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The Stroker Ace features the company’s first four-piston, monobloc caliper and its biggest pads ever. All this is gives the Ace tremendous heat management capabilities. Hayes also designed a longer lever for increased leverage at the bar.

Mated to the proven Stroker master cylinder, this makes the Ace the most powerful brake ever in the Hayes range, while advancing the already unmatched Stroker modulation. At a system weight of 427g (including 6″ rotor and hardware), the Ace trumps all the other gravity-oriented brakes in the deck.

The Stroker Trail and Carbon were already capable across a range of applications, but Hayes was convinced it could make an even better brake for weight-obsessed cross-country racers and pedal-up/pedal-down all-mountain types. The result is the Stroker Gram. What sets the Gram apart from all the other models in the Stroker family is the removal of non-structural material from the master cylinder leaving behind a form that is as strong as it is sexy.

Hayes also dressed up both the master cylinder and the caliper in titanium hardware, and thrown in its lightweight aluminium-backed pads.
The Stroker Gram is targeted to cross-country and all-mountain usage and comes with 140, 160, 180 and 203 rotor sizes and weighs (with 160mm rotor) 357grams.

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?

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

Norco unveiled thier 09 line up a few weeks back and some crafty bugger managed to get a picture of this. It’s the 09 Norco Fallout complete with Hammerschmitt? Looks to me as this is what all the fuss is about and I’m really impressed by the neatness and shear size of it. I found more pics yesterday, but forgot to save them DOH! so only one….. for know. Keep posted!

If your going to be in Qingdao, China for the next few weeks during the Olympic Games, your going to need to get yourself on a bike. Qingdao has so much to offer, from expensive shopping malls to beautiful green mountains, the beaches to the beer festival. Unfortunately the public transport is a little unreliable and getting on a bike really gets you places and see spots you wouldn’t normally see.

Our bikes range from 1100 RMB alloy folding bikes (see above), Mountain bikes starting at 1450RMB, Road bikes from 1300 RMB and even kids bikes. All of our bikes are from top companies like Giant, Atomlab, Santa Cruz, MacMahone……etc.

If you want to find out more drop me an email :andi@chinamtb.com OR call me on 135 153 27143.

For the past few years everyone has been drooling over all the shiny white components that have arrived on sale. Deity were one of the first to introduce white parts, but everyone followed suit (eventually). MacMahone came to the wedding a little late however, its only in the last few months that their white handle bars and seats have come to the market and were waiting on the rest. But being French and all they’ve decided to jump on the new ‘In’ color bandwagon ………. green. I think my brother is going to be happy as he can now get his Jackal to look like a lime and orange Tic Tac, but is green the new white? I’ll continue to wait for the industry to go full circle and offer everything in anodized purple again.

Check out the gallery below for some of the latest Macmahone parts and colors.

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