A USA pro mountain biker and great friend of the crew here at Bike198 needs your help. As many of you probably already know, finding funding for pro mountain bikers is a hard task. Even with available sponsors in the industry, there are still limited funds available to pros to travel and compete. Krista qualified for the Marathon World Championships by killing it in Breckenridge and now she needs our help to make it over the pond to represent the [...]

Let me start this by saying that I am pretty sure I have used EVERY bike specific tape product to protect frames on the market. I have way overpaid for private branded, logo’ed up clear tape that ends up failing by getting dirt and moisture underneath or leaves a nasty glue residue on the frame. It’s frustrating and expensive when all I really want to do is protect my frames from scratches and cable rub. We spend a lot of [...]

While working on a new project for Bike198.com (details to come soon), my friend/fellow riding buddy/print designer/photographer, RegularJoe, brought to light that Bike198 needed a tagline and this tagline needed to pertain to all aspects of cycling. I threw some ideas on the wall to see what would stick and then during a long climb in the mountains on a humid Saturday morning as the sun was breaking through the low level clouds at the top of the mountain peaks…he [...]

When Shimano set out to design a new budget group for mountain bikers, they ditched the LX (moved to commuter) and Hone (discontinued) packages for mountain bikes to create the Shimano SLX mountain bike component group. This groupo promised to mix the durability of Hone with the proven reliability of LX to give entry level to intermediate mountain bikes a quality component group that might not be the lightest on the market, but performs to expectations on the trail. Sitting directly below the Shimano [...]

The Specialized Epic Carbon 29er marks a new entry point for Specialized Mountain Bikes…a race worthy 29er that is going to see podium spots. Up until this point, Specialized only had the Stumpjumper HT available in carbon for those that loved the big wheeled platform. If you wanted full suspension carbon, you had to settle for the 26″ version of the Epic. Now, with the introduction of the 2011 Specialized Epic Carbon 29er, we are going to see a full [...]

Last week, I hit you guys up with a question: “Who’s mountain bike suspension are you running?” The idea was to get a polling of what you guys are running as your front and rear shocks in terms of brand. With multiple options available on the market, we get to see a spread of usage across all platforms with the simplicity of this poll setup. So…how did everything shake out? Front Suspension: Brand Breakdown from Poll Results Rear Suspension: Brand [...]

Finding the best discount bike parts and mountain bikes is going to become even more crucial as years roll on. It is painfully obvious that the prices of new mountain bike frames and components are not decreasing anytime soon (seems like the price of mountain bikes and components keep going up! Check out the new SRAM and Shimano components), so by keeping an eye out and looking in the right places, you can find the best mountain bike deals and [...]

When you set out to find a new trail, having the map, specific route or an actual course map before the race can help drastically as you prepare to navigate terrain that you have never been on before. In the old days, this was reserved to paper maps that may or may not disintegrate with moisture as you ride miles away from your starting point. With the widespread adoption of GPS devices and mapping technology (Garmin Connect) spreading on the [...]

Specialized is well known throughout the mountain biking industry for providing a complete lineup of high-quality mountain bike apparel and accessories for riders. As part of their extensive lineup, Specialized offers some apparel for the all mountain, free ride and downhill segments to meet the needs of more agressive riding. The Specialized Shindig and Para mountain bike shorts are part of that lineup and the subjects for today’s review. These two heavy duty MTB shorts are designed to protect your [...]

This is a quick checkin to let you know what is going on around the Bike198.com camp lately as we continue to expand the other disciplines of the site. DT Swiss Wheelset – Electric Red and White Chris over at Built To Last Wheels hooked up the Road.Bike198.com site with an electric red and white road wheelset for review. This 1580g DT Swiss wheelset is hand built around the new 36 point DT Swiss 240s hubs and the new RR465 [...]

Outside of bike brands, the largest competition in the market has to be suspension manufactures. With 99% of the bikes on the market getting some form of suspension treatment from the factory or in the aftermarket, mountain bike suspension component manufacturers are all competing for a spot on your mountain bike. The long time favorites have been Fox Racing Shox and RockShox in recent memory but veterans like Manitou and new comers like Fusion are starting to mix up the [...]

It happens. As much as we all do not want to think or talk about it, part of the sport of mountain biking (or cycling in general) is not if you are going to wreck…it is when. We take as many precautions as possible with helmets, protective gear and trying not to ride over our heads, but…at the end of the day…sometimes s@*t just happens no matter how careful (or lucky) we are. With wrecking, downtime off the bike inevitably [...]

The 2010 Tour de France is shaping up to be an exciting hammer through the streets of France. With Lance Armstrong riding in his last Tour, Alberto Contador chasing his 3rd Tour victory, Andy Schlek looking to take Contador off the podium and exciting finishes that will be shaken up by Mark Cavendish’s crash at the Swiss Tour…there is plenty of drama to unfold before the tires even hit blacktop. To stay on top of what is happening in France [...]

The Hive (recently merged with e*thirteen) has come to the mountain bike component marketplace with some impressive new gear. This Fifteen.G crankset marks the first of crank in their line and promises high performance, low weight and a lower price than you are normally used to from a weight weenie setup. The beautiful black ano blends with just about any mountain bike perfectly, so let’s take a spin and see how these impressive cranks performed on the trail. the Hive [...]

Cannondale is completely revamping their mountain bike lineup for 2011. This new lineup from Cannondale bikes is the first complete redesign since the Doral buyout, so all eyes are on Cannondale to see if they can keep the “boutique” feel going with big box backing. As part of the new mountain bike lineup announcement, the big C brought back the Jekyll. To bring back an old mountain bike legend like the Jekyll, Cannondale knew they couldn’t bring just another run [...]