After years of focus on the high end bikes like Scalpel and Trigger, Cannondale’s mountain bike lineup get a bit more attention paid to the mid-level segment.

For 2014, the big news is a complete revamp of the Rush. The original Rush had a solid run from 2007 to 2010, then it was replaced by the Rize. That became the RZ, which is going away for 2014. In its place is the new Rush. It’s a 29er-only, linkage-driven single pivot 100mm travel suspension bike. It’s a heavily butted frame with double-pass smooth welds and cartridge bearings throughout.

It’s meant to be a super simple bike to set up and ride and offer race-able performance. They started with the Scalpel’s XC weapon geometry and slackened it enough to make it a bit more playful without giving up the speed. In the words of Cannondale’s global product marketing director Murray Washburn, they designed it to be a bike you’d hop onto and say “F&#k yeah, this is great. Mountain biking is awesome!”

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While most of Camelbak’s pack range sees little change for 2014, the hydration company has made a number of changes to their Podium and Podium Big Chill bottles to make them easier to use- and to clean.  As nice as the original Jet Valve is, its design left a few nooks and crannies that were hard to get clean.  The fact that few knew that the bite piece could be removed made for more than a few funky bottles- and prompted the redesign.  More after the break…

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A perfect compliment to their forthcoming Yampa carbon fatbike, Borealis has just revealed their new fatbike FH1 hubs which include a number of firsts. We’ve heard the new standard for fatbikes may increase in the rear to 190mm, which is exactly what Borealis is using. Combine that with one of the first front specific, 135mm symmetrical, 15mm thru axle hubs and you have the recipe for an extremely stiff bike with room for the biggest tires around.

Details on the new hubs after the break.

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Hayes’ CX mechanical disc brakes for road/cyclocross bikes become a complete lineup, topping out with a drastically lighter CX Pro.

We’ve reviewed the current CX-5 and loved it, and it gets a lot of love on OEM spec from brands like Ridley, Independent Fabrication and many more. But it’s not the lightest hunk of metal on the bike, so we’re pretty stoked to see it’s been on a diet.

The CX Pro gets heavily machined to drop a lot of weight. This is a very early prototype, but compared to the CX-5 there’s a lot of missing material across the top section, a new vent over the pads and a deep hole on the bottom. The mounting plates also get shaved thinner with a bit of material reduction leading up to them. Lastly, it alone gets a sweet alloy barrel adjuster with lock ring.

UPDATE: They’ll also offer Comp and Expert level CX brakes, with the CX Expert replacing the CX-5. The latest word from the Hayes folks is that only the Pro gets the additional machining and the Crosshair caliper positioning system, so changes to the other two remain to be seen. The rest of the post has been updated to reflect this update. More pics after the break…

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The all-new Orbea Avant is the bike designed to take you “from here to there” regardless of where the “here” and “there” are.

It was designed around the Pax Avant Pyrenean Challenge. It celebrates the peace agreement between two opposing Pyrenean valleys, one Spanish and one French. It’s a Gran Fondo that has about 15,000 feet of climbing over 196km through the Pyrenees. They say it’s one of the two toughest races in Europe.

To make the Avant work for rides like that, they focused on fit first, with a more upright ride than the Orca. The fit is based around stack and reach with seven sizes that grow proportionately in both stack and reach as frame sizes grow. Overall, the handlebars will be higher and closer than what’s found on the Orca. It has a pretty short reach on some of the smaller sizes, so they developed two different carbon forks, with the three smaller frame sizes having a 53mm rake and the rest getting a 43mm rake. By adjusting the head angle, trail numbers are kept pretty similar across the range, but there’s improved toe clearance for the smaller sizes.

But fit is only part of the story. The Avant packs in a Swiss Army knife’s versatility by working with rim or disc brakes, adding stealthy rack and fender mounts and adding aero touches…

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Not long after a flying bike getting airborne in Prague, the Paravelo has made its way onto Kickstarter. Already tested with human pilots, the hybrid folding bike, powered para-glider, camping tent is looking for funding. Paravelo’s creators see it as the ultimate recreation vehicle – ride your bike to a field, take off, fly to an unknown destination, land, set up camp, and then use the bike to get around. Then pack back up and fly back home.

Ready for some flying bike camping? Check it out after the break.

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While it may not be a done deal quite yet, Stan’s gave us a look at their new 3.60 hubset at PressCamp this week in Park City.  Made in North Carolina by Industry Nine, the premium 3.60 slots in above the company’s mainline 3.30 mountain bike hub.  In keeping with Stan’s focus on light weight, low drag, and low noise, the 3.60 is a 3-pawl version of I9′s Torch hub.  Halving the number of pawls in the standard Torch keeps things running smoothly- but quick-engagement fetishists will be able to upgrade to the 120pt/6-pawl version if desired.  More after the jump!

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When Mad Fiber wheels were first introduced, they certainly got a lot of attention. Their construction and the fact that they are made in the US even attracted the interest of the Discovery Channel for one of their How It’s Made segments. Building on the success of the original Mad Fiber wheel, the next generation Road 2.0 is here with a host of impressive improvements.

The new wheels are more polished, more colorful, stiffer, stronger and more.

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At PressCamp this week, the folks at Sugoi were especially excited about a pair of new rain shells built using Polartec’s NeoShell fabric.  While the fabric is soft to the touch and the RSX mountain and RSE road (shown) shells fit well, it was Sugoi’s simple breathability demonstration that really made an impact.  Hit the jump for more!

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Ridley’s multi-time World Cup winning X-Night cyclocross bike is completely new and now comes with SRAM Red 22 Hydro-R Disc in top form. They’ve also completely redesigned the Fenix, making a more cobble-capable Spring Classics racer.

The new frame was introduced to their team racers in December as a canti version, but for the first time will be sold with disc brakes. Actually, for 2014, all complete ‘cross bikes will be disc only. Every model will still be available as a frameset with canti options.

The new X-Night was designed to be lighter, stiffer and more comfortable than the prior model. To do that, it swaps the seatmast for a standard 27.2 seatpost. This makes it a bit easier to travel with, but also combines with the slimmer seatstays to improve comfort.

Jump the barrier for more…

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