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The 2008 Mongoose Khyber is a 6.5-inch (165mm) all mountain / freeride bike to bridge the gap between the current Mongoose lineup. The suspension set up is the same as the current freedrive bikes but a little weight has been shaved off to make it a better all rounder.


Keep posted for more 2008 Mongoose news.

Marzocchi have made some changes to their fork line for 2008.
One of the biggest changes is that the All Mountain fork line has been dropped and replaced with the '55', which is said to be a lighter version of the '66' fork, but with improved damping and a lighter leg casting.

Another big change is the new fork casting, the 'M' brace has been beefed up to make the forks stiffer, but at the same time lighter.

The lower end forks have also received some changes most notably a name change to mimic the XC fork names of the past (the old 90's Marzocchi forks were named XC500-600 and 700) and also a travel boost to 140mm. It may seem a lot for an 'XC' fork but I imagine were going to see these on more freeride light and all mountain machines. The XC range also get the new stiffer, lighter casting.

Keep posted for more Marzocchi news.

We found this on Taobao. Its a really old Iron Horse full sus bike specced with Marzocchi forks and LX/XTR gears.
I was tempted to get it and use it as a commuter bike until I saw the price!
4800RMB ($630 US) !!!

Voodoo Cycles disappeared for a few years but they are back again and are still designed by the legendary Joe Murray. Joe also designed the original Kona bikes like the Cindercone and too many is the inventor of the modern mountain bike.

They have some of their classic bikes still available, but they have also updated the range with two freeride/jump hardtail frames and also a couple of 29ers.
Visit the Voodoo website for details on all their bikes.
Voodoo frames are being brought in to China through LEE DUO TRADING CO in Shanghai.

29 inch wheel bikes are becoming more and more common and it was just a matter of time before someone made a downhill bike using the same big wheel principles.

Alex Morgan created this carbon fiber prototype in his workshop and it was spotted at a national race at Angel Fire, New Mexico. The frame was hand made and has 6 inches of suspension travel front and rear, not as much as most downhill bikes but with the bigger wheels its a difficult comparison.
The verdict is still out on how much an advantage 29ers give you, some riders say the bigger wheels make riding over trail obstacles easier going, while others say it lifts the center of gravity and the increased chainstay length hampers flickability.

I think its pretty damn cool and its good to see someone who isn't scared of taking a chance on new ideas.

For more pictures and details visit littermag.com

Colmax are based in Taiwan but are moving to mainland China this year.
Colmax are the official distributers of Park tools, Finishline oil, Kool stop brake pads and a number of other well known biking brands.


If you want to have a look at what they have to offer visit www.colmax.com.tw

The Chinese police force in Qingdao have been busy improving their riding skills with the help of two top Chinese trials riders. Li Lin and Geng Jie are well known through out China for their trials skills and decided to share their talents with a few lucky police men and women.

The officers learned how to ride down stairs, track stand and have greater overall control of their bikes.

So If your a want to be bike thief in Qingdao you had better look out as these bobbies have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Tank are known for building some of the strongest and best looking frames available.
For 2008 they have built this the Tank All Mountain frame.


Like most of the Tank full suspension frames the main pivot is around the bottom bracket, in this case though the rear end is attached to the front using two smaller link plates on either side, this creates a virtual pivot point making for a super supple rear end ala Santa Cruz, Intense e.t.c.
The top links bolt to the top tube and have 3 different mounting locations to adjust the head angle and ground clearance.
The frame uses a 215mm rear shock to provide 215mm of rear wheel travel. The rear dropout are designed to be used with a 150mm bolt on rear hub.
For pricing and availability contact your local Tank dealer.

But, thats not all he has been up to. In his spare time he has been helping Lapierre with the refinement of their new downhill bike.
This is the bike Nico raced on at last weekends world cup race in Champery.
Lapierre are a French based bike company and have been stunning the cycling world recently with some really good looking bikes. We actually reported on them for the interesting cleaning instructions found on some of their hardtail frames.

