This is the new Chromag Boxxer integrated stem, The Director. Not everyone knows that Chromag was the first company to make the Boxxer integrated mount stem. Steve Peat, and Sam Hill were amoungst some of the first to run a direct mount stem and it was none other than a Chromag. The director is now the second generation Chromag direct mount stem, this time shaving 100g, down to 150g. The Director comes in Black, Gold, Pewter, and Red. Another local brand bringing you a locally made top notch product.
Andy Traslin railing a corner on his way to the podium in Whistler
I was entering my sixth Cheakamus Challenge fall classic... The first part is survival on a wide gravel road where people battle from both the front and sides to get in front, trying to be ahead for that first climb up the canyon. I popped my chain, but was able to sprint up the slick rock.
Further up the climb I flipped over on the slick descent, not having very good luck so far! There was a prime to be the first out of the canyon, made famous by the late Lumpy Leidal. This guy was famous for going so hard from the start he would make top pros explode.
From the canyon I got on a wheel and worked as hard as I could, luckily getting pulled to the lead group. From here the pace eased up and I was even able to lead for a bit, but I was trying to decide if I was going too hard. Like Lumpy used to say, "Dude you gotta go as hard as you can till you get sick". So I hung in there. Neil flatted so we were down to three half way through the race. As soon as we hit the steep climb Marty dropped me. I battled but I got caught and was in fourth. I stayed on his wheel. I was losing some distance.
I had been 6th the past two years in arow. My brother said I had to get the podium to at least match what he did over 15 years ago on a Allsop, aka the shit bike, in the same race, when they used to get a thousand racers. I definitely didn't want to be fourth or get lost, many racers had gotten lost over the years. I think one year Roland Green, former World Champion, was attacked by some land owner, and even climbed an extra half an hour.
The last road climb I started making time on Kelly, I caught him near the top and dropped into the last single-track downhill to Dusty's! I was soooooo stoked to be on the podium in 3rd place! -Andy Traslin
A waterfront and mountain view, sand, gravel, dirt, grass, run-ups, hurdles, lots of sweeping turns, and a several nasty sharp ones… The New Brighton Cyclocross race is a definite classic on the cross circuit.
In 2008, Team Wedgewood hosted the inaugural at New Brighton Park, an eleven hectare multi-use ocean-front park in East Vancouver.
For 2009 the team is planning yet another sweet Euro spectator-friendly parcours. Race organizer Dave Cressman won’t give away all the plans and surprises yet, but he did say this:
"I'm looking at reversing the course, adding some Belgian flavours, and still dreaming of a fly-over!"
We can only imagine what this means—some of us may need to grow wings…
Mark your calendar for “a date with dirt”. Saturday, October 3 is the day. Watch for more details here when available.
Saturday, October 3, 2009 - Racing Program 9 am - Course Open 10 am - Beginner Men /Beginner Women / Youth Under 17 11 am - Open B Men / Open Women / Master Women 12 pm - Elite Men / Master 35+ Men
These wheels, pictured right, seemed to be a MTB version of Mavic's Arsis road wheels. They run some fat carbon spokes and look mega-stiff, and light-as. We'll have to see when these new wheels from Mavic show their face.
Outside of Mavic's booth they showed some items that they don't offer yet, but are soon to come. These looked like an uber light version of their Ultimate Carbone full carbon wheelset. Sexy.
Deemax Ultimate's not just for the pro's. Sitting at just over 1900g they are a racer's secret and a freak of nature. Let's hope that we don't see any of these on Whistler's Kona rental fleet this year.
Mavic had some nice treats in their booth this year. The standard for UST trail wheels are their Crossmax ST. With updated graphics they'll look the business on any bike.
Part of the XX foursome is the XX Rock Shox fork line. Featuring one-piece carbon crown steerers, and Hydraulic lock-outs these forks complete the sick-light XX package.
Want to ride like a Pro? Then run Shimano's Pro cockpit parts, the Atherton's do.
Shaun Palmer is back, and he brought his old suspension forks with him! Put the Palmer name on it and its sick!
The Manitou Booth had some awesome retro forks to show. This one featuring a 12mm thru-axle.
