Oakley’s newest Short and Jersey

Review: Oakley’s Ballistic Short and Direct Dial Jersey

The Ballistic short and Direct Dial Jersey from Oakley

Oakley has long been known for their over the top engineering and boundary pushing designs in sunglasses. However, they take that same attitude into their mountain bike apparel with the Ballistic Short and Direct Dial jersey. With fabrics and construction specifically meant for aggressive mountain biking, Oakley once again proves why their products are in demand. Read more and see photos after the break. The Ballistic short is meant for the freerider in you. The shorts are made of 98% polyester along with 2% Rayon and have a brushed feel and appearance. With a baggy fit and multiple panel construction, the Ballistic allows for good freedom of movement. The knee length fit, just past the knees for me, didn’t impede my pedaling and offered a little extra protection on the trail. You can dial in the waist using two adjustable velcro tabs on each side, and a silicon gripper around the waist helps keep it in place. Also sewn into the waist is a small key pouch. Two large side pockets have velcro closures to keep the contents from flying out as you bomb down and there is also smaller zippered pocket on the left leg.

The Ballistic short has a nice textured feel and a silicon gripper in the waist.

The Ballistic comes with a removable chamois liner that can be cut from the short after purchase. The liner is made of a mesh material to keep you cool and has a silicon gripper along the waist and on each leg to keep it in place. The chamois itself is 10mm thick and features channeling for comfort.

The liner features silicon grippers on the legs and waist and a multi channeled chamois

For those fun rides featuring plenty of downhill, the Ballistic is a great choice. The fit and style will ensure you at least look the part when rolling up to the trail. Construction is solid with a well thought out paneled design and flat lock seams. The chamois is adequate for the type use this short will receive. It’s not the best for super long days in the saddle on the cross country bike, but that’s not what this short is about. I cut the liner chamois from my pair, mainly so I can wear the Ballistic around town as a regular short. Cost on the Ballistic short is $150, which is definitely the upper limit of shorts these days, but they are versatile and offer plenty of features as well as style.

Moving to the Direct Dial jersey, this again is a piece for the freeriders. The cut is very large and is meant to be worn with or without pads. Since my riding style does not warrant full on pads, the jersey felt a bit large. The 3/4 sleeves come pretty far down and the chest is enormous. It found it worked well for days when I used the lifts to ride more downhill than up.

The Direct Dial jersey is made to be worn with or without pads.

The Direct Dial is unique in that the body features 68% Cocona, an eco-friendly fabric made from coconut shells. It is amazing at wicking away moisture, keeping odor at bay and has a soft feel to it. The other 32% of the body, and the sleeves are made of polyester. The fabric also provides a small amount of sun protection with a UPF rating of 15-24. Another neat feature is the small micro cloth woven into the side for cleaning your sunglasses. The Direct Dial has a drop down tail to keep you fully covered and a high V neck that doesn’t feel constricting.

A small micro fiber cloth is woven into the side so you can clean your optics on the trail.

On the trail the Direct Dial was a bit large, but the 3/4 sleeves offered some protection from branches stretching across the trail. The Cocona fabric really does wonders keeping you dry and relatively odor free. Since I don’t really wear pads when riding, I could see myself sizing down to a small for this, which would give it a more specific fit for my riding style. That said, for those riders that do wear pads, the Direct Dial would be a versatile jersey to have on hand. At $75 retail the Direct Dial again isn’t the cheapest you’ll find, but this is Oakley after all.

Overall I was impressed with both pieces. While maybe not exactly fit for my style of riding, they performed well in the areas they were designed for. Extra features like the micro cloth, key pockets compliment the smart construction and good fabrics. If you are in the market for something a bit different with more style than most, give the Oakley line up a shot.

Oakley's Ballistic short and Direct Dial jersey are great for freeriding.

Garmin unveils new Edge 800

Building up some hype just before InterBike, Garmin unveiled the newest edition to their line of G.P.S. enabled cycling computers today, the Edge 800. Smaller than the 705, the 800 has new features like a 2.6″ touch screen color display and Garmin’s BaseCamp route planning software.

Here is Garmin’s quick run down of the Edge 800’s features:

• A simple touchscreen interface and intuitive menus.
• Smaller and sleeker than the Edge 705, yet features a larger 2.6” display
• It tracks speed, distance, time, GPS position, elevation, calories burned, climb and descent.
• It syncs wirelessly with ANT+™ compatible power meters as well as Garmin heart rate monitors and speed/cadence sensors.
• The same streamlined design as Edge 500 but with color display and versatile mapping options
• Garmin’s free BaseCamp software (www.garmin.com/basecamp) lets users plan, preview and download routes as courses to follow.
• Download, analyze and share rides at Garmin Connect™ (http://garminconnect.com), the free-to-join online community
• Displays temperature readings, changes time zones automatically, and alerts riders if they’re moving but the timer has not been started.
• Compatible with Garmin’s Custom Maps and optional mapping such as TOPO U.S. 24K, City Navigator or subscription-based BirdsEye Satellite Imagery.
• It lasts up to 15 hours on one charge of rechargeable internal battery.

