Hayes Bicycle Group - Manitou, Sun Ringle, Answer and Hayes

Manitou has released an aluminum legged version of the uber pricey carbon fiber Dorado MRD. The new affordable Dorado shares the same internals as the MRD version, so it will retain the same downhill fork characteristics. It will be available in either a 180 or 203mm travel version, with Manitou’s proprietary HexLock thru axle, 36mm stanchions and weighs 6.5 lbs.

Manitou is finally releasing their new Absolute+ damper, which will be available as a retrofit to some existing models, and will be on their 2010 models. It is sort of a combination of their TPC and old Absolute damper designs, and it has an independent slow and high speed compression circuits. The low speed damping is adjustable via the Speed Needle on top of the fork leg.

Sun Ringle has some new trick carbon rims. The SRD (Sun Ringle Racing Development) Carbon Wheels only come in a 26 inch size, and are 26mm wide, and have a very nice looking carbon matte finish, which goes well with the bright gold direct pull hubs. Weight is 1550 grams.

The new and very sweet looking Sun Ringle Chargers are available in either the Pro or Expert versions, in 26 and 29 inch sizes, and come in either black or white. The All Mountain Chargers use 28mm rims, and get the Stan’s NoTubes rim treatment (licensed from Stan’s). The hubs are Direct Pull on the Charger Pro (red only) or normal on the Expert (black only). The hubs have an option for interchangeable end caps (ala Hope), 9mm or 15mm or 20mm on the front. Weight for the Pro is 1725 grams.

The new updated Sun Ringle Black Flag are available in either the Pro or Expert versions, in 26 and 29 inch sizes, and come in either black or gold. The XCountry Black Flags were upgraded to 24mm rims, and also get the Stan’s NoTubes rim treatment. The hubs are Direct Pull on the Pro (black or gold only) or normal on the Expert (black only). Weight for the Pro is 1620 grams.

DT Swiss has a bunch of new products being released this year, the most prominent is the new tubeless ready Tricon wheelset. They are also releasing some new carbon wheels, new forks with a better price point and some minor tweaks to their existing top of the line carbon fork.

Tricon Wheelset
The new Tricon wheel system has some very innovative features that were engineered into them. Foremost is that they use a multiple piece hub, which is comprised of 2 spoke flanges and a hub body. The separate spoke flanges are tightened down onto the hub body, so they are not part of the hub itself. This arrangement leaves the hub body and the bearings free of tension from spoke pull, so the bearings can spin as smoothly as possible. Usually a hub has to have a built in amount of bearing bind, since once spoke tension is applied the body is pulled outwards, thus freeing up the bearings. Otherwise the bearings would be sloppy and more apt to wear if that factor was not designed into the hub.

The spoke pattern is a combination of radial and crossed spokes, for maximum stiffness and torque transferal. The spokes use Torx nipples, and are threaded on each end, and are straight pulled. Lastly the rim, uses small spoke inserts, which are supported on two sides of the rim, think of them as a sort of rectangular spoke nuts. This arrangement allows the rim to be built lighter, and in addition it is airtight for tubeless compatibility.

The mountain version of the wheel system is the XM 1550 Tricon, and is 26mm wide. The front is available as either 100mm/15mm or 110mm/9mm, while the rear can be 135mm/10mm or 142mm/12mm. Weights are 700 grams for the front and 850 grams for the rear. It is also available in a road version RR 1450 Tricon.

Next -> Forks & Carbon Wheels

See all the latest 2009 Bikes and Products from DT Swiss Here!

There was not much new stuff from DT Swiss. They have also jumped on the 15mm bandwagon, so they have revamped their existing lines to incorporate that new standard. You can now get their 240 and 340 hubs in 15mm flavors, their XR 1450 and EX 1750, X 1800 and X 2200 in wheels in 15mm and finally the XMC 130 and EXC 150 forks come in 15mm.

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