For years, the Park Tool PRS-3 has been the repair stand/clamp combo of choice for bike shops and serious at-home grease monkeys alike, but Foes is angling to change all that with its new Power Clamp stand. What sets the Power Clamp apart from any stand you’ve used before is the pneumatically driven, self adjusting clamp. The idea is that you simply lift the bike up with both hands, tap the foot pedal, and voila!, your bike is securely clamped in place. Tap the pedal again for a similarly dramatic release. The stand also is available with an optional race base, with a place for a CO2 canister to drive the mechanism in place of the otherwise-necessary compressor.

Sure, this stand seems to be simplifying a process which is not particularly challenging to begin with. And sure, this goal is achieved through adding much complexity to an otherwise simple and reliable part, and will cost you a pretty penny ($995 USD worth of those pennies, to be exact). But despite these drawbacks, the Power Clamp is undeniably the coolest work stand out there, and for that reason alone it deserves a spot in your dream garage.

If you’ve been involved in the mountain bike scene for very long, you are probably aware that at any given time the industry is rife with technical standards vying for a spot on your next bike. ISCG chainguide tabs, OnePointFive steer tubes, UST rims and tires, post mount brakes, and ISIS bottom brackets are only the tip of the ‘international standard’ iceberg. With this tiresome history of oh-so-dull technical standards in mind, it is easy to dismiss the new BB30 standard as one more acronym for the pile. However, you’d be doing yourself a pretty big disservice in the process, because BB30 is one standard that is starting to show some real potential.

BB30 refers to an oversized bottom bracket shell which replaces a conventional bottom bracket with bearings pressed directly into the frame, spinning a 30mm spindle. This setup allows frame designers to simultaneously achieve two key goals: lower weight and increased stiffness. The lower weight comes from the elimination of the traditional bearing cups, as well as the lighter weight of an aluminum spindle. A weight savings of up to 120g can be had from this change alone. The increase in stiffness is achieved by this oversized spindle, as well as the increased size of the bottom bracket shell.

The concept underpinning BB30 is hardly new. Cannondale has been the driving force behind the technology and first introduced it under the Si moniker in 2000. More recently Specialized has been offering its own BB30 cranks on a few of its S-Works models. But this year’s Sea Otter seems to have marked a real turning point for BB30, and a snowball effect has clearly begun. SRAM and FSA have jumped into the ring, as well as Jamis, Kona, and Titus. FSA alone introduced seven new crank options which use the BB30 standard.

Despite a slow start, then, the future is looking bright for both BB30 and mountain bikers. Lighter weight and more stiffness are always welcome on a new bike, and BB30 offers a simple way to achieve both. Expect to see it offered on plenty of new bikes in the near future.

The Truvativ Stylo is the sort of workhorse product that turns up as OEM-spec on a huge number of bikes, but its middle-of-the-road price, performance, and style have kept the Stylooff of most people’s “must have” lists. No longer happy with this wallflower status, Truvativ has given the Stylo a thorough reworking, and the result is a crankset that you may actually want to buy.

The most significant upgrade to the Stylo is the introduction of Truvativ’s Open Core Technology (OCT). OCT, first introduced to the mountain bike world on the Holzfeller OCT cranks, describes Truvativ’s method of hollowing out the crank arms, which results in less weight and more stiffness. The Sylo OCT uses this technology to shed 80 grams from the outgoing Stylo.

The new Stylo still spins on the same GXP bottom brackets, and for those of you jumping on the ceramic bearing bandwagon, a ceramic GXP option is available. The new Stylo is to be offered in three flavours: the XC and trailbike Stylo OCT 3.3 has three rings and weighs 820 grams, the Stylo OCT 2.2AM loses the big ring and gains a bashguard, while tipping the scales at 805 grams, and the Stylo OCT 1.1G, which is the singlespeeder’s choice with a single 32t ring, and a scant 780 gram weight (including BB). All versions are available in 170 and 175 mm lengths, and the 1.1G gives singlespeeders some extra leverage with a 180 mm option.

The crank pictured above seems to have been done up as a Sea Otter special, and the look of the production Stylo is decidedly less ’80s (for better or for worse). Colour options include either mirror-finished black, or blingin’ “super aluminum.” For more details check out the PDF of the press release here.