The Lapierre Nico is riding has a number of custom and prototype parts such as 163mm Shimano cranks and prototype Formula disc brakes.


For more pictures visit www.vorb.org.

With the number of low and mid end Lapierres floating about the Chinese market, and the Chinese riders love for downhill and freeride bikes its surely only a matter of time before we see top end Lapierre bikesat our local trails.

(Lapierre X 160 all mountain bike)
Lets hope the wait isn't too long.

Don't forget about our Sunday morning bike rides starting at 8am (yes there is an 8am).
If you want to come along send an email to:
andi@chinamtb.com

A short email from Mongoose yesterday informed us that some of the Mongoose range brought in to the Chinese market have already sold out! and that new bikes may take sometime to become readily available again, although we think this is due to 2008 models being released.

There are currently only 2 official Mongoose dealers in China (we are waiting for their details) but it seems they haven't had a problem selling all the bikes allocated to them.
Lets hope more dealers start to stock Mongoose then we might get a chance at owning one. In the meantime you can have a look at this short intro movie for the Black Diamond freeride bike and Canaan Team XC race bike.
If you are interested in becoming a Mongoose dealer in China visit the Mongoose website.

KONA Kula Supreme车架

ＲＭＢ　５３００
KONA Hei Hei Supreme车架

ＲＭＢ　１２２００

KONA King Kikapu车架

ＲＭＢ　８１００

KONA The King车架

ＲＭＢ　１０４００

KONA Cowan车架

ＲＭＢ　３８００

KONA Coilair Supreme车架

ＲＭＢ　９１００

KONA Stinky Primo车架

ＲＭＢ　９９００

KONA Stab Supreme 车架

ＲＭＢ　１２６００

Da Bomb have canned the much loved Grenade frame and replaced it with this beauty.



Available around the beginning of September, the C4 has few improvements over its predecessor such as better quality Reynolds tubing and single speed friendly horizontal dropouts.

"C4 dirt jump/street
New Da Bomb Design REYNOLDS 520 Cro-Moly Tubing
This frame is all about simple and strong. Build it geared or single speed, it’s your choice. To make the frame even tougher we designed a special Cro-Moly version of our BADR gusset. It also comes disk brake ready."

Pricing is still to be confirmed but expect it to be a little more than the Grenade.

Keep posted for more Da Bomb news.

Mosso seem to have a liking for naming their bikes after various animals, most of their frames seem to have an animal connection and to be honest, once most of the Mosso frames are out on the trail they do behave rather animal like.

As well as creating many different types of four bar suspension frames, Mosso has created the Pangolin – We were pretty unsure what a Pangolin is, so we turned to Google – it turns out a Pangolin is a bit like an Armadillo, only much uglier – oh, and in Guangdong, China the Panglolin is a delicacy. The Pangolin is a tough little critter, - it has a rat like face, the body of badger but covered in tough hard scales and a long tail that would look much better on a lizard than a mash up hybrid of an animal like the Pangolin.

Mosso naming its 8 inch travel downhill bike after the Pangolin is rather apt, on first sight the Mosso Pangolin doesn’t look great – the head tube is needlessly long, the frames garish yellow and white glued on graphics do look awfully gaudy and are straight out of the 1980s. If Mosso were to take their graphics back to the drawing board, spending at least 2 hours (rather than 10 minutes) on creating better looking graphics they could come up with something much better. However, once the Mosso Pangolin has been stripped of its graphics and polished up it does look really nice.

I would like to assure the dear reader that this is not a 10km 1 hour review, this particular Pangolin has been ridden for over a year on various terrain in different weather conditions. The Pangolin takes on both big, and small obstacles in its stride – open manhole cover? No problem, go straight over it – the eight inches of travel at the front, and the rear will soak it up and not so much as a slight vibration will make it up to the riders rear area. Big drop off in front of you? No problem, go off it – just make sure you have enough speed, and strength to pull up the front end.

