- The Bikes -

As the USA Factory Racing Team for Banshee Bikes, Team Geronimo is proud to be aboard the newly released Legend MkII downhill frame, which is nothing short of phenomenal. Just days after its public release, Pro racer Graeme Pitts took the maiden voyage as the first in the world to ride this beauty. With less than 5 hours on the bike, Pitts managed a Top 15 finish at Round 2 of the Australian National Series at Shepparton. How does it ride? Let’s just quote Banshee Bikes owner Jay MacNeil, who said, “Anyone who rides this bike is almost cheating!” It really is THAT FAST. Team Geronimo will also be racing the Banshee Rampant in 4X and DS events.

www.bansheebikes.com

- The Kit -

Custom made Wrex Racing apparel will outfit the team. Their purpose-built gear is truly remarkable, stylish, and will exceed even the toughest critic’s expectations. Wrex offers a full line of custom jerseys, pants, shorts, rash guards (silver-embedded for odor control and anti-microbial action), winter jackets, rain jackets, hoodies, formal wear (for banquets and sponsor meetings!) and more. They make it easy to be the best-dressed racer on the race course. Wrex Racing’s motto says it all, “Rule #1: Leave the competition behind. Rule #2: There is no rule #2!”

Underneath their custom kits, the team will be protected by Dainese gear. It’s a shame that such excellent, stylish protection has to be covered up. From the minute the body armor comes out of its shipping box, it is evident that this gear is state of the art, lightweight, supple and STRONG. Finally, it is truly comfortable protection – riders might even forget they’re wearing it! From Seth Graves of Dainese/BTI-USA, “We are excited to start the 2010 race season sponsoring such a great team of excellent racers!”

The team will protect their brains with helmets by Kali Protectives – a company making quick strides in the MTB protective world. Racers will keep their eyes on the prize with eyewear by Smith Optics. No team would be complete without casual shorts from Cowboy’s Fuzzy Duds – look for their signature wacko prints to compliment team livery when they’re off the course.

http://www.wrexracing.com
http://www.dainese.com
http://www.kaliprotectives.com
http://www.smithoptics.com
http://www.cowboysfuzzyduds.com

- The Components -

Hayes Bicycle Group is equipping the team with powerful Hayes Brakes systems, race worthy Sun Ringlé wheelsets, and Answer ProTaper bars and gloves. Racers will enjoy a buttery-smooth ride with the highly anticipated Manitou Dorado Pro fork and super adjustable Revox shock. Clayton Goldsmith of Hayes Bicycle Group commented, “Everyone on the team is a class act and as a group, this is exactly the type of team HBG wants to partner up with. Their choice of riders and equipment is going to make them potent, and I would say probably one of the most successful first year teams. They are also one of the few teams we’ve chosen to run the new Dorado Pro DH fork this year – so of course their Banshee rigs will be the envy of everyone in the pits! Expect to see big things from Team Geronimo in 2010!”

When the rubber officially hits the dirt at Sea Otter, the team will be hooking up in the corners with Intense Tyres. “We are extremely excited to work with such a great group of Pros and the Jr. Development team, as the Intense Tyre System line has been fully redone for 2010 and this will really help get the tires out in front of the fans and atop the podium with this excellent program” – from Pete Dylewski, Marketing Manager at Intense Tyre.

MRP’s Ryan Cranston also commented, “MRP is extremely proud to partner with such a world class squad. Team Geronimo will be rocking G2 chain guides, Camber cranks, and Podium chain rings as they hang it all out there in pursuit of victory in 2010! Watch out for these guys!”

WTB has come on board with their sexy new Devo seat, which will sit on top of FSA’s Gravity seat post. FSA will also keep the cockpit in check with their line of Orbit headsets. Obtainium Performance Products’ titanium springs bring superior performance to the handling of these stunning bikes in addition to shaving weight and precious seconds off race times. Point 1 Racing stems and platform pedals, ODI grips, Shimano drive train components, Crank Brothers clips and Framewrap come together to finish off the build of Team Geronimo’s incredible rides.

When traveling by air, the team will use the incredibly well designed, sturdy and lightweight bike boxes by Crateworks. Ogio has also stepped up to aid in the team’s travel comfort with their progressive line of gear bags, hydration packs, helmet cases, and race umbrellas.

http://www.hayesbicycle.com
http://www.intensetires.com
http://www.mrpbike.com
http://www.wtb.com
http://www.fullspeedahead.com
http://www.obtainiumperformanceproducts.com
http://www.pointoneracing.com
http://www.odigrips.com
http://www.shimano.com
http://www.crankbrothers.com
http://www.crateworks.com
http://www.ogio.com

- The Coaches -

Gene Hamilton of Betterride is the official skills coach of Team Geronimo. His techniques are proven, his guidance invaluable, and it is time for the gravity biking world to catch up with other sports by retaining coaches – Team Geronimo is honored to be working with Betterride. Gene comments, “I am excited to be working with Team Geronimo. I’ve coached Graeme Pitts and the Buell Brothers in the past, and I look forward to working with Rachel Bauer and Cody Eichhorn. They all have the potential to do really well, and have an impact on the sport. It is going to be a fun and successful race season with one of the best new teams on the circuit.”

James Wilson of MTB Strength Training Systems is the official strength coach of Team Geronimo. Wilson’s program has steadily become recognized as the premier mountain bike strength training system, especially for gravity racers. His workouts produce maximum results that correspond to decreased race times and injury avoidance due to flexibility. Wilson’s routines are sport specific, don’t require a huge investment in time and allow for quick recovery – almost too good to be true.

Taking time out from Tabata Intervals, James added, “I’m excited to work with a team that is obviously so dedicated to the sport I love. They’ve shown that they are serious about developing and supporting talent and I’m looking forward to helping them on their mission to make a splash on the racing scene.”

http://www.betterride.net

http://www.bikejames.com

- About Team Geronimo -

Team Geronimo is home to a five-star line up of some of the strongest young talent in the Professional gravity racing world: Michael Buell, Brian Buell, Graeme Pitts, Rachel Bauer and Cody Eichhorn (Australia). Team Geronimo is also proud of its Junior Development Team: Alec Toney, Madison Bailey, Teddy Benge, Tanner Spence, Robert Petit, Roy Benge and Tyler Spence – they are some fierce young rippers!