Avid has released a new set of brakes at Sea Otter, called the Elixir. Bucking the trend of products designed for a particular niche of the mountain bike world, the Elixir is meant to meet the needs of riders from weight-conscious XC riders to power-hungry DHers. This certainly seems like a challenging set of design criteria, but Avid seems to have pulled it off.

On the weight front, the Elixir boasts a super-slim master cylinder, neatly incorporated into the lever body. Hiding inside this master cylinder is the element of the Elixir that Avid is most proud of: the ‘taperbore’ cylinder. The taperbore cylinder replaces the near-universal system of using a timing port to close off the brakes when actuated, by using an o-ring which is pressed into a tapered bore. The details are boring (read: beyond my understanding), but the result is an improvement in modulation and lever feel, particularly under hard braking.

The Elixir also uses Avid’s new G3 rotor, which uses a new profile to save 10 grams of rotating weight over previous rotors, with the additional benefit of less chatter while braking.

Overall, the Elixir weighs 20 grams less than the already trim Juicy 7, and a carbon lever option will shave a further 10 grams (while also lightening your wallet).

Lest you should think that all of this weight savings will relegate the Elixir to XC race-only duty, Avid has also managed to wrangle more power out of the Elixir, and total braking power is said to fall in between the Juicy line and the four piston Code. Part of this power increase is thanks to the fancy taperbore technology, and the rest is the result of bigger pistons and pads compared to the Juicy.

Avid has also paid particular attention to heat management in order to maintain power even under heavy braking. A new grooved piston helps to dissipate heat, and the top-loading pad design also helps to cool things down while making pad changes easier. The end result is a brake which should be powerful enough for downhill race duty, and both Steve Peat and Sam Hill are going to be riding Elixirs on their race rigs.

Overall then, it seems that Avid has done an impressive job of meeting the demands of a pretty broad range of riders, but what has us excited is the potential of these brakes on an all-mountain bike. Having the braking power of a nice DH brake, while saving weight and improving modulation should be a win-win-win for trail riders.

If you’re interested, check out the video of the intial release at Sea Otter.

Brakes

First, and most noticeably, the new Saint brakes mark Shimano’s return to a four piston caliper, which haven’t been seen since the dearly missed original XT disc brakes. Bucking the trend of one-piece calipers, the new Saint caliper is a two-piece unit held together by four torx bolts, and Shimano claims that this results in a caliper which is 9% stiffer than a one-piece unit. The pistons contained in those chunky new calipers are of two different sizes, which should provide better modulation of all that power.

The levers are brought up to speed with Servo Wave action, which is already seen on a handful of other Shimano levers. Coupled with the new calipers, the brakes are said to offer 50% more stopping power than the units they replace. We never found the outgoing Saints to be lacking in power, but one-finger braking should now be easier than ever.

Cranks

The new Saint cranks follow the trend of half-legible enormous white letters started by the Truvativ Noir, and have shed 90 grams over the outgoing Saint cranks. The steel pedal insert remains on the new cranks, and Shimano has managed to narrow the q-factor slightly. Lest you think that these lighter, narrower cranks are noodles under your tree-trunk legs, Shimano says that the new Saint crankset is 200% stiffer than the already stiff XT cranks. The new Saint cranks are to be offered in single or double ring options.

Derailleurs

Following the lead of the XT and SLX derailleurs, the new Saint cog-swapper will be of the Shadow variety, meaning that it stays tucked safely away from rocks and roots. Gone is the annoying direct axle mount of the previous derailleur, replaced by a conventional mount on the dropouts. A skid plate is integrated into the lower part of the derailleur’s cage, which should help prevent trailside debris from getting tangled up in the unit. Shimano claims that a very impressive 100 grams have been saved compared to the previous Saint rear derailleur.

Up front, there is a new Saint front derailleur. The all-new unit is for dual rings only, and matches up with the 22-36 dual ring crankset option. The Saint front derailleur is nice and compact, which should give some extra mud clearance on some frames.

Shifters

The 2009 Saint shifters are all about giving you options. The 2-Way Release mechanism let you operate the release lever by pushing or pulling, and a new mounting bracket allows the shifters to be mounted on either side of the brake levers.

