ATTENTION FORUM KIDS - Leov and Neethling on Trek!

News just in - The new Trek World DH Team will be made up of 3 riders, 2 guys and 1 girl. The guys will be Justin Leov and Andrew 'Needles' Neethling.

The female rider is still a mystery.... To be announced on December 1st. Get cooking the forums kids. Who'se it gonna be?!

Thanks to Martyn at 23-Degrees for the news.

Beat Steve Peat at Cannock Chase!

The Cannock Chase Racers Guild are giving you a chance to take on Steve Peat and (hopefully) kick his ass for charity.

The event will be on the 15th November at Cannock Chase and will kick off with timed practice in the morning where they'll compare Peaty's times to everyone elses. They'll use the practice times to work out some handicaps for Steve and then pitt him against Cannock's best riders to see who wins. Sounds bloody brilliant. It's not often you get to a chance to see Steve tear up some local tracks and raise some money in the process!

They've set a target of £3000, which will go to the Steven Murray fund and Athletes Recovery fund, both great causes.

There's only room for 100 entries so get a shift on and sign up here:

http://www.racersguild.co.uk/Cannock/Charity_Event.html

If you can't race but want to donate anyway, you can do it at:

www.firstgiving.com/racersguild

Thanks to Jim Smith and Andy Dunwoody for the images.

The Do Lectures from Howies

The lovely people at Howies have just finished their 'Do Lectures' for another year. It sounds a bit dull but is actually really cool. They invite a load of experts over to talk about topics that they think are super important and then taped 'em for all to see.

Check it out at http://www.thedolectures.com/

Pat CJ bike check - UPDATED

Check it out - we ran a bike check with Pat Campbell-Jenner back in Issue 7, now he's made a few changes it's time for a quick update. I said "Tell us about your bike since we last saw it Pat"... He said:

"So with the new release of the purple SAS rims and wheelsets I decided that I wanted to move back to the indestructible SAS rim on my bike. I used my existing DJD hub with a 36 hole rim. I wanted something unique so I built them with alternating spokes, 2 white, 2 black with opposite nipples. It really stands out!

The front wheel has the same spoke pattern but it is built onto the new halo 'Wideboy' hub, a disc mountless 20mm/qr compatible version of the ever popular Spin Doctor hub, very trick for people who don't use a front brake!

Other additions include a white version of the Gusset lil saddle and some of the new axle nuts in red!"

Patt rides for Halo, check out their site at www.halorims.com

2Stage test riding at Cwmcarn

I'm having a quiet night in tonight (and a few beers) after a day of ragging our 2Stage test bike at Cwm Carn. We booked the day off work and got on the blower to Darryl at Cwmdown to get the uplifts sorted.

If you aint been to Cwm before it's a quality venue.... A great track in any conditions, a decent mix of everything you'd want to ride from big jumps to tight and twisty AND an uplift that runs pretty much every day. If you fancy a way to get a solid days riding in you can do a lot worse.

And the 2Stage? Well... I can't really say too much till we've finished the test but I've had a lot of fun in the few weeks I've had it. I ate shit a few times today from pushing my luck in the twisty sections but definitely came home smiling. You'll have to wait for Wideopen Issue 8 for a write up I'm afraid!

If you fancy a day of uplifts at Cwm Carn give Darryl and the team a shout at http://www.cwmdown.co.uk/. Thanks to 'em for showing us a great day as usual.

Morewood launch their new DH bike

After a busy year of prototyping and tuning Morewoods new DH platform, the Makulu, is finally approaching launch.

The Makulu is the result of a collaboration between Morewood Bikes South Africa and BOS suspension of France. The result is the Makulu's new Low Leverage Advantage suspension design, a single pivot with ultra low leverage rate controlled rocker link suspension damped by the constructed BOS Stoy shock.

The first run of frames are now at production stage. Initial run will be extremely limited with only 40 frames being made worldwide and only 8 available in the UK, kitted. Your cash will get you a frame, BOS Stoy rear shock and BOS Idylle DH fork.

Give Propel a shout if you want one here

Morewood webber here

Aston Hill needs YOU!

Wow - double Aston Hill news. That's got to be good luck or something?

The team at Aston Hill are looking for a bit of extra help covering the gate over the winter. If you're local, have your own transport and want to earn a bit of cash you should give them a shout at news@rideastonhill.co.uk

Also check out the webber at www.rideastonhill.co.uk

Aston Hill demo day 22/23 November

On 22nd - 23rd November Aston Hill will be hosting a demo day event in conjunction with Univega.

You can contact Univega at www.univega.co.uk to register your interest in a test ride. As with all days on the hill a day pass will cost £5.00 and this will allow you to test ride (if pre-booked) and ride your own “steed” as well.

