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We at cmtb have been riding mountain bikes for a long time (15 years) and have seen huge advancements and changes in technology, style and even how we ride.
When we started biking everything was light, and if it wasn't light we took the drill to it to make it lighter. Then once we had finished giving our bike the 'Swiss Cheese' look we glammed it up with anodized purple everything. Bar ends were all the rage, bull bars were even cooler and there wasn't a riser bar in sight. Suspension? Pah! Although suspension forks were available they weighed about 7 pounds, had around 50mm of elastomer travel and were so flexi it felt like you had a couple of wet noodles attached to the front of your bike. Brake wise canti's were king the 'V' style brake was an expensive after market bit of kit (until the Big S 'borrowed' the idea).


As mountain biking evolves so fast it wasn't long until people started to realize drilling holes in your bike was a bad idea. Companies started to experiment with new exotic materials like.........Aluminum! Oh, and Titanium, Carbon etc.
Suspension was really one of the first big changes in our sport. A little known company 'Proflex' borrowed some money from 'K2' a well-known skate/ski brand and started to produce the first real full suspension bikes (I'm sure someone will tell me another company were first but Proflex brought full sus within reach of everyone). Other companies jumped on the bandwagon too, like 'GT' with the 'RTS' and 'Manitou" who made their own frame which used a set of suspension forks both at the front and the back.


Now we had around 2-3 inches of travel on our bikes we started to go 'Crazy' and ride things we never thought possible on a rigid bike. Downhill racing, the single most important change in mountain biking to this date (imop) became popular, people started to ride faster and harder, and bikes evolved to help the riders gain more speed. Canti brakes changed to 'V' style and then disc brakes. Bike companies designed bikes with 4!!! Inches of travel, and the first Downhill specific bikes began to emerge.

I remember seeing the GT LTS DH Team frame at the local bike store, this was a real monster back then around 4 inches of travel at the back and a set of Judy DH forks these were basically the same as the XC forks but were 'Judy Red' and had 20mm more travel, 80mm!! I remember looking at how much travel it had and thinking, "If I had that bike I could jump off anything!!”

(the above bike does not have Judy DH forks)
Talking of the Rockshox Judy forks, thanks to the popularity of these forks anodized purple was no longer the colour of choice instead companies made 'Judy compatible" components, basically they were either red or yellow parts which matched your Judy SL's or Judy DH's.

Bikes got more and more travel (XC and DH) frame geometry changed to take advantage of this extra travel. Everyone started to use riser bars and 'V' style brakes, and aluminum became a more common site on bike frames, and also began to drop in price.

Now, coming to the present a little downhill bikes have started to get lighter, and new disciplines using other specialized bikes have popped up. Dirt jumping, Freeride and Dual slalom, this really started the same time as DH (Zaskar's rule!!).


So, we went from 21 to 27 speed, Canti brakes to hydraulic disc brakes, rigid to full suspension/hardtail and bull bars to riser bars so what’s next?

We at chinamtb think G-Boxx. Not a new idea Nicolai had the first G-Boxx bike a while back but, thanks to the efforts of Karl Nicolai and companies like Suntour it looks like it's here to stay and within the next few years we will see more and more bikes using it.

G-Boxx is a gearbox, which mounts on your main frame where your bottom bracket would normally be. There are currently two flavors available (please, correct me if im wrong) G-Boxx 1 which is the original one Nicolai used on their earlier D/H bikes.
G-Boxx 1 has 14 speeds, and used Rohlhoff hub gear internals. They were originally welded to the frame. The chain running from your crank to the rear wheel is on the left, rather than right, this means a special rear caliper is needed.

G-Boxx 2 is much newer and has only just gone in to mass production at Suntour. Suntour borrowed the rights from Nicolai to make a newer their own version. It is smaller and lighter and used 7 speeds to begin with but production models have 9. The chain runs on the right meaning a regular rear wheel and brake can be used. Nicolai have also released a G-boxx 2 it looks the same but the internals are diff from the Suntours.

The advantages of G-Boxx are:
No rear mech to knock and break on rough downhills,

Better center of gravity for, turning, jumping etc.

Lighter rear end better acceleration and braking.

