Red Bull is bringing Mini Drome, the world’s smallest velodrome to London on January 15 and Charge is providing Gold, Silver and Bronze painted bikes to the top three racers.

Two events will be held, Glasgow (Scotland) on October 2 and Manchester (England) on October 22, offering singlespeed riders the chance to fight vertigo-inducing riding and one another for the title of mini velodrome king (or queen). If you’re planning on attending, double check the dates before you pack your gear and roll as there are several conflicting dates shown on Red Bull’s various web pages for these events, but the ones listed above seem to be the most prevalent.

The event is open to the public and participation is for all ages.

2011 seems to be the year of the lightweight trail wheelset.  While racers are getting all spun up over sub-1400g race-day wheelsets, everyday riders are seeing more and more wide, sturdy, tubeless-compatible wheels with weights that those same racers would have sold both index toes for just three years back.  This April, in the market for a wheel that would be light enough for all-day climbs but sturdy enough for all-day descents here in the rough far Southern Rockies, I decided to pick up a hand built Control Trail EL wheelset from Specialized’s Roval brand.

Why the Control Trail ELs?  For me, the Rovals ticked all of the right boxes.  At a 1,610g (1615g claimed), with a  convertible QR/15mm front wheel and 28mm wide (outside) rim, the numbers were right.  The tubeless compatibility was also a must, too.  What really sold me, though, were the reasonable $750 price and proven DT Swiss freehub mechanism and cassette body.  So they look good on the Interwebs- how are the Control Trail ELs on the trail?

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Photo submitted by Til, “big suprise in the morning, 5cm of snow !”

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Niner’s done gone changin’ things in a big way. The vaunted AIR9 frame departs from its round Scandium tubesets in favor of a lighter, stronger and more shapely hydroformed 6000-series alloy. It also gets a tapered head tube, and it has a new anodized color option.

The EMD 9 gets the same frame updates and remains Niner’s most affordable frame option.

The AIR9, shown above in Vanna, is designed around an 80mm to 100mm fork (or Niner’s rigid carbon fork) and updates to a PressFit BB30 bottom bracket, something the EMD doesn’t do this time ’round. Click on through for lots of pics and info, including a tubeset comparison from old to new!

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Earlier today, Capo tweeted this 2012 sneak peek on one of their “high end kits.”

We first saw this fabric more than a year ago as a prototype material which DeFeet had fashioned into various garments, including a jacket. Goading us to try it on in the middle of summer, DeFeet president Shane Cooper smiled big as our jaws dropped.

Made of Tuf ‘n Lite Cool Fiber, the new UnD-ICE and Armskins ICE actually cool the skin as wind blows over them. Even better, they provide remarkable abrasion resistance, helping to protect your skin in the event of a wreck. In fact, the textile manufacturer says it’s tougher than commonly used aramid fibers like Kevlar.

UPDATED: New info added below about cooling effect and how it works.

But does it work? Well, I can’t vouch for the abrasion resistance, but I’ve been riding with one of the UnD-ICE undershirts this summer and it’s like air conditioning. Put your curiosity on ice after the break…

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Transitions Optical, official eye wear sponsor of Team Garmin-Cervelo, have paired up with Oakley to improve the already well loved Jawbone glasses.  Transitions lenses allow the wearer to ride in a variety of conditions without having to stop and change lenses out, as they automatically adjust from darker to lighter conditions.

David Millar’s thoughts: “It’s huge to have clear vision for your confidence when descending or negotiating a dicey pack of riders. Transitions lenses react to the conditions; they’ll change with the weather – you only need one set of lenses, that’s so cool.”

The Jawbone Transitions SOLFX runs $260 direct from Oakley.

Across the pond, Exposure Lights is pumping out some high quality, high lumens packing, self contained lighting systems.  To help keep the lights cooler, and thus, make them last longer, Exposure is introducing their Thermal Management (ITM) technology for the 2012 product range.

ITM’s main goal is to keep the LED’s from over heating, which causes them to become less efficient.  The patented ITM technology is claimed to increase burn time by helping save battery power as well.

ITM is not the only upgrade to be found here either.  The housings have been tweaked to help rid the lights of heat.  Exposure has upped the anti with more powerful LEDs across the entire range, starting with the Six Pack and going all the way down the line to the Spark.   And don’t worry, all the great features such as the Smart Port, fuel gage, and cable free design are still there.

The SpeedSleev is a new gel, food or tool retention system from SpeedFeed that holds gels, bars or whatever securely on your bike. It’s light, easy to use and works. Not much else to say, really, but there are more words, photos and video after the break if you want ‘em…

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SE Bikes has a wide range of new and updated bicycles for everyone from kids that wanna get rad to adults that want to act like kids getting rad on the weekends and commute to work in style during the week.

Above is their Quadangle Looptail takes their classic BMX frame and gives it some shiny new paint and chrome in the 26″ version (left) and finally brings the 29er model to production (right). Complete with chromoly frame, fork and bars, they’re spec’d well and even come with retro logo’d frame/bar pads.

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Gore Ride-On’s new Ultra Lite cables seemed to cause a bit of a stir over their “fiber optic” construction. Shortly after our original post, I got a set in to try out.

UPDATE: MSRP will be the same as their regular set, $64.99 USD.

First, I’ll state the obvious. They don’t use light to perform or enhance the shifting in any way. I asked Gore’s rep what exactly was “fiber optic” about them to help clarify and got something about “trade secrets” and them being able to find new uses for technologies, etc. Honestly, it could be made from alien poop and it wouldn’t matter. As long as it’s not radioactive, if it makes my bike lighter and/or perform better, it has a home here. Fortunately, these new cables did both.

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Exciting stuff as the USA Pro Cycling Challenge takes off on Stage 1 of it’s inaugural race!

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