The devil’s in the details, they say, and tucked into this image are two new items – A Kermit green AIR9 RDO frame and a Niner branded stem!

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, this image came alongside a press release about their new RDO Flat Top carbon fiber handlebars. The RDO lineup, which stands for Race Day Optimized, is their lightweight set of frames and components. The new bar keeps the offset diameter of their original flat top bar to perch the rider a 5 millimeters higher (or lower) than a standard flat bar. Where it gets all RDO on us is with a 30g weight savings and some fresh color matched graphics. Width is 710mm with cut marks at 690, 670 and 650, and it’s bar end compatible. Claimed weight is 156g at full, uncut width and it’ll be available in red/white, orange, grey and the green shown here. Click through to see the others.

Now, about those unclaimed items. The file name was marked AIR9 RDO and it’s green. That could just mean there’s a green AIR9 in store and the RDO refers to the handlebar, or it could mean there’s an RDO version of the already impressive AIR9 carbon hardtail coming! Oh, and that Niner branded stem? They aren’t currently showing it on their website, so that’s something we’ll be keeping an eye out for, too.

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Project 321 is best known for their Lefty hubs and Lefty fork adapters has started offering complete wheelsets with ENVE’s new UST tubeless rims.

They’re available with any of Project 321′s hubs, which include QR/15 or 20mm ISO disc fronts, Lefty front and geared or single speed rear with several axle options. For the rims, you can get either XC or AM models, 26″ or 29″ diameters and they’re built with Sapim CX Ray spokes. Weights come in as low as 1,505g for a Lefty setup and 1,545g for a 15mm thru axle (without rim tape or valve). From there, you can upgrade the bearings to Enduro Zero Ceramics and -if you haven’t noticed in the pic above- color matched ENVE logos that coordinate with the hubs!

Hubs are available in REd, Blacke, Blue, Green, Gold and Silver. The hubs’ logo are engraved after anodization, so what you’re seeing on them is shined up alloy rather than a sticker or etching. Nice touch.

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This year I decided to race the BURN 24 Hour in the solo singlespeed category. Why, I don’t know. But I’m signed up, so I needed a rig that would hold up.

Given Raleigh’s penchant for singlespeed shenanigans, the brand was a logical fit. And their new XXIX comes equipped with Gate’s carbon belt drive, something else I’ve been wanting to test. My test model arrived on a sunny Monday afternoon which was promptly followed by a solid week of rain and wet trails.  Nonetheless, I got the new bike assembled and waited for a clear day to hit the trails. While I was waiting on the weather I had the opportunity to weigh the bike and take some pictures of the belt drive system. Hit ‘more’ for Specs, Weight and First Ride Review…

Panaracer’s got a nice little trio of new 29er treads available on their website, and they’re looking pretty good for the weight weenie XC crowd. Maybe.

Looking at the weights, they’re coming in awfully light even at 2.2 widths with some decent knobs (again, XC) if these numbers hold true. We’re thinking maybe, just maybe, the website needs some updating, but we wanted to just go ahead and get these in front of your peepers. Come Monday, we’re hoping for some verification from Panaracer on the weights. Until then, we’re just happy to see the extra 3″ on the roster.

UPDATED 2/6 – Corrected weights added for Comet. Others are supposedly correct.

At left is the Comet, a dry/hardpack only tire that’s available in a 29×2.1 (600g to 730g) and 29×2.25 (680g to 760g). It’s available with either aramid (60tpi) or steel (30tpi) beads, hence the two weights listed. These are listing the same weights for both sizes, and actually list lighter than the same width 26″, which is why we’re double checking with them first of the workweek.

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Not too long ago, we had the opportunity to check out what was new at the Northernmost Ray’s, Ray’s MTB Milwaukee. Ray’s has become somewhat of a mecca for riders looking to push their limits and develop new skills, and now that applies to novice and beginner riders more than ever. In Milwaukee Ray’s went to great lengths to add new features and rooms to the park to give beginners, who were a little uneasy, a place to grow their skills and confidence. We were assured that the same changes had been made to Ray’s MTB Cleveland as well, although verifying this meant a trip to Cleveland to ride the trails for ourselves to find out (you can never be too sure about these things, verification takes lots of riding).

Sure enough, Ray’s CLE has somehow managed to get bigger, better, and still more beginner friendly again.

Check out the new features after the break.

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We just had a note from the good folks at Hammerhead Bikes (formerly 918XC) telling us that they were giving away a beautiful Niner carbon AIR9 frame and RDO thru-axle carbon fork.  Want to “win the greatest 29er Carbon SS/Geared Frameset on the planet?”  There are a couple of several ways to earn chances:  hit the jump to find out how!

