Pro6 looks totally Pro

Rorys Pro6 looks totally Pro now with white Parabox, Microshift White transmission, Praxis cross rings on FSA Carbon Crank, white Gore shift cables and white Lizard Skins bar tape. Custom Reynolds/DMR hubs. USE bar and stem. Continental tyres.
Dave Hemming taking delivery at London Victoria station to be raced at Rapha Supercross Alexandra Palace London this Sunday.

Rory

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Caffelatex for 2013

If you’ve read any of my material, you probably know that I’m a fan of tire sealants. There are many types out there. If you’re unfamiliar with tire sealants in general, you may want to take a look at our primer on all-things-sealant, located HERE.

Given my affinity for sealants, I was pleased to learn that Italian-based Effetto Mariposa recently released an updated formula of their beloved Caffelatex.

More HERE

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Eurobike 2012: Lezyne lights

Some of the more desirable products on display at Eurobike were found, unsurprisingly, on the Lezyne stand.

With the change of season fast approaching, if not already upon us, the new lights were the items that caught our attention (and in use will hopefully do the same for road users).

More HERE

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Lezyne Micro Drive lights – first look

There’s something of a lighting bonanza at RCUK at the moment, prompted by the onset of autumn.

George’s recent blog on the danger of being caught without lights was a useful warning to us all. For early morning and evening rides, we have a couple of interesting offerings from Lezyne.

More HERE

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Lezyne Macro Drive light – first look

The Lezyne Macro Drive is the bigger, brighter brother of the Micro Drive front light.

The body is a longer version of the neat, CNC machined aluminium cylinder we first encountered on the aforesaid Micro Drive. Further similarities include the Maximum Optical Reflection (MOR) lens, intended to produce a beam that is wide, smooth, and bright, an LED, and a button mounted on top of the cylinder that changes colour to indicate the remaining charge.

More HERE

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ENGLISH DOWNHILL CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012 by Richard Acott

ENGLISH   DOWNHILL  CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012  by Richard Acott


Friday 12.10.12 - Final race of season would take place on proven national downhill track at Moelfre, Oswestry.  DMR Omen bike was in good order and really pleased with new sick green cult cranks and orange vault pedals.  Mixture of sunshine and showers forecast so packed both Kenda Nevegal (dry) and King of Traction (wet) tyres.


Saturday 13.10.12 - Early morning sunshine was a good start and sign on showed a highly competitive field of hardtail riders.  Borderline Events organiser and British Cycling were also quick to declare a new record for highest number of female competitors who received some special coaching over weekend along with some elite CRC rider training offered free for new racers.

Track began by crossing a grassy hilltop with steep off camber that would prove tricky later in day after heavy shower, round a ninety degree berm and into two step downs before plunging into steep section through gorse ending in water splash.  Middle section involved jump over fire road and short pedal section over mountainside then a long and fast downhill run into another berm and series of four cross/bmx style jumps.  Final section involved several smaller jumps and another fast ninety degree berm that proved eventful throughout weekend with several riders slipping down or riding over berm all within site of finish line.

My practise runs went well but in afternoon there were a couple of showers that seemed to lead to a  number of crashes.  Unfortunately that resulted in temporary track closures whilst medics did a great job in attending to injured riders trackside.  Best wishes to everyone on a speedy recovery.


Sunday -14.10.12 - Awoke after chilly night to white fields covered in frost, sun came out and frost soon cleared.  Bike checks before todays racing included tyre pressures (30/32psi) brakes, gears, fork adjustments, chain lubrication, spoke tightness.  I managed two good practise runs before race start at 11.00am  My first run started well but soon caught up another rider who seemed to pull over but then rode into side of bike meaning we both went down.  Both got up and finished but I had lost time and was four seconds behind Ash Brown who took first run spot with time of 3minutes 04 seconds.

Second run was better and I flew past two riders without incident (riders are set off at thirty second intervals).  I had smashed my previous time by nineteen seconds to take win with a time of 2minutes 49 seconds which was eleven seconds ahead of second place.

Richard Acott1st  Ash Brown2nd  Adam Lyons3rd  


Fantastic - I had won Bikeworks English Downhill Championship 2012.   Brilliant end to great race season and my third consecutive English Championships title win. Thanks to supporters and spectators whose interest and encouragement has been shown at every race event throughout the year.  I have also have to thank my great sponsors:

DMR BIKES/TEKTRO BRAKES/KENDA TYRES/YBN CHAINS/ X FUSION SUSPENSION/BATTERY ENERGY DRINKS

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Kinesis T2 Cycling Plus

Verdict dependable yet lively, the t2 deserves its ‘modern classic’ status.
The Kinesis T2 is something of a modern classic. It’s been around for a while and has proved very popular, helped along by being very affordable in frame-only form.
It may be a relatively inexpensive frame  (￡239.99), but it scores highly on detail and finish.
Touches like the flared head-tube,  subtly-shaped stays and forged rear brake mount really elevate the T2 from the herd…
Those stays accommodate 28mm tyres as well as mudguards, and there are rack eyes too.
Sneaking in just under the 10kg mark, the Kinesis is an entirely acceptable weight for a winter bike, and come the summer there’s scope for some easy weight loss – take the ’guards off, swap to folding 23mm tyres. The T2 has quite a racy feel.
…the sturdy frame inspires confidence, and a lot of vibration disappears somewhere between the stays, 27.2mm seatpost and big tyres, so it’s comfortable on long  rides.

