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

I have been testing the Race Face NEXT XC crankset for 3 months now, and it is very lightweight,
highly engineered, very trick looking, and best of all it is extremely stiff.

Happiness is a nice Stiff one

The Race Face NEXT XC crankset system is comprised of the EXI bottom bracket, the drive side arm with bonded CrMo spindle, the non drive side arm, and arm protection end caps. It comes in a very pretty box with everything very nicely laid out.

Race Face has been making carbon cranks for 10 years, and they spent 2 years of extensive R&D to create these 100% carbon cranks. The workmanship, innovation, design, materials analysis and artistry of that allocated time really shows in the quality of this product. The cranks are manufactured in their British Columbia Canada manufacturing facility.

Carbon Fiber 101
The history of carbon fiber starts out in 1958 in the hands of a freshly minted Ph.D. in physics, Roger Bacon. While working at Union Carbide Parma Technical Center located outside of Cleveland, he was doing carbon arc testing using stands of rayon, and he created some deposits, which contained carbon fiber whiskers. Unbeknownst he may have also created the first carbon nanotubes?

Carbon fiber is composed of carbon atoms bonded together to form a long chain of extremely thin fibers about 0.005–0.010 mm in diameter. Thousands of carbon fibers are twisted together to form a yarn, the yarns are used in several processing techniques: the direct uses are for prepregging, filament winding, pultrusion, weaving, braiding etc. It is usually then combined with an epoxy resin to form a composite material. Carbon fiber needs precursors for its creation, and either rayon, PAN or pitch is used. The mostly widely used precursor is polyacrylonitrile (PAN), which was researched by the Japanese in 1961, and then developed by Japanese and the British. Using PAN as a precursor creates much higher strength and higher modulus fibers.

In a nutshell: carbon fiber is a high strength, high stiffness material that when combined with a resin matrix creates a composite with exceptional mechanical properties.

Next -> Construction & Installation

VANCOUVER – January 29^th, 2009 - Race Face Components Inc., one of North America’s leading producers of high-end mountain bike components, apparel and protection, is proud to announce the signing of pro shredder Mike Kinrade to the team. Using Race Face’s Atlas FR cranks, high performance clothing and a brand new line of protection, the Kinradical one will be crushing it well into 2010.

“We’re delighted to have Mike on board” says Race Face’s Julian Coffey. “Kinrade has ridden Race Face components for many years, and given his progression, we definitely felt it was time to take things up a notch! Mike has a history of really pushing the boundaries, and for us that’s always a great fit. In addition to shredding with the best, he’s also a super classy guy with a fantastic work ethic and initiative. Add in the never ending onslaught of ideas and product feedback and you’ve got a winning combo – great for new product development as well as for the Race Face brand in general.”

The resurgence of big mountain meets slopestyle riding couldn’t be timed better. Kinrade, a veteran of the extreme scene, is the only rider to compete in all five Red Bull Rampage events. Years of building gnar in the high alpine led to a very convincing 4^th place at the 2008 Rampage, and 2009 is shaping up to be a banner year for the man who was homegrown in Nelson, BC.

Known for building remote but incredibly sick lines, Mike also has a sharp eye for film and imagery in general. His experience behind the camera lens as well as in front of it provides him with some very unique insight into how to produce the best results from film and photo shoots. Video, especially online, has been a large part of Race Face’s history, and will be an even bigger part of the component manufacturer’s upcoming campaigns in 2009. Keep an eye out for some exclusive footage of Kinrade and other Race Face riders in the very near future.

“Representing Race Face is a big honor for me” says Mike. “These guys have been pushing mountain biking for a long time now. Back when every other component company thought there was no point in making the gear and components that are mandatory with today’s riding, Race Face was behind us all the way.

Years ago I used to watch riders put pop can shims in their cranks so they could keep using them, but the Race Face North Shore FR cranks never had problems. This was 10 years ago, and things have only gotten better. Riding for them is like being a part of history, I’m stoked, what more can I say!”

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VANCOUVER and WHISTLER - June 18^th, 2008 - Race Face Components and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park announced today the completion of their first ever trail branding collaboration. Race Face is in its seventh year as the official components and armour sponsor for the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, and a new two year deal was inked in April of this year. As part of the new contract, Race Face chose to sponsor and brand the appropriately named trail Crank It Up, a great all round blue trail for all riding levels.

