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The hotly awaited mountain bike film, Life Cycles, is very nearly here. Promising to shift people’s perceptions of mountain biking films, Life Cycles has been a long time coming. First the trailer was released, then it was withdrawn and now it has been released again! This first glimpse looks stunning and the final product will no doubt be worth the wait. Watch this space for more information or check out the Life Cycles Website.
World Cup racer Joe Barnes and his friends seek some divine inspiration before heading out to do some trail building. Includes “The Longest Skid” competition and lots more hilarious sequences. A superb video!
Lord knows I could have used this a few months ago to prepare for the Breck Epic. Sufferfest’s Angels training video is now on sale for all of us that’d like to get a bit quicker on the ascents. For $9.99 and a few minutes of download time, here’s what you get:
FROM SUFFERFEST: If you were eating lunch, 8 minutes wouldn’t seem like a lot of time. If you were relaxing on a beach, it would be cruel to only be there 8 minutes. If you were doing one of the 8 minute climbs in Angels, you’d swear to every god you can think of that it’s never going to end, that time has slowed down dramatically and that you’d rather chop your legs off than go through another second of that 8 minute eternity.
You know, we waited a while to create a Sufferfest dedicated to climbing because we didn’t have the perfect blend of workout, footage and music. But we’ve finally created it here. Something you’re probably not going to be too pleased to hear. But, if you want climbing and the kind of agony that makes you really, really, really fast…..you’ve got it. What other cycling workout video anywhere pits you against 3x Tour de France Winner Alberto Contador (and giro winner, and Vuelta winner, and and), puts you in a break with Luis Leon Sanchez or asks you to stay with Andy Schleck when he makes his winning move in the 2009 Liege-Bastogne-Liege?
They have gear now, too. Check it out here.
SOBI, short for “SOcial BIcycle” is a new take on bike sharing programs that lets a city implement a far reaching program without the usual infrastructure, special bicycles, etc.
The brainchild of Ryan Rzepecki, SOBI works by attaching a mobile/GPS unit and special locking system to any bike, then letting users borrow and return the bike from anywhere they find it and anywhere they need to drop it off. Because the bikes are equipped with GPS, they can communicate their position and let users find and unlock them using a mobile phone.
SOBI is set to go live with a test in New York City this fall. They’re in the running for a Pepsi Refresh grant (click that link to vote for them) and you can Like them on Facebook if you dig the idea and want to keep up.
Video by Park City TV from the recently DealerCamp event. First bit is Joe talking about how he helped start mountain biking way back in the day, followed by info on his 2011 Cloud 9 and other new bikes about 2/5 of the way through.
Episode 7 of The Atherton Project is available and it is an absolute must watch. This is the episode where Dan breaks his C1 vertebrae in four places during a dirt jumping session, basically the worst injury that you can sustain. Dan is lucky to be alive and is going to be in his “halo” until October before starting his journey towards a full recovery with the aim of getting back on his bike be the end of the year. What the video doesn´t show is that Dan apparently asked Gee to drag him home on a plank of wood! Thankfully Gee decided that an ambulance was a better bet. Dan is an absolute legend and we wish him the fastest possible recovery.
Hoffman Bikes has put out a series of vids showing their 2011 complete bikes, wheels/hubs and parts. Shown above is the reel of bicycles, and jump on past the break for the wheels/hubs and parts videos. Thanks to Jeremie at Sidewall Distribution for the links…
If you’ve never checked out Sufferfest’s workout vids, they’re among the best out there and are only available via download, making them pretty green (no packaging, shipping, etc., plus you get them right away. Wave of the future folks.)
We’ve reviewed their first (The Downward Spiral) and second (Fight Club) videos, have used their third (Revolver) but haven’t reviewed it yet, and now the fourth installment of the maddeningly punishing workout videos is here: Angels. Here’s the official sadistic description:
After the flatlands of Downward Spiral, the circuits of Fight Club and the mud and grit of Revolver, it’s about time for some climbing, isn’t it? The next video, Angels, will be out on October 1st. It’s going to hurt. Badly. You will grovel. It’ll feature a 10min over/under session, followed by three 8 minute climbs. Professional race footage will feature Paris-Nice, Dauphine Libere and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Think you can beat Contador on Alpe d’Huez? Here’s your chance.
