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

I have been testing the Syntace Vector 31.8 Carbon handlebars on my Moots Mooto-XZ 29er for 5-6 months now, and I am highly impressed. I have never used a set of carbon handlebars that had such a wonderful feel to them, and dare, I say they actually have a touch of the silky titanium property! They are not only bombproof, but they look good, have a nice sweep to themselves and are decently wide.

I needed some different handlebars when I converted my Mooto-XZ 29er from 100mm of travel to 120mm. The extra raise and slackness of the front end made it too difficult to use the old school layout that came with the flat bars and 100mm stem. To help alleviate the slackness and the stretched out feeling, I went with a 90mm stem and the Vector 31.8 low rise bars.

Syntace and their Testing
Syntace is located in Tacherting, Germany, near the Austrian border, and has been around a long time, and they manufacture excellent products in the usual highly engineered German fashion. What sets Syntace apart is their extensive testing of their products. They literally abuse their products to death, doing intensive corrosion, impact and hardness testing, along with a lot of detailed hand measurements to keep everything to their exacting standards. They test their handlebars with the VR-3, which is a spiffy computerized tester, that can simulate pushing and pulling loads, alternate those loads on either side of the bars, simulate light to hard impacts, and do those simulations in an iterative process over long periods of time. What that means is they can reproduce, in a short period of time, all the punishment that we would replicate over many years of use. Very real world testing!

Not only do you get an excellent and durable set of handlebars from this testing, and their QA/QC, but you get a 10 year warranty (albeit, bars installed and used according to the assembly instructions). I like how they state that the VR-3 performs a cyclical loop of torture.

Next -> Impressions

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Second annual NRC and Mountain Bike Promoters Summits conclude

Colorado Springs, Colo. (November 19, 2009) –The second annual USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC) and Mountain Bike Promoters Summits were conducted last weekend, Nov. 13-15, at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs where a total of 46 individuals gathered to exchange ideas and share best practices.

The NRC gathering brought together 14 people, who represented 13 events or professional teams, to share their thoughts regarding the nation’s premier Pro-Am road racing calendar. The mountain bike summit saw 32 industry stakeholders converge to discuss the advancement of mountain bike racing in the United States.

The two groups split up for the NRC- and mountain bike-specific portions of the conference on Saturday to encourage an exchange of ideas between race promoters, industry stakeholders, and the national governing body.

For Russ Ames, Executive Director of the Dana Point Grand Prix, this dialogue is the best part of the summit.

“With a reduced NRC schedule, we felt it important to attend the summit and reiterate our commitment to fostering the growth of competitive events regionally and nationally,” he explained. “Allowing each promoter or director equal footing within the NRC is key. We all should share in the rewards as part of a greater entity, but also help one another attain better traction for long term success.”

NRC-specific subjects that were covered in the break-off sessions included date selection and the bid process, while mountain bike industry members discussed topics ranging from sustainable race courses to athlete development and the UCI experience.

Throughout the three-day conference, USA Cycling staff presented overviews to both groups on various topics, including insurance, risk management, results submission, calendar rankings, doping control, USADA, officials, and media relations. A special feature for the 2009 summits was a media panel consisting of VeloNews.com, the Colorado Springs Gazette, SingleTrack.com, and CyclingNews.com. The panel was instrumental in fostering dialogue about how to better promote cycling events through the industry and mainstream media.

USA Cycling National Events Director Micah Rice believes that the face-to-face meetings provided an invaluable opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the overall direction of the sport.

“The summits brought together many different aspects of our sport, not just promoters, but also riders, sponsors, and teams,” Rice explained. “Both the NRC and the mountain biking community have a variety of stakeholders, and having all of these people from around the nation in one place really opened doors for a great exchange of ideas.”

Saturday afternoon featured a Summit expo where the attendees made their way around to the booths set up by different product and service providers like Times-7, My Laps, Liberty Mutual, Vision Screen Printing, Rocky Mountain Sports, Adventure Advocates/Nicholas Hill Health, Creative Designs, and Resource Revivals.

