Campagnolo released some big news for their fans and teams who ride time trials and triathlons today, as they have finally updated their bar end shifters! More than that, they also introduced an all new aero brake lever that will pair nicely with their new center pull or lateral pull brakes. Finally, in order to be able to offer a “TT Group” they have introduced a new crank with larger chainrings that they claim is still just as stiff as their current offerings.

Did they make the new shifters for both 10 and 11 speed?

Jump past the break to find out!

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If you happened to be up at midnight, and stumbled upon the new Hayes Components website, you would have been greeted with this:

Sorry. We’re out jacking bikes. Come back in…. (with a count down timer underneath)

Last night, Hayes Components introduced their new website, along with a new video campaign. The “Hayesing” involves stealing unsuspecting rider’s bikes, and updating them with the hottest parts from Hayes, Answer, and Manitou. Be sure to check out the site and keep an eye out for future installments. Who knows, maybe your bike could be next?

Coming this summer, Yakima will unveil their all-new WhispBar roof rack cross bars at Outdoor Retailer in early August., Designed with a super aero-profile, their launch invite says they’ll be the “world’s quietest, most fuel-efficient vehicle rack.” Stay tuned…

While the question of 26 vs 29 continues to be debated by consumers nation wide, it seems that even the pros are still going back and forth. It certainly seems that many XC pros are taking to their new big wheels to try and win races, however not everyone is on board. In fact, just recently Geoff Kabush could be quoted as Tweeting, “Bunch of my euro colleagues are posting pics of new big wheel touring bikes. Curious to see how many actually race them at first World Cup.” So as much as many of 29′s proponents would like to think the ultimate wheel size has been decided, there is clearly still some disagreement.

In one of the first races of the season, which Julien happened to win, he was still aboard his 26″ Orbea Alma. However, when the time came for the Off Road Cassis, Julien lined up at the start aboard his Orbea Alma 29′er. Perhaps the large marathon style course with a total distance of 35 miles helped to make up his mind on which wheel size to choose.

Take from this what you will, but he finished 4th out of what was claimed to be a very tough field. The next race though? Well, that race he won. On 26′s. Clearly, Absalon is interested in testing the big hoops on the race circuit, but I wouldn’t expect him to completely change just yet. After his 4th place finish in the Off Road Cassis, Absalon had this to say about his new bike, “I am satisfied because I had fun and I’ve tested it. This new type of bike is quite different, and I must get used to it and that we continue to work at the particular weight to make it more competitive. “

If you haven’t seen it, check out the Mavic video with Julien Absalon after the break. Perhaps when Julien says they need to work with the weight, he means help Mavic develop a lighter 29 inch wheel?

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Here’s a break in our 29er reporting to look at something completely different. Check out this new artist on Etsy: linedraw. You’ll want to buy his whole series of bike culture prints – and probably even the non-bike related prints (think: superheroes and Star Wars!). Witty, and cheap at only $15 for a 5×7 print, or $22 to have any print on a t-shirt. Awesome.

If you like that one, you’ll love the others after the break, or click on the link above to see all of linedraw’s work. Cheers.

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Photo submitted by Greg Fisicaro, “So I was featured on March 18th for ‘Riding into the Storm‘. Well I wasn’t lying, the weather has been nasty, winds daily of almost 70mph, plus rain and snow. So finally one night I got sick of not being able to ride and said ‘Screw it!’ and went out into a brief calm in the blizzard we had been having all afternoon. Love that you can only see the bike tracks in the snow, and no car tire tracks!”

To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here.

Niner has produced 9 limited edition Air 9 Carbon framesets to benefit IMBA. How can you get one of these one-of-a-kind framesets, you ask? Sea Otter patrons take note: One of the framesets (made up into a complete bike, see after the break for component breakdown) will be given away at Sea Otter, while the others will be auctioned off starting April 18th, with proceeds going to IMBA.

For more info, read the press release after the break.

