Owners see this as a temporary setback and an opportunity to be better; plans to rebuild are already well underway.

Wofford Heights, California: Friday, September 18, not quite two weeks after its official Labor Day weekend opening, the Bionicon USA Headquarters and Demo Center in the Kern River Valley suffered a devastating fire. The building, located on the main road in Wofford Heights, had undergone extensive renovations and improvements in preparation for Bionicon’s move to the Kern Valley. This was the company’s first full-time Demo Center in the U.S.A. Other Bionicon Demo Centers are in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Nobody was in the building at the time of the fire, which was first noticed at about 4 p.m.. Neighbors called 911 and reported smoke coming from the roof. When firefighters arrived on the scene they were confronted with flames shooting out of windows, exploding shock cartridges and burning magnesium fork lowers. Owners Paul and Wendy Ferguson arrived on scene just a few minutes later, only to watch the building burn.

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PHILADELPHIA (September 23, 2009) - Terry Precision Bicycles announced today that it has signed a license agreement with Advanced Sports, Inc. (ASI) to distribute an expanded line of women’s performance and lifestyle bicycles. Terry, the premier women’s cycling company, has been at the forefront of women-specific design for over two decades.  ASI is an established leader in the design, development and production of bicycles producing more than 250,000 units worldwide in 2008 under its primary brands Fuji, SE, Kestrel and Breezer, as well as various private label models.

ASI will manufacture, sell and distribute the Terry line of women’s bicycles worldwide that will be available for sale Spring 2010. A preview of the collection will be presented to retailers and the media at Interbike in Las Vegas, September 23, 2009. Look for Terry at booth #3207 and ASI at #1825.

“Partnering with Advanced Sports, a leader in bicycle distribution and sourcing, is a strategic decision that will help us re-launch our bikes to tie in with our successful line of clothing and accessories,” says Liz Robert, new CEO of Terry. ”We expect these new bikes to complement our existing apparel and accessory lines and provide performance to our consumers who participate in cycling activities.”

Terry Precision Bicycles, founded by industry pioneer Georgena Terry, has been producing women’s-specific bicycles longer than any manufacturer in the industry. Terry’s designs for frames and saddles have won numerous awards for innovation, style and comfort. Georgena will continue to be the driving force behind the line’s design moving forward.

The first ASI-produced models that will launch at Interbike include the Susan B, the Symmetry, and the Tailwind. The Susan B, Terry’s hybrid bike, has reworked componentry to fit with today’s current market trends. The Susan B will be available in five sizes from 11″ to 20″. The Symmetry, a fitness road bike, which will be sold in two versions - a flat bar or drop bar configuration - and the Tailwind, a performance road bike, will be available in six sizes from 40cm to 58cm. All four models feature Terry’s signature comfort geometry and are spec’d with current components and materials. Plans for 2011 call for a wider range of women’s products, including a custom carbon frame.

“Our focus and our strength is designing, producing and selling high quality bicycles,” says Patrick Cunnane, president of Advanced Sports, Inc. “Terry has built a fierce brand loyalty around fit and comfort and the bicycles we design will stay true to these core values.”

In addition to manufacturing the bicycles, the license agreement gives ASI the ability to sell the products through its existing retail sales channel. ASI will also handle warranty for Terry Bicycles produced post agreement.

About Terry Precision Bicycles
Terry Precision Bicycles was founded in 1985 by Georgena Terry. The company was purchased in April of this year by Elisabeth Robert, former CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear Company. In addition to women-specific bicycles, Terry designs and markets a comprehensive apparel line for women and a revolutionary line of comfort saddles for men and women. Information about Terry products can be found on its website www.terrybicycles.com.

