Cycle 2007- Earls Court LDN

Just settling back into normality after 3 days at 'Cycle' in London - a massive orgy of bikes and clobber. I spent Friday mooching round with camera and press-pass then Saturday and Sunday touting on a stand to the masses.

Was a bloody good but bloody tiring weekend and i'm now thoroughly overdosed on bike parts. Not looking forward to trying to make sense of a mountain of photos and business cards for a proper write-up!

Sadly there wasn't too much new or exciting stuff but after a bit of a dig around a few gems popped out. I'll go in to 'em in more detail in WO5 and pop some photos up on Facebook but a few highlights were.... Hope's CNC'd and Carbon 24" kids bike, pink calipers and flowery disks. SE's 24 year old race bike (NEVER ridden!). The Intense M6 and SS. Charge's top notch stand, seeing Hans 'NO WAY' Ray... Loads of stuff actually.

Two companies that really stood out were Diamondback and Riding High UK, both of which seemed genuinely interested to chat about their bikes and really happy to be at the show. Diamondback team rider Lex was zipping about all weekend with his new signature street bike and product manager Mike was keeping a VERY close eye on the Sabbath gear-box bike.

Over at Riding High the guys were showing off loads of tarty Spank product, Bergamont (including another Gear-box ride) and some rare as white dog shit Canfields. Again, they were really keen and had a couple of their team riders on hand to talk about actually riding bikes rather than just selling them.

All good stuff anyway. I'll post again when my gig of images are online. If you fancy a look at something a bit more in-depth check out Jim's repo at http://www.ftmb.net/

Klunkerz

Word up from Billy Savage about his new film called "Klunkerz"; a history of mountain biking. Some footage going back in time to when some of you were wrapped in pampers and a true one-man project from the man himself. After release at Interbike in Las Vegas on September 27th, "KLUNKERZ" announced the sale of the film to VAS Entertainment for world-wide distribution.

At interbike some of the guys came out lend their support, sign a few autographs, and meet their fans. I can't thank these folks enough for all of their continued support on the movie. If you every run into these guys, remember to just say 'thanks'. James McLean, Joe Breeze, Tom Ritchey, Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, Billy, Donnie Koski, Mike Sinyard
InterBike 2007 Shimano booth 'Klunkerz' autograph signing.

Photo: Gary Newkirk
Check out www.klunkerz.com for more info and watch this space for a review soon...

FINAL NPS at Innerleithen, GET TO IT!

In addition to the reminder below from the boys at npsdh.com ...JUST YET ANOTHER REMINDER that THIS weekend (SAT 13th/SUN 14TH October) is the FINAL round of the 2007 NPS downhill season. Race prizes, season end frolics, free films, hungover magazine editors, the lot!

See you there (looking rough)!

Thanks again to Alan Whitelaw for the EXCLUSIVE flyer. Well, have you seen it anywhere else?!!!!

NPS GRAND FINALE!

Rider - Josh BrycelandPhotographer - Jon Beckett

This weekend is the final round of the successful Chain Reaction Cycles British Downhill Series at Innerleithen near Peebles in the Scottish Borders on Saturday the 13th and Sunday the 14th of October 2007.

The Innerleithen course is great for both spectators and riders offering a unique mixture of high speed sections with large jumps and drops broken up by super steep, tight and technical wooded sections. Throw in plenty of roots, rocks, screaming spectators and some of the Worlds top riders and you are at the best National Series in the World!

Fancy a spot of XC riding? Innerleithen has a killer XC/Enduro loop for you to ride. Stop and rest at several view points and watch the racing unfold before your very eyes. Then head back to the race village and checkout the retail stores and talk suspension tech with the likes of TF Tuned and Mojo.

The Sombrio Film Festival on Saturday evening is free and open to all and will be showing the U.K Premier of "Make it Happen". Bring your own chair and a beer and sit down and enjoy!

Refreshments will be on hand with our caterer continuing their Themed Nights, this week it’s "Chinese" so bring your chop sticks.

Fenwick’s the bike cleaner people will be running a bike wash with free use of their jet washes and cleaner and we will have our fully trained Park Tool Mechanic looking after your ride, all free of charge!

Hang around for the Podium and shout and scream to receive some signed goodies from the top riders. Then see the top 5 in each category receive customised trophies from Hope Technology.

Schedule:

Saturday 09:00 - 17:00 Open Practise 18:15 Riders meeting 19:00 Sombrio Film Festival Sunday09:00 - 12:30 Practise1 3:00 - 16:00 Racing 16:30 Podium

What more do you need to know? Parking and spectating is FREE!