Both use G-Con which is an International Standard meaning any G-Boxx will fit any G-Boxx frame (as long as your chain is on the same side). Companies from around the world have started to experiment with the idea. Orange, Ghost bikes, Da Bomb etc have all shown bikes using the Suntour version of the G-Boxx, Suntour even made their own frame to show it off.


Other companies have gone the G-Boxx style route too, GT have the IT1 which uses a Shimano Nexus 8 speed hub mounted in the frame and of course the Honda RN-01 which has proven to be a reliable and competitive bike for a number of years in the UCI world cup.

So what do you think? Do you think in the future we will be all laughing at our old derailleur equipped bikes, or will G-Boxx go the way of purple anodizing?

Colnago has just announced they will release the first bike specially made for Ferraris 60th year anniversary at the CHINA CYCLE show. The bike was finished last week and now is the only one in the world. The bike will be displayed in Hall W1, 0915, at Leeduo's booth. Leeduo is the official distrubutors of Colnago in China.

Easily one of the nicest looking full suspension frames on the Chinese market, the Speed One Flash is a light weight XC frame. The main triangle is made from a welded scandium/aluminium alloy, each of the welds are filed and filled to produce beautifully smooth joints.

The rear chainstays are made from thin pieces of carbon fiber bonded and bolted to the bottom bracket shell. The stays are designed with enough flex in them to replace a traditional bearing/pivot suspension design found on other frames.
The rest of the rear suspension follows other common bike designs but with the addition of a titanium rebound plate, which attaches to the rear shock via the seat tube.

Prices start at 5500RMB ($712 U.S) and it weighs in at 2.5kg (5.5 pounds) with the rear shock.

Overall a very impressive looking frame, we hope to get a glimpse at the rest of the Speed One lineup at China Cycle 07 in May.

9 halls, an outdoor exhibition area and an outdoor activity area!!

Coming soon to chinamtb is a full bicycle supplier/Manufacturer database. If you are looking to source bikes, frames, parts or anything bike related it will be only a quick click away.
This service is only intended for the bicycle (or related) trade, although anyone will be able to view the database (for a short time) only companies will be able to make full use of this feature.
This database is really huge so is still a few weeks away from completion. We will also be gathering the latest product info from the Shanghai show.
If you want more information or would like your company to be listed please contact the sales dept. with your details.

Not long now until 'China Cycle 2007' opens its doors to the public.
This year people will have the chance to meet the Chinese Olympic BMX team at the Mongoose stand along with top Australian rider Steve McCann who will be signing autographs.
The show runs from the 4-7th of May at the Shanghai International Expo Center.
Chinamtb will be there to bring you all the latest product and industry news, we will also be attending the Asia X games (3rd-5th May) so keep posted for news and pics.

Interesting story found on disinfo.com
TOKYO -- In April, Nike erected a billboard in front of the Apple Store in Shibuya depicting a brakeless track bike and the slogan, "No Brakes, No Problem."
'Immediately, a furious discussion started up on the bicycle board of 2-channel, Japan's biggest and most important internet forum. Forum members soon launched a massive phone campaign targeting Nike, the Tokyo police department and the Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry. Very politely, the mob lectured officials about the dangers of speeding downhill without brakes. Less than 48 hours later, the billboard was taken down.

At first I thought this may be an attempt to get the Police out there with the people on are more approachable level, along similar lines to what they did in the U.S with the Trek Police bike.
Turns out its not which is a shame as it would be a nice idea with the upcoming Olympics, not to mention the local Bobbies ever expanding waist line.

This bike is in fact a traffic wardens who was fed up of having his bike stolen while he's giving people tickets. He figured no one would dare steal a Police bike so painted his up to scare potential thieves away. He even marked his bike up in Chinese and English to deter the international thieves.
About 4 million bikes are reported missing every year! It's such a huge problem that The Ministry of Public Security has started to offer rewards of between 100 yuan (US$12.9) and 5,000 yuan (US$645.9) to people who give information on stolen bicycles.

The construction of the Laoshan cross country course in Beijing is nearing completion, and in fact should be ready later this year in time for the "Good Luck Beijing' events. Luckily for you we at cmtb have a few 'Spy' shots for you. Unfortunately no photos of the track but, there are some good shots of the sewer pipe!!! Enjoy!!