About Advanced Sports, Inc.
Advanced Sports, Inc. (ASI) is a privately held corporation located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with distributors in over sixty-five countries. Operating in the U.S. through the independent bicycle dealer network (IBD), ASI markets a full line of high performance bicycles including road, mountain, women’s, comfort, BMX and recreational bicycles under the Fuji, Kestrel, SE and Breezer brands. For more information, visit:fujibikes.com, sebikes.com, kestrelbicycles.com, breezerbikes.com.

source: Kaitlyn Gang

Clarification of Points Rule

September 22, 2009; Conshohocken, PA, USA: Gravity East has released its most recent points update and a rules clarification regarding the points calculations. “Riders who are in contention in various classes have been calling me about the ‘best 8 races’ rule,” says Series Director Dan McDonald. “We just wanted to clarify that riders are not required to attend a minimum of eight races. But if they only attend seven of the races, their eighth race will be scored as zero points. The only eligibility rules we have regarding the series championship is that you must have an annual USAC license and must be at the Final at Plattekill Mountain October 9 to 11. If you can score enough points to win the championship in just four races, well more power to you.”

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We are pleased to announce the BikeStyle Fashion Show presented by Momentum Magazine happening November 21st, 2009 at the SF Bike Expo.

source: rideSFO

KONAWORLD - Kona Bicycles has a cool new bike to show off. The Cadabra is a bike that can intuitively handle what you throw at it, from steep, technical ascents to rugged descents and everything in between. Some might even say it’s magic… Who else best to promote this bike with than IMBA, who intuitively builds and maintains trails that have all the features the Cadabra craves?

Last year at Interbike, Kona Bicycle Company and IMBA raffled off a $2,299 2009 Coilair, and raised $8,200 and gained 140 new or renewed IMBA memberships. This year Kona and IMBA have no intention of being outdone, and intend to raise more money, gain more memberships and raffle off a newer, cooler 2010 Kona Cadabra, worth $2,799.

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Adventure Cycling Seeks Award Nominations for 2009 Bicycle Heroes

Who has made your bicycle adventures possible?

Missoula, Montana — There are only two weeks left to nominate your bicycle travel heroes for the Adventure Cycling Awards. Adventure Cycling — North America’s largest cycling membership organization — will close award nominations on September 30th, 2009.

“Adventure Cycling’s national awards program recognizes the ‘above and beyond’ contributions made by individuals and organizations in America to improve conditionsfor bicycle travelers,” said membership and marketing coordinator Amy Corbin.

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UFO Plast Body Armor - Lightweight Elbow and Knee-Shin Guard

Reviewed by Brian Mullin aka Gram and MTBR.com Pastajet
http://www.gramslightbikes.com/

As I was wandering around 2008 Interbike Dirt Demo seeking some shade and cold refreshments from the beastly desert sun, I bumped into this small booth that was carrying biking body armor. UFO Plast is an Italian company that started out making body armor protection for off road motorcycles, and they have more recently broadened into body armor for biking and snowboarding. As I was talking with the exhibitors, I saw these intriguing looking elbow pads hanging on their tent wall. They are part of their Enduro series, which includes their Elbow guard and a Knee-Shin guard.

I had recently taken a nasty digger and left a good chunk of flesh from my forearm on an abrasive rock on a local technical trail (Palmer Park in Colorado Springs if you must know), and I was looking at some body armor to help alleviate that type of issue from happening again. The pads were very lightweight and had just enough padding to protect the elbow and the forearm. A lot of the typical body armor is made with beefy plastic pads, and it’s a bit much for slower speed All Trail singletrack terrain that most of us regularly rides our mountain bikes on. The pads have a bit of waffle foam padding that is placed right in the proper spots to protect the elbow and the forearm. The padding is actually comprised of a special layer of polystyrene with a Lycra band.

To put the elbow pads on, you insert your arm into one end of the elastic band and wiggle your arm until the pre-bent elbow slot pops into the proper spot, and then you cinch it down with a Velcro closure located by your biceps. The inside periphery of the elbow pads has an open elastic mesh for ventilation, and provides enough tightness to prevent them from flopping around.

Next -> Impressions

page 1 page 2 page 3

Introduction:

Gary Fisher invited a handful of journalists to Park City Utah to try out their new offerings. Timing was a bit odd with the event happening less than two weeks before Interbike. “They must have a story to tell.” I thought.