Many thanks again to our title sponsors: Chain Reaction Cycles and our co-sponsors: Loctite - Offering a track day for 4 riders in their Formula 3 BMW’s. Fenwick’s - Making your ride sparkle. TF Tuned - £200 to the rider winning their category by the biggest margin.Ancillotti UK - £100 to the fastest rider of the day. MFX Air Art - Offering 4 custom helmet spray jobs. Action Cameras - Awarding hands free waterproof cameras. Shimano - Providing course tape.Parktool - Tool ChestBalfa - Danger Boy products. Ticket2RideBC.com - Holiday for two in Whistler!

We look forward to seeing you all trackside. Steve Parr and Si Paton.SPS Events.

Pump Urban Wear News

Some news from our friends at Pump Urban Wear... They've got a sale, green fingers and some good things happening on the high street.

Click the image to view full size, then visit their site here

Fat Face Edinburgh Urban Downtown race

Headed into Edinburgh (very hungover) yesterday for the worlds first ever night time downhill race. Awesome is the word!

Fearingout Race Team rider Ste Larking was on fire in the HT category, a baw hair off of 1st in his seeding run. What would have been like with two brakes?! An awesome field of about 300 competitors meant 3 runs and a seeding run squeezed in during daylight, followed by the race run in the dark gave an action packed day.

I camped at the bottom of the hill catching the final section of steps, the tricky fast right berm and car jump at the finish straight. Seeing some of the guys manual and double the bottom section of steps made me glad i wasn't racing, nevermind the crashes!

More coverage soon on wideopen and I'm sure Ste will post soon too. I only got decent pics from daylight, but more soon from our contacts...!

From memory Pager won Masters, Rachel won womens, Gump won Junior and Gee pipped Stanbridge in the elite. Ste came a very good 4th in the HT, if only he'd had 2 brakes!

.

NPS finale

Check it out Race Fans. This weekend you can catch the first ever night race in Edinburgh. I know I will be. Crate of beer in one hand and a torch in the other!

The race season is hitting finale time, with downtown races, post season celebrations...but hold your breath...the NPS aint over til the fat lady sings. Who is the fat lady? Answers on a postcard to...haha.

Seriously, check out this exclusive suave flyer from Alan Whitelaw at npsdh.com. Cheers to Alan for that (and well done on his first cover shot!). The rearranged round on the 14th October is back where it all began, Innerleithen. It's sure to be a season end highlight, I'll be there with a different crate of beer and maybe no torch.

See you all there. 2 weekends of top racing, get in!

New designs from Twoand8

I met Twoand8's front man Adi a few months ago when I moved to Bristol. Everytime I've bumped into him riding BMX on the mean streets of Brizzle I'ved asked how Twoand8 is doing and what he's got in the pipe line. Everytime he tells me things are pretty quiet but new designs are gonna blow any second...

Well....Great news, the wait is over and fresh Twoand8 product is here!

Check out the designs below and visit http://www.twoand8bmx.com/ to support a truly pedigree UK clothing company.

2008 ODI Grips - First Look

Hot off the email from Matt at Ison are sneek pics of the latest ODI grips for 2008. They were only unvelied at Interbike in Vegas so are fresh as you like!



New Additions are:
Ruffian Lock-On Kits in Ltd Ed Gold.Ruffian Lock-On Kits in Ltd Ed White.
Rogue Lock-On Kits in Brown.
X-Trainer Lock-On Kits in Brown.
Longneck ST's in Gold.
Longneck ST's in White.
Subliminal BMX grips in Purple.
"O" BMX Grips in Purple.
Brand New Tangent BMX Lock-On Kits in Black -
Super slim lock-on BMX racegrips.
New Alu End Plugs in Various Colours.

They should all be available before Christmas. Click the image to check 'em out in a shady montage style!

ODI Grips online

Fat Face Night Ride - Edinburgh Saturday 6th October

From Chris at Nakedracing:

We're now into the final few days before the race, new stories in the local news papers have started and there is a real buzz going around the city about the race.

The Expo and team area is now full with some great companies and the Uk's best test teams, with the Athertons, MBUK and many many more.

The Bike Chain is now the Co-Sponsors to the event and will be providing free repairs with there team of mechanics for all riders in finish arena. There shop in Rodney Street will open as normal over the weekend to buy all the latest goodies.

A map will be on line on Wednesday night showing all the parking places for riders very close the finish line.

£4000 worth of products!

All the categories have been sponsored and we have amazing £4000 worth of goodies to give away to the top 3 in each category and there will goodies from the guys & girls at Fat Face.