The venue is located in western Beijing, close to the Laoshan Velodrome.
The track itself is 6.2 kilometres in circumference, has a fixed building with a floor space of over 8,000 square meters and a temporary spectator stand that can seat around 2,000 people.
When it's completed it will become a training base for the Chinese cycling team and will also be open to the public once the Games are over.

Try watching this masterpeice and not get the urge to go out riding.

Told you it was good, now go out find something huge you've always fancied riding and go big! Don't forget to send in your photos!

Ash over at China Car Times spotted this cheeky little frame made China.
Details are a bit thin on the ground although we can tell you it is made from aluminum and has an internal headset. The rear end is disc only, it features a full length seat tube and by the looks like it doesn't use bearings!
But, the most interesting feature of the bike is the uncanny similarity in design it has with the Marin Quake freeride/downhill bike.
Below is the Marin Quake.

Is it just us that can see the striking resemblance?
Looking at the rear shock, link plates and the b/b clearance we can only assume the manufacturers have the recreational market in their sites for this frame. To us this seems a bit of a waste, with a little work this could be turned in to a nice freeride/downhill bike.

We just received this email from Distilled Mountain Bike Magazine:

"Hi, we just wanted to let you guys in China know about the newest DH and Freeride mtb magazine from New York, USA, coming soon. Check out our blog at www.distilledmag.wordpress.com , and if anyone wishes to subscribe, we deliver anywhere in the world, including China.
 
Regards
The Distilled Team"

Nice to know that the rest of the mountain bike world haven't forgotten about us in China. I'll be placing my order ASAP.
If the link above doesn't work try www.distilledmag.com.

The new Vivid is Rockshox return to the long travel rear shock market. Its just what we have come to expect from Rockshox over the past few years a top quality and durable product.
It features tons of adjustment
• Low Speed compression adjustment.
• The bottom the red knob controls the ending stroke rebound.
• You can also adjust the ending stroke rebound that controls approx the last 75% to 100% of the rebound control.
Rockshox have designed the Vivid to be durable even when used for continuous aggressive riding.
The Vivid wont be available until 2008 so it gives us plenty of time to save up.

This year is celebrating their 20th anniversary so have brought out a special edition x.0 rear mech. The new x.0 features a carbon and alloy cage which improves the overall strength and also gold B bolt and nice gold decals.

The new rear mech weighs in at 194 grams for the short cage and 198 grams for the mid cage derailleur.
See the Sram site for more details.

The Tektro IO mechanical disc brake is the best mechanical disc brake I have used but, they do need some setting up to get working properly. Here are a few tips I find usful when setting them up.

1. Lube your inner cable
Yes, I know this really goes without saying but, many people still forget to lube their cables. I find either a good quality oil or a thin lithium grease works well. Remember some bikes might require a full length outer cable for your rear disc brake this can really effect the power of your brake so relube on a regular basis.

2. Use good quality cables
This is another thing overlooked by most. If you are running a very long cable to your rear brake make sure its a good quality one, otherwise the cable may compress when the brake is pulled making the brake 'spongy'. For the same reason you should also make sure you use the outer cable 'top hats' or cable ends.

3. Choose a good brake lever
I highly recommend Avid brake levers with the IO's I and other riders have tried other levers but the Avids feel the best.

4. Disc/pad alignment
When setting the calipers up have the pad which moves hit the disc first and push the disc into the static pad. On the back of the caliper there is a 5mm allen bolt this can be used to adjust the position of the static pad for fine tuning.

5. Give them time to bed in
All disc brakes need a initial bedding in period. I try to over use my brakes on the ride to the trail for example on a long road downhill ill pull the brakes a little all the way down to generate some heat in the pads, this really speeds up the bedding in process which can take some time depending on how often you ride. Once bedded in you will really feel the difference.

This place looks amazing and, at only 5500rmb for a return flight to Sweden and 2500rmb for 7 days accommodation (including lift passes) seems a bit of a bargain.
Have a look at the this video for a glimpse of the riding available.
So guess where the chinamtb team are planning on going next year?
That's right Åre Bike Park! It boasts 24 trails thats over 40km of well maintained riding heaven!!
Trails range form newby to expert so everyone should find something for their level of riding and they even have a riding school. For more info check out the Are bike park website which has more videos, pictures and maps of the trails.

If you are interested in joining us for what is going to be the ultimate biking holiday drop us an email or leave a comment.