And there is a story indeed. It is one of development and racing. The folks at Gary Fisher have been very busy refining their full supsension 29er line. Using technology they learned from the development of the 26er Roscoe bike and from Trek R&D, they sought out to continue the work Gary Fisher himself started back in 1999.

What they came out with are three new products, the Superfly 100, Rumblefish and the Superfly Singlespeed. The star of this trio is definitely the Superfly 100. It features a carbon full suspension frame that was designed to redefine cross country racing.

The Racing Story:

In July, Matt Pachocha of Velonews boldly proclaimed the death of the 26-inch hardtail in XC racing (http://velonews.com/article/95579). It’s certainly a controversial claim and Matt is still impressed at the volume of hate mail he continues to receive. But there to relate their experiences to us were 2009 National Champions, Jeremy Horgan-Kobleski and Heather Irminger. Willow Koerber who placed 3rd in the 2009 Worlds had a 29er story to share as well. All of them started using the Superfly 100 in mid-season and achieved stellar results.

So it is always difficult to to get an honest evaluation of a bike from a sponsored racer. By definition, sponsored racers do not say anything negative about a bike. So in this case, we’ll let the statistics and results do the talking.

Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Height: 6′1″)
2009 XC Nationals - 1st place - 6:47 ahead of second place
2009 Marathon XC Nationals - 1st place – 12:26 ahead of second place

Heather Irminger- Height:5′4″
2009 XC Nationals - 1st place
2009 Marathon XC Nationals - 1st place

Willow Koerber - Height 5′1″
2009 XC Nationals – 2nd place
2009 Worlds - 3rd place

Kobelski Interview on CyclingDirt at Marathon National Championship
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235299-2009-usa-marathon-national-championships/191901-jeremy-horgan-kobelski-wins-marathon-championship

Heather Irminger Interview
http://www.cyclingdirt.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235299-2009-usa-marathon-national-championships/191906-heather-irmiger

And one thing interesting about these results is these racers are not youngsters and they are having the best results of their careers. Something is clicking and the Superfly 100 seems to be part of that formula. The other curious note is the height of these racers does not fit the ‘tall rider only’ stereotype of the 29er full suspension rider.

The bike:
So I only got to ride the Superfly 100 for three solid days in the trails of Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah. These are first impressions only and I hope to ride it a lot more on my local trails in Santa Cruz, CA.

As I mentioned in the video, the highlights of the bike are:
Frame - 2200 grams or 4.85 lbs in size medium with the rear shock and all the hardware.

Short Chainstays - chainstay length is 451 mm or 17.75 inches. This is the hallowed ground of full suspension 29ers as short stays deliver quick handling and better rear traction. The seatstay had to be pushed forward in front of the bottom bracket to achieve this. This also resulted in a short wheelbase of 1114 mm.

Repositioned pivot point - The pivot point was repositioned lower to the rear axle to deliver better rigidity. The suspension was tuned as well to have better small bump sensitivity and ramp up later in the 110 mm of travel.

ABP and E2 technology - These Gary Fisher and Trek technologies were incorporated to give better suspension action during braking. E2 enables a beefier head tube design to deliver greater steering accuracy without adding much weight.

G2 Geometry - And finally, the bike is finished off with the proprietary 51 mm fork offset to deliver quick steering without a steep head angle.

The ride:
The ride was natural and telepathic. That’s what you want to hear on a fairly short test ride session right? It was very easy to get used to as the position seemed natural and not to high off the ground. Acceleration was awesome and traction seemed like it was always there.

Descending on the bike seemed really easy as it carved through the singletrack of Park City with ease. I never locked out the platform suspension yet the steep pitches that surprised me were never an issue. The only real problem was my lungs not quite ready for the 9000 foot elevation!

