2010 Claymore Challenge Brandon Semenuk 1st Place from Highland Mountain Bike Park on Vimeo.

Seriously funny! On the heels of his “Performance” video, this one does not disappoint!

In his last qualifying run Haro’s Eric Porter went big with a backflip in mind but sat down a little too much and took a tire to the taint. Check out the video and see the result. Thankfully he came out ok, but pretty bruised and scraped!

Highland Mountain Bike Park Claymore Challenge 2010.. Eric Porter Crash from Disasterous Film on Vimeo.

Northwest Trail Alliance is hosting a shuttle day event at Black Rock Mountain Bike Area (near Falls City, Oregon) for people who have donated $55 or more towards the match funding needed for purchase of ST240 singletrack trail construction machine.  Event is limited to 100 registrants.

Super technical support by Riders & Sliders and Event Photography by Jason VanHorn

Register HERE

See you there!

Our friends at Eugene Freeride invite you down to the Eugene area for the Home Invation Trail Jam!  Saturday July 24, 2010 Noon to 9:00pm.  Check out some sweet jumps!

For more info email backwoodstrails@gmail.com

Jump to more info and photos

Here we go again!  Check out this story.  The story is one thing, but the comments after are the real entertainment.  Hikers are really up in arms and they vent in truly unhelpful ways.  I particularly like the comment about stringing piano wire across the trail to injure a mt biker.  Or the one that requests jail time for riders on hiking trails…or better yet the comment that suggests a great use of tax dollars would be to put up motion sensor cameras to take pictures in the forest of mt bikers.  All really stellar ideas from the hiking community brain trust!

Again Portland is so full of it’s ‘cycling identity’ that it has no idea what is really going on in the cycling community, especially the mt biking part of it.  The time has come to make some real strides in creating a recreational plan that includes mt bike trails of all levels with in the city.  Nick Fish are you listening?  If the city cannot do it, the county should step up and start working to create places for our citizens to be active in recreational pursuits that are sustainable and teach the stewardship of our green spaces.  Mt Biking does just that!  As P.E. is on the chopping blocks in schools and video games consume endless hours of kids time, why not accelerate the process and put the call out for mt bikers to come build trails, skills parks and dirt jumps. Having options for healthy activity can encourage our ever growing population of obese kids and adults to get out more.  Let’s get this going already!

e.13 is now owned by The Hive and look what’s comin down the pipe!  These babies look badass!

Look for them to be available by the end of July.

The Hive DH Cranks

Forged and then machined 7050 Aluminum arms.
- 7050 is 40% stronger than most common hollow forged alloys.

- 30mm heat-treated cromoly spindle.
- It is 200%+ stiffer than 24mm steel spindles commonly used in external bearing cranksets.
- German DIN 32711-P3 Polygon interface provides 100% surface contact between spindle and crankarm
- Eliminates fretting corrosion – the prime cause of dreaded crankset creaking and loosening.

- 14mm pedal thread engagement + 7050 arm construction + quality pedal washers.
- Eliminates the need for costly and unreliable pedal thread inserts.

- High quality titanium-nickel hybrid spindle coating.
- Increases durability and extends material life (to just about forever). Tell your machinist friends. They might hug you.
- Standard 104 BCD

Lengths:
- 165mm, 170mm and 175mm lengths.

BB

- Larger BB 6806 (7×30×42)Bearings carry 20% greater static load and dramatically increase BB durability.
- 68/73mm and 83mm BB shell versions.
- New: 24-38 Shift ringset option available.
- For you core freeriders who like to earn your downhill.
- Inner ring bolts to outer ring requiring no inner ring tabs on crank.

Weight: 870g: Crank weight: 759g (165mm x 83mm) / BB weight 111g.
MSRP: $349 w/BB and BB install tool.

Ring Configurations

- e*thirteen guide rings: 32-40T in one tooth increments. Available in black, silver, blue, red, green, and purple. 36-72 grams.
- 24-38 shiftrings: 9 & 10speed compatible. The 24T chainring bolts directly to the 38T chainring to optimize tooth location and provide the greatest amount of modularity and compatibility seen in a heavy duty All Mountain / race weight DH crankset. No grinding of granny tabs and eliminating front shifting options. 138 grams.
- 22-36 shift rings: same as above, slightly lower gearing for our comrades in steeper locales. 130 grams.

Release Date: Global availability by the end of July 2010.

For more info click HERE.

The BLM has issued a temporary closure. Also, the June 5th National Trails Day work party has been CANCELLED (and will be rescheduled for later this summer).