Professional dirt, street and vert BMX rider, Steve McCann, will visit the CHINA CYCLE Show (May 4-7, 2007, Shanghai New International Expo Center) on Saturday, May 5. Steve will sign autographs at the Mongoose booth # E1-0116 from 1:30 until 2:30.

Steve is competing this year at Shanghai’s X Games Asia in the street and vert competitions.

Born in 1983, the Australian-born rider turned pro in 1999 and has been dominating contests ever since. 2007 marks the first year McCann will compete in the Vert category professionally, making him a triple-threat. McCann travels the world riding for Mongoose and now lives at Woodward Camp, Pennsylvania (USA) where he trains with some of the world’s best riders.

Come see one of the biggest stars in BMX at the Mongoose booth. Also, stop by the Mongoose booth on Friday, May 4 at 2:00 to meet athletes from the China National BMX Race team, which will compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Mongoose is the official bike sponsor of the National team, and athletes will be at the show signing autographs.

Last night was the first chinamtb/XGNBT weekly night ride, and what better night to start than on Friday 13th!!

Check out the rest of the night ride pictures here.
The next night ride will be next Friday 20th April, if you would like to join us drop me an email and ill send you more info.

I and other chinamtb riders have been using these Da Bomb pedals for good length of time and have to say they are one of the best freeride pedals we've used. I had to actually use these pedals on two bikes at one time swapping from my street bike to my downhill bike, as a pair of Exustar pedals failed on me on a rather small jump!! These Da Bombs have really taken a pounding, drops, jumps and crashes (lots of crashes) and they're still running as smooth know as they did when new.
They feature 12 replacable pins on each side, sealed bearings (that not even the sea water can dissolve!! I only know this as I managed to drop my bike in the sea!!) and alloy bodies covered in a tough black finish.
When I first rode on them I felt they were a little small but after many months of riding they feel great!
Overall a good strong reliable pedal which should last you a very long time and great value at only 180 RMB a pair.
See the Da Bomb website for more great products.

I'm sure most of you out there already know about 'Rip TV' but, if youve had your head in the clouds for the past few months heres the skinny. 'Rip TV' is an extreme sports TV station on your computer, for free NOW!!!
Here's a small taster of the videos they are playing at the moment.

To see more visit 'Rip TV'.

The Huangshan Mountain Bike Festival 2007 finished on 7th April and was apparently a huge success.

More than 5000 people attended this years festival and top riders from around the globe took part including  Shinobi Noguchi Treks number 1. rider from Japan and top Chinese riders Gao Gangzha, Jian Zhihang,  Lü Taotao and Lan Caichan.

Visit the Nordic Ways website for a full report and more photos.

If like most people you work through the day and have your weekends taken up with shopping or hangovers, finding a good time to ride can be a little difficult well how about joining chinamtb for a night ride through and around Jilin Park, Qingdao. We usually start around 9pm and finish around 11-11:30pm. The chinamtb team know the area well and will take you on either a nice relaxing ride or a more seat of your pants 'Oh, my god its dark and steep I'm going to crash!' kind of ride.
If you are interested in joining us email Andi for more details.
These rides can be difficult and remember mountain biking is a dangerous sport so please bring a helmet, lights and ensure your bike is up to the task.
See you on the trail.

Well its taken a little longer than we hoped to finish 'Project Cheap Bike' but we didi it. The delay was down to waiting for parts to arrive from various shops around China.

As you can see its all finished and its been out for two rides where it performed amazingly well, I had never ridden an iDrive till know and i have to say it pedals and climbs really well.

Im happy with the overall spec although the tyres are getting changed this week, the suspension works so well its possible to pedal through downhill setions I would have normally rolled through so some extra grip is needed. the Tektro I.O brakes perform as well as they do on my other bikes, that is very well. The rear shock was changed to a shorter one with a lock out (although the lock out is really not needed) I need to play with the set up of the shock a little more before I can comment on it.

All in it cost ￥3000 ish which is pretty good considering the spec and the ride quality.

Next update well see 'Project Cheap Bike' and I competing in a race in Weihai (April 20th-21st) keep posted.

Wow, looks like the Maxxis marketing dept. have been working over time to promote their tyres. Can you imagine the brainstorming session that went into this decision.
Marketing guy 'when do people think "rubber, bouncy, chewy possiblly?'
Other marketing people 'hhmmmm???'
Young upcoming exec 'airline food of course!!'

