Article Originally Found On Mountain Biking by 198
Review by Robb Sutton
Original Article: Kona Coilair Supreme Mountain Bike Review

The Kona Coilair Supreme is a controversial mountain bike. With the Magic Link “6 +1″ suspension that automatically changes from 6″ of rear travel to 7.4″ of DH glory, the Kona Coilair is marketed as a park bike that can be ridden to the top of your favorite hill without the need of a lift assist but still bomb the DH like you would be used to on a 7.4″ travel rig. With statements like this from Kona…

“For the discerning free-crosser, that soldiered soul who climbs to the huck-and-hold goodness of advanced mountain cycling, the Kona CoilAir Deluxe does everything good. XC one day, dirt jumps the next, shuttle-descents on Thursday to mega alpine assaults all weekend long, thanks to our Magic Link technology, the CoilAir has the instinctive ability to change geometry, suspension performance and length of rear travel depending on your type of riding and the terrain at hand.”

…the Kona Coilair Supreme is going to have some big shoes to fill in its quest to be the do-it-all rig.

The Build

The Kona Coilair Supreme comes nicely spec’ed with some of the best from Fox Racing Shox, Shimano, Race Face and Mavic. The Supreme was Kona’s top build for 2009 and for around $5,799 retail, you get a bike that has some of the best components in the industry. This build weighs in around the mid 30’s range which puts it right in the fight for DH capable all-mountain bikes.

Highlights:

• Fox Racing Shox Talas RC2 w/165mm Travel and Tapered Steerer Tube
• Fox Racing Shox RP23
• Race Face Atlas Cracks setup 2×9 (32T/22T)
• XTR Rear Derailleur with XT Components Rounding Out the Rest of the Group
• Mavic Crossmax ST Wheelset
• Race Face Bars, Stem, Post

The bright orange and white definitely gives this bike a unique, in your face look that might not be for everyone. If you are looking for a bike that will not go unnoticed…this orange will do the trick. Within the front triangle, you will see the nuts and bolts of the Magic Link suspension setup. Each Kona Coilair comes with a detailed manual on suspension setup as you have many more variable to deal with than normal. Luckily, this rig came setup for my riding weight, so all I had to do was make sure that each of the adjustments equaled the correct sag and ride quality. In total, there are 5 adjustments to the rear suspension based on your riding weight.

• Fox RP23 air pressure
• Secondary shock spring rate (replace per riding weight)
• Secondary shock spring preload (turning preload collar)
• Secondary shock elastomer stiffness (replace per riding weight)
• Secondary shock position (based on rider weight)

With everything setup correctly on the Kona Coilair Supreme, I was ready to hit the trail to see how this bike was going to perform while climbing and in the rough stuff.

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

I have been testing the new Moots Open Trail titanium mountain bike stem since late winter, and it is the best stem I have ever used, period. That is a very bold statement, but I have been through my share of stems, and they all have a certain feel and a set of characteristics, and the Open Trail stands at the forefront of stemdomhood (ok, I made the word up).

That titanium stem is unobtainium, man!

The Open Trail was Moots first foray into creating a full fledged stem for mountain biking with a 31.8 clamp for oversized handlebars, and it is the burly mountain relative of the Moots Open Road stem. The mountain bike precursor to the Open Trail was their Ti Beam stem, which has only a 25.4 clamp and a 2 bolt faceplate.

The Open Trail is made with bi-ovalized titanium tubing, a newly designed 4 bolt aluminum faceplate, a titanium dual binder and comes stock in 90,100,110,120×6, 130×10 sizes. Moots use 3/2.5 Pi-Tech CWSR (Cold Worked and Stress Relieved ) seamless titanium tubing, which is comprised of 3% aluminum and 2.5% vanadium.

Titanium 101

Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver white color. Titanium can be alloyed with many metals to produce strong lightweight alloys for use in multiple industries, in situations where lightweight strength, corrosion resistance and ability to withstand temperature extremes are required. It was discovered by the English amateur geologist William Gregor in 1791, then independently rediscovered and named by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1795, whom named it for Titans (Latin - Titanos), the first sons of the earth in Mythology. It is the only element that burns in nitrogen.