When paired up with single crown forks, the Pangolin does look rather strange – the extra long head tube was obviously designed with triple clamp forks in mind, but when you add triple clamp forks the front end is lifted several inches higher – at least this is what we found with USD triple clamp forks, using Rock Shox Boxxers (the Boxxers are old 151s with 6 inches of travel the USD have 8 inch. ED) gave the Pangolin a more flat look, rather than the ramped up front end which is usually seen on freeride bikes, than downhill bikes. Another bonus of the Pangolin is that you can remove the rear shock link plates, and turn them upside down pushing the shock pivot points closer together – this should give you up to 12 inch of travel, but rider be warned you will need a stiff spring in your rear shock to support this (maybe 950lbs) especially if you’re a porker.

Downhill the Pangolin can really go if you let it, I personally found the rear end to be a bit flexy, this could be down to wheel flex however, rather than actual frame flex. Over the course of the year your correspondent did manage to snap the Pangolin over the rear weld just before the disc brake mounts, but Mosso to its credit, has solved the problem on the next generation of Mosso Pangolins, they have welded extra support into this area. We were able to let our friendly neighborhood welder guy fix it up for us at little cost. This hasn’t turned me off from buying another Mosso Pangolin in the future, I would openly recommend this bike to anyone who would like to do some DH’ing but doesn’t want to spend big dollars on brand name bikes such as Trek, Specialized etc.

A true fact about the animal Pangolin: it lacks teeth – instead it rips open ant hills and probes around with its long tongue to get what it wants. This could be attributed to the Mosso Pangolin, it really is a great frame and I have seen people do a lot on them – the bike can be applied equally well to both downhilling or freeriding (One memorable moment was seeing one jumped from a 15ft stair case) but there is something missing from the Pangolin – perhaps because of the components used to build up the frame but it is certainly missing ‘something’ and I cant quite put my finger on it. Perhaps the Mosso Pangolin has achieved perfection, and I haven’t quite grasped that there is nothing wrong with it.

I’d give the Pangolin 8 out of 10. It lost two points because I had to strip it down and have it welded up at a cost of 50rmb. Great bike, go and buy one – but get a version with a strong back end.

1. Brakes

Everyone needs good stoppers, unless your the advertising boss of Nike Japan.

Cable V brakes
Spin your wheel and make sure its true. You don't want your brake pads rubbing on the rim or tire. Ensure they pull evenly and the pull at the lever is not excessive.
Check cables are in good condition and are not frayed.

Cable/Hydraulic Discs.

Check your discs are tight.
Ensure there is no oil on the discs or pads, if you find there is try and clean it using soap and water. Go for a ride and generate some heat in the discs and pads, the oil (if only a little) should 'burn off'.
Use a 5mm bolt to check all the caliper mounting bolts are tight.
Check cables are in good condition and are not frayed (cable discs)
Check your hoses are in good condition and your seals are not leaking (hydaulic)

2. Headstet

Makes sure your headset has no play in it. Pull the front brake and rock the bike back and forth. If you feel a wobble it might be your headset.
To tighten an A Head set loosen the steerer clamp bolts (on dual crown forks you will also need loosen the top crown bolts). Tighten the 5mm or 6mm bolt on the top of your steerer until the wobble goes. Check that its not too tight otherwise the headset bearings will get damaged. If you can't get rid of the wobble you may need a new headset, your forks may have play or your frame may be damaged. In these cases take your bike to a shop for a good look.

3. Bottom Bracket/Cranks

Hold the crank arm and try to rock it side to side. If there is movement double check your crank bolts are tight (8mm allen key), if the movement is still there check your bottom bracked is tight and that the bearings haven't worn out.

