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EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK! Industry Nine has been quietly working on an entirely new road wheel over the past few months, and we’ve got the first photos and video to show you!

Last April, Industry 9 showed off their first set of road hoops using their house-made aluminum spokes, and they were gorgeous.  But, riders that put a lot of miles on them or rode them hard reported some spoke breakage. While their alloy spokes work great for mountain biking in a 32-hole design, the lower spoke count of the road wheels created too much stress.

Now, they’ve totally redesigned the spoke layout in a truly unique vertical pattern and gone with the ever-popular Sapim CX-Ray bladed stainless steel spokes to create a stiffer, lighter and more aerodynamic wheelset.  They’re as beautiful as ever, and we’ve got lots of great pics to show you!

Hit ‘more’ for all the goods…

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It’s been 24 days of eating and drinking nothing with any added sugar (save for bread and a little ketchup, as explained in Part 2).  Many of you have questioned why.  Why would someone who’s active and fit worry about cutting out extra sugar from their diet?

The short answer is, because I want to be as awesome as possible.  Like most athletes, I’ve developed a sense of quasi-invincibility, thinking that all this exercise is improving my body and leading to a longer, better life.  Like many of you, the longer I’ve ridden, the more keenly aware I’ve become of how nutrition affects performance.  For me, that also led to an increased interest in nutrition for overall better health.

I used to think that because I rode hard or hit the gym, I could eat whatever I wanted in quantities that happily distressed my gait upon exiting dollar-taco-Tuesdays. But, the more I’ve read, the more I’ve started altering my diet to improve my health, and sugar’s been on my mind for quite some time.

Now, I’m not diabetic.  In fact, according to the blood work done for a recent life insurance policy, I’m not even anywhere near pre-diabetic.  In fact, I’m in pretty darn good health overall.  So why cut out added sugar if things seem to be going swell?

There are three main reasons why, and they may just convince you to cut a lot of sugar from your diet, too.  Fair warning: Ignorance is bliss, but it won’t do your health much good.  Here we go…

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Ever get confused by all the bottom bracket “standards” out there?  English thread vs. Italian thread.  BB30, BB86 and BB90?

No worries.  Here’s your primer on all things bottom bracket, from it’s history and humble beginnings all the way up to today’s emerging technology.  It’s everything you need to know about bottom brackets…

The Basics:

The bottom bracket is a critical component to every drive train. Connecting the left and right cranks, this is one of those important elements on the bike that directly effects power transfer between the rider’s legs and the bike’s drivetrain.

While its concept is simple enough to understand, when it comes to bottom bracket technology, it’s easy to get confused. Incremental changes almost every year coupled with a slew of proprietary technologies from major component companies have flooded the market with more options than ever before, and it can be very confusing for the average cyclist. We broke down every type of bottom bracket you are likely to encounter and present them in a simple, easy to understand format. From mountain to road, threaded to pressed, and integrated to external, it’s all here…

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SRAM has unveiled their all-new road group called APEX, and it’s aimed squarely at Shimano’s 105 group.

The new Apex group has lots of trickle down tech from the Tour de France winning RED gruppo, including DoubleTap (one lever, two shifts), Reach Adjust (for custom lever fit), Exact Actuation (for consistent, precise shifts), and Zero-Loss shifting (for immediate shift engagement).  In fact, the concept was born from a modded wide range cassette used by Alberto Contador at the 2008 Giro d’Italia for the uphill time trial on stage 16.

The Apex group is designed and priced to take over the entry-level and touring bikes that tend to spec triple cranksets, and SRAM says the range provided by this group makes the extra weight and hassle of the triple obsolete.

How?  For starters, there the new wide-range 11-32 cassette, with looks resembling the fully machined RED and new XG999 X-Dome cassettes, though it’s construction is standard steel rings on an alloy spider to keep costs down.  I know, you’re already thinking about how this bad boy is going to work great on your cyclocross bike.

Full features, specs, weights and details after the break, plus lots more photos…

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This is Part 2 of a series.  Click here for Part 1.

It’s now been just a bit over a week with no added sugar, and overall it hasn’t been too bad.  Trips to the grocery store take a little longer due to the increased label reading, but selecting foods and preparing meals has been fairly straightforward.  Riding performance seems on track, too.

But, some concessions have had to be made, and there have been some surprises and disappointments as I’ve read more labels… Here’s how it’s going so far:

CONCESSION #1: Bread.  It seems you can’t make bread without sugar.  Those little yeast need sugar to make them gassy so the bread will rise.  I looked through every loaf of bread in the grocery store and every single one had sugar added.  It came in various forms, some only using honey and/or molasses, but most used plain old sugar.  Now, it’s worth noting that it’s very little…on average about 3 grams per slice. But, have a normal sandwich and you’re up to 6 - 8 grams for two slices. (that’s 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of sugar).  And your sandwich only gets worse from there…

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Special cameras capture sprints like the one above with perfect accuracy.