The list of categories sponsors

MTB Direct Hardtail
Sealskinz tyres Juvenile
Madison Youth
Knightrider Junior
Kona Senior
Chainreaction Master
661 Veteran
FUNN Expert

The Pro prize purse is £3000 in cash to share between the boys and girls all these will be presented in the finish arena straight after the race.

Race HQ - Friday & Saturday

The Beehive Pub in the Grass Market is race HQ for the weekend, from Friday afternoon you can sign on and collect your race number and see the track, you will be able to walk the track on Friday night if you wish.

You will also get your drink and food wrist band which you can use anytime during the day in the Beehive all thanks to Fat Face, tell them and all our sponsors how good they are for helping to provide such an amazing support for this race.

More updates later in the week.

See you all in Edinburgh next weekend.

2008 NPS Dates

Rich Cunynghame - Photo by Huw davies.

Hot off the press, 2008 NPS Dates for your diary

*Please note the middle three rounds will all have UCI Points!

Rd 1 April 20th
Rd 2 May 25th*
Rd 3 July 6th*
Rd 4 August 10th*
Rd 5 September 21st

Venues are still to be confirmed, for any further information on the NPS, please checkout www.NPSDH.com

Garlands injured as well now....

How bad has this season been for injuries?? Matti, Minaar, Peaty, Gracia, Sam Dale... God knows who else.

Just spotted on Southern-Downhill that Dave Garland of Stendec has managed to bust himself up racing the 4x National at Hamsterley.... He'll be off for a while nursing a shattered Femur and is under going under the knife any second now. Click the link above and give him your best wishes.

Second get well soon of the day... Heal fast mate, the suspension of the UK needs you!

Matti Lehikoinen Injury - Update

Image from http://www.ms-racing.at/

The latest on Matti from 23Degrees:

"The doctors have confirmed that Matti will not need an operation to stabilise the fractured vertebrae. This is great news for Matti who has been dreading the idea of a major operation.

Due to the position of the breaks (no.4 has one fracture and no.5 has two fractures), it would have meant operating from the front, going in through the chest cavity, which is obviously a much more delicate and complicated operation. The doctors have confirmed there are no floating bones pieces, which is also good news. However, they have said that should the vertebrae shift in position, they will need to review the matter.

"Obviously I have to keep my back straight and not bend forward or do anything to risk the movement of the vertebrae. Yesterday I was vomiting from the painkillers and it was the most painful puke ever! I had to keep my back straight and it was pretty bad, but last night was my first full night of sleep, so things are getting better," said Matti this morning.

It is anticipated that Matti will be transfered from hospital in the coming days to a recovery and rehabilitation centre. Matti has been overwhelmed by the number of messages and well wishes. This morning Matti received a call from former Downhill World Champion, Vanessa Quin, who called form New Zealand. This meant a lot to Matti as Vanessa has had more than her fair share of neck/spinal injuries and was able to give Matti some very reassuring words.

Matti is keeping a diary, and when he's able to, will keep everyone up to date through a blog on his new team's web site, at http://www.ms-racing.at/"

Get well soon from Wideopenmag!

Pearce Cycles Series Results!

Image by Jim at ftmb.net. Check it out for loads of images and repos from the whole series.

The epic battle for Pearce Cycles Summer DH Series champion came to a close yesterday at Bringewood.

Scott Beaumont took fastest time of the day for the chaps and Aimee Dix for the girls. Just waiting on the word from Pearce for the series champion... stay tuned!

Results are here.

Pearce Summer Series Round 4 - Bringewood

This weekend is round 4 of the brilliant Pearce Cycles Summer DH Series, to be held at Bringewood.

Straight from the Pearce site:

"Hopton has been ruled out, as the quota of 3 'major events' allowed to be held there each year has been reached, an agreement made between Forestry Commission and Hopton Castle Parish Council some years ago.Bucknell has been ruled out as Forest Enterprise could not make a decision within the time available to build a new course.

Therefore, we have decided to make the best of what is available - taking into consideration the recent bad weather. The original 'National' course will be used starting from the trig point, it's a track that hasn't been raced for a number of years and should provide more variety at the venue. If riders, who have entered, do not wish to race at Bringewood, a full refund will be given. But let us know ASAP as there is a long reserve list!

Entries are fully sold out but get down and do some cheering!

Avast! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Yaargg!

Ahoy me harties! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Be sure to all talk like scurvey sea dogs all day and offer to send anyone to DAVIE JONES if they dont do the same! Yaaarg!

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/

Issue 4 update...

Producer James has just sent round the first proof of Wideopen Issue 4...and it's looking damn fine indeed! It's another big one with loads of travel writing, race repo's, interviews and some amazing Emulsion images.