Behind the scenes, putting the puzzle pieces together for a successful 2010 race season are: Leslie Pitts, Team Manager; Brandon Turman, Marketing Manager and Junior Development Team Manager; and Troy Walch, Team Mechanic.

Look for Team Geronimo at the 2010 Sea Otter Classic, Pro Gravity Tour, Mountain States Cup Series, US Open, Crankworx Colorado, Crankworx Whistler, Fluidride Cup Series and select other events. The team is gearing up for entry into the World Cup Series in 2011.

The stokage meter about this team is cranked all the way up, and for good reason – they have incredible talent, vibrant personalities, and a true sense of professionalism on and off the race course. 2010 is going to be a phenomenal year.

Be sure to become a fan on Facebook and to follow Team Geronimo on Twitter!

http://www.facebook.com/teamgeronimo
http://www.twitter.com/teamgeronimo
http://www.geronimoracing.com

Race Face sent over some of their new products for us to check out and give you our opinion on. In the mix is the popular Atlas FR line of products that seem to have taken off within the freeride and downhill market. Today you’ll be reading about the Atlas FR SL integrated stem and Atlas FR low rise handlebar.

First up is the new Atlas FR SL integrated stem.

You look around the integrated stem market and what do you see? You see everyone doing the same thing—releasing 50mm stems that offer no originality in their design. If you want something cool, you pay extra to have reach adjustability, but often compromise on strength; fair enough. Well this has been the standard for as long as direct mount stems have been available…Until now.

Weighing in at only 135 grams (tested), the intensely machined 6061 aluminum stem is what makes every mountain biker’s mouth water. The face plate has some serious weight savings, while the handlebar clamp and crown bolts receive full titanium treatment. The Atlas FR SL integrated stem is available in every color as long as it’s black, while the Atlas FR version is available in white, black, and red to match the scheme of your ride. The mont fromme laser-etched graphics stand out immediately when you first see it, alongside a nice “SL” logo to show that it’s the top dog in its class.

It will work with any integrated crown that meets the Boxxer standard—a standard that is fast becoming the industry leader. If you mount the stem right side up it will give you a super short 30mm reach for the DH track to keep things stable. If you mount the stem upside down, the reach grows to 50mm and the stem drops your bar height 15.5mm from its original position. In either position, you have a super stiff and lightweight option for your DH bike that will breed confidence while pinning through your favorite rock garden or flying trough the air.

50mm position-side angle

30mm Position

On of the coolest things about this stem is the way the face plate clamps the handlebar down. Race Face calls this system “Interlocking U-Shaped Handlebar Clamp Geometry” which basically means that forces are transferred into the stem rather than through the clamping bolts themselves—making it feel stiffer and physically stronger when out on the trail.

For me components have to be light enough that they don’t limit your performance but also strong enough to take the abuse I dish out. Nothing bugs me more than having to replace an expensive part because I should have chosen something different in the first place. With the Atlas FR SL you have a lightweight two-piece stem that weights the same as the weight weenie three-piece designs with all the rigidity and stiffness that Race Face is known for. To me the titanium hardware is the icing on the cake. Retailing at $146 Canadian, you can’t go wrong!

Race Face has put a lot of attention into their parts that interact with one-another. For example the attention to detail they put into their chain rings that attach to their cranksets, or how well their clothing line works in harmony with eachother. Well the Atlas FR low rise handlebar is no exception to this rule. Available in all of Race Face’s signature color-ways, the Atlas FR handlebar is an astounding 785mm wide (31”) and offers a ½” of total rise. Just because it’s wider than the distance between most trees on a race track doesn’t mean it has to be heavy, our test bar comes in at a lean 329 grams uncut. For 2010, Race Face slackened out the handlebar rearward sweep from 9 degrees to 8 degrees, but kept the tried and true 4 degree upsweep. These angles have basically become the industry standard for a low-rise wide DH handlebar. The reason many riders are starting to lean towards wider handlebars is to have more control on the trail; think of it as having additional leverage when your front wheel is jerking all over the place.

Also, offering a wider bar allows the rider to cut down the length to suit their needs; luckily for us Race Face has lasered popular bar length markers on either end to assist in cutting the bar to the desired length. The bar is made out of Race Face’s tried and true ‘Air Alloy’ material that has more than proven itself over many years of abuse. Coming in at $90 Canadian MSRP, this is an option that will satisfy many riders looking for a super wide yet strong bar at a competitive price.

Stay tuned for a review on both the bar and the stem once our testers have had some time abusing both!

Weights:

For more information please visit Race Face

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorpoated.com

Chances are we’ve all heard of the Cane Creek Double Barrel by now. For years it has been seen as the best shock money can buy, and as a result, many riders and racers alike have thrown these dampers on their bikes to further enjoy their sport. For 2009, Cane Creek has modified the “guts” of the shock to give riders an improved damping range, and a host of other features that once again raise the bar for other manufacturers to follow. 

The Double Barrel remains at the forefront with four independent adjustments, all of which can be flawlessly tuned on the trail with the included shock adjustment tool. For 2009, these four adjustments have been reworked to open up the low end range, while preserving all the high end range that we’ve come to appreciate in the past. Aesthetically, it’s still anodized gold and puts a smile on my face, but before I go into depth about what exactly has changed on the shock, I feel that you should at least partially understand what I’m trying to lecture on.

The four independent adjustments are broken down as follows:

High Speed Rebound Damping (HSR): This adjustment controls how fast the shock returns to its starting position after high speed shaft movement. It controls the resistance of how fast your shock spring will decompress. Ex.) Rebound damping for hitting a big drop, or ramping your shock up quickly on the lip of a jump. If you hit a large drop, you would want to increase your high speed rebound damping in order to prevent “bucking” upon landing your bike. Or if you’re on a downhill course, perhaps you’ll have some sections that “G-out” your bike, making high speed rebound damping a very important, and useful adjustment to have.

