one of only two in the country, and the only Large. First ride was Sunday morning up Leith Hill, after a few days of rain. Even with the minimal 80mm Rock Shox Reba and 3.5in Specialized licensed Horst Link driven Monarch 3.1, it still delivered a very smooth ride. Not only a smooth ride but a surprisingly efficient one from the rear suspension. I haven’t had a Rock Shox equipped bike in a very long time…and never anything but Fox rear shocks. So it’ll be interesting to see how they perform in the long term. A common complaint of full sus 29ers is frame stiffness, but the Flagstaff is far from a noodle. Sizing seems spot on and the ride position is nicely centred, just how I like it. It is a bit heavy though, I think with some lighter rotational components it has the potential to be a rocket. In the mean time I’m just going to install the non stock components I had on the Paragon. Hopefully I’ll take some better and up to date pics soon, the rest are in this Flickr set.

Sunday Leith Hill ride 7 Mar 2010 3:25 PM (15 years ago)

Today’s ride around Leith Hill was a surprisingly dry happening, considering all the rain we’ve had recently. Any mud left from the rain was frozen after last night’s frost and I even saw a few dust clouds whip up in the chilly wind. The sun provided stunning dawn till dusk cloud-free coverage. I usually stick to local rides with the Swift but the Paragon was being cleaned and readied for selling. The ride took less than an hour but I cut out a few bits like the lower section of Summer Lightning because it feels less and less suitable for a rigid bike every time I go down there. Possibly due to the slightly shorter ride I arrived back at the Tower for a tea and cake stop in time to finally meet a few of the Muddymoles before they headed off home. In particular Dave, a fellow 29er rider with an Intense Spider, now converted to 1x9. I've taken quite a few photos of the sun and none have ever come out looking as spectacular as this one...

A damp Sunday ride 28 Feb 2010 2:36 PM (15 years ago)

Ground conditions have been steadily getting more and more diabolical over the last couple of months. First it was the snow, then the ice, then the sticky mud of the thaw and nearly non stop rain since. Just to add to the mud fest a storm over Europe last night brushed passed Southern England and deposited yet more rain on the already sodden ground. This resulted in what I’m pretty sure was the wettest ride ever today. Potholes are popping up everywhere on the roads at the moment, 5 since last Sunday in just half a mile of relatively unused county lane. The trails aren’t any better, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the Swift isn’t setup for the job. Singlespeeds need very little cleaning and maintenance but inherently lack a low gear to get up soggy climbs or though deep mud. Maxxis Ardent tires are pretty useless in terms of rear wheel traction in these conditions, they do at least clear mud well enough. The Shimano Alfine gear hub and Hutchinson Toro tires I was running last year suited the UK better. At least the plague of punctures I had late last year has stopped. Due in no small part to me shouldering the bike over, or completely avoiding any sections with lots of hedge cuttings. The River Arun was today seen running amok wherever it liked. On any normal day the Arun should be over at the far side of the field, the ditch with the bridge over it should be empty (a good 6ft lower) and under the water there’s a nice farm track heading right at the footpath sign. I sure hope spring is both dry and just around the corner!

NAHBS 27 Feb 2010 2:51 PM (15 years ago)

Of all the bike shows around the world, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show is one of the most interesting for me. Sadly, I can’t go flying around the world to bike shows, so I have to wait for people that can go to post their findings. This thread on BMU contains a small selection of the interesting and beautifully made products on display. One of them being this Engin Cycles 29er, the bare parts of the frame, stem and seatpost are made of Reynolds 953. There's an excellent photo journal of the production of this bike on Engin Cycles' Flickr photostream.

11-speed Shimano Alfine SG-S700 2 Feb 2010 10:55 AM (15 years ago)

Readers may remember that I ran a Shimano Alfine 8spd hub through last winter. It was a very good Internal Gear Hub (IGH) but I wanted something lighter and with a bigger gear range. Well, Shimano have announced they will be producing a new SG-S700 version of the Alfine for 2011. News first seen on this German site and there's now an excellent article on road.cc. Better rethink my long term equipment procurement plan.