In addition to taking advantage of the educational and resource-building opportunities over the three days, the participants were also treated to a Friday night Welcome Mixer presented by Times 7 at the Patty Jewett Golf Course and to a Saturday night USA Cycling Promoters Summit Dinner presented by My Laps at Phantom Canyon Brewery.

Prior to the NRC and Mountain Bike Promoters Summit, USA Cycling held its fifth annual Local Association (LA) summit, Nov. 7-9, in Colorado Springs. Thirty of the national governing body’s 34 LA’s gathered at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame for the three-day event where they discussed the opportunities and obstacles faced while growing the sport at the grassroots level.

Andrea Smith

USA Cycling, Inc.

Director of Communications

asmith@usacycling.org

www.usacycling.org

Skype: andi181401

210 USA Cycling Point, Suite 100

Colorado Springs, CO 80919

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source: Adrea Smith

Edinburgh, Scotland, November 20th – Danny MacAskill - the Scottish street trial rider made famous through his YouTube video watched by over 12 million people – is auctioning the bike he rode in the clip on Ebay. Money raised will go to BBC Children in Need to help disadvantaged children and young people in the UK.

“It is really exciting auctioning my bike for Children in Need!” Danny points out: “I really hope that it raises a lot of money for this great charity project and gives support to children that need it the most! Remember, the one who buys the bike will instantly be able to do everything in the inspired bikes April video!”

To get a clue, what kind of riding the 23 year old from Edinburgh is talking about, please take a look on the higher quality version of the famous video clip on: www.watch26.tv/video/2628.

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X-Fusion is proud to announce the signing of Tyler McCaul to our 2010 roster. Tyler continues to build his name in mountain biking excelling in Slopestyle and DJ contests, but still has the ability to race gravity events at the elite level. We at X-Fusion feel that he is a great ambassador for our brand and will be of value helping with R&D and product development.

Tyler is located very close to our US headquarters, which will allow Tyler and our engineers to work closely and efficiently. When we first looked at bringing Tyler aboard it was a no brainer for us and we are very happy that everything worked out.

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SCOTT USA ANNOUNCES FOUNDING MEMBERSHIP IN THE WOOD RIVER BICYCLE COALITION

Sun Valley, ID, November 18th 2009. SCOTT Bicycles today announced its burgeoning commitment as a Founding Member of the Wood River Bicycle Coalition (WRBC). The WRBC advocates and promotes bicycle and pedestrian access, education, and safety while encouraging policy makers, developers, residents, and visitors to further incorporate and utilize human power for transportation and recreation throughout Idaho’s Wood River Valley. Current PR campaigns include slogans like, “Complete the Streets”, and “Two Wheels, Two Feet”.

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Meet AT’s Showdown Riders and Help Raise Funds for the SF Bike Park

This Friday, Nov 20, you have an opportunity to meet some of the finest Mountain Bike Slopestyle riders in the world and have a little pre Expo Party courtesy of Marin Bikes. The SF Urban Riders and SF Dirt Lab will also be in the house promoting the SF Bike Park. They will be gathering at the Marin Factory Store at 1090 Folsom St at the corner of 7th St. from 6 to 8 PM.

The top riders will be signing autographs on Limited Edition AT Showdown posters. Contest rider rostrum includes: Andrew Taylor, Cam and Tyler McCaul, Greg Watts, Jordie Lunn, Paul Basagoitia and more! Free beer and pizza will be provided. Plus you can enter to the raffle to win a Marin Alcatraz Dirt Jump Bike worth $1199.99. Half of the proceeds go to the SF Urban Riders Mclaren Park Bicycle Park and the other half will go towards putting on AT’s Showdown.

Other prizes include Marin goodies, Skull Candy Headphones, SDG saddles and more. Raffle tickets are $10. Winners will be announced at the Bike Expo. You don’t have to be present to win. Many thanks for your support!

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Interbike:

Las Vegas, where nothing is as it seems (OK..the dust, heat, and bloodshot eyes are real) and your money magically vaporizes from your wallet only to end up in some guy named Vinnie’s Dubai bank account.