Next -> Installation

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Review by Sharon Bader

In 2009 Norco has completely revamped its DH line. Using the same hydroformed frame with adjustable 8-9inch of rear travel as the A-line Park edition and DH Frame the lower spec’d Aline makes up this worthy trio. Coming in three sizes for 2009 I was on the small frame which was a good fit for me for downhill riding. This new frame design lowers the standover, lowers the shock placement, allows for adjustable bottom bracket height and head tube angle, has an internal forged 1.5″ to 1 1/8th head tube, forged links and 150×12mm through hole dropouts.

The Bike

Like all Norcos the A-line comes with the Horst Link rear suspension. This is the Specialized patent which locates the rear pivot on the chain stay. This separates braking and pedaling from the suspension and prevents Brake Jack since the wheel moves freely in the vertical direction during braking.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »

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

I have been using Magura Marta SL brakes for many years, and had always been satisfied with the brakes, but I always wanted a tad more power and modulation. Magura revamped the Marta line in 2009, and then sweetened the pot with a lighter version using forged magnesium. The new brakes have met my expectations and then some!

Magura Marta SL Magnesium
Magura updated the Marta lineup with some new innovations for 2009. The upgrades include a redesigned caliper and reservoir body, a better lever pivot, and the use of the larger Louise pads. The new reservoir body contains a new bleeding system, that is drastically easier to use.

Which brings us to the Mags, their latest tweak on the Marta SL. The Mags come with a titanium hardware, a special paint job (white/red), a magnesium reservoir body and an aluminum caliper. The rotors are sold separately in 160, 180 and 203 sizes in either the default SL Wavy, Drilled SL or Venti rotors.

Magura were originally going to have a full magnesium set, but due to some tooling issues they have stuck with an aluminum caliper, so the weight wasn’t quite at their projected project weight. The weight weenie crowd not surprisingly, was up in arms over the lack of a full magnesium brake for Magura’s lightweight flagship and benchmark model. Hopefully, they can overcome the issues and release a magnesium caliper sometime soon.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning…Smelled like…victory.

Magnesium 101
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, and atomic number 12. It is a fairly strong, silvery-white, light-weight metal, and was first produced in England by Sir Humphry Davy in 1808. The name originates from the Greek word for a district in Thessaly called Magnesia.

With a density of only two thirds of aluminum, it has countless applications in cases where weight reducing is important. It tarnishes slightly when exposed to air, and is protected from air and water by a thin layer of oxide, which is fairly impermeable and hard to remove. Magnesium is a highly flammable metal, but while it is easy to ignite when powdered or shaved into thin strips, it is difficult to ignite en masse or bulk. Burning or molten magnesium metal reacts violently with water, since it creates hydrogen gas, so if your brakes spontaneous combust throw sand on them!

Next -> Installation & Technical Features

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

I have been the using KMC SL series of chains for many years now, they are very lightweight, have a plethora of technical features, with good shifting capabilities, and even look good (especially in gold).

I tend to ride with a slow cadence on technical terrain in very small gears, so I cause an enormous amount of torque on the drivetrain system, and especially on the main conduit, the chain. This can wreak havoc fairly quickly on a chain, so I tend to go through them pretty quickly, no matter what brand they are.

I found that with the KMC SL chains, I tended to get premature wear in comparison to other chains. When they finally lengthen beyond their specified limits, they tended to mis-shift, and on occasion I would catastrophically snap a link.

Chains do not stretch, they lengthen (elongate), and they do so because their hinge pins and sleeve hole wear, literally making the chain sloppy and loose.

You can check chain elongation with a chain checker tool (Park CC-2) or measure with a ruler, but both methods can be slightly error prone.

At the 2008 Interbike, I spoke with the KMC staff about the wear issues I was encountering, and they told me they had an upgraded version of the SL series coming out soon that should alleviate that issue.