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Frames like this make me feel special because I don’t want to race them.  I don’t want to do time trials or sprints.  Instead, I just want to ride them. Cyclo Bicycles is a company based in Spain that manufactures classic-looking custom frames, taking a step away from the all-carbon, weight-conscious mentality of bicycling.  Cyclo’s mission statement reflects their approach to cycling – they write that they simply want to make the rider smile.  In regards to that, everything about these frames are made-to-order so it would be hard to frown.  The Asphalt road and the Toxto Mountain Bike hard tail are featured here.  Both frames can be bought as complete bikes as well.

The Asphalt can be constructed from various Columbus and Dedacciai tubes, or stainless steel if you’re wallet’s up for it. For stainless, options include KVA, Reynolds, Columbus and Kaisei.  Then they’ll paint the frame to personal specifications.  Standard colors are listed on their website, but they offer to paint it anywhere on the spectrum.  Cyclo also offers a choice of weld construction:  TIG, Fillet-Brazed, or Lugged.

More pictures and details after the break…

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See all of our Project 24.2 posts here!

For the most part, it’s hard to get too excited about stems.  If they do their job well (and most do), they’re essentially unnoticeable.  Of course, if they don’t they’re ugly, flexy, or (if they do their job especially poorly) fail catastrophically.  That said, when we posted early word of Ritchey’s new C260 line of stems this fall, people got pretty excited.

Owing to its 260 degree clamp and gently curved 3-bolt steerer clamp, Ritchey’s WCS C260 stem tests 3-4x stronger in its aluminum form than any previous Ritchey stem- while being 30% stiffer than the preceding 4Axis design.  Throw a unidirectional carbon wrap over the same basic design and weight goes up by ~15g (to an actual 110g in our 90mm size) and stiffness by an additional 16%.  Oh, and it’s prettier, too.  After a couple of months on my Project 1.1 single speed and Project 24.2 race bike, has the C260 lived up to its light/strong/sexy billing?  Hit the jump to find out…

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In our 650b post below, eagle-eyed reader craigsj noticed what could be a new front axle standard in the 2013 RockShox Revelation’s specifications.  Or a typo.  Is wider better, or do we already have enough hub standards?  Hit the “comment” button to weigh in…

Image via Bicycling.

Set to unveil officially tomorrow, our friends at Niner Bikes gave us the exclusive first look at something big. Err, small, actually.

The recently released new EMD9 hardtail is their first bike to come in an XS (Extra Small) size, something one of their shorter employees has been pushing for a while. By the numbers, it’s:

• 22.5” toptube (over 1/2” shorter than the small)
• 14” seattube length (1–1/2” shorter than the small)
• 3.9” headtube (3/32” shorter than the small)
• Recommended height range 5’0” to 5’5” (minimum height varies based on standover/rider inseam)
• 27” standover, (1–1/4” lower than the small)

Like their other sizes and models, Niner kept the important bits of the geometry intact. They claim there’s no toe overlap, no seatstay bridge to hinder tire clearance and no limits on water bottle fit inside the front triangle. In fact, they even say the large 24oz Polar bottle will fit just fine!

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Scapin is breaking into the fixie market with the 2012 release of the Eleanor. They weren’t looking toward the track with this one, instead developing it to handle the daily beat-down of the streets.

Riding a track bike on the road is like buying a Ferrari to drive to the grocery store.  I personally own a fixie and enjoy riding it around town, but feel like I need to be somewhat apologetic at times.  A fixie should, in my humble opinion, be a mixture of aesthetics and sport.  It needs to look great, feel great, and bring some wandering eyes to it when locked to the bike rack.  The Eleanor looks to hold of all of these traits.

I’ve noticed many 1980s-model Scapin road frames stripped down to nothing and converted into fixies. I take it Scapin finally caught onto the raging trend their old frames have been fueling with the production of the Eleanor. The Eleanor is forged with vintage-appeal in mind, the bike molded around a Columbus Spirit steel frame with chromium-plated lugs.  The complete bike is featured in a variety of colors (Black, Blue, Creamy White, and “Old” Green). More to come about the Eleanor and Scapin’s new 29er after the break.

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Hailed as one of the biggest breakthroughs of 2011, Shimano’s Shadow Plus rear derailleur technology has gained quite a few fans since it’s inception. With so many people (including us) touting the benefits of the new wonder derailleur, it should come as no surprise that Sram may want to create something similar of their own.

Rumors of SRAM working on a stabilized derailleur have been floating around the web for awhile, though SRAM just put this photo up on their Facebook page. While the rear section of the derailleur looks fairly standard, the lower knuckle that attaches to the pulley cage is clearly different. It doesn’t appear to have a visible switch like the Shimano derailleur does, though that doesn’t mean it isn’t hidden from sight. SRAM has been tight lipped on the subject for now, but we’ll keep you posted.