Low Speed Rebound Damping (LSR): Like high speed rebound damping, this controls how fast your shock returns to the starting position, however, this rebound adjustment is useful in low shaft speed applications. Think of it as adjustment for how fast your wheel will return back after being compressed on small impacts on the trails. Normally, this rebound speed is faster than your high speed rebound adjustment. Ex.) Small bumps on a trail being absorbed into the damper, rebounding at the correct rate in order to provide your bike with maximum traction.

Note: Most shocks have one rebound speed, and therefore cannot adjust both high and low speed rebound damping. In order to set up these types of shocks, you have to adjust the rebound speed to feel good on consecutive bumps, but it also has to be slow enough to prevent bucking on sudden impacts. In most cases, you are actually giving up shock performance because in order to set up the shock for one trail feature correctly, you’re losing performance on the other.

High Speed Compression Damping (HSC): This adjustment controls the compression of the shock for large, sudden impacts.  Ex.) G-outs or a large drop. If the shock feels like it’s too easy to bottom out, then you increase the high speed compression to stiffen up the ending stroke. On the contrary, if you’re riding a trail where you feel like you aren’t using all your shock’s travel, decrease this adjustment to receive more travel—very simple.

Low Speed Compression Damping (LSC): This adjustment helps tune out pedal induced bob and also allows the rider to adjust suppleness on the trail. Ex.) The trail is very tech and doesn’t involve much pedaling, then you reduce this compression adjustment in order to keep the wheel in greater contact with the ground. Or if you’re riding a trail where there isn’t too many repeated small bumps, and requires pedaling, then you increase this adjustment. The key here is to find a happy middle ground that provides excellent contact with the ground while utilizing the riders power input into the bike.

Now that you have a rough idea of what kind of adjustments the shock has, let’s talk about some of the features that make this shock what it is.

The number one feature that makes this shock truly unique is the twin tube design. Most shocks on the market are known as the “De Carbon” type, where oil and gas are separated by a dividing piston, normally inside the reservoir of the shock. Damping force is achieved by a shim stack which is located on the main piston. When you compress this type of shock, two things happen: oil is pushed down the shock body against the dividing piston in the reservoir, and oil also travels in the opposite direction as the main piston, flowing oil behind it. When the shock is done compressing, the oil that is pushed behind the piston (reverse flow) will be pushed back to the top side of the piston, and provides the rebound damping.

The forces that can be tuned in this application are mainly low speed, and have no effect on high shaft speed forces. So in order to get the most out of “De Carbon” style shocks, you need to disassemble it, and re-valve it for the rider and the track—something that takes time and effort.

With the twin tube design, oil continuously circulates through the valving in the shock, providing the rider with truly independent damping. The shock’s adjusters provide the passage for oil to flow through, then allows it to return back to where it came from, disregarding the need for oil to flow back and forth between the main piston. This makes the shock not as reliant on the main piston’s shim stack to provide all the damping—creating paramount tuning characteristics.

How does the Double Barrel regulate oil flow, and turn it into useable damping on the trail? To answer this, I need to talk about what exactly the shock is doing in order to manage the oil flow.

Low Speed Damping (LSC, LSR): This is moderated through “Bleed Valves” that are located on both rebound and compression adjustments. Simply put, bleed valves control the low speed damping forces by regulating how much oil is flowing through the shock’s adjusters. For rebound damping, more oil flow means fast, less means slow. With compression, more oil flow means softer, less oil flow means stiffer. It’s as easy as that.

High Speed Damping (HSC, HSR): Oil flow is managed by what is called “Poppet Valves” and the main piston shim stack. Poppet valves are spring loaded valves that only open if the oil pressure is too much for the low speed adjustments to handle. Oil flow pushes open the compression poppet valve and the piston shim stack, allowing the heavy impact to be absorbed without harshly bottoming out the shock, then opens up the poppet valve for high speed rebound damping, making the shock return at your desired speed—this allows the shock to absorb heavy impacts, while giving the rider tuned control over the terrain they’re riding. Typically speaking, the poppet valves will open before the shim stack does, so if poppet damping is increased, it will open later. This is where the fine tuning comes in!!

Check Valves divide all these internal parts, making every adjustment completely independent from one another. If you want to change any adjustment, it will no longer affect any other damping force in the shock—pretty cool if you ask me. In the past I’ve become frustrated adjusting certain shocks as a result of this problem, so I’m very excited to put some time in on a truly independent system!

For 2009, the shock has undergone some massive changes, all shocks built from this point on will enjoy these features, and even previously built Double Barrels can acquire the new guts. If you want to acquire these new features, get your shock in to Malcolm at Cane Creek, he’ll take care of you: Malcolm@canecreek.com

As mentioned above, the damping range has been significantly increased, creating a monster range of adjustment compared to years previous. Low end range has been increased, while maintaining the high end range.

Tapered needles are gone, in come parabolic adjuster needles. Tapered needles do adjust oil flow, but in a non-linear fashion. So the oil flow values increase as you get closer to each end of adjustment, whereas by using a parabolic needle, adjustments are now linear and more noticeable throughout the range, rather than at the beginning or end of the range.

A new bottom out bumper compresses completely flat down to 2mm thick! This has increased the “crush width” by 20%, giving the rider another 3mm of useable travel while holding onto the bottomless feel of the previous bottom out bumper. If you think about that, 3mm’s on a 76.2mm (3.0”) stroke is almost 4% more travel than before… Not too shabby.

A new spring slip has shaved weight and increased clearance of the shock. Now the Double Barrel will fit a wider variety of bikes than before. They’ve increased clearance so much, that the new Double Barrel has more spring slip head room than some of the most popular coil sprung shocks on the market.