Please RESPECT the closure and pass the word on:

Sandy Ridge Trail System Temporary Trail Closure

June 3nd- July 20th

Trail Closure Dates

June 3rd:

Entire Hide and Seek Trail Closed to Public Use

June 18th:

Lower Hide and Seek Trail (below Little Joe Creek crossing) Opens
Upper Hide and Seek Trail (above Little Joe Creek) Remains Closed

July 20th:

All segments of Hide and Seek Trail Open for Public Use
for more info on trail closures see the BLM site

-Ian

Recently the fine folks at Diamond Back dropped off their latest offering to the All Mountain/ Light Freeride world…the 2010 SCAPEGOAT. At first glance the part specs of this bike makes one say WOW! The Truvativ Hammerschmidt cranks, Sram XO drivetrain, Fox 36RC2 Fit fork, Fox DHX Air PP shock, Avid Code brakes, and Mavic Crossmax SX wheel set are top end for any bike. My quest was to see how they meshed with the Knuckle Box Technology platform.

Our test bike was a large with a 19 inch seat tube and 24 inch top tube sporting a 68 degree head tube angle and 72 degree seat tube angle.

We took this 6 inch travel machine out to our testing grounds. First it was off to Dixie Mountain near Portland for tight, technical steeps. Then it was off to the Columbia River Gorge for the wide open descents of Syncline and the stunty trails of Post Canyon.

The conditions at Dixie mountain were pretty wet and greasy! In the tight forest sections the bike was very nimble and the 68 degree head tube angle paired with the light weight of the bike made it easy to pilot around trees. The head tube angle felt a little steep for some of the steep technical sections, giving it a bit of a ‘twitchy’ feel compaired to some of the bigger bikes tested here. The suspension performed well on the rooty and rocky sections. Precise line choices were needed in the wet conditions, the WTB tires were not in their element on these wet trails.

After picking our way down through the tight forest trails it was time to rally! We took the ‘Goat out to the Columbia River Gorge to Syncline to see how it handled the wide open descent! The 2010 Scapegoat has some key upgrades over the 2009. Diamond Back added larger pivot bearings and a beefier rear triangle and I intended to test both on this trail! Though not designed as a big mountain bike, it handled well at high speed. I counsciously felt for flex in the rear end at high speed cornering and was pleasantly surprised. The upgrades over the ‘09 made a dramatic improvement. Mobbing down the hill at high speeds and being precariously close to a 300 foot cliff, I was reassured by the stopping power of the Code brakes this was not a suicide mission! Into the Mini Moab rocky section of the trail the bike tracked well and when pointed down the best lines it’s suspension was smooth and handled the rock gardens really well. It was nimble and fast and a joy to ride in the rocks.

After racing down a couple thousand feet of wide open, we jumped across the river to the stunty goodness known as Post Canyon. Here the bike felt really in it’s element. The plethora of jumps and drops at Post became a playground for the light weight Scapegoat. It performed well on the drops and on the jumps it was light and easy to flick it around in the air. Sessioning sections became oportunities to see how much we could push the bike, a little faster, a little bigger off the stunts…each time it was up to the task. The suspension did a great job soaking up some of the flatter trannys and also some of the pilot errors! For a six inch air sprung rig, the Scapegoat was pretty plush.

Recap: The 2010 Scapegoat pairs a top notch parts package with a light weight, smart suspension design. Designed as an all mountain/ Slopestyle/ light freeride bike, it tackles a lot of various terrain very well.

Price $5,000

Pros: Gucci parts package, great 6″ all purpose light weight bike.

Cons: Tires, handling on steep technical trails.

-Ian

Bicycle Magazine’s ranking of most bike friendly cities has created quite a stir in Portland. Portland has held the top spot in each of the lists since it was first created in 1995, but now looks up at Minneapolis, Minnesota. So what. I really don’t find Portland all that bike friendly, even though every politician in Portland will tell you it is from their stump. If your bike doesn’t have a 700c wheel, you really don’t have a voice in this fair city! Forestland all around us with no legal single track trails, no dirt jumps, no mt bike skills parks…blah. I think Portland just loves the process of talking about being a great bike town, then patting itself on the back when a new patch of roadway gets a green box painted on it. I could go on and on but I really like Jason Van Horn’s rant better so go check it out!

I am not a hater of Portland bike culture and the efforts that have been made thus far, I just think it has a long way to go. I love Portland and I want to see it get better for all of us!