- Gear range goes up from 307% to 409%, the Rohloff is 526% for comparison

- 11 speeds

- 2 x 17% and 8 x 13% gear jumps

- Oil bath lubrication

- Rapidfire Plus shifter with Instant Release and 2-Way Release like Shimano's high-end mountain bike shifters

- Weight will be around 1600g

- Hub and shifter available in silver only to start with

- Available from September 2010

- Price will be around 300 Euros

2010 Lapierre X-Control 410 25 Jan 2010 9:05 AM (15 years ago)

Nirvana Cycles recently got in this 2010 Lapierre X-Control 410. For 2010 the X-Control got a complete redesign, including a slacker seat angle, longer chainstays, press fit BB and full carbon frame for the higher models. There's also a new X-Control Race range with 100mm travel forks in addition to the usual Marathon range with 120mm travel forks like this one. One thing that hasn't changed is the excellent 100mm travel FPS2 rear suspension. This one is a medium and destined to be a test bike when the weather clears up a bit. More photos in the Flickr set.

2011 Sram X0 and Shimano XTR 19 Jan 2010 5:12 AM (15 years ago)

January seems very early in the year to be seeing photos of next year’s products. Leaks like this seem to get earlier every year. The first image shows a redesigned Sram X0 groupset with many trickle down XX features including a double crankset and 10spd cassette. The second image shows a redesigned Shimano XTR groupset with double and triple crankset options and a 10spd cassette. It must be hard to make an already beautiful product even more beautiful, but the chrome XTR crankset looks stunning. There's also a Shimano parts list showing a number of new XT and SLX level 10spd components including rear derailleurs, chains and cassettes.

The white menace returns 5 Jan 2010 3:32 PM (15 years ago)

Only a few weeks after the last snowfall here, it’s snowing again! I took the Paragon out for an urban night ride through the town. The only cars on the roads were going very slowly and a couple didn’t appear to be going anywhere at all. Conditions aren’t too slippery riding through fresh snow though. Last time the snow turned into inch thick ice that stayed for days on the pavements and country roads. The snow seems deeper but it's warmer at the moment so hopefully that won't happen this time.

Happy New Year! 31 Dec 2009 3:20 PM (15 years ago)

2009 was a good year for me, much better than those before it. Hopefully 2010 will be even better. I’d like to still be here in another year but posting seems to be getting harder and harder. My last post took 10minutes to write and 2½hours to sort out major problems with the layout and photos. Thanks for all the comments over the last year, and for taking the time to visit this blog and Flickr (30,000 and 210,000 pageviews respectively). It will soon be time to set off on the first ride of the year...and decade!

Singular Swift and Niner Carbon fork 28 Dec 2009 2:46 PM (15 years ago)

The Swift recently received some long awaited attention after nine months of the same setup and very little maintenance:
- The Sun Ringle hubs are now as smooth as butter thanks to a cleaning, freehub greasing and new bearings. Makes a nice change after quite a few rides starting off with the hubs seized solid.
- The Eccentric Bottom Bracket also seized solid, requiring several taps with a hammer and a greasing before the chain could be tightened properly.
- Bash ring removed and shorter chainring bolts installed.
- Brake levers oiled to stop them creaking like crazy.
- Crank Brothers headset replaced with a Hope, see the review for reasons why.
- Singular fork replaced with a Niner Carbon for the 1.38lb weight loss and a slight increase in braking/steering stiffness. I think the “Nude Carbon” looks great even though it doesn’t match the frame too well. The weight difference is very noticable while riding. What hasn’t been particularly noticeable is the ride becoming any harsher than it was with the steel fork.

Next…well, the bottom bracket bearings are starting to get a little rough and the seatpost belongs on another bike.

Merry Christmas 24 Dec 2009 3:01 PM (15 years ago)

2010 Cube Stereo RX 22 Dec 2009 1:26 PM (15 years ago)

Earlier this month Nirvana Cycles took delivery of a 2010 Cube Stereo RX. Cube are a big brand in Europe and the Stereo is one of their most popular models. Costing a mere £2099, the RX offers outstanding value for money. This medium 18” Stereo is destined to be a test bike…I’ve been waiting years to take one of these for a spin. The rest of the photos can be found in this Flickr set, there’s a Cube Group too.

Cube employs a rather unique Dual Trail Control suspension system on the Sting, Stereo and Fritzz. The shock floats between the chainstay and rocker, compressing from both ends.

There’s no through axle up front but the rear end gets a Syntace X-12 for quick and simple wheel changing.

Sunringlé Ryde XMB DTC wheelset and Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4in tires.

Crank Brothers Cobalt C Directset (headset) review 1 Dec 2009 10:20 AM (15 years ago)

The idea

Crank Brothers took a standard headset licensed from Cane Creek and removed the outer race. Instead they machined the cups to serve as the outer race. Running the 28 steel balls directly against the cups rather than having an outer race between the cups and ball bearings. This remarkably simple idea removes enough material to get the weight down to 65g and allows for a more compact design (22.56mm stack height).