Oh joy, Las Vegas, Interbike 2009. The Hive attended the 2009 edition of bike industry’s most important popularity contest…well, lets just say we snuck in and ended up walking away with a few very nice pats on the back. The word on the street was this: Revl Carbon Road Brake Calipers have landed in the US. Introduced to the world only a month earlier at Eurobike, the cougar was let out of the bag stateside and came home with some tasty little morsels for us. The media took notice of the brakes we had installed on Parlee Bicycles fleet of demo road bikes and they wanted more. Take a look at the write-ups in the Interbike coverage on velonews.com and also on cyclingnews.com and keep an eye out for full reviews coming out soon.

There we quite a few other sightings of products by The Hive at Interbike this year: Santa Cruz Bicycles had our Chub Hubs which they spec on a large number of their bikes. Ibis was showing our Fifteen.G Cranks which come stock on the Tranny SS (Yes…all it needs now is some Chub), Edge Composites was lucky and kind enough to show some of the few Prototype geared Chubs in existence, Phil Wood showed some of our 100mm BB snow bike cranks which will be available directly through Speedway Cycles in Alaska and finally Yakima was showing a custom Soulcraft Road Bike with Chub-o-type road geared hubs.

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November 18, 2009 (Port Coquitlam BC.) Norco Bikes is proud to announce the addition of Slopestyle rider Sam Dueck to the 2010 Norco Factory Team. Sam has come off a great season boasting fantastic results such as 5th at Crankworx Colorado and 2nd at Goat Style in Creston BC. For the 2010 competition season Sam will continue to compete at an elite level in premiere events on a 2010 Norco 4Hun and an Empire SE.

Norco is excited about the addition of Sam to the Factory Team. He will be a great representative of Norco on the Slopestyle circuit. Sam has the ambition and talent to be at the forefront of slopestyle competition and we hope to offer him the tools to move forward with his riding career.

source: Norco Performance Bikes

Vancouver B.C. - BC Bike Race - The Ultimate Singletrack Experience is ready to unveil its new 2010 route that takes riders on a seven day mountain bike adventure from Vancouver to Whistler. Though year 4 will not see a big change to the overall incredibly successful 2009 course, organizers have made some final ‘tweaks’ to fine tune the route and to include as much singletrack as possible. The 2010 adventure promises to truly deliver more singletrack than any other event on the planet.

Taking all the feedback from participants over the last successful 3 years, BC Bike Race course designers have not only added more of the good stuff - loamy singletrack - but have also simplified the travel logistics. Day 3 will no longer involve a 5 a.m. wake up, but will be the usual relaxed affair that pervades this unusually fun adventure experience. By adding Powell River - a little known singletrack mecca with a beach front venue - as the Day 3 destination, BCBR has created a beautiful cruise concept, with 4 BC Ferries crossings… just enough travel time to socialize, relax, build excitement and see the amazing coast.

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This Friday, Nov 20, you have an opportunity to meet some of the finest Mountain Bike Slopestyle riders in the world and have a little pre Expo Party courtesy of Marin Bikes. The SF Urban Riders and SF Dirt Lab will also be in the house promoting the Bike Park. They will be gathering at the Marin Factory Store at 1090 Folsom St at the corner of 7th St. from 6 to 8 PM. Signing autographs on Limited Edition AT Showdown posters. Free beer and pizza will be provided. Plus you can enter to the raffle to win a Marin Alcatraz Dirt Jump Bike worth $1199.99. Half of the proceeds go to the SF Urban Riders Mclaren Park Bicycle Park and the other half will go towards putting on AT’s Showdown.

Other prizes include Skull Candy Headphones, SDG saddles and more. Raffle tickets are $10. Winners will be announced at the Bike Expo. You don’t have to be present to win. Many thanks for your support!

Where: Marin Factory Store 1090 Folsom St SF 94103 MAP
What: Riders, Raffle, Free Beer & Pizza
When: 6 to 8 PM, Friday Nov 21st

source: rideSFO