Month In Review: April May June
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
Starting this month we’re going to create a monthly post of the top content on Sick Lines. We’ll give you a rundown of the important news, reviews, previews, events and much more than happened over the course of the month. We understand that our readers don’t always get to check Sick Lines as much as they’d like. We want to make sure that everyone gets a chance to catch up and revisit our stellar content.
For this post we’ll cover the past 3 months to kick off the new feature. In the coming months we’ll only do a single month at a time. Check inside to see what you might have missed or revisit a past article you didn’t quite look at as thoroughly as you’d liked to have.
Sick Lines Reviews:
“We feel that the HoldUp is a very improved product in comparison to the previous Yakima HookUp rack we reviewed a while back. They addressed many of issues including bike clearance and security. The new rack is more compact and offers new features like rubberized arms, integrated bottle opener, and improved rear wheel straps. All of these improvements make the HoldUp a vastly better product.”
“Overall the Transition Blindside is a really great value. It does have a few areas where it can improve but it is a competitive bike even if you ignore its low price. The geometry is built for going downhill fast and soaks up the hits quite well. The low bottom bracket for most may take some getting used to but is a treat once you get used to the clearance.”
“The Blk Mrkt Riot frame is a solid frame that won’t let you down. It was thought up with the intent of only being made for Carter Holland, but now is available for everyone to purchase and enjoy the ride. The geometry is well thought out and the strong cromoly frame is the icing on the cake.”
“The Split Second direct mount stem is as stiff as anything we’ve come across and feels even stiffer in some cases. With handle bars becoming wider and wider, weak points are easier to notice and the Point stem provides a solid interface that is as light as we’ve seen while still remaining stiff.”
“If you’re looking for a bike that can truly do it all with little compromise, the Canfield ONE is a very good choice. It climbs well in all gears and really is a testament of what you want if you can only have one bike.”
Builds:
“…our goal with this lightweight frame was to push the limits ever so slightly with what a “normal†DH bike weight might be typically construed as. With properly set up suspension, the bike should still track just as well as a heavier bike as the pilot is the one controlling what the bike is doing and not the mass of the bike or rider. Faster acceleration, more responsiveness, and increased agility are a few benefits of a lighter downhill bike.”
“The Blk Mrkt’s can be built up to very respectable weights since their frames are already quite light. Building the bike as you see fit is easy with the versatile features of the Riot, which is always a plus when creating your own customized bike.”
Previews:
“Republik is a coalition of riders, designers, artists and a couple bike mechanics thrown in to make sure everything runs smoothly. We are part business, part art collective. Collaborating with the two of the best designers in the industry, Travis Collier a pro Bmx’er, and Victor Pantet a former pro skater, we created a progressive brand that reflects us as riders, artists, trailbuilders and designers.”
“e.thirteen debuted their Staccato 8 pedal (pl. stac·ca·tos) at the U.S. Open this year and it drew quite a bit of attention. With shoe technology improving, more and more riders are picking flat pedals in every cycling discipline. e.thirteen has announced that their new pedal is due out late 2008.”
“Overall I was pretty impressed with the changes and improvements Shimano has made to the new Saint lineup…As a grouppo they’ve done quite well.”
“Race Face continues to bring new products to the table that riders have been clamoring for. A low-rise Diabolus quality bar. The rise and the sweep remains the same as the higher rise Diabolus but in a much lower 1/2″ rise variant.”
“Race Face has delivered a crank many of you have been itching for, a lightweight 83mm Atlas crank strong enough for competition and lighter than the Diabolus offering. So what do these cranks have to offer up?”
Events:
Steve Smith took the win for the Pro Men and Kathy Pruitt took the win in the Pro Women category. New for 2008 amateurs and Pro’s raced on a freshly built dual slalom course under the lights. For full results, race reports, and picture gallery, check out 2008 U.S. Open page.
- World Cup Drama
Currently Sam Hill still is leading the point race for the men’s UCI DH title. See how close Gee Atherton and company are at the UCI site. Also check out all the excitement from worlds with video and much more on the dedicated event page we constructed here.
Other News Content:
“For 2009, Commencal has reworked a lot of their bikes. They sent over some information and we asked a few additional questions on the Supreme DH to give you guys a bit more information.”
“This past weekend, we spotted Mr. Sloan riding what looks to be a new 2009 Specialized SX at Whistler in a nice bright orange color. The one he was riding looks to have a 1.5″ lower cup and a 1 1/8″ upper cup as well as a few other curvy modifications. We’ll see what the final production ones turn out like, but this one looked pretty complete!”
“Details are still obviously being determined and both bikes are in different prototype phases. They are quite interesting however in the implementation of the rail system Yeti uses on the 303 but built off of a more conventional single pivot setup.”