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Check out all of our Project 24 posts here!

As far as the pieces that make up a bicycle, nothing defines the ride like the frame. That’s especially true of full suspension frames. In a time where even the most mainstream of bicycle brands sells (or at least makes available) $3,000 carbon fiber frames, it’s easy to forget that it’s possible to find frames that are hand built in the USA for about 2/3 of that price.

Because its design has been around for nearly twenty years (and the model itself fifteen), people tend to overlook Ellsworth’s Truth. While other companies have gone through 3 and 4 major suspension designs in the same time, Tony Ellsworth has been applying- and tweaking- his patented Instant Center Tracking suspension design to the Truth since day one. A true four-bar design, ICT is designed such that the rear wheel’s Instant Center (or virtual pivot) is always located somewhere along the chain’s torque line. This means that, as chain torque is always acting perpendicular to the wheel’s arc, that torque is unable to cause suspension movement. Also, because the design is a true four bar, the rear brake does not effect the suspension either. At the end of the day, ICT leaves only the rider to cause unwanted suspension movement and doesn’t require excessive compression or platform damping to prevent it- allowing for truly active suspension. This is all well and good in theory- read on to see lots of pretty pictures and find out how the Truth performed as part of our Project 24 race bike…

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Photo submitted by Joby O., “I took the Picture in Taiwan. The bike was beside a construction site so I assume that it was used to haul heavy stuff!!”

To see more Pics of the Day, click here, and to submit your own photo to be shown to the world, go here.

As they often say, when it rains, it pours. Fortunately though, this has nothing to do with rain, and in fact rain usually puts a damper on mountain biking fun, so maybe that’s not the best expression for this instance. Whatever the case may be, Giant has another carbon 29′er hardtail to add to the barrage of new bikes from Santa Cruz and Kona that we have already covered this week.

The Giant XtC Carbon is of course the newest addition to Giant’s big wheel line up, and one that should have XC racers and aggressive riders excited with prospect of another light, stiff, fast 29′er to possibly throw a leg over. After Giant team riders like Carl Decker approached Giant looking for a light, fast 29′er that didn’t “suffer from some of the weaknesses people usually associate with 29′ers,” (their words, not mine) Giant set out to build what they thought would be the ultimate Carbon 29′er.

The result? The Giant XtC Carbon 29.

Roll past the break to see the 2 new models, and check out the full Press Release!

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As usual, I brought along the Park Tools scale to weigh the bikes in person. Commendably, the claimed weights are pretty much spot on or even skewing a bit high across all three models.

Shown above is the size medium Highball carbon fiber 29er hardtail, and it comes in at 21lbs 14oz. I weighed the complete size run of all three except the small Blur TRc because there weren’t any on hand, pics and weights after the break…

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I think it is safe to say that mud tires can be a hotly contested product based on locale, and how well trails get along with mountain bikers during the wet months. Many ecosystems have trails that when muddy, simply aren’t rideable without damaging what local mountain bike groups have toiled endlessly to build. There are places however that have trails that fare extremely well, allowing water to sheet straight off, and prevent single track from becoming laden with mud. I say this to prevent people from getting hung up on the fact that mud tires are available at all, as some trails may never see a dry day. Just because Ritchey offers a mud tire doesn’t mean you should go out an tear up your local trails, but if you routinely ride in the wet, this review is for you.

Around my neck of the woods, we definitely fall into the former category, with the worst soupy, clay filled mess this time of year that causes most of us to give up on mountain biking until April, or, at worst, June. Mother Nature routinely plays cruel jokes on us with stretches of sunny 70 degree weather, followed with torrential rains, and it repeats. The trails rarely dry enough to ride without a bit of shame, so finding suitable trails to test the ZMax tires was tough, so the all of the riding was done on double track, and a relatively unknown trail that I have spent a lot of time personally building and keeping up.

After only two rides my mind was made up. Why? Find out after the break!

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