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The Biking Hub is a cycling site run by cycling enthusiasts. Everyone involved in the project loves riding their bikes, even though we live in different locations and ride distinctively different types of bikes. Ashwin is a cross country racer from Virginia, Greg and Denise are freeriders from my neck of the woods, and Dan is a bike freak from Ontario. There are a couple of others who we’d like to bring on board but we’re saving them for later. Me? I live in southwest British Columbia and ride pretty much everything, although I really enjoy flying through fast, technical singletrack.
We’re going to be updating the site regularly, so you’ll see fresh new content four or five times per week. That’s in addition to the regular posts we make about gear reviews on other sites, interesting discussions on this-or-that weblog or forum, and the type of bike-related sites we really enjoy.
This first week, I’m presenting ‘how-to’ article that highlights key parts of this site so you can get the most out of your time here. Also, the other contributors will post their introductions and there will be some fresh content available for reading. And barring any catastrophic solar flares, next week you’ll see new stuff from everybody.
Finally, we want our readers, whether they’re 35-year-old noobs or industry insiders, to add to this site too. You can do this by using the comment feature you can access at the bottom of each article (click on the title of an entry to access the commenting interface). For us, it’s all about keeping folks stoked on cycling and making it easier to find the type of information they’re looking for. Read the rest of this entry »
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BikeMagic posted up an interview with Cannondale rider Aaron Chase. The writeup provides a brief overview of Chase’s career, gives insight into the bike development process, and discusses the pressures of being a pro rider for a large bike company.
Chase, the winner of the 2005 Red Bull District Ride, recently signed a new contract with long-time team Cannondale that ensures the rider will be with the company for at least two more years.
Be sure to check out Chase’s segments in the Chain Reaction series of bike videos to see his smooth, street-influenced style.
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Following up on my entry from a couple of days back that discussed some of the riders signed on to the Cannondale team for 2006 is some more news about who’s going where for next year.
Norco signed freerider Gareth Dyer to a multi-year deal (.pdf), a move that gives the BC company an ‘established’ name on the freeride scene. I’m pretty certain that Dyer’s signing will give Norco exposure in slopestyle competitions and some of the larger freeride videos that make it to market.
Cycling News has a decent writeup covering additions and resignings by other teams, including Subaru-Gary Fisher, Honda, GT, and Mongoose. Check it out!
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There’s been a bunch of announcements in recent weeks covering rider movement between old and new sponsors but, today, I’m going to focus on Cannondale and write about the company’s recent additions.
Cannondale lost a couple of its most visible riders in the past couple of months — Christoph Sauser moved to Specialized and, while there’s been no formal announcement, word is Cedric Gracia will return to French manufacturer Commencal. In response to Sauser’s departure, Cannondale signed two new riders and retained the services of two current riders. For 2006, Peter Riis Anderson and Jakob Fuglsang, both from Denmark are set to join Swedish ace Fredrik Kessiakoff and Kiwi Kashi Leuchs. Cannondale is making a good choice with these selections — the company looks set to develop some formidable young talent that Cannondale hopes will challenge for the cross country podium at the 2006 World Championships and in the 2008 Olympic Games.
While there seemed to be a little bitterness in the Cannondale camp when Sauser left, there was no such public display about Gracia, other than renaming the Gracia’s signature bike the ‘Judge’. Looking for a replacement for Gracia, Cannondale instead went for two riders instead of one, snapping up former Haro rider Mick Hannah and adding freerider Carlo Deickmann to the lineup. Few people will be surprised by the selection of Mick Hannah — he’s fast, young, and likely won’t have the same sort of elan that Gracia has. In Deickmann, Cannondale gets an up-and-comer capable of throwing down the big moves in front of huge crowds.
Update (10 January 2006): The complete 2006 Cannondale mountain bike team has been listed over at Cannondale’s weblog.
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Norco headquarters are located about a 15 minute drive away from my place and I know a bunch of people who have, or have had, some involvement with the company over the years. By and large, these people love their jobs, and now the company can prove it: Earlier this week, Norco was ranked as one of the top 25 companies to work for in British Columbia. The rankings are based partly on a confidential survey given to employees from over 800 select companies.
As well as being a good place to work, Norco plays an active role in the community, providing support to local trailbuilders and trail advocacy organizations. The company also does its bit to help grow the sport at the grassroots level, sponsoring riding areas like the Sprockids bike park in Gibsons, BC.
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Working with Bicycling magazine’s BikeTown Africa project and Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation’s Secure The Future program, Kona has agreed to supply the program with 200 bicycles. Kona Bike Town documents the “development and delivery” of the bicycles, each of which is designed to help health care workers in AIDS- and HIV-ravaged Botswana.