Manitou had a legend with the old Dorado. Bringing back the new Dorado there were many people waiting to buy, but it hasn't been that reliable. Will the unidirectional carbon upper legs and more testing prove this fork solid?
I had to drool over this one. I hope it wins frame of the year. Yes, it is a carbon step through frame! Doesn't that just give you goosebumps? I heard Lance is racing one in the tour... when he turns 85.
XX everywhere! and it is spoken as X...X, not double-X, or so the pros say. All I know is that every company had a decked Sram XX bike in their line-up. Watch-out XTR.
This Titus El Guapo was looking well put together with burnt orange Crankbros and Chris King bits, a real beauty. The Mocha anodized finished looked fine as well.
Someone had to be different, but not different in the same way everyone does it these days. This Empire ap-1 is truly different. They use a cast Aluminum frame to build their DH bike. It has a very similar look to Honda's old RN-01. It's a real trick piece of kit, check it out.
This cool Japanese hipster rig stood out from the crowd in the Cane Creek booth. Rumor was it was fresh of the set of the new Tokyo Drift.
Cane Creek's 110 headsets are targeted toward the Chris King crowd with what some might say is a...better design. We'll have to give it at least 10 years of its 110 year warranty to see if it stacks up to the King. They do look as good though.
Intense has been getting a lot of looks this year with their new 951. Since the come out with a new bike every couple of months I don't know where they all fit in, but they look cool!
Who doesn't want to look cool these days flying down the hills of Vancouver sans brakes and not being able to coast? Okay, you can have brakes, but you then you wouldn't be tough enough. This Masi can at least make you look cool.
This tires is a favorite of tourers and commuters, and now you can see why. Just try and flat the Marathon Plus.
Schwalbe has done their homework and the tests prove just how much studying they have done. On the left is the Wicked Will (for dry conditions), and right of that the Dirty Dan (for wet conditions), and for mud some spike that grip harder than a Las Vegas cougar on your wallet.
Twenty6 products is a one man show from Montana putting out some high-end machined products with a custom look. Their new Pre-runner pedals replace the popular Rallye, boasting betting strength, durability, grip, and weight savings, not to mentions some tight new colours.
A product that I believe will change your bike. The KS adjustable posts are the best I've come across. They have some of the most adjustment (up to 5 inches), they are infinitely adjustable within their range, have little to no play, and are durable (don't take on play either). I can almost read the tombstone on the regular sticks.
For those that love their I-beam saddles, and their adjustment KS has thought of you too.
2010 is meant to be a comeback year for the Bomber folks. Lets hope for them and everyone that loves plush "shacks" that Marzocchi has it together. They sure have dumped some weight with Ti coil springs, and taper wall stanchions.
Topping off this beauty Truvativ aka white stem is Cane Creeks solution to the "heavy" stem cap. There's always a way to save weight.A marvel of gearing is the Sram XX cassette. To allow excellent mud clearance, as well as shaving those precious grams Sram hollowed this cassette out of a solid piece of steel, similar to their Red road cassette. The top gear, however, dubbed the "bail out gear" is made of aluminum and is replaceable.
I was speaking in tongues, trying to get aquinted with this lizard Sram was about to place in a new habitat.
My new friends checking out his new home, and meeting his neighbor Mr. XX crankset.
Their was an other creepy crawly critter in the Sram booth. A fuzzy Tarantula amougnst Sram's XX brakeset.
Ooh's and Ahh's commonly follow Hope products. No difference here as we see the inner workings of the pretty machined parts. The new Tech levers are one of the nicest products on the market, offering qaulity build and adjustments. Thin pedals are all the rage these days. To stand out from the crowd Point 1 racing offers the podium pedal. It features 3 sealed cartidge bearings for durability, and you most likely won't find them on your buddy's bike.
Cyclocross is an up and coming sport around our parts, and all sorts of brands are making bikes for this niche sport. Colnago has some serious style in this bike. It even sports an sweet curved gusset that doubles as a shoulder rest.
Greg Minnaar and Steve Peat were present to sign some autographs in the Sram booth before product give-aways.