We can’t wait.
Just seen on YouTube (cottoned on a bit late!) is this DVD promo of Mario Cipollini’s 2011 range. Super Mario started his own line last year, providing bikes for and acting as consultant for Italy’s ISD Neri Continental team (which may explain their garish lycra).
Anyway, the new bikes, although slightly more sober (at least in this prototype version), very much take their cue from last year’s. The muscular-looking pro model features the same distinctive curved seat-tube and integrated seat-post as 2010 - which means only one bottle cage (surely a minus for everyone bar elite racers?). The new frames have a claimed weight of 1,050g, so they’re not the lightest in the peloton by any means, but presumably they’re built that way so as to be stiff and strong enough to meet the demands of pro sprinters.
And, for 2011, Cipollini is yet another Italian brand that has opted for Cannondale’s BB30 bottom bracket, attracted no doubt by the claimed stiffness and weight benefits. Aside from that, I can only tell two more things from the vid: firstly that I’d really like to live in Tuscany; secondly that the old rogue remains pretty damn cool, and can still bash out 1800w without breaking a sweat. See what you think…
Thanks Gazzetta Della Bici for the heads up.
Ben Ingham's Of Steel
Over the past few months Rapha has been collaborating with TV, music video and ad production company to produce three short films celebrating three of road cycling’s largest characters: Johan Museeuw, Sean Kelly and Dario Pegoretti - the same three who inspired this season’s Club Jerseys which BikeRumor profiled here.
Two of the films were made by Nick Livesey and Adrian Moat, cycling-mad directors at the company; the third was directed by Ben Ingham, the man behind many of the memorable still photos used by Rapha and Rouleur over the years.
Trailers are online now (see links below), but each film will be shown for one day only on the Rapha site, on consecutive Fridays this month. Details follow the break.
Taking advantage of the cycling industry in our backyard, we followed up our visit to Industry Nine’s factory with a tour of Cane Creek’s plant near Asheville, NC.
In addition to seeing how their high end headsets are made, we got a sneak peek at some of their new products that’ll be introduced anywhere from later this year to sometime in the next couple years. We saw how their Double Barrel shocks are dyno tested before being packed and shipped and the sad, empty space where their wheels used to be built.
Starting with their best known products, headsets, there’s a new Orange ano color headed your way. The photo above doesn’t do it justice, it’s really great looking in person, and it’s made right here in the U.S. of A!
Jump on past the break to see how they’re made and take a virtual tour of Cane Creek’s factory…
Jackson Goldstone has a number of videos up on YouTube, the best of which feature his “360º” where he stands up, lifts the bike, turns himself completely around and puts the bike back down before riding off.
Above, a great freeride adventure on the way to school. Combined with his trials video after the break, though, he may want to adjust his landing style when he gets a pedal bike or he may be speaking falsetto for the rest of his life…
The Cycle Hire Widget for the Android, developed by Little Fluffy Toys, works exclusively for London’s new bike sharing program. Watch the video above to see the developers showing you how their widget works in real time.
Basically, when you tap on the widget it will show you the 3 nearest cycle hire locations and their status–bikes available and/or slots available to return a bike. The free widget uses crowdsourcing to collect its information–when at a cycle hire location, users are prompted to make a report about bike availability.
Click ‘more’ to see screenshots of the widget.
Ergon has a new tool out called the TP1 to make proper cleat placement on your cycling shoes a lot easier than “eyeballing” where they should go. You can even use it to mark current placement of your cleats, so you can change them out and make sure the new ones go back in the same place. Simple and easy. More info from Egon after the break.
BMXMDB: Scott Malyon Interview from bmxmdb.com on Vimeo.
Brit shredder Scott Malyon has a cool reflective interview over on BMX Movie Database. The Q&A itself is nothing to get excited about, though the classic clips of Malyon tearing through ROM’s world-renowned concrete are all gems, as are those shot at Scott’s own spine miniramp. Topics include riding for a living, his lack of video parts over the years and the pleasures of having your own ramp
Scott also recently scored the cover of free-to-retail BMX magazine Case, which itself is well worth a look.
