chinamtb 08

Mountain biking, well biking in general, is getting more and more popular and the people involved here in China are willing to spend more and try new things. This is excellent news for us as it’s now even easier to pimp our bikes with the latest and greatest!

Rockshox Sid WC (Olympic Edition)

How cool is this? I’m not an XC rider myself but when I saw these I was pretty impressed. This fork is pretty much the same as your regular Sid, lightweight, air sprung….. blah blah….. but! these guys have Chinese writing on and cool decals especially produced for this Summers Olympics.

I’m not sure on availability however there are a few vendors claiming to have them. Prices are around 5000 RMB. Also check out the retro blue edition of the Sids, pricing is around the same.

Quad Disc Brakes

Designed by a leading British engineer and tested by some of the top UK magazines and riders, Quads brakes have impressed everyone who has ridden them. There are 4 models available here in China at the moment. Each model features a ‘flip flop’ style lever, meaning you can fit the lever to either side of the bar, and a split 2 bolt clamp (so you don’t have to remove the grips to fit them). Prices range from 800 RMB (pair !) to 1600 RMB and all models are available in either black or white. We hope to have a pair on test soon!

Quad also have a nice range of hubs, rims and complete wheelsets available at good prices too.

Big Cat 853 Team Issue

I’ve been feeling a bit retro recently (this might explain why I have just bought a 14 year old frame) so this Reynolds 853 steel XC frame really got me excited. Priced at an amazingly low 1300 RMB!! This skinny tubed XC frame is sure to have you whipping around your local singletrack in bright pink 90’s lycra in no time!

Sram have recently released news that they are planning to move in to the wheel sector. It looks like they’ll have both road and mounatin bike wheels in development soon.

To successfully enter this new segment, SRAM recently appointed Bastien Donzé as SRAM Wheel Product Manager.

Bastien Donzé is no stranger to the wheel and bicycle industry, as he has spent the last eight years working for Mavic in France. He will be working closely with Road Category Manager Charles Becker.

If the wheels will be anything like the rest of the components Sram are putting out there, I think we’ll all be in for a treat! Truvativ Freeride and Downhill wheels anyone?

It features top level New Zealand riders like Kelly Mc Garry, Cameron Cole, Amy Laird, Sean Kennedy, Eddy Parker and many more. Shot on location all over New Zealand from Wellington to Wanaka and everywhere in between, it features unique locations like an indoor bike park, the impressive Craigieburn ranges and secret trails all over the country.

Enjoy Local dirt jump downhill and freeride acompanied by a unique collection of New Zealand artists, also watch out for hand drawn animations and stop motion. This is New Zealand mountain biking at its finest.

This full length mountain bike video was filmed, produced, directed and edited by Pieter Reichwein and Toby Nowland Foreman.

Finally after months of speculation the Hammerschmidt is finally here!

Two versions will be available, a Freeride version and a lighter All mountain model. Both systems come with a Hammerschmidt chainguide and are designed to mount directly to the ISCG-03 or ISCG-o5 mounts on your frame (the bottom bracket face and guide tab faces need to be refaced before assembly. There is a special tool available for the ISCG tabs).

Hammerschmidt has 2 built in gear ratios a 1:1 ratio and an ‘overdrive’ 1:1.6 ratio. In 1:1 the chainring will turn once for every one revolution of the crank, and in overdrive the chainring will turn 1.6 times for every turn of the crank. The system is designed to be compatible for use with 1-9 rear cogs and also compatible with any width bicycle chain!

The shifter unit is very similar in looks to the Sram x.0 shifter, but works in reverse. The cable is pulled to downshift rather than upshift. The All mountain model will use a Hammerschmidt x.0 shifter, where as the Freeride model will use an x.9 shifter, hinting at slightly different price points.

No details have been announced on pricing yet, it would be nice to see it on sale at a reasonable price. Maybe for a similar or slightly higher price as a regular crank/BB, shifter and front mech would be nice.

For more info, pics and specs shoot over to the Hammershmidt site: www.magicmechanics.com

Hot on the heels of Sram/Truvativ’s Hammerschmitt, crank with built in gears, is news that German innovators Nicolai and Bionicon have joined forces to produce their own universal gearbox the B-Boxx!

So what is the B-BOXX all about? The B-BOXX is a fully enclosed, shiftable planetary drivetrain. It is mounted to the right hand side of the bottom bracket using a standard ISCG-fitting. A handlebar mounted push button allows the rider to choose between two gear ratios. The lower gear corresponds to that of a 22-25 tooth chainring; power is directly transferred. The higher gear multiplies every crank rotation by a factor of 1.65 and thus corresponds to a 36-41 tooth chainring. Shifting under power has been given close consideration throughout the development process. As with the G-BOXX-2 a patented magnetic activation of the freewheel teeth keeps B-BOXX shifting as smooth as possible.

To see the rest of this article pop over to MBR.com and check out this video for more info on the G-Boxx/B-Boxx revolution.

Watch out SRAM!

Thanks to DH Pete AKA MR. Pirate for the info

Vatternrundan one of the biggest participatory cycling events in the world and it is held each year in Sweden with the track going around Lake Vattern. Nordic Ways will hold it’s sister event here in China  the last weekend of august 08, 29th to 31st. It will take place at Changbai Mountain in Jilin province. An amateur and a professional race will be held. After-bike activities such as dinner banquet, open Vattern bar and mountain sightseeing. For more information about the track, travel packages and registration you can go to our website www.nordicways.com or contact ellinor.axner@nordicways.com

In October, we will also have a mountainbike event. It is also held in participation with one of the largest mountainbike competitions in the world  - the Norwegian Birkebeinerrittet. Birkebeinerrittet China will be held on the 11th of October 2008 up north in Changchun. Don’t miss out on it!

Here’s a handy schedule for all the cycling events which will be held during the 08 Beijing Olympics. The times are Eastern times and are subject to change.

Day 1 of the Olympics 8th August

Day 2

Day 5

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

(more…)

A group of U.S Olympic cyclists upset a few Beijingers when they arrived by wearing face masks to protect themselves from breathing in pollution. The team later apologized for their actions and stated that they were not making any kind of environmental or political protest and were sorry for any upset caused.

BEIJING (AFP) - Four US cyclists who wore masks over their nose and mouths over pollution fears when arriving in Beijing apologized Wednesday to Olympic organizers, US Olympic Committee chief executive Jim Scherr said.
Mike Friedman, Bobby Lea, Sarah Hammer and Jennie Reed were among about 200 athletes from an American delegation of 596 who were issued masks by their US sport governing body to combat pollution in Beijing.

“They’ve now seen how their actions have been perceived,” Scherr said, after footage of the four arriving on Tuesday was run prominently by international news channels.

“They were very eager to take the right action, which was to apologize to their hosts.”

You can read the full article here on Yahoo.

If you didn’t already know the 2008 Beijing Olympic games will be official opened today. I will do my best to keep you updated with the mountain bike and BMX results over the coming weeks plus any other interesting Olympic news. Luckily for me we are situated in Qingdao the Olympic sailing city, and have been fortunate enough to meet with Olympians from Australia, Italy, Israel, France and many others.

The picture above was taken last night just outside the Olympic Village in Qingdao and show the preparations for tonight’s opening celebrations.