Consumers will see the Edge 800 on shelves October 8th. MSPR will range from $449.99 for the basics to $649.99 for the Performance and Navigation bundle. Bikerumor.com will have a full review so stay tuned.

Hoy en Monagas

Hoy por la tarde me di una escapadita para ver como esta Monagas. Comienzo por decirles que por favor le digan a todos los que conocen que no corran hasta que seque. Las Tablas da pena, hay trabajo por montones gracias a los desconsiderados que pasan por las areas mojadas y crean los canales con las gomas. Pareceria que no saben lo que hacen, mas bien, no lo saben. No tienen idea de que toma mas tiempo el que seque porque al pasar se compacta la tierra y no percola (drena) normalmente. En adicion, ESO NO SE ARREGLA SOLO. Estoy seguro que los que lo hacen nunca han donado ni un segundo de su tiempo para trabajar en una ruta, porque si lo hubieran hecho saben el trabajo que es.

Picapiedras, Magic Kingdom, La Ceiba y La Caverna estan super resbalosos, solo apto para los que le gusta y saben correr en esas condiciones. Y por favor, bajense en las areas humedas. A Los Boy Scouts ni entre porque me imagino que esta super mojado.

Propongo que planifiquemos un domingo para trabajar en Las Tablas temprano y correr por la tarde. Dejenme saber que opinan.

Single Speed World Championships

Single Speed World Championships 2010 New Zealand

Afroman, Banannas in Pajamas, and Indian Chiefs are only a few of the characters that are sure to gather at this year’s Single Speed World Championships in Rotorua, New Zealand. Coming off of the 2009 SSWC that were held in Durango, CO, SSWC 2010 promises to be one for the ages with over 900 competitors from over 30 countries! To put that in perspective, the previous best was SSWC04 held in Berlin which saw riders from only 17 different countries.

Rotorua is nicknamed the “Spiritual home of mountain biking in New Zealand,” and looks to be a great fit for a mountain bike race on such a grand scale. The actual race will be held on the primo single track of the Whakarewarewa Forest. If you’re not quite sure what SSWC is all about, just image 900 or so mountain bikers, all on single speeds, and most of them in costume. It is a giant part, with a race somewhere in the middle. Oh, and the winner doesn’t get a trophy, they get a tattoo. Rad Ross Schnell and Heather Irminger were the lucky recipients of some fresh ink from last years single speed riot.

How do you get to host the SSWC? You can start by hosting your own single speed championship race, and if all goes well and no one gets arrested then you can show up at the SSWC and plead your case. While at SSWC09, Rotorua Single Speed Society members Vicki Butterworth, and John McCartney laid the groundwork to secure NZ’s place in hosting this years event, with two very successful races already hosted by the RSSS.

The race is to be held on October 23, 2010, now less than 60 days away.

Nic Leary and Mark 'Cabin' Leishman are 2 of the top New Zealanders

BunchRideFinder Website Finds You A Group Ride Anywhere In The World, Sortof

This website, BunchRideFinder.com.au, claims to help you find a group ride in your area. You can choose a road ride, mountainbike ride, or track session on the menu bar and then select which country you are interested in riding. There is also a world map selection that lets you see rides pinpointed allover the world. The only problem with this site is the lack of group rides to choose from. It’s a nicely designed site, pleasant on the eyes and pretty easy to navigate. If you’re interested in putting your group ride on this site, you can click on the ‘add a ride’ button at the top of the screen and submit your regular group ride. Who knows, it could become a sort of “exchange program” for cyclists to find a group ride while away from home.

“Furniture For Urban Locomotion” Two New Bikes From Biomega

The LDN Bike from Biomega, a true "Urban Tool"?

Press Release: Biomega once again combines groundbreaking design with strong urban references and technical features to accommodate modern city lifestyle. The result is two striking city bikes for effective commuting in style, bringing the feel of something unique while moving through the cityscape.

The LDN bike, designed by organic essentialist Ross Lovegrove, and the NYC, designed by Danish design group KiBiSi, both follow the Biomega philosophy of “furniture for urban locomotion”. Classic and honest in their style and function, they meet the specific needs of city dwellers.