“Square Cut” glide rings placed on the main piston increase low speed tuneability by forcing oil through the adjusters while oil flow is moving at super slow speeds. This is where the shock gets its increased low end range as mentioned above.

A new preload collar has cut out grooves that allow you to turn the collar by either using the provided Cane Creek CCDB adjusting tool, or your hands. It makes hard to reach coil springs easier to reach and adjust. Sometimes the most overlooked items can be some of the best places to make improvements.

With all these fancy new improvements, the same shock can tune bikes with a leverage ratio from 2.3 to ~3.6. To find your frame’s leverage ration, take your bike’s travel, and divide that by your shocks stroke length. Ex.( Giant Glory has 8.8” of travel with a 3.0” stroke: 8.8/3.0= 2.93 leverage ratio)

So far, I’ve spent several days riding the CCDB with all the new bells and whistles…simply put, amazing! My rear wheel feels glued to the ground in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Shock compression and rebound is flawlessly smooth, providing me with tons of confidence to try new lines or lean my bike harder on flat corners. I’m quite impressed with the traction on off-camber corners and small bumps compared to my Vivid 5.1 that I’ve been riding until now.

There’s a special line that I’ve been eyeing for quite some time that requires a sudden technical turn in order to launch over a rut in the trail. This line shaves a bit of time, but mostly it’s just a confidence inspiring section. In the past, I’ve tried to get my bike to hit this line with the Vivid 5.1 in my frame, but I could never gather enough traction to stay in contact with the ground in order to execute this quick turn. After bolting on the CCDB, I came down the track, and hit the line first try, perfectly. Glued I tell you! So much so that it feels like my rear tire is flat at times…

The new adjustment range is noticeable, providing plenty of room to fine tune the shock to just about any scenario that can be faced on the trail. I love that fact that now I actually have the option to fine tune, rather than play with one adjustment, only to find another is negatively affected. I’m not sure if it’s just my shock, but it’s much quieter during compression and rebound than my friend’s double barrel. Less noise usually means less cavitation, which equates to super smooth riding.

Pain Inc will be doing an in depth, quantitative review comparing the new CCDB to other hot shocks on the market. We feel that giving you our honest opinion on something isn’t always enough for some people, so by compiling results from on-trail testing, we hope to prove what damper stands ahead of the rest, if that’s the CCDB, that’s fantastic, if it isn’t, then even better. In the mean time, stay tuned to the site for more information regarding the shock test, and to find out who came out on top!

For more information on the Double Barrel and other Cane Creek products, please visit www.canecreek.com

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below, or send me an email…

Thanks for reading

mitch@painincorporated.com

Hands down, Race Face makes some of the burliest components on the market, but even the fastest racers in the world take a break and ride uphill once in a while. The Atlas AM cranks are designed specifically for the 4”-6” travel trail bike crowd, where going uphill is only part of their ride…

If we look over how the bike industry has been segmenting parts to riders, we can see that components are either super light weight, intended for XC, or full on strength-oriented for the gravity crowd. Until now, there has been no middle ground for trail riders looking for a light weight crank set that can handle moderate abuse—check out the Atlas AM crankset.

The Atlas AM crank arms are made from “OPTIM-AL”, a metal which is claimed to be over twenty percent stronger than 7050 alloy. This is used to keep the weight down, while maintaining the strength that Race Face users have become accustomed to. It also contributes to a crankset with the highest strength to weight ratio available…

The cranks are available in 170mm length (Tested) 175mm, and 180mm, all available in a 68/73mm or 83mm BB shell length. The come in Black or Silver, so you can match your bike’s color scheme fairly easily. They are offered with a triple ring setup, dual ring and a bash setup, or just as crank arms with a BB. I went with the crank arms only option, as I plan on running them with a single 38T Race Face DH ring, alongside a chainguide. So the crankset is very versatile, and can be used for just about any application you can imagine.

A medium walled Cro-Mo spindle is pressed into the non-drive side crank arm; this allows for only a single 8mm bolt to be tightened in order to keep your cranks where they should be. Another advantage to running this system is that it eliminates unnecessary weight on your crankset, not to mention is just keeps things simple to the user. I’ve ridden with several friends who run competing cranksets, and often they are left on the side of the trail, tightening up loose crank arms—maybe they should be running Race Face X-type products instead?

The stock bottom bracket is Race Face’s signature All mountain / Enduro X-type BB, which comes stock, packed with Phil Wood water proof grease. This main stream grease has been proven to extend bearing life, while proving excellent water protection. However, it’s difficult to get water near the bearings in the first place, since the bottom bracket uses a custom triple wiper seal—keeping the moisture away from those precious ball bearings.

Last summer I road a set of these on my Giant Reign XO which was used as a light duty DH bike. They held up strong all season long without any issues, so this new set will be going on my Giant Trance, which will be used primarily as a 4X and dirt jump bike. With the experience I have on these, I don’t have the slightest bit of doubt in my mind as to how much abuse this crankset can handle. I’ve already ordered an 83mm version for my race bike if that tells you anything

If you are in the market for a new set of cranks for your trail bike, or slope bike, you should take a look at the Race Face AM crankset. They are light, strong, durable, and meet my personal expectations from a crankset…

Hit up Race Face’s website to learn more about their product line, and to find a dealer near you! www.raceface.com

Thanks for reading

mitch@painincorporated.com

Race Face just introduced a limited edition crankset into the freeride market that once again raises the bar for other companies to follow. Dubbed the Atlas FR, they are designed for long travel bikes that will be raced on the downhill course or put through some serious aggression at your local ski hill. They share many design characteristics with their little brother, the Atlas AM, however they are beefed up to handle the rigors of larger impacts and deep stress from heavy-duty riding.

