I’ve received a few inquiries about the 2010 Giant Glory 0. This is a great downhill MTB with a full 8″ of travel. Last year’s Glory was heavy. The ‘10 model has been in development for two years. The result is a unbelievable 1.5kg (3.3lb, or 26.8 percent) weight loss.
NSMB have their own intial thoughts about the new ’10 Glory DH from Giant. It’s basically a new bike with a lot of weight savings and 8″ of travel, down from 8.8″. Weight weenies can pull the weight of this DH bike down to about 36lbs, but stock weight is 37.9lbs, which is good for a DH bike.
If you are thinking about getting a pro mountain bike off ebay, here is a tip that I got from a pro mountain biker. He’s my student and owns a Trek 9.9 from 2006. He told me that now’s the time to get a bike off ebay, because the pros are getting rid of their bikes from last year and buying new ones. Pros, if they aren’t fully sponsored, will pay cost on these bikes. That’s about %50 of retail value.
The Scott Spark LTD boasts that it’s the lightest full suspension mountain bike available, but Cannondale released its Olympic mountain bike edition of the Scalpel which is actually 1.6 lbs lighter. The Scott Spark LTD does possess some cool technology. It weighs 20.6 lbs. The Cannondale Scalpel Olympic weighs 19lbs. The new Trek Fuel EX 9.9 now weighs in at 23.5 lbs. Taking a Cannondale Scalpel carbon fiber frame with a carbon fiber lefty and a carbon fiber seatpost and handlebars will most probably reduce easilty the weight of the Scalpel. The other thing that is pretty heavy on these bikes are the wheels. A pair of carbon fiber wheels will make a big difference. This is what they used to make that Cannondale/Vredestein so light, plus a few tweaks.
(via uncrate)
At a whopping $7700, the Specialized S-Works Enduro SL Carbon is one heck of a bike. The only criticism that I have is that it’s a wee bit pricey. A Cannondale Scalpel is almost $2-3K cheaper.
However, the Enduro is a great all-mountain bike. It climbs well, descends well and has 6″ of travel. Another thing is that Specialized has decided to go with their own brand of shocks, seat posts, saddles, stems, tires and forks, instead of using other brands. I’ve researched this and it’s obvious that the tires are shitty. Fork looks fine, but it’s had some issues, same as the rear shock. Personally, I’d expect to get premium flawless parts on such a high-end bike. Then again, the frameset is available for purchase, so you can mount your bike the way you wish.
The carbon fiber frame alone is about $3900. You only save 3lbs over the aluminum version, which makes you wonder if it’s worth the extra two grand. Comparatively, the Cannondale carbon fiber frame Scalpel is $2500. My feeling though is that the Scalpel is an XC type of bike. The Scalpel 2007 frames are available for as low as $800 on ebay.
Just like the Scalpel, this is one good looking bike. It has beautiful lines and doesn’t compromise for bikers wanting a lot of travel for downhill racing. Fully specced out, it can weigh about 26-27lbs.
Tired of traveling without having your trusty bike along?
The Ritchey BreakAway is a bike frameset that fits in a handy bag, which weighs about 30lbs, including the bike and its components.
The titanium version of the frame is available for $2500. The bag is optimized to fit the size of the wheels.
It’s a great concept, especially for all of those people traveling the world with their bikes. Whar I really like is that it’s like any other normal mountain bike, excep that it fits in a bag. I wonder how the bike holds up to aggressive mountain biking.
This would make a great second or third bike for when you travel. It’s just a different frameset. This is a really nifty idea.
Coupled with a lefty carbon fiber fork, a carbon fiber seatpost, carbon fiber wheels and other nice components, it could be a sweet 20lbs hardtail ride. The frame itself weighs about 3.6lbs.