We all know that bike races can come down to thousandths of seconds, but how do officials catch such close sprints? We’ve compiled an explanation of the most common timing systems out there to give you a better idea of how your favorite races are being scored, behind the scenes, from your local crit to the Tour de France…

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After a week of buildup, Hayes Disc Brakes has finally unveiled their all-new Prime hydraulic disc brakes.

Featuring a slew of new technology, they represent the future of Hayes’ disc brake offerings.  Chief among the new features are:

• 10º Tilt Bore - Keeps the Master Cylinder closer to the bar and optimizes lever reach.
• Top Loading Pads - Switch brake pads without removing the wheel
• Two-Piece Rotor - Lighter, stiffer and stronger than their old one-piece designs
• New Pad Material - Less noise, better heat dissipation
• Top Tube - rubber sleeve on hose keeps it from rubbing your frame the wrong way

There’s also a big new feature that they’re not quite revealing called Poppet Cam Stroke Adjustment, and it’s said to be the “secret sauce” behind the new Prime brakes.

OK, lots more to cover.  Go ahead and make the jump and we’ll get started…

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Team directors like Bjarne Riis will have to find new ways to organize their teams on the road.

The long debate over whether race radios should be allowed in the pro peloton came to an end this week as USA Cycling followed suit with the UCI in banning radios in all but its most elite level races, allowing radios in only three American races.

The USA Cycling Board of Directors called an emergency meeting Monday night to discuss and adopt the radio ban, a move long anticipated by many in the domestic pro peloton. All but three races taking place on American soil will fall under the ban, with the Tour of California, Tour of Missouri, and Philadelphia International Cycling Championship being exempt because of their 1.HC and 2.HC UCI classifications. This means all criterium and most road races, including NRC and USA Crits series events, will be radio-free for the coming 2010 season.

After banning race radios for U23 races in 2009 and extending the ban to lower-level elite races in September of last year, the UCI has been slowly phasing out the use of race radios over the past two years. Because many of America’s top events are modeled after UCI regulations, USA Cycling moved to stay consistent with UCI policies.

The ban was born out of growing concerns that allowing radios in the pro peloton was taking away from the quality of racing by putting a focus on team directors and eliminating some of the strategic skill required by riders. Responses from the peloton are mixed, with many riders anticipating a new dynamic on the road this year, forcing them to keep breakaways in check throughout the race. Many have cited safety concerns, losing the ability to warn riders of upcoming hazards and dangerous portions on the course during road races. Tour de France organizers tested the idea in last year’s event, banning radios during stage 10 of the tour, a move that was met with a massive protest by the riders as they soft pedaled nearly the entire stage, forcing organizers to scrap the planned ban on stage 13.

The vote on Monday  reversed a previous USA Cycling rule that allowed radios only in races open to professional, category 1, and category 2 racers. The decision was adopted into the rulebook and takes effect immediately.

UPDATED: Bigger picture found, and price is expected to be €300.

Shimano has unveiled this 11-speed internally geared Alfine SG-S700 hub to dealers in Europe as a 2011 product.

It’s billed as part of their new technologies in internal hub gearing being developed for the entire Alfine group.  This new 11-speed model increases the gear range to 409% versus 306% on current 8-speed models.

Besides the extra range, Shimano says it’s lighter weight and has decreased rolling resistance, which would be a marked improvement on its own.

Controlling the gears are brand new Alfine Rapidfire SL-S700 shifters modeled after Shimano’s high end mountain bike shifters.  Both the hub and shifters can be used in combination with other current Alfine products and both are expected to be available in September 2010.

Via BikeEurope and EcoVelo.

What’s an athlete to do without sugar?  Or, perhaps more to the point, why would an avid cyclist want to take sugar out of their diet?

Welcome to my (although Sweetie’s getting dragged into it) February experiment: One month with no added sugar.

The inspiration for this experiment came from many things, but oddly enough the concept popped into my head as one of my friends recounted what a visiting revival preacher recently said while he was in the big tent. Amidst the proselytizing, he asked the congregation if they knew the number one addiction in America. His answer: Sugar.  Then, I was reading Esquire Magazine’s monthly column with Dr. Oz, who’s answer to the question “if you had to tell America to give up one vice what would it be?”  His answer: Smoking?  Drugs?  Nope, Sugar.

I’m also reading two of Dr. Oz’s books, You: The Owners Manual and You: Staying Young, and the latter in particular suggests cutting out refined sugar (FWIW, I highly recommend these books). On top of this, we get Hammer Nutrition’s monthly (or more) newsletters which absolutely bash sugar.

Given that I’d like to live as long and healthily as possible, I figured it’d be interesting to see:

1. Would eliminating refined sugar make me feel better overall?
2. How hard would it be to eliminate refined sugar from my diet?
3. How would if affect athletic performance?

For clarification, sugar in its naturally occurring state (fruit, juice, etc.) is fine, at least for the purposes of this experiment.  For health reasons, too much of sugar in any form is bad, but the goal here is to eat and drink things that don’t have added sugar for the entire month of February.  If the ingredient list has Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Sucrose or the like, it’s out.