Ride safe - Ben ASTON HILL BIKE PARK

www.rideastonhill.co.uk
news@rideastonhill.co.uk

Chicksands Mini 4X repo from Tom G and Oke

Last weekend was the annual Chicksands 4x race, and the turn out was no different to any other Chicksands event - it was packed. There were just as many spectators as riders lining the track to watch the mayhem begin. With more than 130 riders signed up for racing in 7 different categories, it was going to be an eventful day.

Racing kicked off at half 12 and each rider had 3 motos each. Then straight into quarters, semi’s and the finals. With money up for grabs for the top two riders in each category, every rider was determined to do well. There were also loads of prizes for third and fourth positions. Loads of stuff from 661, Halo, Spank, Protec, Gusset and loads others. A big thanks to Chris Roberts for organising it with the help of Steve Dowie, and Chicksands Bike Park.

Here’s some results from the day, the ones I can remember! A more thorough race report in the next issue, with all the results!

Elite:
1st : Lewis Lacey

2nd : Tom Dowie

3rd : Pat C-J

4th : Martin Ogden

Senior:
1st : Dale Russel

2nd : Tom Knight

3rd : Tom Gethin

4th : Steve Simms

Huge thanks to Flow bikes' Tom Gethin for the words and Oke Ogali at kchuk.co.uk for the images.

THE helmets now in kids sizes...

Any groms out there wondering what to ask Santa for should probably check out the new kids THE 'The One' full face helmets...



UK distro Silverfish now has a full range of '09 stock with fresh new graphics and all the sizes you could ever want... Including all new kids sizes. Grom and grown up lids both have exactly the same features and sport stainless steel D-ring closure, 15 air vents, removable dual EPS liner, tarty helmet bag and pimp graphics. Exactly how much do you love your kids..?

Composite RRP £139.00
Carbon RRP £199.00

To see the full range and for more details visit http://www.silverfish-uk.com/

Bristol aiming to become 'Off Road Cycling Hub'

Cider drinking capital Bristol is working up plans to become an "off-road cycling hub". If they pull it off it'll mean better trails, better facilities and a better riding scene. Good news all round if it goes ahead.

Even better news is that the planners want to hear from local riders and use their ideas to influence what gets done. If you live down that way it's a really good chance to have a hand in improving local trails.

The Bristol Trails Group have set up a forum thread to help sort this out. They'll get all the responses together and forward them on to the planners. Happy days - it's early days yet but we'll keep you posted.

To get involved visit: http://www.bristoltrailsgroup.com/

Image shamelessly pinched from Bristol local Sam Fowler's Facebook.

Foot Out Flat Out Premier TONIGHT!

Click the flyer to go BIG!

This Saturday night is going to the world premier of our new 'FOOT OUT FLAT OUT' DVD... A brand new UK race DVD by our mate Aaron 'Mono' Bartlett.

It's going down as part of Rowan Sorrell's end of Season Welsh Side party at 10 Feet Tall, 11a -12 Church Street, Cardiff, CF10 1BG.

It should be a great night, kicking off with the movie followed by DJ's and a few shandies till the wee hours! You're all invited and we'd love to see you there...

Chicksands Bike Park 4X race this Sunday

On the Sunday 19th October 2008 Beds Fat Trax will be holding it’s annual 4X race at Chicksands Bike Park.

Categories will be the same as the NPS 4X series, Elite,Veteran,Master,Senior,Female,Youth,Junior,Juvenile, Novice 17+, Novice 12-16 plus an under 12’s.

Entry Fees: £20 plus £5 for a race plate, refundable on it’s return after the racing. Entry fee’s will only be accepted in cash and please try and have the correct amount on the day.

The race is limited to only 150 places to turn up early or pre book by ringing Steve Dowie on 07774 262557.

Prizes: Elite: £300 1st and there will be a selection of cash and prizes from top sponsors for all categories.
Registration and practice from 10am, racing starts at 12pm, mid-day.

If you require any more information please contact Steve Dowie on 07774 262557.

All racers will be parked inside the wood on race day, please can non-racers park at the Sandy lane car park to minimize congestion.

As always we expect it to be a busy day so be sure to turn up early!

Foot Out Flat Out Premier THIS SATURDAY!

Click the flyer to go BIG!

This Saturday night is going to the world premier of our new 'FOOT OUT FLAT OUT' DVD... A brand new UK race DVD by our mate Aaron 'Mono' Bartlett.

It's going down as part of Rowan Sorrell's end of Season Welsh Side party at 10 Feet Tall, 11a -12 Church Street, Cardiff, CF10 1BG.

It should be a great night, kicking off with the movie followed by DJ's and a few shandies till the wee hours! You're all invited and we'd love to see you there...

New Longterm gear...