Were a little way off launching yet due to the worlds but we'll keep everyone update on Facebook and through the mailing list. Plan is early October at the moment...

Keep your eyes on your inbox...

2008 Shui first looks...

Check out a quick first look at some of the new 2008 Shui tees coming out just in time for Xmas (yes, it is THAT time already!), pre orders now being taken from uk and euro distrubutors www.riderruncompany.co.uk, check out the designs below...



Happy shopping :)

Just back from the Worlds...

Short(ish) and sweet as you can read the antics in ISSUE 4 (out soon-ish).

Arrived on Saturday having left home at 6AM (yes, thats commitment) and saw the final DH practice runs. Met up with Milki who was buzzing from a week's snapping. Then headed to the pits and had a chat with Kathy Sessler, Col Williams @ mtb-direct.co.uk (cheers for the grips dude), Gee, shook Peaty's hand and wished him luck (he was 10 deep in autograph seeking kids!) etc etc.
Sunday was epic, up early again, then saw final runs of practice and then BANG, it all went off. AWESOME atmosphere, Fort Bill does it again. The British and Irish riders were getting great shouts, I lost my horn (but hey), and lots of cheering with the bottom arena SOOOOOO loud.
Here, an Irish rider gets my "shot of the day" award (from me to me!) as he heads into the arena...

Upmost big up to Gump, Rachel, Katy and Gee for getting us some medals, and unlucky to those who lost saddles etc. Sunday night was party in a tent in Fort Bill....think I remember saying "hi" to rachel Atherton whilst pissed, Hic!...as below shows....

I was also up for some riding with some of the fearingout lads, so we did Wolftrax on Monday in gourmet sunshiiiiiiiiine, but Phil fractured his arm (rode on with it, rrrrrrrrespect) then Tues we went to Balnain bike park and realised we weren't Northshore pros (lol). Then....the big one, yesterday with the boys on the road back to England, I headed to the World Champs Dh track. I got my gondola pass and up I went. I was bricking it! Did 4 runs, the first very slowly at 12 mins, then got my shit on and got down to just over 9 minutes, with 1 stop, cos my arms and hands ached so much! Awesome track, love it. The Stinky at the bottom after 4 runs...

Top "long weekend" all round.

Watch this space....

Timo Pritzel 'Atmosfair' clothing incoming from Ison...

Ison just got in touch say that they we will be distributing dirt jump supremo Timo Pritzel's new clothing company Atmosfair.

The range is designed in conjunction with world reknowned graff artist Skism (Lodownmagazine) who also helped Timo with his Signature TSG helmets for 2007 and 2008 and featured in Dirt a couple of months back.

The range should be available in October through your local bike shop. They've got caps, sweats and tees so there should be something for everyone.

Ruaridh Cunningham is your new Junior World Champion!

The Fort William World Champs are all over and (as you probably know) Aussie Sam Hill held on to the Rainbow Jersey for the boys and Sabrinna Jonnier for the girls. In the Junior ranks, the UK's Ruaridh Cunningham did us proud by storming to first place.

It was an amazing weekend for UK downhill with Ruaridh's gold in Junior men, a bronze for Gee in Elite Men, a silver Rachel in Women's Elite and silver for Katy Curd in the Junior Women. Elite women had 4 female riders in the top 7! Good bloody job to everyone...

Scott W was on the scene doing the papping for Wideopen and will no doubt post something asap. In the mean time here's a vid from Freecaster.TV with Nigel Page on the mic:

Shui Comp Winner - Johnny Wardle

Well done to Johnny Wardle who just won our issue3 Shui Hoody comp(pictured here dining on a trifle at this years BUSA's). Nice one mate! Your new threads will be in the post sharpish...

Thanks to Elbry at Rider Run Company for supplying the prizes. Stay locked for more comps in Issue4...

New longtermers...

Look what came in the post today...


Thanks to Andy at Bigstone for sorting us out - I'll be running a pair as will Fearingout rider Steve. Expect to see them in future issues of the mag along with a different take on the flat pedal debate soon!

NPS Round 4 at Caersws

This weekend sees round four of the Chain Reaction Cycles British Downhill Series at Caersws in Powys near Newtown to the west of Welshpool and Shrewsbury on Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of September 2007. Just follow the signs!

Running off the past success of the previous three rounds you will be in for a real treat as the top Pro riders will be using this as a warm up for the Worlds the following week. Team G-Cross Honda, Animal Commencal and the MBUK Team will be in full attendance ripping down the tight, twisty and technical track of Caersws. Throw in a few tricky jumps and a wide open and flat out finishing field means whether you are a rider or spectator this will be a round not to be missed.