Would be great if we could find out if this airline is bike friendly.

We at chinamtb bike knew this anyway but its nice when an international racing star gives us confirmation.

While trawling various Chinese sites today we discovered this video from last year. It was made by Trek and features their 6 time world championship rider Chris Eatough riding and racing somewhere in the South of China.
It's great to see international riders in China with the upcoming Olympics and X Games all forms of cycling are bound to gain popularity.
You can watch the video of Chris Eatough in China here.

The other week we posted a poll asking 'What's your style?'. The two bikes you could have voted for were either the cool retro single speed Coconino Crusier.

Or the all alloy futuristic Matrix Nikey.

Well the votes are in and ........ the Matrix Nikey takes it by 1%!! It was an extremely close contest with the Coconino getting 49% of the votes but the Nikey took the catwalk prize with 51%.
You can read more about the Coconino Crusier and the Matrix Nikey in previous posts.

UPDATE:
JUST RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM A READER ABOUT PERIAN A FREE QT PLUGIN. TRIED IT MYSELF AND IT WORKS BETTER THAN THE SAMSUNG CODEC. THANKS SHAUGHAN.


We have had a number of emails asking 'How did you get your SC-X210L to work on your Mac?'
Well here's how.
First of all this is what I have found from other forums after hours of search I am just putting all the info together (not that it is a long process).

First thing you have probably noticed when trying to view movies on your Mac is that you get the sound but no video, all you get is a white screen. This is due to Samsung deciding to change the codec on the later models of their Sports camera. Earlier models how ever have a mac friendly codec. You can get the Mac codec for Samsung SC-X210L here.
When you have got the file open it up and you will see two items 'DivX Samsung.component' and a folder named 'SamsungVDig .component'. Copy both the items and place them in your 'QuickTime' folder which is located
Hardrive>Library>Quicktime
Ok, now try to view your videos if it works great. If not you probably have other Divx/ codecs which are conflicting try moving the other folders out of QuickTime and you should find it works.

A good tool to have is iSquint which converts the video into an iPod friendly format, its also useful for you G3 users as it shrinks the file and makes playback nice and smooth.

I hope it works and dont forget to send your videos to us for inclusion on our video page.

Designed for freeride and urban duties this monocoque beauty available at Freebike is quite an impressive package.

Shimano Hone cranks and rear mech.

Tektro Auriga hydraulic disc brakes w/8" rotors and Spinner Ammo forks with 150mm travel.
All for a reasonable ￥6999 ($880 U.S)
See the Freebike website for more details.

The RL9 is the latest frame by legendary suspension designer Mert Lawill. It offers 9 inches of trail hugging rear wheel travel through its concentric based, floating rear shock design and is designed with either freeride or DH racing in mind.

See the Rotec website for more details.
Oh, if you fancy one expect on parting with around $2600 U.S (Frame and shock).

Someone at Lapierre cycles has either performed the ultimate April Fools or is just having a plain old laugh.
Check out the 'cleaning insturctions' on the LP4

Also new at XGNBT is the new Lapierre LP4 frame. It has all you would expect from a quality alloy frame, buttery smooth welds, disc mounts and a hydroformed top and downtube.
Coupled with a good 5inch fork it would make an ideal all mountain/freeride lite bike.


The price is ￥1380 and they are available in either red or black. Contact XGNBT for more info.

We just had a trip to one of our local bike shops “New Concept Bikes” in Qingdao and spotted these two good-looking bikes.

Custom built by Li Ming, owner of New Concept bikes. Both bikes feature aluminum front triangles with integrated headset and carbon rear seat stays, disc and ‘V’ brake mounts, and a nice mix of Shimano LX and Deore groupsets.

The Black ‘V’ brake equipped Presto, features an LX rear mech coupled to Deore shifters. A titanium railed saddle and Truvativ XR bar and stem. The forks are Judy J1 with adjustable preload, and the wheels are Aero bladed 24 spoke from Vuelta.

The Red ‘Disc’ version features the same spec but with Winzip disc brakes and a slightly downgraded Spinner Grind fork and basic wheels.

Well how much are they?

3800 RMB!! For a complete bike!!

Great value when you consider the frame alone would probably cost the same back in the West.