A TRUE URBAN TOOL

The LDN amazes with its stunning design by London based Ross Lovegrove. Its frame is made from carbon fiber sheets formed and layered to make a stiff and lightweight one-piece monocoque structure. LDN’s form is derived from a wishbone, linking all the necessary components of the drive steering and drives systems in the most direct and economical way possible. The hole is there to lighten the bike’s mass and to provide a detail from which to hang the bicycle on the wall, thereby saving space in restricted urban interiors. All moving parts of the bicycle are state-of-the-art selections designed to make LDN a true urban tool.

The NYC, by KiBiSi

THE POTENTIAL OF A CLASSIC
The NYC takes its cue from the iconic Biomega bicycle CPH, reinvigorating Biomega’s status as a pioneer of chainless bikes - this time with a smooth, quiet carbon fiber belt drive. The NYC’s sleek and no-nonsense look integrates a front mudguard in the aluminum down tube complimenting its aggressive, yet reliable urban driving properties. The NYC is designed by the three creative forces of Danish design group, KiBiSi, with the ambition to create an honest means of transport with the potential of a classic. Biomega dedicates this ultimate bicycle to the ultimate city - NYC.

The LDN bicycle will be displayed at the SHOWHOW design exhibition in Tent London on September 23rd to 26th 2010, while both LDN and NYC will be presented at the Eurobike and Interbike shows in September 2010. Learn more about Biomega at www.biomega.com

About Biomega
Biomega is a premium urban bicycle brand, alone in its category. Biomega designs and develops bicycles and related accessories. It is committed to creating a paradigm shift in the way society imagines transportation by making ‘furniture for urban locomotion’, developing bicycles so beautiful that they compete directly with cars and imbue our cities with new meaning. Biomega brings social innovation, design thinking and urban lifestyle to the world of bicycles, that start in urban functionality and ends in high design. The brand features collaborations with PUMA and renowned designers such as Marc Newson and Ross Lovegrove. The company, which was founded in 1998, distributes its products in more than 20 countries, and has headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information, please visit www.biomega.com

About Ross Lovegrove
Ross Lovegrove is sometimes called “Captain Organic” for the way his designs build upon the principles of evolution and microbiology; simply put, Lovegrove finds inspiration in the clean, organic lines of nature, and builds on that inspiration in his high-tech designs. A pioneer in industrial design and a founder of Studio X, Lovegrove was presented the world technology award by TIME magazine and CNN in November 2005.

About KiBiSi
Founded by Kilo Design / Lars Holme Larsen, BIG / Bjarke Ingels and Skibsted Ideation / Jens Martin Skibsted, KiBiSi is a Copenhagen based idea-driven industrial design firm. KiBiSi works with culturally leading brands and fortune 1000 companies. Each partner contributes with intelligence and experience from within his specific field providing KiBiSi with cutting edge knowledge and knowhow within the fields of architecture, design, furniture, electronics, transportation, contemporary culture and lifestyle. KiBiSi is committed to making lasting designs that carry strong ideas. For more information, please visit www.kibisi.com.

Tech Article: How Rockshox Motion Control Works

I took a little tour of Rockshox’s Colorado Springs, CO, facility yesterday and had Sander Rigney, RS’s product manager, run through their Motion Control compression damping system for me. If you recall, we posted a tech article on how Fox Racing Shox’s Terralogic works recently, and it’s really cool to see how different companies use completely different mechanisms to accomplish a similar end result (and by similar, I’m not comparing performance, just the fact that all suspension brands want damping, etc.).

The parts above are what make up the Motion Control for their XC oriented forks. Motion Control DH is a little different and we didn’t take a look at that on this visit (update will come if we can get photos of that system, but I’ll explain how and why these versions are mainly for XC use versus DH).

For XC / Trail / All Mountain type riding, you have two options depending on how much you wanna spend on your fork: Motion Control and Blackbox Motion Control. Technically, you also have XX Motion Control, but it is essentially the same as Motion Control without the adjustable compression damping. Again, this is explained better in a sec.

Jump past the break to see how they work to control the compression…

Unlike many other suspension forks, Rockshox’s Motion Control mostly eschews shim stacks in favor of simple ports.

Shown directly above is Motion Control’s compression damping port fully open (left) and closed (right). They’re fuzzy because we used a very linty rag to wipe the oil off before we photographed them, they don’t look like that normally. So, when you turn the blue compression knob at the top of the right fork leg, you’re changing the size of the oil flow port. The more you close it, the more restricted the oil flow is and the slower your compression damping becomes. Simple, right?

With Blackbox Motion Control, you get Dual Flow compression damping. Shown on the right, this means you get a slightly differently shaped valve cover (the bronze piece) that lets oil flow through multiple ports. Why? Because there is a small shim stack behind the ports to control high speed compression damping (for when you drop off something or hit something really hard). The multiple ports let the oil flow through the shim stack evenly rather then coming at it all from one side. During slow speed compression the oil simply flows around the shim stack…it only comes into play on large hits.