The Sombrio Film Festival on Saturday evening is free and open to all and will be showing the U.K Premier of the latest Anti-Gravity series - UNHINGED. Bring your own chair and a beer and sit down and enjoy!

Refreshments will be on hand with our caterer continuing their Themed Nights, this week it’s "Yorkshire" so expect hot Ferret sandwiches and roast Wippet barms!

Fenwicks the bike cleaner people will be running a bike wash with free use of their jet washes and cleaner and we will have our fully trained Park Tool Mechanic looking after your ride, all free of charge!

Hang around for the Podium and see the top 5 in each category receive customised trophies from Hope Technology. Then shout and scream to receive some signed goodies from the top boys and girls before we wish them well and on the way to the Fort William World Champs!

Schedule:

Saturday
09:00 - 14:30 Open Practise
15:00 - 18:00 Seeding
18:15 Riders meeting
19:00 Sombrio Film Festival - Anti Gravity III "Unhinged"

Sunday
09:00 - 12:30
13:00 - 16:00 Racing
16:30 Podium

What more do you need to know? Parking and spectating is free!

Many thanks again to our title sponsors, Chain Reaction Cycles and our co-sponsors:

Loctite - Offering a track day for 4 riders in their Formula 3 BMW’s.
Fenwick’s - Making your ride sparkle.
TF Tuned - £200 to the rider winning their category by the biggest margin.
Ancillotti UK - £100 to the fastest rider of the day.
MFX Air Art - Offering 4 custom helmet spray jobs.
Action Cameras - Awarding hands free waterproof cameras.
Shimano - Providing course tape.
Balfa - Danger Boy products.
Ticket2RideBC.com - Holiday for two in Whistler!

We look forward to seeing you all trackside..

SPS Events

Last weekends Racing...

Dragon Downhill - Mynydd Du Round 3

Photo by Oke

Round 3 of the Dragon series last weekend at Mynydd Du. A great days racing by all accounts with sloppy conditions, big road gaps and FAST times. Top spot to Ralph Jones.

Results are here and Dragon homepage here. We'll have a full repo in the next issue.

FoelDHRiders Bank Holiday Jam

And at the other end of Wales...The FoelDHRiders at Foel Gasnach had another Bank Holiday Jam.

Racing was down Track's 1 and 4 with a BBQ and some chilled runs to end the day. Top spot in the 'Best' cat went to Emyr Davies and in the 'Rest' to Tom Clarkeson. Prizes donated by The Edge Cycleworks in Chester and Wideopenmag.

Ems managed to set a Track 1 record later in the day with a 1:27. Hot on his heels was Michael Langford... one of the New Zealand under 19's Worlds team who'd popped over for some Fort Bill training. With only 3 runs of the track he was dropping his chain and STILL hitting 1:31's. Close but no cigar!

Pic by Chris Bartlett

A great day's racing on a great hill. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.

Check out the Foel site here and some images by Chris Bartlett here.

Tree Hugging

Some Green words from Elbry at RiderRunCompany

These days it seems everyone is desperate to promote themselves as being "green." With climate change making itself ever more apparent and those scientist-types telling us all to "ACT NOW!" virtually every company across the world is scrambling for new ways to cut emissions, save resources and reduce that all important carbon footprint. Maybe I'm just cynical, but the majority of claims made by the larger companies don't really seem to add up, yesterday I saw a big company's maintenance van in a petrol station filling up with diesel. It had an advert on the back of it declaring itself as a "carbon neutral" company, must be a new type of diesel then! The simple truth is that a lot of companies are not really interested in saving the
planet. Instead they make bold and misleading claims over their "clean-up
efforts" in order to capitalise on public interest and save themselves a few
quid each year courtesy of the tax man. So what makes us any different?

Rider Run Co is committed to making as little an impact on the environment as possible. This commitment does not stem from financial gain or legal obligations, but from an actual interest in our surroundings and their future. People are drawn to mountain biking for many reasons, but a simple appreciation of nature and the outdoors is probably just as common as "I just love the buzz." I personally do not want to see my local trails under water/oven baked and i'm sure most of you feel the same way. As such, we take several steps to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible.

· We recycle more than 90% of our office waste.

· We plant trees every winter (and hug them more times than is probably healthy!).

· We save fuel because we don't pay reps to drive around the country promoting us. They are out there though, just look for them at events or riding spots. Or better yet, just contact us over the internet!

· We send out our goods in degradeable paper packaging(usually recycled) instead of plastic packaging.

· We only advertise in download magazines like Wideopen. Paper magazines require trees to be cut down on a regular basis. Besides, we probably couldn't afford to even if we wanted to, since we put most of our profits back into mountain biking through events, riders and clubs.