The nice people at Hotlines have sent in some good looking product for us to test over the next few months. Expect to see a full test in Issue 8 or 9 for all of these - we'll be ragging them over the winter to tell you if they stand up to abuse and if they're up to the hype.

First up, Straitline Lever Blades:-
These are designed to end forearm burn. The less a finger tip curls the less flexor muscles fire up the forearm so we have a fat broad lever blade that actually feels like a human finger.

Put your palm facing up and look down your index finger then look at the blade. Pull the skin tight so you can see the radius of the bone, the lever mimicks it to a T, nature knows best we have been hooking our fingers together since we were babies so when you touch the blade it feels natural.

The finish on these looks impeccable, a really nice well machine piece of kit. They're great to just look at but the real test will be on the bike... check these out in Issue 8.


RRP £49.99

Second we have some products from Nuke Proof...
Nuke Proof Warhead 750 Riser Bars:-
These have been designed to cope with the demands of WC level DH racing. Superwide at 750mm width! I mean wide! Hope your local spot doesn't have any tight spots!

Nuke Proof Warhead Stem:-
Features a cold forged construction for optimum strength and CNC machined to shave off any unnecessary weight without compromise to the structural integrity of the stem.


Bars: RRP £49.99 Stem: RRP £59.99 These should appear in Issue 9.

Nuke Proof Warhead Seat Post:-
A lightweight but very strong seatpost. The one piece shaft and lower clamp assembly are cold forged for optimum strength then CNC machined which results in superior strength and fatigue resistance at this critical high stress area ensuring rider safety and eliminating the chance of component failure. The finish looks really tough, similar to the finish on a Thomson post - we'll see how it holds up over a muddy winter! Expect a report in Issue 9.


RRP £39.99

and last but not least some crazy light magnesium pedals from NC17
NC-17 Mag Pedals:-
Weighing a feathery 386 grams per pair, the pedal’s platform has 18 replaceable pins scattered over its concave profile. These look pretty tasty, well boxed and with spare pins. First impressions are good - my only worry is how well the white paint finish will hold up - first big test this weekend. Write up in Issue 8.


RRP £54.99

All available from your local bike shop - or check out www.hotlines-uk.com

Apple and Mountain Biking

Just spotted this on Southern Downhill:

It's a picture from the advert http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/ for the new MacBook 15inch on the Apple website, pretty good exposure for mountain biking!

Who's screen grab is this? Email aaron@wideopenmag.co.uk if you have the answer!

Cycle08 - Welcome to the Jumble

Every year the cycle industry pops down to Earls Court in fancy London town for a bit of a get together and to show off their latest and greatest. It's a bit of a funny affair, with most of the 'new' stuff already splashed all over the web from the previous Interbike and Eurobike shows.

Still, it's not all bad and me n' Nouveu popped down to oggle some new bikes and meet the faces behind them. We also popped out for a fry up. Here's a few pics, I'll put something proper together for issue 8:

Turner bikes are back in the UK!

Quick bit of news from the guys at Silverfish who will now be distributing Turner Bikes in the UK. That will include the new DW equiped Turner DHR that we've all been oggling on the forums...

Stock is expected to start landing in November so get saving.

For further details visit

http://www.silverfish-uk.com or http://www.turnerbikes.com/

Leatt Neck Braces now in the UK!

Leatt Neck Braces have been gradually appearing all over the place this season with heaps of riders checking their necks and investing in some decent protection. Makes sense to me, You'd (hopefully) not race DH without a helmet, so why ignore the next most important thing?!

The good news is that major UK distro Madison are now bringing Leatt's into the UK. As of early November you'll be able to get the full range from your local bike shop. Let's hope it'll help keep the serious injuries down in '09.

In the mean time you can check out Leatt's website here
Madison homepage here

Phil Ashbridge rockin a Leatt at Bala for the kids

Dialled Bikes - The Next Generation

Are you looking for a really special 20" race frame? Dialled bikes have got something for you... Introducing the new MX20R.

Here's Mike from Dialled: "People have been asking for a while now when the new dialled bikes BMX frames will be available and we can now announce these frames will be here in late January/early February 2009.

The new MX20R (”R” because this new frame is a “Race” version of the original MX20 frame) will be made of Reynolds 853 air hardened double butted cro-moly tubing (widely considered to be the best bicycle tubing money can buy) and will be available in 6 sizes:

Expert: 19″ top tube (same as Brad Spick’s prototype frame)
Expert XL: 19.75″ top tubePro: 20.5″ top tube (same as Jack Smallpiece’s prototype frame)
Pro XL: 21.25″ top tube (same as Shaun Andrews’ prototype frame)
Pro XXL: 22″ top tubeCruiser: 21.5″ top tube (same as Jon Moore’s prototype frame)

Weights will be around 3.9lbs (for the Expert frame) upto 4.3lbs (for the cruiser frame) and there will be 2 colours: The Expert, Pro, Pro XXL and Cruiser frames will be pearlescent blue; and the Expert XL and Pro XL frames will be pearlescent red (same as Jon Moore’s prototype frame).