The Atlas FR crankset is made out of Optim-Al, an aluminum alloy which is over 20% stronger than the standard 7050 Al that is typically used in FR/DH cranksets.  They are available in “Bad Ass Black” or “Blue Steal”; therefore there’s a color available to match your custom ride. They are offered in a ton of different ring options so you can choose the exact application for your use, and not waste any money buying rings that you won’t use. You can choose from 165mm, 170mm (Tested), and 175mm crank arm lengths, all of which are available in 68/73mm or 83mm (Tested) BB spindle length. Basically you can mount this crankset to any bike from your Super D machine all the way up to your big fat race rig!

If you take a look at the laser etched graphics you will notice some squiggles and random numbers… pretty cool eh? It’s actually a topographical map of Mt. Fromme in British Columbia, so if you’re ever in need of some directions while you’re in that area, you will know where to look. The attention to detail in these graphics is second to none—they truly are a work of art.

The threaded pedal interface isn’t a Cro-Mo insert like that found on the Diabolus crank arms. Race Face did this because the weight coupled with pressing in the insert wasn’t needed, not to mention there isn’t a significant strength advantage associated with the insert. I’ve never had any issues with stripping out X-Type Race Face products in the past, so I can understand why they went this route…

The non-drive crank arm is pressed into a thick walled, heat treated Cro-mo spindle. This gives the rider a spindle that won’t bend, snap, or break under heavy impacts or after years of abuse. After all, Race Face has one of the best warranties in the business, and there’s a reason they extend this to their customers – they stand behind their products.

The BB spindle is attached to the drive side crank arm just like any other X-Type product. The X-Type system has many advantages over other crankset styles. I feel the most important advantage is that the entire system only uses one bolt to tighten everything up. Doing so eliminates the loosening of the non-drive side crank arm, as it is often overlooked when working on your bike…  Not to mention that the X-Type system is very stiff and reliable when it’s setup correctly, and you don’t need to buy a crank-puller to remove your crank arms like other designs. I’ve been using Race Face cranks for almost 5 years now, and I literally set them and forget them – I’ve had no issues.

Race Face has designed a removable granny ring spider that increases chainguide clearance for when you’re frame doesn’t give you a ton of room to work with. With the Atlas FR crankset you can adjust your chain line by 6mm, once again contributing to more room and ease of setup with your fancy chainguide…

The bottom bracket features Race Face’s triple wall seal that eliminates moisture from getting in where it matters most. But, if you think about it, the triple wall seal doesn’t just seal out contaminants, but it also seals in the Phil Wood’s waterproof grease that extends the life of ball bearings. The BB cups are also anodized gold to add extra bling factor to your ride!

You would think that these cranks would be heavy in order to keep strength high since they are advertised as a DH/FR crank, but surprisingly they are not! You get typical Race Face strength at a reduced weight which will be a huge hit among racers looking for a strength oriented crankset without the weight that is typically associated with it. The reduced crank arm weight helps a rider turn the cranks over quicker since there is less weight to move, thus giving them an advantage over someone that is riding a heavier crankset—you’re burning less energy while putting out more power!

The Atlas FR crank arms with BB weighted in at 850 grams (170mm length, 83mm BB spindle, bad ass black) with all spacers and the BB cup spacer. I was shocked to see how light these were compared to other designs on the market that are supposed to be used for the same purpose.

Since Race Face has a factory located in British Columbia it’s easy to get a hold of the company if you have any questions or concerns about any Race Face products—something that the competition cannot always offer.

Race Face also manufactures high performance DH chain rings that are burly enough to withstand the torque of some of the fastest racers in the world. So when it was time to mount up a chain ring to the Atlas FR crankset, the choice was obvious to go with a tried and true Race Face 38 Tooth DH chain ring.

So what are you waiting for? Go to your local shop and check out a set of the new Race Face Atlas FR crankset, or go to www.raceface.com to learn more.

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorporated.com

It’s been a full summer of hard riding aboard the Twenty6 6Foe pedal, and it’s time the internet world hears my honest opinion on their performance.

As some of you know, I do ride my downhill bike very hard, and the parts I run need to withstand some serious abuse. That being said, the reviews I pump out on this site are the real deal and unbiased like some reviews in magazines or on the web. So when I heard about the Twenty6 6Foe pedal I was intrigued about the light weight design.  However, I was a little skeptical about their titanium axle and how well the design would handle hard impacts.  These were just a few of my concerns when purchasing a new set of pedals, or any product for that matter.

Here’s the lowdown on how well everything went….

The Ti axle was extremely durable and I had no issues or any complaints all season long.  For me, this proves that a pedal with an engineering framework behind it and attention to detail in the manufacturing processes results in a product that can be lightweight, yet remain durable. I’ve taken several hard impacts on my bike this season and there are no signs of bending or cracking on the pedal axles or any other structural flaws for that matter. The only problem I have with the titanium axle is the lack of a 6mm on the end of it to remove pedals with an allen key. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter.  Nevertheless, it would be nice to see this in the future – perhaps it’s more of a design characteristic to keep strength high?

The seals have done their only job – keep contaminants out, and keep grease in! All our pedals remain buttery smooth and spin without any harsh grinding sounds. I’ve taken my set apart a couple of times throughout the season in order to repack waterproof bearing grease to extend the life of the seal.  Other than that basic maintenance, nothing else has been done. In lamest terms, this is a simple do-it-yourself job!  All you have to do is take off the 10mm nut on the end of the titanium axle, slide the pedal body off, remove the axle of any old grease, add some new gunk on, and put it back together.  This two minute job will noticeably prolong the longevity of the pedal’s smooth feel.

Both pedals have been hammered hard on some big gnarly rocks at high speed and the only sign of structural damage is a very small dent on the pedal body.  There are absolutely no bent or broken axles at all. In fact, in the past, I’ve done a similar smack on a Shimano DX flat pedal thus resulting in damage which forced me to buy a new pedal axle in addition to some leftover battle scars:

I’ve adjusted the stock pin setup to cater to my personal riding preferences. I’ve put some larger pins on the outer edges and added a couple smaller ones on the inside of the platform to aid in some additional grip. Riding them stock provides more than enough shoe grab/grip for the average rider but it is nice to be able to add and remove pins at the rider’s discretion. Sure you can do that on other pedal designs but can you break the pins off and still replace them? You can with the Twenty6 6Foe because the allen key head is located inside the protective cocoon of the pedal body.

