Two years in development, SRAM XX is finally here.  Aimed at the high end XC racer market this is packed full of innovative and new features.  Lets take a closer look.
XX Cassette.

The corner stone of the group is the XX cassette.  Others may focus on shifters and brakes but this is the first 10 speed [...]

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Lyrca.  Some people love it some people hate it.  For the latter there are now plenty of option that don’t involve pouring yourself into a tight stretchy tube.  Over the next few days we are going to look at some of these options, begining with tops.
There are many advantages to non-lycra tops such as real [...]

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Amid fantastic weather the 5th round of the Irish XC NPS took place last weekend in Magheramorne, near Larne.  The organising club, Madigan, did a great job with riders enjoying a thorough workout on the course.  Singletrack was the order of the day and despite recent atrocious weather by and large the track was in [...]

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James O’Carroll of OC Tuning has opened a new service centre in the KCR Industrial Estate in South Dublin.  The store is home base to Ireland’s only Fox authorised service centre with overnight turnaround on most forks.

James at work

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After two years of development and intensive testing under racing conditions with the top riders of the Scott-Swisspower Team, Ritchey have just revealed their new generation of mountain bike wheels.

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It has been a while since we checked in with you on the centenary Giro d’Italia.  We spent a few days at the race itself over the weekend and got some first hand info on what is going on.

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On Saturday we got up close and personal with Lance Armstrong’s Trek Madone.  It’s a standard Madone frame with a totally custom one of a kind paint finish made especially for Lance to ride in the Giro.

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This weekend round 5 (round 4 was cancelled) of the Irish XC NPS takes place in Larne.  The venue is Magheramorne quarry which is seeking to be developed as a World class sporting venue to include a mountain bike course.  This vast expanse, owned by the Lafarge Company, formerly the Blue Circle Cement Works, was [...]

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With Summer supposedly on the way we thought it a good idea to look at some lightweight and airy gloves.  The Sombrio Sultan fits this brief really well with a comfortable lightweight full finger glove with a mesh back.

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Like car enthusiasts, Mountain bikers and Road cyclists are often as happy “under the bonnet” as they are riding around.  If this is the case for you then you will be needing one of these.  In fact if you do any of your own maintenance (and you should) then you will need one of these.

This [...]

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This is the latest incarnation of one of the winningest cross country forks ever - the SID.  Several World Championships, World Cups by the ton and countless other races have all been won on the original fork but while thwy were fantastically light they were heavily criticised for being too flexy.  Rockshox thought long and [...]

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On Tuesday the centenary Giro d’Italia shifted up a gear as it headed into the Dolomites for the first mountain stage.  The stage featured two climbs which was guaranteed to show the contenders from the also rans.

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With so much going on we nearly forgot about our TORQ energy competition for April.  The winner plucked at random from all the correct entries is Silvia Gallagher who correctly guessed Mel Spath.  Silvia wins a tub of TORQ energy which we will be getting to her shortly.  Congratulations Silvia!

If you missed out - check [...]

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Racing is now firmly underway in the first Grand Tour of the season with high speeds and lots of crashes.
Day 2 kicked off with a long flat stage to Trieste

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Britain’s Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) proved he still has it with a commanding win in La Bresse, France on Sunday.  The veteran rider won by 1 second over Sam Hill (Monster Energy/Specialized/MadCatz) with compatriot Michael Hannah (GT) coming in third.

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The Manx flyer Mark Cavendish pulled on the Maglia Rosa at the end of an extraordinary day 1 of the first Grand Tour of the season. 

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Today marks the start of the first Grand Tour of the year the Giro d’Italia.  This is the races 100th edition and rarely has such a strong field lined up on the start line.  Attention has mainly been focused on the battle anticipated between 7 time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and 2006 Giro [...]

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Sunday sees the secound round of the Downhill World Cup in France.  The course on first look does not seem very technical at all but a closer look shows steep technical sections between long sprint flatish sections so favours the more powerful riders.  Below is a video of the course taken with a head cam.

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Felt are an American manufacturer who have been making waves in the cycling world for a while now.  They are best known as the bike sponsors for the Garmin-Slipstream squad and many of the advancements in the frames come from interaction with the Pro racers they sponsor such as Irish National Champion Dan Martin, David [...]

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Last weekend in Belgium the worlds best faced a tough test at the notorious Houffalize course.  20,000 spectators lined the course as Julian Absalon powered home in the men’s race with World Champion Margarita Fullana topping the female podium.

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This man can ride his bike.  Check out this trials masterclass from Scottish rider Danny MacAskill.  This video has been an Internet sensation amassing over 4 million hits on Youtube in a short period and while many of you may have already seen it it is worthwhile showing it here. Enjoy!

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A couple of years ago Shimano introduced a new form of shifting - Dual Control.  Riders reacted badly thinking that they were a replacement for Rapidfire and they were tainted as a fad.  Shimano even admit that they got the marketing all wrong.  However recently we were convinced to try them and boy is the [...]

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On Sunday last the third round of the cross country NPS took place in Carlingford County Louth.  Organised by the local Cuchulainn MTB club, the race featured many technical singletrack sections  and saw a great attendance.  Results are below.  Unfortunately lap times, DNF’s and lapped riders were not recorded nor were placings for Sports beyond [...]

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This multipurpose watch is designed as the complete outdoor tool and it certainly comes close. Featuring an altimeter, barometer and compass it’s the final feature which proves the most attractive - GPS.

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After the quagmire that was NPS2, Carlingford has never looked so good and this year should be no exception with a return to one of the great XC courses in Ireland.

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