Upon arrival

The packaging looked very nice, as does pretty much anything they do, from adverts to the products themselves. However, the box states a 5year warranty and yet the instructions state a 2year warranty with little info in what that covers.

Installation
Several reviews on other sites have suggested that it’s hard to stop the headset from turning sideways as it’s being pressed in. So I had a proper mechanic do it, sure enough it turned sideways during the first attempt. Even after giving the head tube an extra reaming, setting the cup with a mallet and pressing in one cup at a time, the upper cup still tried to turn sideways. But eventually it straightened out and went in properly. It seems this happens because Crank Brothers decided to manufacture their headsets with a slightly larger outer cup diameter than other companies like Chris King. Not by much…but enough to make it turn sideways sometimes, occasionally crack the cup or even in rare cases crack the head tube itself.

Out riding

- The fork steerer installed fine but was rattling in the headset by the end of the first ride. Tightening the star nut/top cap bolt enough to stop the fork rattling resulted in the bearings making a hissing sound and being hard to turn. It would appear that Crank Brothers Directsets are particularly susceptible to being squeezed by pressure from the top cap. The bolt can be cranked right up to breaking point on my other bikes without the slightest effect on the bearings. I think Crank Brothers needs to work on stopping the bearings from being so easily squeezed and also on a design that results in a lot less headset play.

- After the first slightly wet ride the bearings were creaking and squeaking with every movement and I could feel and hear dirt grinding around in them. One wet ride and the bearings felt and sounded like they had been through an entire winter of use. So the headset was stripped apart, cleaned, very well greased and put back together. There was very little grease in the bearings to start with…one of the dirty tricks that manufacturers seem to be trying to get away with these days. So giving the bearings a proper greasing allowed the top cap bolt to be tightened without stopping the bearings from turning freely. However, the bearings still weren’t amazingly free, nor was the headset play gone completely.

- The lower seal was ridiculously loose and actually dropped off the crown race several times. This was replaced with a much tighter lower seal that mostly stayed put. There’s nothing to actually hold the seal in position so it still dropped off sometimes and isn’t tight enough against the lower cup to be effective at its job.

- Specks of rust have been appearing on the outside of the cups. £80 headsets shouldn’t start developing specks of rust after the first outing in light rain. Both cups have rust just like this all over them. Looking closely reveals many more dark brown areas that might look like mud, but are actually more areas of rust developing. The back of the lower cup is completely covered in rust.

- A particularly wet ride last Sunday resulted in the poorly sealed bearings descending back to creaking, squeaking, grinding and crunching with every movement. I might have to grease the bearings again before funding for a new headset is available.

Final word

The majority of riders using Crank Brothers Directsets have had no problems, but far too many are reporting exactly the same ones as me. I won’t lay into Crank Brothers too much but their other products aren’t up to much either. At this price, it would be a long and hard search for a product any worse than the Cobalt C. 19/12/09: The Cobalt headset has been removed and replaced with a Hope headset, which has already proved to be much better in several ways.

Cube AMS Pro R1 Mag and Borders 28 Nov 2009 2:28 PM (15 years ago)

First Cube arrives

Nirvana Cycles received their first Cube this week…much earlier than Janurary, which is when I heard they were coming. Opening the box revealed a £2249 18” AMS Pro R1 Mag in Sid Blue. For those that don’t know Cube’s range, the AMS Pro is their 100mm travel XC bike featuring FSP 4 Link suspension (very similar to what Specialized uses). The R1 Mag is the top aluminium model and weighs 24.2lbs. More photos here.

"The most attractive bike we've ever had in the shop" - Simon

3D Link

Rear pivot

DT Swiss XPW1600 wheelset

Bad news for magazine readers

The UK bookstore chain Borders was recently put into administration. Borders has been in the UK since 1997 and currently has 45 stores and 1150 staff here. What does this have to do with Mountain Biking? Well, Borders may be best known for books and CDs but they have an excellent magazine selection. Amongst this excellent magazine selection are several American MTB mags that either aren’t stocked anywhere else, don’t turn up regularly in other shops or need to be specially ordered/subscribed to. So an already abysmal range of mags in the shops here is about to get worse with the loss of titles like BIKE and Dirt Rag. Unless someone wants to buy Borders and keep it going which is sounding very unlikely right now.