In November, I started to test out the latest X9SL and X10SL chains on my 9 speed drivetrains, which included an XTR and Sram X.0 system. Although, some people report issues (front shifting?) with using a 10 speed chain on a 9 speed drivetrain, I had never had any shifting issues with that combination, nor have many others on the MTBR.com weight weenie forum. The main reason to go with a 10 speed is to save weight. The KMC SL chains are available in either silver or gold colors, in both a 9 and 10 speed, and are compatible with Shimano, Sram and Campagnolo.

KMC History
KMC Chains was established in Tainan County , Taiwan in 1977 by Charles Wu. The company makes bicycle chains as their core business, and they also make motorcycle, automotive, garage door opener and industrial chains. In the mid 80’s they partnered with Shimano to supply them with a whole series of their chains. They make over 500 million feet of a chain a year, which is a heck of a lot of chains!

Next -> Installation

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

I have been testing the Eriksen Sweetpost on and off for almost a year now, and it has one of the most innovative clamp adjustment systems I have ever used. It is not only simple, but it makes adjusts and saddles swapping a 10-30 second ordeal. In addition, it is made of the most wonderful material for bicycles, titanium. Ahh, the exquisite silky smooth titanium, drool!

I visited Kent Eriksen’s funky shop last summer, and had a nice long conversation with him about everything under the sun, mostly a titanium sun of course. When Kent gets going, he likes to talk, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Kent’s knowledge and expertise with titanium are unfathomable, and I learned a lot in our brief time together. His wife, and hard core mountain bike racer Katie Lindquist wandered in during my shop tour, and she helped set up the review of the Sweetpost, thanks Katie.

He walked me through his small but well appointed shop, and showed me a very tricked out tandem bike with couplers that he was working on. The bottom tube was huge, and the tube was squished at the bottom brackets ends, very trick indeed. Everything that his shop works on is impeccability welded, bar none.

Here is where the Sweetposts are assembled. They had a wide array of colors for the clamps, and some stock sizes, and quite a few custom sizes ready to go out to customers.

Next -> Installation

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

I have been extremely lucky to have had an exceptionally long term test period with the Ashima AiRotor. They are one of my favorite products I have used, not only because they work excellently, but they are a credible weight weenie disc brake rotor.

During my first foray to Interbike in 2007, as I wandered around in a daze, I came upon the KCNC booth, which Wayne of Ashima was sharing with Jacky of KCNC. I was having a great conversation with Wayne, and then I became extremely intrigued when he pulled out the beta version of the AiRotor. They looked wickedly cool, and then he did what any self respecting weight weenie would do, he put them on a scale for me. I immediately knew I had to have some for testing!

Ashima AiRotors
The AiRotors come in 140mm, 160mm, 180mm and 203mm sizes (soon a 185) in the ubiquitous 6 hole IS interface. They are made from 410 stainless steel that have a special high grade improvement, and they are heat treated to HRC 42. HRC is the Rockwall Hardness Scale, which is a hardness scale based on the indentation hardness of a material. An indentation hardness correlates linearly with tensile strength of metals. HRC 42 correlates to a tensile strength of approximately 194 ksi. The rotors are also double ground for superior flatness.

The AiRotors are now available in the colors, Red, Black, Blue, Yellow, and White!

Ashima History
Ashima was a West Semitic goddess of fate related to the Akkadian goddess Shimti (”fate”). The name Ashima could be translated as “the name, portion, or lot” depending on context. Wayne likes to call it “without limits”. In the Hebrew Bible, Ashima is one of the several deities protecting the individual cities of Samaria.

The expatriate Brit Wayne Moore is the main man at Ashima. Wayne himself was a designer/project manager with the US based parts supplier Teleflex Automotive, and 4 years ago he was on his way over to China to start a new job with Ford. He stopped in Taiwan to visit his wife’s family and ended up staying to help out with Ashima, which was the family business. Ashima itself was set up by his wife’s siblings who already had over twenty years experience making rubber braking products. Wayne had some disc brake technology experience while working for Teleflex, and he brought that expertise into the Ashima business.