The silver part is the shim stack.

So, the big difference between BBMC and MC is the secondary compression damping via the shim stack. That, and a titanium compression tube versus a thermoplastic one. These tubes are what control the lockout blowoff in conjunction with the Floodgate:

The other feature that’s built into the the Motion Control assembly is Floodgate, which is what sets the blowoff threshhold when the fork is locked out. And that’s where that technically named piece called “the poker” comes into play.

When you have the fork locked out, that essentially means the compression oil ports are closed, so no oil can flow and the fork can’t move. Well, in the real world, the fork should still move slightly to allow it to track well. The ti or plastic compression tubes will compress slightly even when the fork is locked, allowing several millimeters of travel. When you hit something really big while locked out, the tube will compress enough for the poker to, literally, poke the compression valve cover out, as shown above. This fully opens the oil flow for one hit, allowing the fork to soak up the hit, then a spring pushes it closed again (shown below).

Turning the Floodgate knob sets how much the tube will compress before it pokes the valve cover out. It only moves about 3mm total, which tells you how little the compression tube actually compresses to do its job.

With the XX Motion Control, you get the thermoplastic compression tube and the hydraulic remote that either fully opens or fully closes the ports. So, you don’t have any compression adjustment externally.

That said, the XLoc has a Floodgate control knob on it, and if you dial it all the way open, it provides something similar to a platform with good suspension motion, but it still won’t be quite as plush as when the lockout is turned off.

Esta es la persona que trabajo el trail de Toro Verde!!!

Bike Clinic Featuring Marla Streb And Hosted By Team LUNA Chix Raises Money For Breast Cancer

This past weekend the Tahoe area Team LUNA Chix hosted a women’s mountain biking clinic with former World Champion mountain biker Marla Streb. All proceeds from the cost of the clinic went to the Breast Cancer Fund, a charity supported by LUNA bar and all of the LUNA Chix teams. Click ‘more’ for more info and the press release.

Press Release: TRUCKEE, CA- The Tahoe LUNA Chix, a women’s mountain biking and cycling group, hosted a Women’s Only Downhill Mountain Biking Clinic with former national and world champion Marla Streb from 10 am to 5 pm on Aug 21 at Northstar- at- Tahoe.

This was a great opportunity for beginners and intermediate riders to take their skills to the next level in a supportive environment.

The clinic, which filled up at 12 women, included personal instruction, lunch, LUNA Sport clothing giveaway, park lift ticket and a goody bag. Cost of the clinic was $150 per person, with all proceeds donated directly to the Breast Cancer Fund. For more information on the LUNA Chix, go to www.teamlunachix.com.

For more about the Breast Cancer Fund mission, please visit www.breastcancerfund.org.

The riders were delighted with their gifts, especially the LUNA Sport tops. Inspired by the LUNA Chix Pros and local teams like the Tahoe group, LUNA Sport is devoted to creating superior go-to riding and athletic apparel just for women.
See www.lunasportgear.com

Update Corrida Familiar

Gracias a todos y todas que se dieron cita para la corrida. La pasameos super bien. Pronto el video de la corrida en el link de Vimeo. Hay una propuesta sobre la mesa de hacer esta corrida el primer domingo de cada mes, dejenos saber sus comentarios.

Corrida Familiar en Los Pinchos

Este domingo 22 de agosto, a las 8:30am todos los caminos conducen a Los Pinchos para una corrida familiar. Traigan a su pareja, a sus hijos, al gato, pero lo importante es que vayan con ganas de correr. No olviden llevar mucha agua que se pone caliente. Y como siempre, Georgie nos estara esperando con los Pinchos para reponer la energia.

El Night Ride fue Espectacular!

Como lo imaginabamos, una noche clara de nubes, un trail seco (aunque llovio el dia antes) y muchas ganas de correr. Ese fue el resultado para los que fueron a la corrida. Saludos a Mario que corrio de noche en el monte por primera vez, a ver si esto anima a que a Pucutu se le vaya el miedo.

Volvemos la semana que viene, pendiente al blog para el destino.

Night Ride en Los Pinchos!!!

Hoy entre 6:00 y 6:30 nos vamos a encontrar en Los Pinchos para un Night Ride. Pon a cargar tus luces y animate.

Levi Leipheimer, Rebecca Rusch Win Leadville Trail 100, Set New Course Records


With Lance Armstrong dropping out of contention earlier in the week, Levi Leipheimer left the competition in the dust to set a new course record at the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race. He finished in 6h 16m 37s, besting Armstrong’s time last year by 12 minutes. Photo above by TrekBen of Leipheimer rolling up to the finish line. Armstrong was quick to congratulate with, of course, a Tweet.

For the women, Rebecca Rusch followed suit by setting a new course record of 7h 47m.