Ragley mmmbop 25 Nov 2009 1:38 PM (15 years ago)

Nirvana Cycles have built up one of their Ragley mmmbop frames as a test bike. The medium (18”) frame in “Quick Lime” green looks quite nice but check it out in real life before forming an opinion. As lovely as my photos are, they may not give a fully accurate representation of the colour. Components of interest include NC-17 flat pedals and a 2010 Marzocchi 44RC3 Ti...better be amazing for a fork approaching £700. Anyway, it seemed like a really nice bike during my short ride. More photos here.

7046 aluminium

"3 finger" left chainstay bridge for increased stiffness and chainring/tyre clearance. Bolt on cable guides are a nice detail too

Chainstay mounted brake calliper means lighter gauge seatstays can be used to improve the ride quality

A 3.7lb frame that passed the CEN tests - something Marin dreams about

Wednesday news and views 17 Nov 2009 2:20 PM (15 years ago)

Local bike shop news

Nirvana Cycles in Westcott are now stocking Ragley. I’m not sure if Nirvana Cycles are a proper dealer but it’s nice to see Ragley frames in a shop somewhere in the south of England. Right now they have the mmmbop in blue and “Quick Lime” green for a very reasonable £275.99. They are also stocking the steel Blue Pig frame seen bellow for an even more reasonable £259.99. Brant’s future 29er creations interest me far more but keep an eye on my Flickr for photos of the mmmbop and Blue Pig.

Nirvana Cycles have also recently signed up to become a Cube dealer. Some stunning Cubes on display at the London Cycle Show as well as some very good salesmen played a big role in the decision. The outrageously long wait for Giant’s 2010 bikes also had a hand in it. Many riders will be thinking about 2011 kit by February or March so the very late release isn’t doing Giant or their dealers any good. Indeed several 2010 models became 2011 models today due to “insurmountable production issues”. The good news is that Cube reckons they can have their bikes in store for early January...not too bad. Nirvana will be getting in the 160mm travel Fritzz for all mountain, 140mm Stereo for trail riding and the 100mm AMS for XC. I'm very much looking forward to trying a Cube after years of only seeing them in catalogues and at the Cycle Show. Again, keep an eye on Flickr for photos.

Downs Link

The Downs Link section between Christ’s Hospital and Slinfold is currently covered in hedge cuttings, along with several other bridleways and footpaths in the area. When I checked last week it was bad enough that riders should prepare for a significant walk carrying the bike or several hawthorn punctures. It would appear that a number of local farmers give very little consideration to public safety, punctures, thorns going through walkers shoes and the law in this county. Which not only covers roads but footpaths and bridleways as to clearing up or sweeping to one side all debris as soon after cutting as possible.

Sunday ride 15 Nov 2009 4:03 PM (15 years ago)

Conditions weren’t ideal for riding after three days and four nights of rain, wind, several thunderstorms and a few hailstorms. Every so often a new component gets installed on one of my bikes and I just have to try it out at the first opportunity. The new component on this occasion was a Shimano XT chainset for the Paragon. Allow me to list a few of the benefits:

- An XT chainset weighs 853g, so according to my calculations that’s 100g less than the FC-M542 that came on the bike, but add a little more back on because I went for the 180mm option.

- The look of the bike has been improved no end.

- 180mm crank arms give more leverage, a smoother crank rotation for my long legs, no knee pain and still leave plenty of toe/wheel clearance due to the excellent G2 geometry.

- A rather annoying knocking sound that happened with every left pedal rotation on the old chainset has vanished.

- Slightly better shifting and hopefully less chain suck, I’ll have to get back to you on that last one after more riding, though.

My only riding jacket suffered a serious zip failure moments before I set off which required immediate retrofitting of a newer and stronger zip from one of my other jackets. The ride itself was pretty good considering the amount of puddles on the trails, even after a surprisingly deep one that nearly reached the front hub. Eventually the water, mud and sand had the drivetrain making sounds rather like a vintage paint mixer. Quite a few fallen branches and rocks uncovered by the rain up Leith Hill this morning needed jumping or avoiding but that just adds to the fun. The clear sky and low but bright sun didn't really help photography up there today, the bikes ended up too bright and backgrounds too dark. So most of the photos were unusable, hence the above photos taken elsewhere later in the day. On my way back up to the Tower for tea and cakes I spotted the Muddymoles leaving. Somehow I never seem to arrive at the top while they‘re still there, timing needs to be improved. On the return journey the rear brake felt like it had lost a lot of its power. I really hope this doesn’t turn into a major brake pad problem like the 08 XTs on my Stumpjumper. Even two years later I have no idea what caused every set of pads I put in there to die and haven’t managed to replicate the problem on any other brakes…yet!

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