However, there is only so much that we can do on our own, in order to make real changes in the industry we need help from YOU. For instance, we have received several requests for Rider Run Co stickers. Instead of printing off loads (and inevitably ending up with some left over as waste) we want YOU to show some individualism and creativity. Come up with your own designs and get your local printer/sign maker/sticker man to produce only as many as you need. They'll appreciate the extra business, the environment won't be damaged by unneccessary waste (e.g backing paper, printing chemicals etc) and you will end up with something totally unique! Send us some pics and we'll even put them up on our myspace site!

We as consumers have the power to change the habits of those who provide us with products. Next time you want a new frame/t-shirt etc. check out the environmental credentials of the company and their importers. Don't be shy, just ask them what measures they take to reduce their environmental impact and what they give back to their sport. Wherever possible try to support those companies that you feel give something back to both riding and the environment. In this way you will help smaller companies like us to prosper, as well as forcing the bigger companies to change their ways. Now go out and hug a tree!

Flick time - Anti Gravity Unhinged

Word from Ghillan@Reflex Films...

"Anti Gravity Unhinged, the new mountain bike film from Reflex Films is on it's way!

Due for release on the 20th August 2007, Unhinged is the latest addition to the popular Anti Gravity series. Featuring exclusive footage of the worlds top Mountain Bikers, the film captures the true spirit of Mountain Biking with breathtaking scenery and awe inspiring action from around the globe!

Unhinged isn’t a film about freeride or downhill, it’s a film about mountain bikers and flat out riding. It's hard hitting, all out action from the start with some truly mind blowing cinematography and amazing riding. Most importantly it captures the true essence of mountain biking, something that every rider out there will relate to."

With a shedload of riders filmed in locations such as South Africa, France, Italy, Spain, Andorra, Austria and all over the UK, it sounds mint. Check out Ben Reid here in Ireland for example...

Watch out for a review in issue 4 of wideopen.

UK full sus?

Cotic have been making steel framed hardtails for a number of years - designed with UK trail riding in mind they've built up quite a following and for good reason.

After years in development they've released there first full sus - perfect for winter training and general hooning about all year!

Word from Cy is they'll be demo bikes available at 18bikes in Hope and BikesUK in Bristol very soon... sign up to there mailing list for more info.

We're hoping to feture Cotic in the mag soon but in the meantime here;s the low down on the Hemlock, pictured above...

The Cotic Hemlock is our all new super versatile full suspension machine. Years in development ; designed and engineered with the same painstaking attention to detail and refusal to conform to the marketing led 'norms' of the industry that brought you our award winning hardtails ; the Hemlock takes our trail bike philosophy to the next step. Like its hardtail brethren, it allows the use of long travel suspension without the excess weight or overt emphasis on one style of riding.

(visit our Geek page for more notes on development rationale)

A super low toptube keep the ride tight and chuckable, and a massively oversized downtube keeps both wheels pointing in the right direction for maximum handling confidence. There is, of course, enormous tyre clearance for up to 2.4" tyres, and a full length seat tube allows full saddle height adjustment. The cable routing is the same mud-repelling semi-outer design as our hardtails.

The heart of the frame is a 4-bar linkage suspension, complete with chainstay pivot. Why go for a multi-pivot bike in bearing hungry UK conditions? We simply prefer the way this type of suspension works and could achieve exactly what we wanted in terms of ride feel and performance. Don't worry though, this is still a UK designed and tested product, so all the practicality and functionality you expect from a Cotic is present and correct. For example, all the pivot points use double sealed off-the-shelf cartridge bearings, with a massive 15mm main pivot axle and double sided chainstay pivot bearings. This keeps stiffness high and bearing load low, and the use of easily sourced bearings means hassle free, cheap sourcing when replacements are required. How often might that be? Well, the bearings in the final prototype probably need replacing about now, after 2 UK winters and a whole Luchon summer season.

So what about the ride feel? Firstly, we have achieved a crisp pedaling feel around the sag point with lots of climbing traction: No fancy damper cheating required ! There's a small amount of pedal feedback, but that's a good thing in our book. It lets you know what's going on underneath you in those crux situations. We've cleaned technical climbs on the Hemlock that we've not managed on any other bike. Just after the sag point the axle starts moving back towards the frame. This minimises chain growth and gives that fantastic bottomless feel of a great 4-bar bike.

Transition news

News from Transition bikes over in Canada... check them out at www.transitionbikes.com



Riding season is in full swing right now and we are crazy busy riding and bringing you new products. Here is the latest.