4. Wheels/Hubs/Tires

First check your quick release is tight and your wheel is straight in the dropouts. Hold the tire and rock the wheel from side to side, again if there is play check your bearings/cones.
Check your spokes are tight and your wheels are true (straight).
Look at the side wall of your tires and ensure there are no holes or tears.
Tyre pressure is really a personal preference so ill leave that to you.

5.Bolts.

Now, just check all 4,5,6mm bolts on every part of the bike, handle bars, stem, seat etc. Make sure they are all tight but dont over tighten them, if your not sure how tight something must be check the owners manual.

6. Frame/fork.

Check the frame and fork for cracks, stress marks or bends. Most small dents should be fine, but if your unsure let a bike shop check it.
If you find any cracks in your frame don't use it, take it to the shop you bought it and have them look at it. Also check the derailer drop out as these are prone (designed on alloy frames) to bend.

7. Gears.

Now, your happy your frame and derailer hanger are straight you can adjust your gears and oil the chain (if needed).

8. Ride.

Ok everything is tight, your brakes and gears work, your frame has no cracks and your wheels don't wobble, it's time to ride.

* When you perform maintanence on your own bike you do so at your own risk. This is purly meant to be a guide of what should be checked. If you are not confident checking yourself have a qualified mechanic do the work for you.

An industry insider has just informed me that Suntour are behind schedule with their V Boxx (gearbox) production. Aparrently the delay is due to Suntour trying to reduce the size and weight of the unit.
Well I suppose its good news and bad. The good is we know that when its finally launched its going to be lighter than expected, but the bad is that we have to wait even longer for all these lovely looking bikes.

Da Bomb Bouncing Betty.


Orange Strange.


Ghost DH V Boxx

Hand Foot and Mouth has been reported in China.
Hand Foot and Mouth is an infection passed from human to human, unlike Foot and Mouth which is caught by coming into contact with infected cattle.
Although it is a mild infection and usually expires itself after a week it can become fatal if complications occur. Two young children in Shandong have died after contracting the virus, which can de identified by blisters in the mouth and on the hands and feet.
If you have regular contact with young children make sure you clean your hands and bike thoroughly after each ride.
Don't panic it is difficult to catch and usually goes within the week, but if you have a young baby like myself, I'm sure you will be glad for the heads up.

Andi

The M5 is a newer version of the M3, and is still in the prototype stage. Like most downhill race rigs these days, the emphasis is on light weight and pedaling efficiency. Intense are putting a lot of work into perfecting the M5 and have even invited comments from riders like you and me.

The official line is:

"The next generation in the evolution of Down Hill Racing! The M5 is a development project for the Factory DH Race Team and is still in the very early prototype stage, we thought you might like to see what we've been hiding. . . 
       Lighter, Faster and a bit Meaner, Refinement never looked so good! 



Intense Cycles wants to know what you think! Although this model is fresh off the design table let us know if this is a bike you would be interested in? Your input could help design a better bike! "

Check out the Intense website for more info on this and present bikes in their range.

As you probably know we at CMTB have weekly night rides on a Thursday night, and we also have a rides weekends too.
This week there was a great turn out, and riders from the UK, China, Japan, New Zealand and Canada all met in the early hours of Sunday morning and belted round our usual route.

Unfortunately due to my lack of photographic skills (and a rather slow camera) I only got a few shots worth posting. You can view the photos here.
If you want to join us this Thursday night, or Sunday morning drop us an email.

Diamondback will be releasing their version of a G Boxx downhill bike in the near future. The gearbox was designed with help and input from Nicolai which should mean top quality and reliability.

Prices for are still being sorted out, but for the frame (which includes G Boxx, shifter, rear hub, cranks and shock) expect to pay around $3000.
This really is a move for the better for Daimondback, who in recent years have just produced low end brand X bikes.
More info as it arrives.

You may think news is a bit thin on the ground at the moment and thats why we haven't added any new news for a day or so, but in actual fact we are busy updating the look of chinamtb.
The new site should be up and running by the beginning of next week.
Thanks.

chinamtb team