The company has had exceptional growth over the last couple of years. They have the capacity to manufacture 1 million brake pads/month (rim or disk), and since 2008, they have sold over 70,000 AiRotor discs, wow! They have a couple of very innovative and exciting hydraulic disc brakes coming to market shortly, the PCB (PanCake Brake) which is piston-less and the 4 pot APV (Ashima Power Valve System). The PCB just became a Design Award Winner at the upcoming EuroBike Show, congrats to Ashima.

Now he just needs to practice up on his Mandarin!

Next -> Impressions

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

I have been using the American Classic All Mountain wheelset for over 6 months now, and it is not only sweet looking, but it has proven to be bombproof, and has some innovative and interesting features.

American Classic All Mountain
The AC All Mountain are available in both a 26 inch and 29 inch size on a 28mm wide 32 hole rim, and only come in White with some simple but nice looking graphics. The wheels come outfitted with black 14/15 gauge aluminum spokes with silver aluminum nipples in a 3 cross pattern. The hubs come in a wide variety of options.

Front hub options:
Disc 130 100mm
15mm Thru Axle Disc 100mm
20mm Thru Axle Disc 110mm

Rear hub options:
Disc 225 135mm
All Mountain Disc 135 135mm (12mm axle)
Downhill Disc 150 150mm (12mm axle).

All the hubs use the ubiquitous 6 bolt IS interface. I tested the 15mm Thru Axle Disc 100mm front and Disc 225 135mm rear on my usual Ibis Mojo Steed.

American Classic History
American Class was founded over 27 years by Bill Shook, and they have become an industry leader in the wheel and component design arena since their inception. While road racing back in the 70’s, Bill found that the American market was lacking in durable, lightweight and well made bicycle equipment (namely rims, wheels and tires). After a successful road racing career, Bill received a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University. With his new found engineering know how, and a head full of dreams and ideas he founded American Classic. Since then the company has created many products, including seatposts, rims, hubs and wheelsets for road and mountain biking, and everything in between. They continue to be at the forefront of innovation and engineering in the bicycle wheel world, and have many patents and new products as a barometer of that expertise.

Next -> Features

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Review of the 2009 Rocky Mountain Slayer SXC 30 Words and photos by Lee Lau unless otherwise noted.

OVERVIEW

Rocky asked me to test their Slayer SXC (Super Cross-Country) full-suspension all-mountain bike. I own a Rocky Mountain Element and had previously tested their new Altitude frame so am familiar with Rocky’s build quality and their well-deserved reputation for detailed well-thought out excellence. I specifically asked for a lower-end model as I’d been riding high-end pimped out bikes for the last few years and feared I was getting a bit jaded. There’s really not much fault you can find in a $ 6,000 bike after all (well Buffy, the carbon parts don’t quite match …..). Accordingly Rocky set me up with their lowest end bike of the line - a SXC 30 in size 18″.

Rocky has a fair amount of bike design experience and the Slayer SXC is not new so I didn’t expect to be surprised. Although it has evolved somewhat, the SXC has existed in this current design incarnation since 2006. It’s basically a single pivot design employing Rocky’s LC2R (Low Centre Counter Rotating) suspension technology. Technology bafflegab aside this technology is meant to result in a very plush ride with it’s strength being highly tuneable suspension. The Slayer SXC is intended to fill the all-mountain gap for riders who are biased towards downhill. As befitting the lowest-end component spec bike, no components stood out for their sheer look-at-me factor; instead the bike was a workmanlike solid build that did its job without fuss.

Front end of the Slayer SXC 30. Note the speckled paint job and nicely finished head tube badge. It’s the small touches that count

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Posted in Feature Articles, Pro Reviews |Tags:Bikes, Canada, rocky, Slayer SXC |22733 visits| 7 Comments »

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