All the artwork was done freehand with no stenciling whatsoever. The concept behind the wall ride murals was to create something very flowy and organic while making a serious departure from the traditional branded stunt fare. In addition, the artwork was designed to ‘wear’ well over the riding season, incorporating the inevitable wall ride arcing tire marks.

“Race Face has a long history of bringing new and innovative ideas to the bike world and this is no exception,” said Craig Pollack, Race Face CEO. “We wanted to break out of the ’stenciled logo on wooden stunts’ look and try something fresh and vibrant.”

BC artist Scott Tobin was the man with the vision and the paint skills for this unique project. With the help of the Whistler Bike Park trail crew, Tobin set to work over 3 days to bring his art to the mountain. Each wall ride was painted flat black first and then the crew roped them off allowing Tobin to work his magic.

Rippers who normally light up that section of the trail were grabbing handfuls of brake to check out the action as it happened. Look for the time elapsed video of all the wall ride artwork in the videos section on the Race Face website around the last week of June.

Tobin has an extensive portfolio within the adrenaline sports realm, including Burton, Bell, Telus and Red Bull. Tobin’s passion is “to paint visual-antidepressants, to create beautiful work that has a positive impact on people and a positive contribution to the world.” Tobin’s work includes large-scale interior/exterior wall murals; fine art, and live painting performances. Eighteen years experience with spray paint has led him to be one of Canada’s top character graffiti artists. You can see more of his work on his website - www.tobinism.com.

The news article is available online here.

source: Julian Coffey

Race Face Components Inc., one of North America’s leading producers of high performance bicycle components and apparel, is stoked to announce that it has re-signed, for the 2008 and 2009 seasons, as the official components and armour sponsor for Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

In the two year contract that was recently finalized, Race Face will provide all Whistler guide and rental bikes with a sweet DH specific components spec, including Race Face’s new bombproof Diabolus D2 chain guide. Race Face will also supply a full line up of armour including the outstanding Rally DH Armour jacket.

“We have enjoyed a very successful, long standing affiliation with the Whistler Bike Park” says Race Face’s Julian Coffey. “They continue to lead the way in defining what a world class, lift assisted riding destination should be.

We’re extremely proud to be a part of that growth, and providing the Park with components that can withstand all the punishment that a fully armoured bike riding maniac can dish out has become a tradition here at Race Face. After six years of supplying components to the park, we have yet to see a single item fail. That’s a pretty impressive statement when you consider the amount of intense riding these bikes take each season.”

The build crews at Whistler will be at it again soon, getting the Park ready for some more epic shredding when they open in May. You can expect to see a ton of work on the Park with the No Joke rebuild and the continuation of Blue Velvet in the Garbo zone. The lower Bike Park will also receive some love in the form of extensive maintenance, a new blue trail and the opening of the much anticipated Ninja Cougar.

This year Race Face will be really be getting their hands dirty as the first company to support a trail in the Park, the aptly named ‘Crank It Up’. Crank It Up is a great, all round blue trail for all riding levels. Whether you need a good warm up run before the day’s slaying begins, or you want to wrap things up with some sweet air, this trail is as fast and flowy as they come.

For the 2008-09 seasons, Race Face will equip Whistler’s entire line of rental and guide bikes with a full component spec, including cranks, chainrings, chain guides, bottom brackets, headsets, seatposts, stems and handlebars.

“The Whistler Mountain Bike Park is thrilled that Race Face has chosen to be our partner for the 7th straight year.” says Rob McSkimming - VP Business Development. “Our guides and coaches ride more vertical than anyone on the planet and the Race Face components on their bikes have definitely stood the test of time. That’s a major reason why we have chosen Race Face components for our fleet of rental bikes this year as well.”

The Whistler Mountain Bike Park features more than 200km of lift-serviced trails, dropping riders more than 4,800 vertical feet. The park also features three skills centers and a Biker Cross Course.

About Race Face Performance Products:
Based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Race Face Performance Products designs and manufactures leading-edge performance cycling components, clothing, and protection. RaceFace products are distributed in more than 40 countries globally. The company sponsors a number professional teams and riders. For more information, visit www.raceface.com.

Julian Coffey, Race Face