This happy Interbike attendee just won an Orbea full-susser equipted with a full Sram XX group. How stoked is he!? XX seems to really be making an impact. Three Sram XX athletes topped the World Cup Podiums this year.
For many years, I have had on my list of must do’s, a ride around Mt. St. Helens.
My first trip to the devastation caused by the volcano blowing its top on May 18,1980 was in 1985. (Check out this video) Back in the day, I was looking for things to do on light wind days while visiting the Columbia River Gorge for windsurfing.
When the wind shuts down in the Gorge, the temperature soars, and about the only way to avoid the stifling heat is either to go to the coast, or to move up to higher elevations. Seeing as there are three 10,000 ft plus volcanoes in the local vicinity, getting to elevation is not too much of a problem. My first visit to Mt St Helens definitely made an impression, and I have been making trips back to the mountain about every 5 years since. Seeing the relatively recent destruction on the first trip and now the amazing resurgence of plant and wildlife 30 years later has been nothing short of astounding. A few years ago, I read that it was now possible to ride your bike up to areas that until a few years ago were strictly out of bounds. That ride has been on my list ever since.
I managed to get down to the Gorge windsurfing this summer and after a few epic (see definition of epic) days rippin Doug's Beachon my Roberts Sailboard and 4.0 sails the wind shut down. The heat rose and after a couple of days riding under the shadow of Mt. Hood, I decided to venture a bit farther away.
The ride I decided to do was a loop starting on a lahar
on the south side of the mountain and riding up toward the caldera and across an area leveled by the pyroclastic flow until we reached Windy Ridge, the closest public viewing spot to the caldera. We would then loop back down the Smith Creek drainage back to the starting area and the car. My estimate was that it would take about 5 hrs for the round trip. My son Blake is almost always up for an adventure, and he signed on for the ride also.
The ride from Hood River to the start point was really beautiful as we wound through the forests of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Once at the start point we readied our bikes and made a few chicken sandwiches for sustenance. Several other groups were also at the start point getting ready. Knowing other humans beings are around should something go astray always makes you feel a little bit more relaxed when heading out on an unknown ride into areas that see rarely travelled.
A plan was made with my wife for our pick up, and a second plan made should we not show up by a specific time. One of the other groups turned out to be a couple from North Vancouver who were also doing the ride for the first time so we agreed to keep an eye out for each other.
Blake and I headed out and started winding our way up through the forest
beside the lahar. The views through the trees often took your breath away.
Depending on the way you looked you could see any one of three other volcanoes; Mt Rainer, Mt Adams or Mt Hood. Although none of these have popped their top in the recent past, they are all considered a risk.
Once up through the trees we started riding through the blast zone.
It felt like we were on the moon, with small boulders distributed randomly as if thrown by a giant. We worked our way along leapfrogging back and forth with our North Vancouver friends as we alternated stopping, and taking pictures.
I was astounded that the view that I remembered from my past visits has completely changed. I had not been in the upper blast zone before but had toured through those areas affected by the pyroclastic flows. All the trees knocked down by the force of the explosion and ensuing pyroclastic flow are now gone. I cannot believe that they have rotted away in 30 years so I assume that they have been logged and removed.
We reached the top at Windy Ridge and could see Spirit Lake.
It too looked completely different from passt visits. It is now a beautiful blue clear lake compared to the silt filled or algae filled lake of past visits.
We then headed down the Smith Creek drainage and were treated to a very technical steep descent over sandy soil with lots of switch back.
The pitch eventually evened out and we were treated to some ripping single track until the trail deposited us into a washed out river bed.
The trail truly disappeared and we were left maneuvering our way down the boulder strewn riverbed trying to find the trail on the other side. Thankfully, our Vancouver friends caught up with us as we entered the washout and we had 2 extra pairs of eyes on the lookout. Eventually after about an hour of slogging and/or pushing our bikes through the sandy riverbed we bush whacked into the trees and eventually found the trail out.
The rest of the trail was very flowy until we again hit a washout; this one large enough that it had taken out a road bridge leaving only the bridge supports standing. From our map it appeared that our pick up rendezvous point was on the other side of the washed out bridge. We picked our way through the river bed and forded the river. I was reminded quickly that when up to your hips in fast flowing water while carrying your bike always put it on the downstream side. I almost lost mine, but Blake was smart enough to observe my struggles and quickly held his the right way.
