BikeRumor.com

Rotor’s pumping out the goods this fall with some hot new 3D Cranks and Q-Rings, plus several bottom brackets that let you run standard cranks in your BB30 frame or vice versa!

Shown above is the new 3D+ crank, based on the venerable 3D, updated with a 30mm axle. These cranks are fully compatible with BB30, BBright and any conventional  BSA threaded frame. For an ultra rigid crank their weight is impressive: just  470 grams for the compact version and  493 grams for the XC2 version (without BB/chainrings). These cranks are certified to the EN14781 standard, one of the most demanding tests in the market.

Modeled on the crankset above are the new Q-Rings with updated, bolder laser graphics, upgraded pins and revised teeth profiles to improved shifting precision and prevent chain sucks.

Check the rest after the break…

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Following on the heels of their pro-level Fluid DH rig (which debuted at Sea Otter), Foes has released a privateer downhill race bike that’s ready to ship now.

Dubbed the Foes Racing Hydro, it builds on Foes’ legendary downhill mountain biking history but adds new versatility by (for the first time for Foes) being designed to work with a wide variety of rear shocks.  While Foes will still recommend you run it with their in-house designed and U.S. made Curnutt shock, it’ll work with any 10.5″ x 3.5″ shock from Rockshox, Elka (shown above), Cane Creek, Fox, Marzocchi, etc.

On top of all that, it’s also the most affordable Foes DH bike ever, and it’s still handbuilt in Pasadena, CA, USA.

Jump past the break for specs, pricing, build options and more glorious photos…

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File under better late than never, our man behind the scenes at Marin just sent over this photo of the new 2011 Marin Mount Vision XM, with this note:

“spotted in Downieville recently, the Marin van was in town with Ride Guide TV crew filming for an upcoming episode with this 2011 Mount Vision, now dubbed the XM. The staff gave a few details on the bike. They said they the bike has evolved to be a better all around trail bike, with travel going up to 140mm and with a tapered 1 1/8″-1.5″ headtube up front. major change was the new Quad linkage system, which now uses a Y link up front, which slims the linkage system way down- approx 67% narrower according to the Marin guys. They also stated that even with the jump in travel the frameset is lighter than the 2010 version!”

Perhaps we’ll see these guys at Interbike and see what else they’ve been up to.

Drum roll please… and the new colors will be Kermit Green and Moondust Gray. If you’ve been pining for the Solid Gold and Root Beer colors from this year, better get on it, there’s only a handful left.  The new colors will also be available on their steel or carbon rigid forks, and complete build kits are now offered, too. All through your friendly local Niner dealer.

Pua Sawicki dominated the Women’s Solo class at the Breck Epic, perhaps taking out some her frustration at not being given a slot in the Leadville Trail 100 on the field here she would have finished 12th in the Men’s Solo Open class and had about an hour and a half on her nearest competitor.

Her ride? The Ellsworth Truth decked out with parts from longtime sponsors DT Swiss, Control Tech and Shimano.

Hit ‘more’ to check it out…

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Several pro mountain bikers showed up to contest the Breck Epic, so we shot some photos and talked to them about their rides. First up is Ross Schnell and his Trek Top Fuel.

With the bent seat tube design, he and Jordan Carr (who also rode a Top Fuel) both remarked that they wish they could have ran a dropper seat post, but that didn’t stop em from going really fast.

Schnell’s bike was a 2010 frame with a custom paint job that at first glance looked very similar to the new black and white scheme of the 2011 Top Fuel.

Check after the break to see how he had it spec’d out…

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With very few exceptions, it seems as though the best cycling gear is the stuff that basically disappears when riding.  No one wants to have their attention drawn to floppy jersey pockets, poorly padded shorts, slipping glasses, or unstable lids.  At the end of the day, no one wants their gear to get between them and the experience of the ride.  While it is unlikely that Lazer set out to build an invisible helmet, they have come remarkably close with their Genesis model.  Hit ‘more’ to find out if this 5 year-old model is still worth seeking out.

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Stage five of the 2010 Breck Epic started with a warning that it would be the hardest climbing stage thanks to it’s maximum altitude of over 12,500 feet. In actuality, while tough, it went by quicker than the two previous stages (for me, anyway), and had some really big descents to make up for the more than 1,000 vertical feet of hike a bike trudging.