It was easy to forget that this was a 29er since it rode very similar to a 26er. But when the going got real rough on rocky fire roads, the trails did seem smoother than they looked. And at the Wasatch Crest trail, as my guide Photo-John coasted in front of me on his 26er, I had to grab a handful of brake to avoid ramming into him as I was coasting too.

Like I said, these are just first impressions and I hope to ride it more. But color me impressed so far.

Photos:

Gary Fisher Superfly 100 Specifications:

MSRP: $5600
Frame: OCLV Co-molded carbon main frame and rear swingarm, G2 Geometry, E2 headtube, ABP, topswing carbon link
Fork: Fox F100 FIT RLC 29, 100mm travel, custom G2 Geometry 51mm offset crown, E2 steerer, lockout force adjustment, FIT cartridge damper
Brakeset: Avid Elixir CR hydraulic disc, 160mm rotors front and rear
Wheels: Bontrager Race X Lite Scandium 29 Disc, tubeless ready
Tires: Bontrager XR1 Team Issue 29×1.9, 120 TPI, aramid bead
Headset: Cane Creek Frustrum E2 1-1/8″-1-1/2″, semi-integrated, cartridge bearings
Crank Set: Truvativ Noir Redwin Carbon, 44/32/22
Front Derailleur: Shimano XT Direct Mount
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.O Redwin
Shifters: SRAM X.O Redwin
Cassette: SRAM PG990 11-34 9spd
Handlebar: Bontrager Race Lite Big Sweep, 640mm width, 12d backsweep, 31.8mm
Stem: Bontrager Race X Lite OS, 7d rise, 31.8mm
Saddle: Bontrager Race Lite, superlight hollow cromoly rails
Seatpost: Bontrager Race XXX Lite Carbon OCLV, Carbon Shaft, infinite adjust Carbon Bontrager head
Color: Carbon Smoke / Gloss White
Sizes: SM (15.5″) | MD (17.5″) | LG (19″) | XL (21″) | XXL (23″)

www.fisherbikes.com

Talk about it on the MTBR 29er forum

Talk about it on the MTBR Gary Fisher forum

RAMONA, CA (September 16, 2009) – Ellsworth Handcrafted Bikes, a market leader in technology innovation and sustainable business practices, was named “Best 2009 All-Mountain Bike” for its critically acclaimed “Moment” by www.singletracks.com . The site, which offers a user network for mountain bike trail reviews and gear evaluations, boasts over 100,000 subscribers and culled the award based on readers’ feedback.

One Singletracks review briefly stated that the Moment was “American handcrafted quality in a solid and burly bike that can handle just about anything. All-round great bike for XC and Downhill.”

Because of its versatility, The Moment is loosely known as the “sport utility bike” in the Ellsworth Bikes lineup. It’s light enough to be a standalone trail bike with 6’’ of forgiving travel and it’s perfectly adept at multi-day endurance events or long all-mountain tours. The Moment serves as an alternative to the Ellsworth “Epiphany” but comes packaged with the same swaged, shaped, and tapered (SST) tubeset and ICT technology suspension, at a lower price point. In international competition, the Moment has taken Ellsworth athletes to endurance and 4x slopestyle podium finishes.

“Many thanks to Singletracks.com for this acknowledgement. We’re especially happy this award was given on behalf of the site’s readers, proving our motto ‘those who ride, know,’” said Tony Ellsworth, founder. “We’re looking forward to releasing the latest incarnation of the Moment in spring 2010 along with a lineup of freshly made SST versions of our classics plus our new, Rare Earth Carbon collection,” Ellsworth added.

Look for a full-blown 2010 Ellsworth review from Singletracks’ editors Syd Patrico and Jeff Barber in the coming months.

About Ellsworth Handcrafted Bikes:
Ellsworth Handcrafted Bikes is a designer and manufacturer of the highest quality mountain, road and recreational bicycles. The company is known for its craftsman-style approach to bike design and manufacturing, and is the holder of multiple design
patents. Please visit Ellsworth at Interbike 2009 in booth #4525. www.ellsworthbikes.com.

source:Ryan Ostendorp