The Bike Town site is a great resource for advocates and people interested in the bike design process. Cap it off with easily accessible updates about the project and you’ve got a solid start to a worthwhile program. I’ll be interested to see how the design team adjusts to the specific requirements of the project. Neat stuff.
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In 2003, Johnny Waddell was at the top of his game. He had a horrific crash at a downhill event at Mont St. Anne, a crash so bad Waddell ended up in a hospital bed with a coma. I remember watching some video footage of the crash and being amazed that Waddell even lived — it was one of those things that you really don’t want, or need, to see again.
Fast forward two years and you’ll again find Waddell on a bike, although this time he’s focusing on endurance racing and 24 Hour solo events. Normally, I don’t spend a whole lot of time following race results, if only because I’m not much of a racer, but I’ll make an exception for this guy and bring it up once in a while.
Kudos to Santa Cruz for offering their support and re-signing Waddell to the Syndicate.
Sources: Mountain Bike Action | Bike Magazine
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Mountain Bike Action is reporting that Specialized Bikes lured Christoph Sauser away from Siemens-Cannondale. I’m convinced that this move is all about marketing, since it’s probably safe to assume that Sauser is going to continue his successful career on the World Cup race circuit, and Specialized is set to cash in on his top-notch performances.
Now that Cannondale’s powerhouse on the cross country race scene is riding another company’s bikes, I’ll be interested to see how the vaunted Cannondale Scalpel does on the World Cup race circuit. I understand that Cannondale won’t be able to replace a rider like Sauser — especially a rider in the prime of his racing career — but a company that based so much of its marketing material on the bike’s success in reaching the podium likely needs to continue its run to maintain credibility with consumers.
Similarly, I’m interested to see what (and how) Specialized does with Sauser and a bunch of strong up-and-comers (like Liam Killeen).
Update - 14 October 2005: Colour me purple, but is sounds like there’s a little bit of bitterness in the Cannondale camp in regards to Sauser leaving for the big ‘S’;. Not that I’d blame them but, to be fair, the life of a pro cyclist doesn’t seem to be an easy one and cashing in on their talent is their perogative.
Oh the drama.
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Following up on an earlier post about Mountain Bike Action’s foray into digital publishing comes news that Apple has made available Red’s Dream, a 1987 Pixar short film about a unicycle, to users of its iTunes store. While I’m not too sure about Red’s Dream itself — and I’m hesitant to drop $3 on it, since I’m not what you call an animation afficionado — the entire concept of digital delivery for video is an intriguing proposition for consumers and content providers.
With the recent growth in the availability of broadband Internet access and reputable online services showing that it is, in fact, possible to provide legal, commercial free, high quality video to consumers (who are willing to pay for it), I’d like to think that Pixar’s animated short is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to online video content. As someone without cable television, I’d love to be able to purchase bike-related content (like the individual stages of the Tour de France) instead of relying on the goodwill of my cable enabled friends.
Of course, time will tell but it’s likely that this writeup will be obsolete in two or three years. At least I’m hoping it will.
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I know I wrote that there wouldn’t be any more updates about Interbike, but there were a few worthy late additions to the mass of writeups that came out of Vegas.
Bike: Bike Magazine has a couple of writeups that surfaced after the show and I’m going to let you uncover those on your own. The fourth installment in the Bike’s Interbike 2005 series has a number of great product shots and some good thoughts on new products from SRAM (2006 XO, road group), Hayes (7″ rotors), and steel frames from Salsa Cycles.
Update (14 October 2005): Despite the show being over for a couple of weeks, Bike continues to crank out some solid writeups on the annual bike trade show. The latest Interbike installment features good information on the Marin Quake, the Fox 36 (Van and TALAS), the Fox DHX Air, new stuff from Marzocchi, and a brand spanking new U-Lock from Kryptonite.
NSMB.com: NSMB had some great coverage during the event and continued to pump out some decent stuff after the event. One of the latest Interbike updates from NSMB includes gear from Dakine, Rocky Mountain, Knolly Bikes, and a pimpin’ wheelset from DT-Swiss.
Pinkbike.com: Pinkbike stumbles across the finish line with a strong smattering of images from the trade show. There are too many individual products to list, but highlights include the United Bicycle Institute, Sinister Bikes, 5:10 Shoes, and some good shots of the Rocky Mountain Slayer and RMX, the Cannondale lineup, and many more.
Update (20 October 2005): One last update from Pinkbike, and it includes great shots of gear from Iron Horse, SRAM, Norco, Rock Shox, and Scott, among other exhibitors. In addition to the others, the piece includes some excellent shots of the Giant Glory and the trail-oriented Reign.
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