So the second box arrived a little later in the day and came direct from WTB in the US of A. Its contents definitely got me a little excited. It contained a couple of new 2.3 TCS Weirwolfs, and two new Mutano Raptors, a 2.2 and a 2.4. as well as a Brian Lopes 205 gram pro-model Silverado saddle and a Ti railed 215 gram Devo as well. Existing WTB Weirwolf fans (as well as those that have never ridden them) will be pleased to know that Mark Weir and the folks at WTB have given the venerable Weirwolf a bit of a redesign, changing the knob arrangement to allow for continuous traction while cornering hard. BikeRadar have a really good story on the new tyres over here. READ MORE
OUT OF THE BOX PART 2 – WTB
OUT OF THE BOX PART 1 – KONA
So two parcels turned up yesterday. One had this Magic Link equipped 2010 Kona Cadabra in it. We will be testing this bike for issue 37 of Spoke. So far it’s had a roll down the drive and is still sporting refelectors and those pedal thingys so I can’t report on its ride just yet. I won’t be testing it personally but I am itching to see how the Magic Link performs out on the trail. It’s a pretty modest build but one that’s really growing on me: SLX up front, XT in the back, new Shimano 575 brakes, Mavic CrossRide wheels and the proven combo of a Fox Float RL with 15QR up front and an RP23 to handle rear duties. READ MORE
THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED
Gil Scott-Heron possibly invented hip hop. Anyone who has ever been on a road trip with me will be familiar with his 1971 LP Pieces of Man and the track “The Revolution will not be Televised” as it’s on constant repeat on my iPod. He just dropped I’m New Here, his first new LP since 1982, and boy was it worth the wait. Perfect for white people that like black music. Check it out here. READ MORE
BRING DA RUCKUS
Okay so the lamest web post title ever is not a good way to start. But following that up with images stolen from Bikemag.com and a web video featuring Scott Hart (editor at Decline) I think is a nice way to round out the fact that Spoke has been kept well out of the GT loop. Anyway, the Ruckus is back and looks kinda cool, there are some sweet photos and a bit of a profile over here at Bikemag.com and then below there is some helmet cam footage from the product launch in SoCal (don’t forget to turn the music down, you’ll thank me). READ MORE
RANGER WILL ROBINSON, RANGER
I’m pretty sure if Will Robinson was planning on putting a new stem on a robot or a bike he’d definitely consider one of these. A Chromag 50mm Ranger all-mountain stem just arrived for my bike and after bolting on this little beaut I’m itching to take it out for a thrash. I’ve been running a 60mm stem for a few years now but the 10mm difference in the Ranger feels more like 20mm (not sure yet if it’s a good or bad thing), the zero rise feels perfect right off the bat, will let you know how it goes on the trail shortly. READ MORE
OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE NEW
So just before I disappeared down south for the Anthill trip these guys showed up on my doorstep thanks to Wide Open Distributors. It’s been a while since I rode a coil fork and it will be my first time on Marzocchi. We’ll be dropping a long term review on these 2010 55 RC3 Ti forks in a few issue’s time but keep your eyes peeled for a little bit of video goodness once they are on Spoke’s test bike.
RIGHT ON—GORE RIDE-ON CABLES
WH Worrall’s have picked up a new agency in the way of Gore (as in Gore Tex) gear cables. Gore made these in the past but they have been absent from the scene since 2003 but for 2009/10 they are back and from all the web reviews I’ve read they are the smoothest shifting cables ever. Period. Our test sets just arrived and we’ll be riding them over the next few months for a future review. You can read more about them here. Although we have figured out that the standard low friction kit doesn’t come with enough housing for both front and rear cables if you’re running full housing on a full suspension bike. But there is a long set that will have ample housing.
SPOKE 33 2009 SANTA CRUZ NOMAD REVIEW
I�m pretty sure that Santa Cruz was the first mountain bike company to spout the �one bike� line when they originally released their do-it-all Nomad back in 2005. Since its release, the all-mountain, six-inch travel market has blown up and every mountain bike company worth its Taiwanese phrasebook has the words �one bike� somewhere in its marketing literature. READ MORE
XX REVIEW
We forgot to add one of the red “online review” stamps to this in the magazine, but we couldn’t not offer you up a video review of our XX test bike in action. Keep your eyes peeled for the VholdR and Fox 150 Talas FIT reviews early next week.
2010 KNOLLY ENDORPHIN REVIEW
Here’s number two of this issue’s online reviews. It should be pretty obvious that it’s for the 2010 Knolly Endorphin (and yes it was filmed at the same time as the Yeti). If you want to check out the full review grab yourself a copy of issue 34 at bookshops now or head over to our webshop.
