All posts filed under: News

New Norco Torrent “S” Steel Hardtail

Published by Matt Stenson

Norco has dropped a new “All Mountain” hardtail in one of the oldest bike manufacture materials, steel. This is not going to be your XC race bike. The builds are equipped with 4-piston disc brakes, long-stroke dropper posts and aggressive Maxxis Assegai 29er tires. Even though it shares the Torrent name with Norco’s already aggressive 27.5 alloy trail bike, this bike is a different beast. As a 29er with 2.5in tires the Norco Torrent S is not your standard entry level 27.5 plus trail hardtail. Featuring a massive 150mm of travel up front on a slack 64 degree head tube angle, a reach of 450mm on a medium and an effective seat tube angle of 76 degrees, this bike has enduro like numbers without the rear suspension. Build Options The Norco Torrent S comes in two build options and a frame only option. The base build comes in at $2,199. For this, you’ll get a SRAM SX Eagle drivetrain (the lowest Eagle option available from SRAM) combined with TRP G-Spec Trail S 4 piston brakes. …

New Ibis Ripmo AF

Published by Matt Stenson

Ibis has released a new Ripmo 29er enduro bike, this time in Aluminum. This is the only Aluminum bike in the Ibis lineup and the material change isn’t the only trick it has up its sleeve. The new Ibis Ripmo AF has slackened the headtube angle when compared with the carbon Ripmo from 65.9° to 64.9°. The wheelbase has also in turn increased and the reach has as well. What results is an even more aggressive bike on paper. The travel has been kept the same at 160mm up front and 147mm in the rear. To go along with these geo tweaks, the Rip­mo AF is com­pat­i­ble with both coil and air shocks due to a more pro­gres­sive lever­age rate on the DW-Link™ suspension. All of the builds come stock with a DVO Topaz T3 Air, 210 x 55 and are up-gradable for $100 DVO JadeX coil shock. As someone who writes about writes about and rides more “budget” oriented bikes having the same shock spec across all builds is really exciting. Often finding a build …

Giant Drops A New Affordable Stance 29

Published by Matt Stenson

Giant has long been a powerhouse in producing bikes that are a good bang for you buck. Recently though their lower end offerings seemed to be falling behind in component spec and geometry. The new Stance 29 looks to change that with an update geometry, two formidable build under $2000 and the look of a modern trail bike. The Stance 29, as the name suggests is a 29er platform with 120mm of travel in the rear and 130mm of travel up front. The rear linkage is not the usual Maestro link that Giant’s more expensive bikes do. Instead, the Stance 29 follows in the footsteps of the old 27.5″ Stance and uses Giant’s FlexPoint suspension. This suspension is a single pivot design that uses a flexing chainstay/seatstay junction. There are two builds to choose from a that come in at $1500 and $1750. They both share SRAM’s lowest end SX Eagle drivetrain. The drivetrain uses a traditional Shimano driver instead of the SRAM XD driver. Unfortunately, the rear end of the bike uses a weaker …

New 2020 Trek Top Fuel Gets a Downcountry Treatment

Published by Matt Stenson

Trek’s full suspension XC race bike, the Top Fuel, has been revised for 2020. Going from a 100mm by 100mm bike, the new Top Fuel has 120mm of travel in the front and 115mm in the rear. The Top Fuel has undergone geometry revisions with this new design. All of the changes follow the same trends that other manufactures have made to their XC race bikes. The frame design itself now borrows the Knock Block system from the trail bike Fuel line. This system utilizes a straight downtube which is stiff and lighter combined with a steering limiter and prevents the fork crown from contacting the frame. The suspension linkage has been revised and includes a “Mino link” flip chip. The flip chip and be rotated to provide a 0.5° change to the head tube angle and seat tube angle, while changing the BB height by about 6mm. On the components end, the Top Fuel builds include TwistLoc suspension lock outs. This system simultaneously locks out front and rear shocks with a Grip Shift-like motion. …

New Fox Dropframe Helmet

Published by Matt Stenson

First seen a few weeks ago, the new Fox Dropframe helmet delivers some additional protection over most traditional half-shells. It also delivers some interesting looks. Fox’s M.O.RE. (Mandibular Occipital Reinforcement) Guard design provides coverage somewhere in between a full face helmet and a traditional half shell. M.O.RE. provides more coverage for the ears, jaw, and back of the head. The M.O.RE design gives a distinctive look by leaving most of the ear uncovered and opes to build a frame around that portion of the head. Interestingly there is no mention of MIPS or other concussion reducing technologies. The helmet does come with a Fidlock® SNAP magnetic helmet buckle to provide quick entry and exit while wearing gloves. The look of the Dropframe will definitely be polarizing. Time will tell if the additional coverage and new look will catch on with riders. You can pick up the new dropframe today for $169.99.