More HERE

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What MTB Pivot Mach 5.7 Carbon

“The Mach 5.7 Carbon is a capable, lively, fun and lightweight beauty. As well it should be for the price.”
…the frame and shock is a claimed 2.36kg (5.2lb). That’s impressive for an almost 6in bike.
The DW-Link back end is taut and lively rather than plush and floaty, which works well on technical terrain – the feedback from weight shifts and pedal strokes is clear and precise.
At 23.2in for the Medium, the toptube is on the short side. That’s good for making your weight count over technical ground. On the Lakes trails, the shortcockpit worked very well.
… compared to other similar frames it’s competitively priced. This is definitely one to shortlist if you’re in the market for a lightweight, long-travel AM bike.

More HERE

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Lezyne really delivers with this classic pump.

…what really makes it stand out is Lezyne’s excellent Flip-Thread chuck.

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Pivot - Rutland demo day

Pivot had an awesome reception at the Rutland Cycling demo day yesterday. A beautiful sunny day (albeit a bit chilly) saw riders queuing up for their chance to try the entire Pivot range including the brand new Pivot 429 Carbon and Pivot LES.

At least 80% of the bikes were out all day with many repeat and back-to-back rides. Riders came back full of praise for the ride and handling of the Pivot with comments including:

"The best bike I've ever ridden - bar none" - Gavin, riding the Pivot M4X.

"Amazing - the ultimate do it all bike" - Nick, riding (& buying on the day!) the Pivot Mach 5.7 Carbon.

"Quick. very quick. Effortless point and shoot performance", David, on the Pivot LES.

Thanks for coming and riding Pivot everyone - it was a real pleasure meeting you all!

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DMR Win at Downhill English Championship 2012

Great win this weekend at Bikeworks Downhill English Championship 2012 at Moelfre national track with lots of DMR supporters –  DMR bike hats were everywhere!  Incredible 2.49 run and over 11 seconds ahead of second place.

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Pivot Cycles - Interbike 2012 video

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DMR Pump Track Challenge NEC Cycle Show

Last week, riders arrived at the NEC in Birmingham to take part in the DMR Pump Track Challenge. The track this time would be provided by Shore Trax so that pump tack racing could be shown in the Cycle Show. Shore Trax pump tracks are constructed from wood and the creation at the NEC was really good. 2 lanes would start from the British 4X start gate. Riders could snap from the gate and pedal to the first pump to gain speed. Then riders would part and head off in opposite directions before hitting a 180 turn and heading back towards each other. The last turn would kick them 90 degrees towards the finish line where they would finish next to each other

More HERE

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Hell of the West to display untouched Dartmoor

When Steve Toze decided to promote a cyclo-cross sportive on Dartmoor he had two ambitions; giving people a chance to get riding off road and providing that opportunity on rarely touched areas of the National Park. After over six months of negotiations and less than a week until the event, the original vision is set to be realised with an epic 80km of wilderness trails only to be marked before Sunday.

More HERE

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“Tested: Pivot's Phoenix Downhill Bike, Playfully Stable”

I had a premeditated idea of what this design would require from the body based on my past experience on the Iron Horse Sunday, a parking lot test on Kyle Strait’s 2011 Phoenix race bike, and hours of relearning to dirt jump on his 2011 Pivot M4X slalom race bike. It was a bittersweet day when Shaun Palmer inherited that MDW 4X. I still miss it. However, the Pivot Phoenix exceeded all expectations. Especially after we went to Whistler. With its spacious cockpit, relaxed stock head angle, low center of gravity, evenly displaced weight and balanced geometry this bike has impressed me from ride one. Sunday lovers can rejoice. The Pivot Phoenix DH is the answer you’ve been waiting for.

More HERE

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Cycle Show 2012 Part 2

Following on from our first roundup from the Cycle Show at the NEC, we’ve hunted down a few more of the interesting things that we spotted. Without further ado…

More HERE

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2013 Pivot Mach 429 Carbon, LES Carbon 29er, Mach 5.7, Firebird and Phoenix

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Rapid Fire: S4P Crew - Brendan Fairclough, Sam Reynolds and Olly Wilkins

Rapid Fire: S4P Crew - Brendan Fairclough, Sam Reynolds and Olly Wilkins - More Mountain Bike Videos

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PUMPTRACK CHALLENGE NEC

‘Racing started on Friday.  The track was made by Shoretrax and is a super tight, back-to-back run starting on a 4X start gate.  You could only pedal until the first turn which meant you got a full crank in and had to pump the rest.  This put a lot of emphasis on the start…personally a weak point for myself!  A good run would be under 7 seconds.  I think mid-6 seconds was the average in the top guys.

More HERE

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First ever Kinesis UK "Hell of the West" hailed as an “Epic” success

At 10 am on Sunday 30th September over 100 riders riders set off on the first ever Kinesis UK Hell of the West, a 80km route over Dartmoor National Park and one of the new breed of CX Sportives designed to suit either cyclocross or mountain bikes, and designed to be tough.

More HERE

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National Police Time Trial Champion

Well a great weekend of time trialling to bring my season to a close.

I travelled up to Ryton with a colleague from Sussex Police who is also a South Downs Bikes club member to compete in the National Emergency Services Time Trial Championships which consisted of two separate events. 10m on Saturday and 25m on Sunday.

It would be fair to say that the courses were not very flat and there was a large field with over 90 riders on the start sheet.

Riding my new Specialized S works shiv with Reynolds wheels I had two really good rides which resulted in me becoming the National Police 10 and 25m TT champion, adding two more national champs jerseys to my collection and some more trophies as per the picture below.

Lorna Dennison-Wilkins also rode well in her first national event having only started time trialling this summer. She placed 4th in the 10m event and is determined to get on the podium next year.

Also this weekend Fay Cripps traveled to Normandy to compete in a 2 up TT with her other half. They finished in a respectable 4th place behind some quality riders only 10s off 3rd place. This is supposed to b a great event and it will be in my diary for next year!

Marc

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