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If BMX is your thing, chances are you’ve heard of a website called The Come Up. Adam Grandmaison, or Adam22 as he’s known to many is the mind behind the site, which, almost by accident, has become perhaps the largest BMX website on the web.

Here for the first time, Adam sheds light on how The Come Up blew the competition out of the water and lets BikeRumor in on a new components brand dubbed OSS that he’s set to drop in just a few months time…

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Forced to tune out the world with some headphones while you ride? Tunebug hears ya, even if you don’t hear them.

Personally, I don’t know how some folk ride with two earbuds in.  Besides freaking me out, I think it affects my balance.  Don’t worry, I’m not hear, er, here to judge (I’ll save the criticism for your music selections) but Tunebug has a solution.

Their Shake sound generator uses their patented SurfaceSound Technology to send sound waves through any surface it’s resting on, effectively turning the object into the equivalent of a flat panel speaker.  The result?  An aura of surround sound floating about you as you pedal along…and better situational awareness so you don’t get whacked by a car, passed by your buddy or stomped by a bear.

The Shake comes with both the strap-on mount shown above for typical cycling helmets and their Gecko mount for smoother skate/snowboard/ski/BMX/dirt jump helmets (shown after the break).  The unit weighs just 2.4oz (68g) and is less than 1″ tall.  The built-in rechargeable LiPoly battery is good for 5 hours of play and recharges via USB. You can connect it wirelessly with Bluetooth or with an old skool headphone cable.

More pics, video and details after the break…

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HTC-Columbia’s André Greipel took his third stage win at the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under to retain the race leader’s Ochre Jersey, besting Robbie McEwen (Katusha) and Graeme Browne (Rabobank) at the end of the 150km route.

Despite an effort by Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong and Tomas Vaitkus to breakaway from the pack and give themselves and others a chance against the German sprinter, Greipel showed he’s the man to beat in a bunch sprint this year.

“It would have been better to keep it down to a smaller bunch in that wind and hopefully give everyone a better chance against Greipel,” Armstrong said. “But Greipel I think we can all see is unbeatable right now.

“That was as hard as I can go. Tomas went and kept going and kept going. I turned around and it was just the two of us. It was a good effort, maybe not the best outcome.”

Video Highlights of Stage 4 at the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under

Greipel’s win puts him a full 20 seconds ahead of 2nd place Robbie McEwen, and Greg Henderson (Team Sky) at +24 seconds and Cadel Evans (BMC) at +50 seconds, putting him in a good position for tomorrow’s big climb. He’s also the clear sprint leader with 24 points against Kemp’s 16. For his part, Greipel said his team is doing well (they led the peloton for the first 100km to catch a breakaway), but the race isn’t over yet.

“Today’s race is over, but not tomorrow’s,” Greipel said. “Everyone is looking out for us but if the team works we can be successful. We deserve the wins because we always ride from the front.

“If you have riders like (we do), no one can pass us.”

We’ll post full stage results soon.  In the meantime, check out Graham Watson’s photo gallery for more photos (including the one above).

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Want to share your take on cycling news and products with a few hundred thousand readers every month?

We’re looking for a couple of good writers that can contribute content to Bikerumor.com.  In particular, we want people that are passionate about cycling and the gear, tech, toys, bikes and components — you know, all the shiny new bits we lust after! — and that can write well and tell the story behind the products and people that make our industry tick.

Sound interesting?  Click ‘more’ for details…

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Sometime last year we got the bug to start dirt jumping.  Maybe it was the incessant replaying of Red Bull Rampage highlights or the constant video streams of sweet looking tricks.  That, and we have a freakin’ sweet DJ park here in Greensboro that’s filled with tabletops, doubles, log bridges, berms, chutes and more.

But where to begin?  Rather than risk immediate injury, wasting money or, worse, looking like a fool, we turned to the folks that make a living at this.  We hit up two riders each from Kona and Scott -the guys that routinely tear it up at the Rampage, Air King and star in DJ and Freeride videos like Kranked -looking for advice. Here’s who we interviewed:

	Graham “Aggy” Agassiz (19, Kamloops, BC) SPONSORS: Kona, Monster energy, Sombrio Cartel, Smith optics, Nike 6.0, Giro, Coors Light EDUCATION: (left blank)
	Paul Basagoitia, AKA Paul Bass (22, Minden, NV) SPONSORS:Kona, Raceface, Red Bull, Giro, Skullcandy, DVS EDUCATION:High School
	Dylan Dunkerton (19, Roberts Creek, BC) SPONSORS: Scott Bikes, SRAM, Chromag & Lavan Apparel EDUCATION: High School
	Kyle Jameson (21, Aptos, CA) SPONSORS: Scott USA, Republic apparel, Sram, EDUCATION: High School, Capilano University MTB operations program

Peep the pics after the break and there’s no denyin’ it, DJ looks like fun, and it’s a great way to add to your skill set.  Hit ‘more’ to see what the pros had to say…

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