OneUp’s V2 Dropper Gives Wider Range of Options

Published by Matt Stenson

OneUp’s newly revised dropper post now has a wider range of options to fit the smallest to the largest riders. Now available in 120mm, 150mm, 180mm and 210mm lengths there should be an option for pretty much everyone. In addition, all of the length options can be shimmed down in travel by 10mm or 20mm. This means that if you need a 140mm dropper you can take a 150mm dropper and turn it into a 140mm dropper instead of having to compromise with a 120mm dropper. OneUp has also made other design changes. They have shaved off some total length and claim to have achieved the shortest total length and shortest stack height of any dropper. In addition they have revised their bushing designs to increase bushing overlap and durability. The OneUp dropper will be available in 30.9 or 31.6 sizes and still retails for $199 (without lever). You will need a cable clamping remote as the post requires cable stop to be assembled at base of post. The new OneUp dropper will be available …

WTB Launches New Verdict Aggressive Tires

Published by Matt Stenson

Billed as the tire for, “days where relentless traction takes priority over rolling efficiency”, the new Verdict and Verdict Wet are the latest, extremely chucking looking tires from WTB. The Verdict and Verdict Wet feature WTB’s TriTec compound and have a very wide knob spacing to allow the tire to clear mud quickly while enhancing traction. Designed as a front-specific tire, WTB recommends matching the Verdict with their Judge tire in the rear. The Verdict Wet features slightly higher center knobs for added traction in wet conditions. Both the Verdict and Verdict Wet come in 29 and 27.5 sizes. A single width of 2.5″ is available. The Verdict will have two casing options while the Verdict Wet will only be available in TCS Tough, which is WTB’s heaviest casing. The TCS Light Verdict tires feature Slash Guard technology, which incorporates a protective nylon insert spanning the entire sidewall to provide extra protection without the weight of a dual ply casing. All levels of the Verdict 2.5 and Verdict Wet 2.5 will be in stock by …

Giro Renew Series Clothing Made From Recycled Materials

Published by Matt Stenson

Giro has announced a new line series of bike clothing as part of its push towards sustainably sourced materials that utilizes recycled fishing nets as a core material. The Giro Renew Series cycling apparel is made with recycled nylon, polyester and elastane, including Econyl® Lycra®. The new line is not just eco conscious though. Clothing in the line offers UPF 20-50+ protection and has the same high performance, quick drying properties that have been present in Giro’s clothing. The series currently includes several mountain bike jerseys and some chamois as well as road bike wear. For those items that are not part of the renew series, 100% of Giro’s mountain bike line use bluesign® materials. The use of bluesign approved materials means that the those materials are evaluated at every step in the supply chain from resource use, emissions, and pollution control, to consumer and occupational health and safety. You can check out the new renew collection on Giro’s website here: https://www.giro.com/en/collections/renew/c/renew

Specialized Click & Collect Allows Online Bike Purchases… Kinda

Published by Matt Stenson

Specialized announced that it is starting a “Click and Collect” program available immediately on https://www.specialized.com/. The program allows bike and equipment purchases online and then have them delivered to your nearest dealer. When you select “click and collect” as a delivery method, products will be available for pickup in 2-4 days for equipment and for bikes, 6-8 days. “Today, with over 50% of the purchase journeys initiated online, we have to evolve and adapt the ways we work together with our retailers to serve the rider,” said Jeff McGuane, USA Market Leader. “Over the past 3 years, we have invested significantly into technologies that enable our marketing to drive more riders into our retailer’s doors. You’ll still need to get to your nearest specialized dealer in order to pick up your bike or equipment. For some this is not a big deal. For others, in less densely populated areas this still may be a major stumbling block. For instance when I went through the checkout process to locate my nearest participating dealer I found that …

100% Launches Their Protection Collection

Published by Matt Stenson

100% has launched it’s protection collection for 2019 that includes 4 different lines of pads. Each line includes both elbow and knee pad options and offer varying levels protections. Ridecamp is the lightest duty pads in the lineup. They feature a slip on sleeve with ventilated rear mesh. The pad is pre-curved to be in a natural riding position and the protection itself is lightly padded nylon for abrasion protection. These pads are geared toward XC and light trail use. Knee pads and elbow pads are $59 and $49 respectively. Stepping up in the amount of protection provided, the Teratec line features a moderately padded with nylon anti-abrasion outer skin. This pad is impacted tested with Level 1 CE Protection. Like the Ridcamp line, Teratec features a slip on sleeve with ventilated rear mesh. The Teratec knee pads and elbow pads retail for $69 and $59 respectively. The Fortis is a non-slip on design that features a injection molded protective shell for abrasion resistance and Level 1 CE impact protection. It is attached with a …