The sealed cartridge bearing in each pedal are still as smooth as the day I received them – seals rule! If you ever do have any problems with the bearings in each pedal they can be purchased at just about any bearing store or through your local bike shop. This too is just another do-it-yourself routine maintenance job.  Just press the old ones out, and press in a new set! BAM you’re set for several more years!

Now, you ask who would want to buy a set of these? Well if you’re after the best set of flat pedals on the market and you’re willing to pay for them, then these are for you. If you want a set of pedals you can grind around on at the skatepark and you frequently replace them, then these aren’t for you. Simply put, if you want a set of lightweight pedals that will last a long time, feel great, and look awesome, check out the Twenty6 6Foe.

Pros:

-Durable seals

-Lightweight design

-Sealed bearing

-Titanium axle

-Removable/replaceable pins

-Customizable design

-Available in many different colors

Cons:

-Price

-Lack of 6mm on pedal axle

Well that’s it! For more information please visit www.twenty6.com or if you have any specific questions feel free to contact me directly: mitch@painincorporated.com

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorporated.com

Twenty6, a small component manufacturer out of Montana has recently put out a new light weight platform pedal designed specifically for the rigors of downhill and freeride. Check out the Twenty6 6Foe

The Twenty6 6Foe pedal is one of the lightest platform pedals available on the market, weighing in at a mere 373 grams for the set (See below). The attention to detail on these pedals is seldom seen on other components in the biking industry. That attention to detail and quality is reflected in their $264.99 US price tag per set of pedals (Ti Axle). That being said, if you are looking for run of the mill platform pedals, look further than these, however, if you are in the market for a set of lightweight low profile ‘works of art’, then check these guys out…

The pedal body is made from 6061-T6 CNC billet aluminum – keeping the pedal body nice and strong for hard impacts as well as keeping the weight low in order to reduce rotational mass. Each side of the pedal has 21 optional pin placement holes, giving the rider the ability to customize the feel of the pedal to fit their individual needs. The pedals come with two additional tins of pedal pins: in one you will find 20 additional ¼ inch stock replacement pins, in the other you will find 20 extra 5/16 inch replacement pins. All pin sizes screw in from underneath the platform with the included hex wrench, so changing pins will be a breeze even after a couple seasons of use. It’s nice to finally see a company understand that riders like to have the ability to customize the feel of their gear, as no one is the same!

Another cool feature of these pedals is that they are completely flat, not concave like most competing pedals on the market. Twenty6 feels that this design improves foot traction because the pedal doesn’t rely on concavity to secure your foot, rather the length of pins and the customization the rider can experiment with. They are available in eight different anodized colors: Black, Blue, Green, Orange (Pictured), Pink, Purple, Red (Pictured), and Yellow.

The 6AL/4V Titanium axle is extremely strong and lightweight (48 grams) giving these pedals a distinctive edge on the competition. The Ti axles spin on Abec 3 bearings, secondarily sealed by an Oilite bushing, making the pedal exceptionally weather resistant and as smooth as butter! The axle is tensioned down into the rest of the pedal by tightening a 10mm bolt which is on the end of the pedal axle. A standard 15mm wrench will tighten up these pedals into your cranks, however, there isn’t a 6mm hex wrench insert on the end of the axle like on some other pedals on the market—if that’s the only issue with these, you’re dreaming….

Twenty6 offers the 6Foe pedal with a steel axle for about $100 less than the Ti axle version, but is it worth it? If you are going to purchase the best pedals on the market, you may as well go for the full bling of titanium, right?

To contact Twenty6, visit their website for more information: http://www.twenty6products.com/

Or to order yourself a set of these beauties, fire Tyler an email at: orders@twenty6products.com

Chris king has been manufacturing precision components for over 30 years and it is this experience in the industry that is responsible for some of the best components on the market today. Over the years Chris King has built a reputation in the consumer market for high quality components that require little maintenance and demonstrate durability in eyes of any cycling enthusiast. Their headsets are known world wide as the best in the business, their hubs are known as some of the longest lasting, smoothest, and precise on the market. So when Chris King decided to release a 12mm X 150mm rear disc hub, they took their time to make it right with no compromises. After all, this attention to detail is what made their reputation what it is today, so they may as well continue with what they do best – manufacture quality precision components.

The release of the ISO 150mm took place back in 2007. Many people thought the long wait for this hub was due in part to a complete redesign of the hub itself, however, the technology inside this hub is the same RingDrive design as its’ preceding models. Therefore the ISO 150mm is no exception to expectation.

The hub is offered in all 9 Chris King colors, and is available in 32 or 36 hole drillings. Our test hubs came with the optional stainless steel drive shell installed which ads to the durability of any Chris King hub, especially if you’re constantly changing cassettes. However the stock Aluminum drive shell is more than capable of handling the rigors of downhill and freeride abuse, not to mention it’s about 45 grams lighter.

The ISO 150 is built up with Chris King’s proven one piece constant diameter axle. This one piece design separates this hub from other offerings on the market that are usually a two or even three piece axle. The benefit to the rider is that this design improves hub life and reduces ‘play’ on the bearings that hubs usually develop after several hard rides. Another benefit of this hub is that it can handle a torque load of over 800 ft lbs, that’s rated well above any hub on the market.

As with all Chris King hubs the ISO 150 is completely user serviceable. The butter smooth bearings can be adjusted for preload with a 2.5mm hex wrench. Many other designs do not offer bearings preload adjustment; rather the bearings just press into the hub and become worse over time, eventually requiring replacement. To prove they’re the best Chris King offers a 5 year warranty on this hub –something to be said for any downhill component, none the less a hub.

The matching front hub is known as the ISO 20mm and is built on a similar one piece design like the rear hub. The one piece aluminum axle is 20mm in diameter and is 110mm in length, just like many other front hubs, however both ends of the axle is capped with stainless steel axle biters for strength and grip onto your fork.

