Product Tests

TITUS LAUNCHES CARBON FIBER ACCESSORY LINE--JAN 20 Titus Cycles, the mid-sized custom bike maker in Tempe, Arizona, announced the launch of its ?Maxm? component lineup. The first items to hit your local dealer's showcase will be…
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JD COMPONENTS HIRES CFE--JAN 21 Boehmke To Create Components "Hopes To Change The World" JD Components, one of Taiwan's leading manufacturers of handlebars, stems, seatposts, barends and other bicycle components, has hired Chunky…
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DEC 30--IBIS IS BACK! They told us they would be back. John Castellano, the other design wizard at Ibis, has re-entered the market with the last model Ibis introduced just before they closed doors. Formerly known as a Ripley, the…
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ORDER YOUR COPY OF SUPERHEROS III--NOV 13 Order the DVD now for only $24.95, plus receive a FREE Mountain Bike Action sticker pack! Superheros III is one of the most highly anticipated mountain bike movies of the year. It…
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CANE CREEK'S 2003 TUBELESS DISC WHEELSET! We have spent the last few weeks pounding the new Cane Creek Zonos disc wheels on our XC test courses and secret jump spot. Following are the 14 reasons to buy a set of Zonos tubeless wheels.…
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OCT 28-- IMPORTANT RECALL NOTICE ATTENTION owners of the following Cannondale bicycles: * 2002 Gemini 2000 * 2002 Gemini 1000 * 2003 Gemini 2000 * 2003 Gemini 1000 * 2003 Gemini 900 In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer…
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CANNONDALE LOOKS GOOD FOR '03 FIRST TEST OF THE JEKYLL 500 Cannondale has given some major upgrades to their 2003 Jekyll line. We had a chance to test the '03 entry-level Jekyll 500 to prove the point, and to give MBA readers a…
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SEPT 25--MEGATECH BOTTOM BRACKET STANDARD! PRESENT BOTTOM BRACKETS ARE WIMPY Threaded bottom bracket shells were adapted from the road bike and, except for being widened from 68mm to 73mm, remain unchanged. Mountain bike and…
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MAVIC LIGHTENS WHEELS AND LOWERS PRICES--SEPT 18 This coming season, Mavic will answer the wishes of both cross-country and trail riders. A lighter version of the Crossmax wheel will be sold under the SL designation. SL wheels come…
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FIRST TEST OF THE TIME VTT PEDALS--SEPT 12 By Chris Firth A few days ago Kurt Stockton stopped by the office fresh off the plane from the Time corporate office in France with a brand new set of the eagerly anticipated VTT…
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IS THE EPIC TOO SMART?--SEPT 11 By Eddie Arnet Have you ever dreamed of riding a bike that automatically knows when to act like a hardtail and when it's quicker to have suspension? A bike that switches so quickly from shock to…
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SHIMANO'S 2003 XTR-LEVEL TUBELESS WHEELSET Shimano's built-wheel program has been very successful in the road racing market, but, until now, its paired-spoke hoops did not catch the attention of top-level off-road racers. Today,…
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GREAT NEWS FOR DUAL-SUSPENSION PILOTS R.Cunningham Noleen Racing will rebuild almost any shock or fork Noleen Racing's website has information and pricing for its extensive motorcycle and mountain bike suspension rebuilding…
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REPLACEMENT BATTERIES, BULBS AND CHARGERS--JULY 29 Tom Robbins, President of TurboCat Lighting Systems, has announced a program to make replacement batteries, bulbs and chargers available for a number of discontinued lighting…
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MARZOCCHI REVEALS ITS 2003 SECRETS--JULY 1 Marzocchi Hosted its 2003 product launch in the heart of the Swiss Alps. High temperatures and clear skies made for a productive weekend that included a day of long-travel testing on Scouls…
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INSIDE THE NEW INTENSE VPP PROTOTYPES--JUNE 19, 2002 By Chris Firth I was lucky enough to practice on the new prototype slalom bike from Intense at the Big Bear National. It's a new frame designed around a…
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BALFA CYCLE ANNOUNCES NEW TRAILBIKE--MAY 29 Balfa Cycles, a small, influential mountain bike firm in Montreal, Canada, has developed a dual-suspension chassis intended for on-the-edge trail riders. The Belair has a single-pivot…
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ROCKSHOX UNVEILS ITS 2003 LINEUP?MAY 21 And, they will be made in Taiwan? The most famous name in cycling suspension products was purchased in a white knight deal by SRAM a short while ago and we met some new faces at the RockShox…
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IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE: 2002 ENDURO FSR BICYCLES Do you own a 2002 Specialized Enduro FSR purchased since October, 2001 and March 15th, 2002? We have received isolated reports from the field which you should be aware of as an…
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WHAT?S NEW FROM MANITOU?--APRIL 2 Meet Sherman and the 1.5 Standard By Chris Firth Once again Manitou has been hard at work designing an entirely new fork line for 2003, but they have something extra up their sleeve for us this…
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SHIMANO?S BRAKE LEVER SHIFTING 2003 XTR--MAY 1 If you read this once, read it again, we've added riding impressions of Shimano's upcoming super-gruppo! HOW THE BRAKE-LEVER SHIFTING SHIFTS: Shifting by swinging the lever blades…
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ANSWER LICENSES 5th ELEMENT DAMPING TECHNOLOGY Press Release For Immediate Release Answer Licenses 5th Element Damping Technology Answer Products, Inc. and Progressive Suspension announce today that Answer has licensed the rights…
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A MANNISH TOOLBOX INDEED So, you pull into the pits, or maybe it's the camping area that adjoins the race venue. There, surrounded by the Bounder motor coaches, box vans and travel trailers of the Gucci racing set, you begin to…
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ROCKSHOX TAKES THE MIDDLE GROUND     RockShox issued an official statement on its position regarding the proposed oversized steerer, headtube and headset standard that was recently put forth by the OnePointFive coalition. The gist…
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HOW TO PATCH A TUBELESS TIRE--JAN 17 (Check out the April Issue Of MBA for the complete story!) Yeah, we all know how to repair a tube, but try to glue that same patch to the inside of a tire carcass and it will flake off faster than…
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BALFA'S NEW BELAIR--JAN 9 (Press Release) BALFA CYCLES of Montreal, Canada is proud to present the first pictures of its new frame simply called BELAIR, available late winter 2002 as a frameset or complete bike. The frame bears…
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MOUNTAIN CYCLE BOUGHT BY KINESIS--DEC 21 Mountain Cycle, the mid-sized mountain bike builder who revolutionized the stodgy stick-figure hardtail with its monocoque San Andreas dual-suspension chassis--and led the way with the first…
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MBA TESTS THE 5TH ELEMENT--NOV 27 "I wouldn't have asked you to come along for this if the shock isn't as good as it is." I'm Eddie Arnet and that was what RC told me while loading coffee, herbal tea, riding gear and cameras into the…
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ROCKSHOX BLACKBOX RACING PROGRAM GOES PUBLIC-9-5 RockShox announced on September 3rd, that it will be selling copies of the once-exclusive BlackBox pro racing fork to mountain bikers at large. The press release claimed that most…
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SPECIALIZED 2002 SNEAK PEAK MBA editor Jimmy Mack traveled to Specialized for a first-look at their 2002 lineup. The first order of biz was lighter and stronger aluminum alloys for S-Works and Stumpjumper models. The M-5 stuff is…
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