These frames will be limited in quantity (less than 20 of each size) so we’re asking people who really want one to pre-order and pay a deposit of £150. The incentive to pre-order is you’ll get the frame for 20% less than the full retail price. So instead of paying £280, you’ll pay just £224 (which includes free delivery to anywhere in mainland UK). That’s a ridiculously low price for a Reynolds 853 frame - just check out the price of Reynolds 853 mountain bike frames and most will be almost double that price!

We’ll also be doing some great packages with these frames (e.g. MX20R frame and Sinz carbon forks = £365; or MX20R frame and Shimano DXR cranks = £399), more details nearer the time.

To coincide with the release of the new Reynolds 853 MX20R BMX/cruiser frames dialled bikes will be registering a BMX race team with British Cycling Federation for the 2009 BMX national series under the name of Dialled Bikes Support Team.

Anyone who purchases one of the new 853 BMX frames and races the BMX national series will be entitled to register with BCF under this team name and at the end of the 2009 BMX season the Dialled Bikes Support Team Rider who amasses the highest points total will be refunded the purchase price of their dialled bikes MX20R/cruiser frame. This offer also applies to anyone who wins a 2009 British Champs 01 plate on a dialled bikes MX20R/cruiser frame.

So, if you want to pre-order the next generation of dialled bikes BMX frame, please e-mail info@dialledbikes.com for details.

www.dialledbikes.com

2Stage AM8 proto - Wideopen first look

Pete from 2Stage bikes just popping over to off-load a Zed8 for us to test. Hiding in the depths of his van he had something a bit special.... This one of a kind HammerSchmidt equiped 2Stage AM8. I couldn't resist a quick fiddle and a few snaps for the website.

The AM8 is the newest in the 2Stage range to hit the UK - built around the same tech as the Elite and the Zed but trimmed down for XC and all mountain riders. 8" front and rear, slimmed down frame and a carbon seat tower, which may or may not make it onto the production bike. On the downs it's designed to be a big hit machine, on the climbs the 2Stage magic automatically locks the travel down to 4".

And this fruity looking gizmo has been setting the forums on FIRE over the last couple of weeks, Truvative's HammerSchimdt crankset. 18 gears using 1 ring up front and a 9 speed block on the back.

The advantages? No front mech, no chain device, more clearance, lighter, improved chain line, makes forum kids wee their pants. Like a gear box you can also shift without having to pedal. Sadly, the proto didn't have the ISCG tabs to hold the Hammerschmidt in place so I couldn't take it for a spin. Giving the cranks a spin and shifting through the gears it seemed to work nicely. Clickety click and it shifted whether you were spinning, back pedaling or free wheeling. I'll look forward to giving it a sceptical pasting out on the trails in the near future!



Look out for the Zed8 test in Issue 8 of Wideopen....

2Stage Bikes

Hammerschmidt

Wideopen - by Thierry Neau

Apparently the slightly smutty name of our magazine is so bloody cool it's being used by mountain-bikers around the world. There's (of course) us at Wideopenmag, there's a Kiwi distro called Wideopen and now... There's Wideopen the DVD by Frenchman Thierry Neau.

It seemed rediculous not to take a look at Thierry's vid here at WO so after a couple of emails it dropped through my letter box and went straight into the lap top for a first viewing.

Wideopen is a 100% race DVD, feauturing footage from the '07 World Cups and the French Nationals. There's footy of all the World's best riders, including a good selection of the UK guys.

Essential viewing for race heads - Gotta keep this repo brief but see Wideope (the magazine) Issue 8 for more.

http://www.fastlinesproductions.com/

Maxxis Medusa Tyres - First Look

The very kind folks over at mtb-bitz.co.uk sent me these Maxxis Medusa spikes to check out. Judging by how dark and sloppy it was in the woods last night I reckon it's about time to get 'em on the bike...

They're designed as a wet weather XC race tyre, but the 2.1 version looks like a pretty decent 'all mountain' tyre for a trail bike or a hard tail...

The nobbles are nice and tall to cut into the mud and are widely spaced so they don't clog up. They're also meant to work pretty well at low pressues for plenty of grip. I'll give 'em a good thrashing and let you know how they go in Issue 8.

They're available in 1.55, 1.8 and 2.1 and in various combos of 62a and 70a. Price is about £20 each.

If you want something a bit more heavy duty, maybe check out the amazing Swamp Things or Wet Screams, both great tyres.

Give MTB-Bitz a shout for more info here: http://www.mtb-bitz.co.uk/