The ISO 20mm features the same 2.5mm bearing preload adjustment as the rear does, so you can adjust the tension on the hub bearings without even having to take your front wheel off your bike. The whole concept behind this is user serviceability. Say you’re ripping down your local trails and all of the sudden you notice your front hub has developed a bit of play since you last rebuilt the bearings, well you can stop right there on the spot and get rid of that bearing play with a 2.5mm hex wrench. Other hub manufactures suggest you simply tension your fork axle more, squishing the hub together to eliminate this play. For me, that sound’s like a stupid thing to do on your $1000+ suspension fork –creating stress on your fork lowers, opening the door to damage. Or you might even have to take that brand new hub to your shop to get some new bearings pressed in…

Like the rear ISO 150mm, the front ISO 20mm has a 5 year warranty. So you’re new wheelset will run smooth for years to come.

If you’re serious about the components you run, you’ll know that the $369.99 rear, and $179.99 front MSRP prices (US Dollars) are a small price to pay for the best hubs money can buy, alongside the best customer service in the business.  So if you’re in the market for a new hub set take a look into the Chris King line and see why they’re established themselves as the best in the business.

If you have any questions about this article feel free to email me at the address listed below, or if you want to learn more about Chris King products, visit their site: www.chrisking.com

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorporated.com

Obtainium Performance Products is a small coil manufacturer based out of Bellevue, WA. Don’t let the size of the company affect your view on them, as they’ve built a strong reputation on being a “quality over quantity” company. If you take a quick look around the industry, you will notice big name riders like Sam Hill, Nathan Rennie, and Matti Lehikoinen are all riding Obtainium Springs. Just because world cup racers are running these springs doesn’t mean they are out of reach of the general public. In fact, they are now available and shipping world wide! Read on to learn more about Obtainium Performance Products.

Obtainium is a relatively new company to the biking scene. Although they are new, they have been gaining major props from cyclists around the world for their high performance precision products. The attention to detail put into each spring puts them in a class of their own. Seldom do we see this kind of emphasis on accuracy in the biking industry, in fact only a few companies come to mind when dealing with this level of quality.

Each Titanium spring is made from materials sourced within the United States. If we compare this with other spring manufacturers, we can see that they primarily use lower grade titanium found on foreign soil with inferior standards compared to that of Obtainium. For example, Obtainium marks their springs with a simple weight measurement. Now, I know what you’re thinking….so what, everyone else does that. Well, the difference is that Obtainium tests each spring in-house to ensure that the labeled spring weight is within 1% of the claimed spring weight. To put that into perspective, Obtainium has measured various competitors’ springs and contrasted the claimed spring weight with the actual measurement, and the results are shocking. A steel Fox spring with a claimed spring weight of 350 pounds measured in at a hair over 300 pounds! A variety of other competitors’ springs have been measured with tolerances that usually fall within 5-10% of what is claimed on the spring.

Rumors have been floating around the industry that when a rider uses a titanium coil, they should decrease, or increase spring rate. This is false. People might assume this because the steel springs they have been running in the past may not represent an accurate benchmark for comparison. When you buy an Obtainium spring, you get exactly what is claimed, not 50 pounds in either direction of what’s claimed.

Obtainium springs have an inner diameter (ID) of 1.5 inches (38.1mm) so they work flawlessly on the new Rock Shox Vivid shock. However, with the use of performance adapters, the same spring can be used on other shocks: Fox DHX, Cane Creek Double Barrel, Manitou Shocks, Marzocchi Rocco, Avalanche Shocks, and Progressive Suspension to name a few. The performance adapters are made from Delron, a super lightweight material with a very low coefficient of friction so the spring can move without any binding, buckling, all the while remaining as silent as a cat.

One of the coolest things about these springs is how universal they are. The spring itself is 6 inches long, allowing for 3 inches of travel, but rumor has it that Obtainium will have 3.5” travel springs available shortly for 10.5 X 3.5 frames. Since the 3 inch travel spring is shorter in length compared to that of a steel coil, the same spring can be used on shocks with a 2.5, or 2.75” travel stroke. Keep in mind that running the spring on a regular 9.5 x 3.0 shock will require the use of a 3.0 inch performance adapter, but when purchased with the spring it’s half price, and dirt cheap to begin with. For example, say you ride a Santa Cruz V10 with a fox DHX now, and want to upgrade to a Giant Glory with a Vivid 5.1 in the future, you can use the same Obtainium spring, even though the two frames have different shock lengths and stroke lengths. The same can be said for many other frames, these were just used as a quick example.

Obtainium makes their springs out of 3-8-6-4-4 Beta-C aerospace grade titanium. But what does that mean to you? The titanium alloy is made up of various other metals that act together to make the metal what it is. Each number in the series represents a percentage of a particular material that comprises an Obtainium spring. In this case, 3-8-6-4-4 Beta-C means the following:

Ti, 3Al, 8V, 6Cr, 4Mo, 4Zr (Beta C)

If you dig deeper, you can see that there are even more metals that make up this titanium compound. Here’s exactly what’s in it:

Carbon 0.05%

Molybdenum 3.50-4.50%

Aluminum 3.00-4.00%

Zirconium 3.50-4.50%

Iron 0.30%

Hydrogen 0.030%

Chromium 5.50-6.50%

Titanium 70.79-75.79%

Vanadium 7.50-8.50%

Nitrogen 0.03%

Oxygen 0.120%

Yttrium 0.005%

Other (Maximum) 0.150%

This metal was originally developed in the 1960’s, and is used when a high strength to weight ratio is needed, as well as when the high corrosion resistance of titanium is desired. This titanium is different than most other titanium springs on the market. The most commonly used titanium is known as Ti 6-4, where 6% is aluminum, and 4% is Vanadium. This particular grade titanium is usually used as an economical way to produce performance parts at an affordable price. It’s an easier metal to work with compared to other titanium compounds, that’s why you will find Ti 6-4 in many foreign/import titanium shock springs…  This isn’t necessarily a good thing.