New Siren Prototype
We are now riding the new girls freeride bike called the Siren. The bike is a 6" travel freeride frame designed for women. We took input from over 30 female riders to design a bike specifically for them. The frame has ultra low standover. We have girls that are 5'0" and still have great standover on the frame and love it. The frame also is very light for girls to throw around with a lower center of gravity and short stays so the ladies can pull the front end up easily. Production bikes should be available Dec/Jan.

New Clothing
We got 4 new t-shirt designs ready to go. We will also be working on a new jersey and long sleeve T in the next month.

New BottleRockets Here
We got the new production run of BottleRockets in with the new colors White, Raw or Baby blue. The frame remains unchanged for the upcoming year. Why mess with perfection?

New Sprocket
Kyle just finished up his design of a new 28 tooth sprocket and we now have them available for purchase in 5 colors (black, gold, green, red, blue).

New Chainguide
Kyle also just finished up his design of our new single-ring chainguide. The chainguide works with 32-36 tooth chainrings and is available in our standard 5 color palette (black, gold, green, red, blue). We'll have pictures of the guide on our website in the next couple days so stay tuned.

New Colors and Decals
Heads up for the upcoming year. All of our bikes will be coming with new decals kits so you guys can customize your bikes however you want. Each frame will come with a decal kit that features 4 different colors of decals to decorate your bike. Currently we only have new BottleRockets with the new colors and the rest of our frames with new colors will trickle in throughout the winter and early spring when we do new production runs.

Blindside Production Frames
The new 8" travel Blindside frames will be here around September 12th and ready for purchase.

Transition Sponsors Drop In Season 5
We are proud sponsors of Season 5 of Drop In hosted by our very own Dylan Tremblay. This year the Dirtbag crew will be heading down the west coast of the US on some of our home trails. Look for other factory riders like Mike Metzger, Andy Grant and Zach Hensley to make guest appearences on selected episodes.

Cheers,
-Transition Bikes

Scottish champs...

News in from Wideopen contributor and Fearingout team rider Ste...

Mud, rain and more mud was pretty much how the weekend looked at Ae. Heavy rain for much of Saturday meant that by the end of the day most riders were brown from head to toe. The track didnt really cope too well with the conditions and became pretty tough to ride in sections. Most notably the off camber sections which turned into mud pits by the time it came to race runs. I messed up the top section on my first run and struggled to improve my time on a slower riding track in the second. In the end I finished 33rd with a time of 3mins. Top honours wet to Joe Barnes who pulled out two runs at 2min 19seconds. Full report to come in wideopen issue 4!

Results can be found on the SDA website here.

Howies Chalk Board Van Spotted!

The Howies Chalk Board Van just rolled up outside my work at College Green in Bristol.

The idea is... they've painted their van in special paint that lets you doodle on it in chalk. Then hit the road with their skate team and asked people to chalk their thoughts on the subject of nuclear power on the van.

A nice idea to get people thinking... but (like it says on the van) is it the greenest way to spread the word? Looks cool either way!

First stop was Cardiff, Bristol today then on to Stoke, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and back down to London.

Check out www.howies.co.uk for news from the road.

World Champs Live on MTBCut.TV

Awesome news. MTBCut.TV are going to be covering the World Champs LIVE at Fort Bill. To get you in the mood they've knocked up a trailer featuring Steve Peat, Fabian Barel,Greg Minnaar etc etc. Check it out:

MTBCut.tv Goes Live

Check it out. MTBCut.tv is finally online and streaming mtb videos direct to your PC. Take a look, it's the perfect thing for those rainy lunch times when your stuck in the office.

They've got heaps of vids to choose from... 'how to' and bike tech tutorials, race reports, head cams, trailers... all sorts of stuff. Give it a look, it really is good. No doubt we'll be getting in touch with them for a feature in the mag.

Here's the blurb from their website:

WHAT IS MTBcut.tv? MTBcut.tv is the world’s first internet mountain biking TV channel. In the past riders and fans of the sport have bought DVDs of events and memories up to a year after the event took place. MTBcut.tv uses a custom built player to bring Video on Demand and live coverage of events at the click of a button. The MTBcut player works on any platform.

The technology streams the footage to fit to the end user system requirements giving uninterrupted, high quality viewing pleasure. MTBcut.tv brings together prolific MTB film makers from around the world using the latest internet technology to give our users Mountain Biking Features NOW - not next year!

Headed up by Stu Thomson, himself a top World Class rider, MTBcut gets into the heart of the MTB lifestyle engaging riders, enthusiasts and MTB virgins alike! Stu’s lived the dream for 10 years and wants to share it with the world! It’s this industry experience that makes this MTB site focussed, individual, entertaining and popular.

http://www.mtbcut.tv/

UK Downtown on Myspace

The UK Downtown team have just launched their own Myspace site to keep you up to date with this years race plans. It's the place to look for news, entry info and media from the '06 round.