On the first climb of the last day, just before entering the singletrack, we passed by this old mining structure. Dickie caught and passed me before I could get the camera turned on, and this photo turned out better than one with some random riders in the foreground anyway.

More pics after the break…

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Yesterday’s stage three was the first of two stages to take us over 12,000 feet, and the only one where we cross the continental divide. Twice. Shown above is some of the backcountry single track as we joyfully ride through the fields, unaware of the massive climbs to come.

Check more photos from stages three and four, including some of the leftover mining equipment and more great trails after the break…

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This website, BunchRideFinder.com.au, claims to help you find a group ride in your area. You can choose a road ride, mountainbike ride, or track session on the menu bar and then select which country you are interested in riding. There is also a world map selection that lets you see rides pinpointed allover the world. The only problem with this site is the lack of group rides to choose from. It’s a nicely designed site, pleasant on the eyes and pretty easy to navigate. If you’re interested in putting your group ride on this site, you can click on the ‘add a ride’ button at the top of the screen and submit your regular group ride. Who knows, it could become a sort of “exchange program” for cyclists to find a group ride while away from home.

So far this week, we’ve given you the details on the Felt F, AR, Z and ZW road bikes; today we’ll be taking on their full MTB line.  The Edict LTD, shown above, is their no-holds-barred 100mm travel full suspension bike. Using the same manufacturing technology as the carbon road bikes keeps the weight down and stiffness up and it comes fully outfitted with SRAM XX components, including the Rock Shox SID XX World Cup, and Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels. Check out the price tag and rest of the 2011 Felt mountain bikes after the jump and remember to check back tomorrow for the last of our series; Felt’s cyclocross, track and time trial/triathlon bikes.

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Day one at the Breck Epic was a brutal ride up ridiculous climbs and bumpy descents. There’s no pleasant way to put it, and I was one hurt puppy after it was over. With a finishing time of 5h15m, it put me firmly in last place among the Bikerumor Media Cup contenders. Dickie and Peter had about 45 minutes on me and the others, well, they’re in a league of their own.

There were a few redeeming sections of singletrack, and some great sites like the old mining shack above (remnants of these are littered through the forest everywhere…I saw one today that was a simple A-frame with an old toilet in it).

More pics and visuals after the break…

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What on earth would possess a small design group to jump into the crowded crankset market? I had to wonder when news of The Hive Collective’s Fifteen.G (now e*thirteen) crankset began popping up last spring. Unlike mountain biking’s salad days of the mid 1990s, the overwhelming number of mountain bike cranks now come from a handful of players- the ones with the resources and experience needed do develop and tool up for a fairly unforgiving component. With certain notable exceptions, it’s become pretty difficult to find a bad set, and for all of the talk of double cranksets’ magical front shifting, most triples’ performance has become almost boringly excellent.  Still, it turns out that the guys over at the Hive had some pretty cool ideas- hit ‘more‘ to see if those ideas were cool enough to justify jumping into the fray.

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Checked in at the 2010 Breck Epic and camp is all set up. Saw the other racers competing in the Bikerumor Media Cup and heard Brandon Dwight has backed out, which means the rest of us will actually have a race on our hands. Of course, we’ll be well behind the heat brought by Jeremiah Bishop, Ross Schnell, the gang from Topeak Ergon and Pua Sawicki (and any other pros I didn’t see at dinner).

Check after the break for a photo of the setting sun hitting the mountains in the distance…

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I took a little tour of Rockshox’s Colorado Springs, CO, facility yesterday and had Sander Rigney, RS’s product manager, run through their Motion Control compression damping system for me. If you recall, we posted a tech article on how Fox Racing Shox’s Terralogic works recently, and it’s really cool to see how different companies use completely different mechanisms to accomplish a similar end result (and by similar, I’m not comparing performance, just the fact that all suspension brands want damping, etc.).

The parts above are what make up the Motion Control for their XC oriented forks. Motion Control DH is a little different and we didn’t take a look at that on this visit (update will come if we can get photos of that system, but I’ll explain how and why these versions are mainly for XC use versus DH).

For XC / Trail / All Mountain type riding, you have two options depending on how much you wanna spend on your fork: Motion Control and Blackbox Motion Control. Technically, you also have XX Motion Control, but it is essentially the same as Motion Control without the adjustable compression damping. Again, this is explained better in a sec.

Jump past the break to see how they work to control the compression…

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