If you’re paying out the cash for a titanium coil spring, why would you buy from a company where you don’t even know what metal is in the spring? Chances are, they are made out of poor grade titanium that fails in comparison to the high performance Ti, 3Al, 8V, 6Cr, 4Mo, 4Zr (Beta C) compound. Not only does this compound yield a higher specific strength, but it weighs less than Ti 6-4, and requires less “coil wraps” in a spring to achieve the same result because of a higher density.

After comparing two 400 pound, 3.0 stroke-titanium coil springs, one being a Marzocchi Ti coil spring, apparently made by RCS, and the other being an Obtainium, it was clear that the Obtainium spring was superior. Both springs were used for the same application, yet the Obtainium spring was 90 grams lighter (including performance adapters)—this is an excellent comparison between two different grades of titanium, the Obtainium spring being the better choice. I guess the Marzocchi Ti coil spring uses a Ti 6-4 compound, making it heavier in this application.

Quality is very important to the end consumer, and Obtainium doesn’t cut corners in the manufacturing of their products. Some steel springs, or perhaps even some foreign titanium springs can actually change after being used, leaving a customer with a spring that is different than what they paid for. Obtainium springs are cycle-tested approximately 50,000 times to ensure quality to the end consumer. Most companies don’t bother doing this process, but doing so guarantees that the label on the spring is what the customer ends up with, even after years of use.

When you take a look at an Obtainium coil spring, you’ll quickly notice that it isn’t the typical ‘bright silver’ color, rather, it’s a darker silver with shades of sparkling gold. What you’re seeing is the result of various acid baths and clear coat processes to protect the coil spring from alpha case… in the long run this basically means that it reduces the chance of spring failure. Some spring manufactures do similar processes, others don’t, it’s definitely something that set’s itself apart from a basic clear-coat job. Obtainium can also make your spring match the color-scheme of your bike by changing the color of the clear coat. Some color examples are clear red, green, and blue, for more color information it is best to email Obtainium directly: jim@obtainiumperformanceproducts.com

Obtainium Performance Springs are available in spring sizes that range from 200 pounds to 650 pounds, separated in 25 pound increments. If you’re considering a Ti coil spring, Obtainium puts together an excellent package that drops considerable weight off your bike at an excellent $/gram conversion. If you take a look around the WC scene, you will see that many top athletes are rocking titanium coil spring, and of those people, the majority of them are riding Obtainium—the choice is unanimous.

For more information on Obtainium, or to order your very own Obtainium spring, please visit www.obtainiumperformanceproducts.com

Thanks for reading!

mitch@painincorporated.com

In the past I’ve always been a fan of a traditional style stem. They haven’t let me down up to this point, so why bother changing stems? Well, I had the opportunity to check out the Twenty6 F1 integrated stem on my downhill bike, and to be quite honest, I’m very impressed so far. Read on to learn more about my initial impressions of the Twenty6 F1 stem.

For starters, I’m sure you’d love to know some of the stem’s specs to determine if you want to read any further? Assuming this is the case, the F1 stem is machined from 6061 T6 billet aluminum, a very stiff yet light material that offers a fantastic strength to weight ratio. In face, our stem including all hardware came in at a feathery 126 grams! To give you an idea of how heavy that is, chop 50 grams off of your Thomson 50mm Elite stem, and there’s a Twenty6 F1 integrated!

The 3 piece design offers zero degree rise which is expected from any gravity specific integrated stem, so Twenty6 meets the standard there. Where they differentiate themselves is by offering the same stem with the option of running 45mm, 50mm, and 55mm reach simply by moving the stem forward or backward. The recessed bolt holes prevent any unwanted movement, all the while keeping things simple, and a pleasure to look at.

The F1 stem is built to match up with Rock Shox Boxxer and Fox 40 top crowns, and fits 31.8mm bars quite nicely. At this point, it is available in 11 different colors (Glacier White, Urban Camo, Wood Grain, Dirt, Mellow Yellow, Pink, Jet Black, Royal Blue, Vibe Red, Grass, and Burnt Orange). Basically if you want a super fly stem to match your race bike, Twenty6 has just about every color covered!

The first thing that you notice when you compare this stem with some of its competitor’s integrated designs, is that it has a narrower clamping zone. At first I thought it would feel flexy on the trails as I hammered the bars side-to-side, but after several long days of vertical, this is not the case. It’s as torsionally stiff as any precision quality stem that I’ve ridden. The 4mm clamp bolts do an excellent job of securing your bars in the position that you want with no compromise in clamping force.

If you’re a competitive DH racer, chances are that you like to sprint your bike; or even if you’re a weekend warrior, you have to pedal your bike at some point. I found that running this stem at 45mm creates a small overlap in front of your top crown. Now this may pose a problem to some, but if you’re hitting your knees on your stem, chances are your frame is too small. This problem is remedied by the nice rounded design of the stem. You won’t be catching your shorts or cutting your knees on this baby!

Since the 5mm bolts that screw into the top crown offer the rider adjustable reach, the entire column of adjustment range has been machined out, saving weight over designs that drill out individual holes for each reach position. In order to properly adjust reach, all you need to do is loosen the bolts off, pull all four out, slide the stem into the position you desire, and then tighten them back down—quick and easy. I really like the option of being able to fine tune the reach of my stem for various DH tracks; this is definitely where the industry is going.

I really like that fact that I don’t need to centre my handlebars over the front wheel anymore, now my bars are guaranteed to be straight all the time—another advantage to any integrated stem design. The only disadvantage that I can think of to running an integrated stem would have to be cutting down your fork’s steer tube, granted you don’t actually have to do it, but it is nice to keep things clean.

I’ll keep all of you updated with a season end article on how everything worked out through the season with the Twenty6 F1. From my experience so far on this product, I’m very happy with it and can’t wait to spend time on it this summer! Stay tuned for more…

Thanks for reading

mitch@painincorporated.com