Hubs

The new Saint hubs are where the most weight has been saved, and each hub weighs a stellar 100 grams less than the models they are replacing. Combined, this results in a weight savings of close to half of a pound in the wheels, which is a great improvement in the most weight sensitive part of the bike. The freehub bearings are now placed further apart for more stiffness, and in typical Shimano fashion, the hubs are built around fully serviceable cup and cone bearings. Perhaps the best improvement is that the centre lock rotor mount has been scaled down to the same size as the rest of Shimano’s hubs, meaning that you can now use any centre lock rotor.

Overall, it looks like Shimano hasn’t held any punches in redesigning the Saint line. The lighter weight should increase the group’s appeal to all-mountain riders and gravity racers, and the loss of proprietary ‘features’ such as direct-mount rear derailleurs and oddball centre lock rotor sizing mean that Saint gear will play nice with the rest of your non-Shimano parts.

If you’re anything like me, an absurd percentage of your clothes are bike related. With that in mind, it’s still good news when somebody else jumps into the ring making clothes for riders, on or off the bike. Division26 is the latest company to join the party, and with Eric Carter backing the effort, expectations are high. Carter has joined forces with Bob Burns and Dale Rowley to launch “street and music influenced apparel and accessories aimed at the Mountain Bike lifestyle.” Yes, these guys like riding enough to capitalize the words “mountain bike.”

So far there’s only the standard fare of t-shirts, hoodies, and hats, but according to the press release, some technical clothing is on the way. Better start clearing room in the closet now. My advice: throw out the blue and green 80s riding shorts first.

Like the model before it, the revised P30 is designed for 36t single-ring setups, and mounts up to your ISCG tabs. For you all-mountain riders, Gamut says that a dual-ring setup using the same lighter bash ring is in the works.

cranksbrothers’ first entry into the wheelset market with the new Cobalt looks to be this year’s hotness… or at least that’s what crankbrothers is hoping. In anticipation of an onslaught of orders, crankbrothers has opened an online reservation system, so you can rest assured that you’ll be the first kid on the block with a shiny new set of Cobalts.

While we’re not convinced that the Cobalt is going to be the Furby of this year’s bike season, we do have to give crankbrothers credit for putting together a great looking wheel. The Cobalt isn’t short on innovation, either, with unique features like super-elongated nipples (tee-hee) and a split quick release handle. The weight of the $1000 USD wheelset is a respectable, but not earth-shattering 688g front/ 852g rear, but honestly, when they look this good, a few extra grams is a small price to pay.

Check out the full scoop on the Cobalt here.

Elka isn’t just dipping a toe into the pool, however, and has announced the launch of four new models of rear shocks, aimed at the gravity and all-mountain categories. It seems that what sets the models apart will be tuning options, and the list of options includes high and low-speed compression damping, reservoir volume and pressure, and rebound adjustments. Elka is also making both steel and titanium springs available, for shedding a few extra grams.

Check out the full press release after the jump, and credit goes to Sick Lines for bringing this press release to our attention.

NEW MOUNTAIN BIKE SHOCK ABSORBERS TO BE LAUNCHED AT SEA OTTER CLASSIC

 April 7, 2008

Spyder is a company which most people would associate with shredding powder rather than shredding singletrack, but Spyder is hoping to transfer their expertise from one gravity sport to another. Their latest attempt at winning over the mountain bike crowd comes in the form of “d3o”, which is billed as “intelligent padding.” The run-down on d3o is this: most of the time it stays flexible and malleable, so it can bend and move with you as you ride. When harder pressure is applied, however, the material instantly locks together to keep you protected. Once the pressure is gone, d3o becomes soft and malleable again.

The concept is a pretty clever one, and the notion of a material that hardens upon impact and is soft the rest of the time should sound familiar to anybody who has mixed corn starch and water in kindergarten science class. Spyder has put the protective putty into a set of shorts and a jersey so far. There’s no word on the weight or breathability of d3o, but assuming Spyder has managed to keep both of these concerns under control, protection and mobility for body armour could be reaching a whole new level this year.

We’ve managed to dig up two videos about the technology. The first is nice and informative, but painfully dull (although it is partially redeemed by a non sequitur dirt bike jump at the end), while the second isn’t so informative, but has a guy with a d3o hat getting whacked with a shovel. Enjoy!