The race is going to be in Cardiff on the 21st October. Take a look at Wideopen issue 3 for an interview with downtown front man Chopper.

Check out myspace.com/ukdowntownrace

NPS Downhill Round 3 IMPORTANT UPDATES!

Next weekend sees round three of the Chain Reaction Cycles British Downhill Series at Moelfre near Oswestry in Shrewsbury on Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th of August 2007.

Here's the word from NPSDH.com:

"As you are all aware the recent out breaks of foot and mouth disease are to be taken very seriously, this weekends race WILL be going ahead unless you hear differently here on npsdh.com

No one wants a repeat of the previous spread of foot and mouth, we should all however be proactive and employ common sense, if you happen to drive past the infected farms on you way you might want to give your van a quick wash before you get to Moelfre.

If we are all proactive and do our bit then then there is less chance of it spreading.

Just to confirm, the race IS going ahead, unless this site says different. "

Schedule:

Saturday
09:00 - 14:30 Open Practise
15:00 - 18:00 Seeding
18:15 Riders meeting
19:00 Sombrio Film Festival

Sunday
09:00 - 12:30
13:00 - 16:00 Racing
16:30 Podium


What more do you need to know? Parking and spectating is free!

Re-launch of animalcommencal.com

News from Dan Brown at Team AnimalCommencal.

Dan, Gee and Rachel Atherton are stoked to welcome you into their world and introduce you to the new home of the Animal Commencal International Mountain Bike Race Team.

The site utilises the best in digital media to take you behind the scenes of life and times with the fastest family on two wheels.

It’s fully loaded with everything that’s happened so far in 2007 and will evolve as the team go about their busy schedule; racing, riding and generally living.
Gee says "This site is ideal, I'm looking forward to being able to keep the world updated on how our race season is progressing and to show all the funny stuff that goes on in the off season. its better than myspace"
Dan, "For me the most exciting thing about the site is the opportunity to give outsiders an insight into our sport, no matter which country they're from"
Rach, "I love it, Nick and Chris have done such a cool job, I hope you all like it!"
Make sure you keep coming back for the latest videos, pictures, podcasts, rider blogs and (we hope) a few more victorious race reports.

Check it out at.......
www.animalcommencal.com

6th at the Nationals...

News just in - Fearingout team rider and Wideopen regular Ste Larking was 6th (in class) at the 4X Nationals at Redhill yesterday... he stopped by on his way back home to ride the infamous Charity Lane... newly clipped in and on his Dialled 4X longtermer for Wideopen he whooped us on the climbs and the descent! Reinstate. Check out the style in the photo! Rocky knarly landing too... more in Issue 4 due September!

Wharncliffe Weekend 07 This Weekend!

Transition...FOR GIRLS Y'ALL!!!!

Check out these sweet pics of the "Siren" Female specific FR frame from Transition. Thanks to Kevin Menard (owner) from Transition Bikes.
www.transitionbikes.com




Details are:
Transition Bikes Girls Freeride Prototype Frame
Rider owned bike company, Transition Bikes announces their latest prototype bike the Siren. The Siren represents one of the first female specific freeride bikes on the market. The frame features 6” of rear wheel travel, a light but burly frame design, female friendly geometry and a new look and feel targeted specifically to women. The Siren will be available in 3 sizes with a small fitting girls 5’0”-5’4”, medium 5’5”-5’9” and the large 5’10”-6’3. Complete bikes are weighting in around 33 lbs for a light built to 38 lbs for a burlier build.

So what makes a bike specific to girls? The Siren was designed with input from over 30 female riders all with specific needs from a freeride bike. The result was a frame with tons of stand over, shorter rear end to make pulling up easier, light but strong, and a suspension design that would allow lighter girls to actually be able to utilize all of the travel. Girls also wanted a bike that was strong but also had a feminine look which is why you see all sorts of nice curves on the Siren. “This is a frame that anyone can appreciate even though it is specifically targeted to women. I rode it for 4 days straight at Whistler and absolutely loved it. If you are a guy and you want to ride one, we don’t blame you and we would sell you one, but the fact is that women will benefit the most from this design and be able to push their riding further, says Menard”

Look for the Siren to be available January 2008.

Apologies...

1278 downloads plus back issues meant we exceeded our bandwidth for the month yesterday... so sorry to anyone who tried to visit!

We're sorting out the hosting/bandwidth issue for Issue 4 to avoid disruption.

Version 1.2 of the site will be online within a fortnight.