Our ride ended with a vertical climb of about 35 ft up the washed out river bank. We alternating climbing and passing our bikes up one to the other. Once over the top we were relieved to see our ride waiting. Our 5 hr estimate turned out to be way off. As my son says whenever he brings a friend along on one of our rides "Whatever my dad says, make sure you add 50% to the time”.
Put this one on your list of must rides. It is a classic.
It seems that at Steed Cycles eveyone owns a Santa Cruz Nomad. That was except for me, until now. So whether I welcome myself to the club, or they do, I finally get to find out what all the fuss is about.
Of course I didn't just go out and buy one because 3 or 4 other guys at work have them (soon to be more), I put some thought into it. The Nomad is consistantly mentioned as one of the best, if not the best all-around bike, "the bike to do it all". If you do a lot of riding, in many different disciplines that its almost impossible to have one bike to do everything. I figured though this was pretty close. To do ALL that I wanted it to do, I wanted a certain parts kit. I chose a 2010 Fox 36 TALAS RC2 fork because of its light weight, stiff chasis, and travel adjustability. To match, I chose a 2010 Fox DHX 5 air shock for the rear. It's light, tuneable, and plush. Although I would like to have a Sram X0 drivetrain, X9 is a chip off the old block performance wise, and much less costly. A sea-bright blue powder coat finish sets me apart from the pack with their red, and green anodized Nomads. To top it all off I added a 1.5 Chris King Evolution headset. I've never had a King headset before, but it sounds like owning a dog; man's best friend for 10 years plus.
Now I have it! A few details may change in the future, but for now I am stoked to get out and ride, and find out all that this Nomad can do.
NSMB had a good post from Interbike on some of the new Evil bikes... The crew from Evil bikes had a viewing in their suite in the Palazzo tour at the Venetian - and they were showing off a new finish option for the Revolt. This gun metal grey anno is one - and there is also a glowstick yellow version that both Thomas Vanderham and Steve Smith have been riding - plus the black anno and white paint finishes from 2009. There will also be two complete versions of the Evil for this year including one with Fox Shox front and rear that approximates Steve Smith's World Cup race bike and another 'Privateer' build with a more modest spec.
The Faction hardtail rolls out in this green and a brown. The artwork you see on some of the bikes comes from urban illustrator and artist Jeremy Fish.
The Resident urban machine - again with artwork by Jeremy Fish.
This is the bike we can't show you. The Sect is a 140mm rear travel machine with a 6.5lb frame - including rear shock. The head angle will be adjustable between 66.5 and 68 degrees. Evil is very careful about having things look just right and while this pre-production sample was rideable the tubes and welds aren't what they should be - so this is the best we could do. With favourable seas these bikes should arrive from the far east in April.
This is the new Chromag Boxxer integrated stem, The Director. Not everyone knows that Chromag was the first company to make the Boxxer integrated mount stem. Steve Peat, and Sam Hill were amoungst some of the first to run a direct mount stem and it was none other than a Chromag. The director is now the second generation Chromag direct mount stem, this time shaving 100g, down to 150g. The Director comes in Black, Gold, Pewter, and Red. Another local brand bringing you a locally made top notch product.
My first trip to the devastation caused by the volcano blowing its top on May 18,1980 was in 1985. 
on the south side of the mountain and riding up toward the 
Depending on the way you looked you could see any one of three other volcanoes; Mt Rainer, Mt Adams or Mt Hood. Although none of these have popped their top in the recent past, they are all considered a risk.
The pitch eventually evened out and we were treated to some ripping single track until the trail deposited us into a washed out river bed.
The trail truly disappeared and we were left maneuvering our way down the boulder strewn riverbed trying to find the trail on the other side. Thankfully, our Vancouver friends caught up with us as we entered the washout and we had 2 extra pairs of eyes on the lookout. Eventually after about an hour of slogging and/or pushing our bikes through the sandy riverbed we bush whacked into the trees and eventually found the trail out.
