Product Tests

MBA EXCLUSIVE DOWNHILL TEST: FOES ?02 TEAM ISSUE This ones going to be tough to beat Brent Foes totally revamped the DH-Mono downhill chassis for his own team--and the prototypes were immediately requested by an elite group…
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THE 2002 TREK FUEL--JUNE 26 Trek's honches paid a visit to MBA last week and gave us a preview of some 2002 tidbits. The dual-suspension Fuel gets some new technology in the form of moldable carbon fiber, a liquid substance…
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SPY PHOTOS OF THE NEW TREK DOWNHILL BIKE?JUNE 26 (Photos courtesy of Matt Conto) After months of Trek denying working on a new downhill bike design, MBA got our hands on these spy photos at Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury, NY. ABOUT…
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THE NEW CURNUTT/FOES SHOCK?JUNE 26 HOW IT WORKS Because the Curnutt valving system is incredibly simple (one-fifth the parts of a typical washer-stack piston), it is difficult to explain its operation with words alone Click Here For…
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MAGURA: INSIDE THE GERMAN BRAKE KING By John Ker Magura brakes have been around for a long time. In the last decade, they became the stoppers of choice for John Tomac, Shaun Palmer, Jurgen Beneke, Henrik Djernis and Bart…
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WE TEST THE MAVERICK Paul Turner's take on the ultimate trailbike You?ve heard the buzz about Maverick American, the Colorado think tank. Its a design firm headed by the man who founded RockShox and forever altered the course of…
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A NEW GENERATION OF MTB MOVIES?MAY 29 CONTACT A Film By: Reed Merschat Starring: Jeff Lenosky, Ryan Leech, and Lance Trappe Locations: England, Incline Club Skatepark, and the rocks of Utah Available through: www.crfilms.com for…
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THE 2002 ROCKSHOX DUKE --MAY 24 By Jimmy Mac We had a chance to ride the new Duke Race at a product introduction RockShox held in Durango, Colorado. The Duke impressed us on our initial ride with its steering performance and…
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THE RETURN OF THE VIRTUAL PIVOT POINT?MAY 15 The real story about the new downhill technology from Santa Cruz and Intense SANTA CRUZ REINSTATES THE VPP CONCEPT Rob Roskopp is one of two partners who run the show at Santa Cruz…
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THE RETURN OF THE VIRTUAL PIVOT POINT—MAY 15 The real story about the new downhill technology from Santa Cruz and Intense SANTA CRUZ REINSTATES THE VPP CONCEPT Rob Roskopp is one of two partners who run the show at Santa Cruz…
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ALISON DUNLAPS PRO BIKE--MAY 8 Only one American pro cross-country racer is able to consistently make the podium at the World Cup level: GTs Alison Dunlap. As a result, we?d expect that GT goes to extra lengths to make sure that her…
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GENUINE INNOVATIONS SECOND WIND PUMP By now everyone should be carrying a pump with them when they're out riding. There's no excuse to be "that guy" who never has a pump or tube. Genuine Innovations has come out with a micro pump…
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FLICK TRIX IRON HORSE PRO SHOP Since toys have become a thriving industry for BMX bikes and motorcycles, why not mountain bikes too? Flick Trix is selling this kit that builds up two complete bicycles: one downhill bike and one…
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FOX UNVEILS PRODUCTION SUSPENSION FORK--APRIL 5 By Richard Cunningham On April fifth, with the World Cup venue at Domain Chandon winery as a backdrop, Bob Fox, president of Fox Racing Shox, made a short speech, announcing the…
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SoBe Adrenaline Rush vs. RedBull Just thought we?d do a quick review and comparison of two of our favorite energy drinks. SoBe Adrenaline Rush tastes great, kind of like grapefruit juice and gingerale. Our test supply quickly became…
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AXO Vertigo Shoe If you're looking for a shoe with added ankle support, this may be it. Although it claims to be a recreational shoe, it's a top choice for trailriding, aggressive freeriding and downhill. The recessed cleat makes…
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Shimano SH-MP65 Shoes This is the new clipless BMX/dual/downhill shoe from Shimano. It's stiff enough to pedal well in clipless without loosing the input from the pedal, like so many other shoes. The recessed cleat lets the shoes…
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Maxxis 24x2.7-inch Tires We just got a set of these new twenty-four inch treads from Maxxis. Although the jury is still out whether or not the smaller tire in the back is really any advantage or not, there are still tons of riders…
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Maruchan Chili Flavor Ramen So I know all of you are thinking, "Why is there ramen in here?" Well most of us have to eat this stuff on long road trips or after we buy new bikes. I stumbled across this new flavor and it's renewed my…
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Atomic Aircorp Pedals Mike from Atomic Laboratories just sent us these great platforms. They feature adjustable setscrew pins to let the rider fine tune the traction. The pedals feature high quality German bearings so these should…
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SRAM Trigger Shifters Finally, we've gotten our hands on the long awaited SRAM trigger shifters and they look like they were worth waiting for. They should be ideal for riders who just can't seem to get comfortable with the idea of…
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CANNONDALE UNVEILS THE GEMINI?MARCH 13 (Click on photo) MBA scooped the rest of the best when we announced Cannondales Scalpel: a 22-pound XC racer that integrates every trick in the short-travel, dual-suspension book into one…
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RIDING TEAM VOLVO/CANNONDALE'S NEW XC SLED--3-22 Cannondale had a high-level meeting between the race team's management, its research and development leaders and the marketing staff to determine where they should position their…
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HOPE ENDURO 4 BRAKES These are the latest stoppers from those brake guys across the pond at Hope. They're a bit lighter than last years DH04s (about 65 grams) and have even more strength to pull your bike to a halt. You can run…
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SELLE SAN MARCO PAOLA PEZZO SADDLE Selle San Marco has come out with this dope limited edition Paola Pezzo signature edition seat. It features a shape and diamond cut. There are also elastomer inserts that damp vibrations transmitted…
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HOPE CUSTOM ROTORS Hope has started to custom machine text into their rotors. This gives us too many ideas to mention. Is your wife/girlfriend complaining about spending too much time and money at the races? Get a custom rotor with…
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PAUL TURNER'S MAVERICK BECOMES A REALITY--FEB 1 Last Fall, RockShox founder Paul Turner was testing a dual-suspension prototype he designed that utilized a single fork leg behind the seat tube. MBA paid Turner a visit at his Boulder…
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PARK SHOP TIRE TOOL Park sent us this pretty cool tire lever. It attaches at the axle of your wheel, a hook goes under the bead and then you just spin the tool removing the tire from the rim. Sorry DH guys, this isn't going to help…
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FOX X-LARGE GEAR BAG If you're like most riders you have tons of stuff to haul around and the Fox X-Large gear bag will probably fit all of it. It features a padded shoulder strap and walls that help the bag retain its shape. It's…
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ABUS GRANNIT-X U LOCK This is one heavy duty lock! It's said to be able to withstand six tons of pulling and twisting power before it breaks. We'd believe it too because this is a super heavy lock. In fact it would be rather…
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