Tech report: Two scoops in every box

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By Andrew Juskaitis, VeloNews technical editor

Wow, the silly season is certainly upon us again with a veritable truckloadof road and mountain bike races gearing-up just about everywhere. In fact,I just got back from a solid weekend of riding and racing in Moab, Utahwith VeloNews’ own Jason Sumner and Jon “SlimJim” Stierwalt.

Sure, we were primarily there on assignment to cover the 2003 Tour ofCanyonlands event (check out Jason’s race reports earlier this week righthere at velonews.com and also in our upcoming issue #8), but you can’tfault us for also sneaking in a day of freeriding on the amazing PoisonSpider/Portal trails. We even managed to sneak in a bit of the legendarySlickrock trail just as the sun was setting–call it accelerated tire testing…

Speaking of Moab, it always surprises me to hear “insiders” downplaythe Moab experience. No, it’s not the outright best riding I’ve ever run-across,but, on the whole, it’s certainly some of the most fun terrain you canhit in the United States. I’ve been making the trek to southern Utah forover 10 years now, and can say that every time I’ve made the effort, I’verolled out of town with thoroughly spent legs and a huge smile on my face.

“Too many people, too ‘Corp-o’, too few trails, crappy food…”

I’ve heard it all before, mostly from “too-cool” insiders who alwaysclaim to know a “much better” spot to ride. Yes, there are longer, swoopier,less-populated singletracks out there, but as far as a bike-friendly townwith an amazing network of world-class trails originating from its mainstreet, Moab is hard to top.

Say what you will, Moab’s reputation is well-deserved.

Now on to a bit of product coverage:
As you are reading this I’m on my way or already at, to the 2003 SeaOtter Classic. My mission: hit the pits, scour the pros bikes and maybeattend a few “behind-closed-doors meetings” with a few manufacturers tosnag a sneak-peek at 2004 product. High on my hit list are 2004 ShimanoDura-Ace (we’ve been promised an exclusive look at the complete group)as well as ’04 SRAM and RockShox product. If you’re interested, keep youreyes peeled for a few special web tech updates this upcoming week.

But before Sea Otter even officially kicks-off, here’s the latest scoopon ’04 Dura-Ace. As reported first right here, the FC-7800 Dura-Ace cranksetand integrated crankset will feature the same two-piece pinch bolt designutilized on Shimano’s 2004 XTR crank. According to Shimano’s Director ofCommunications, Chris DiStefano, the goals for the crank and BB were simple:”We wanted to build the lightest crankset in the peleton without sacrificingefficiency.” He went on to explain that, “we could have produced a lightercrankset using ‘alternative’ materials [i.e. carbon], but found that ourHollowtech II forging process is still the best way to produce the lightestand stiffest products in the world.”

DiStefano went on to add that, “you’ll see a number of teams riding’04 Dura-Ace in late spring and early summer events–namely Postal and Rabobank.In particular, we’ve received a lot of feedback from Lance to strike theperfect balance between stiffness and weight. We feel we’ve nailed it bymaking it stiffer than current FC-7701/BB-7700 Dura-Ace while also shavingoff almost 30 grams.”

The new crankset and BB (along with the rest of the components) willbe available to consumers much like XTR was this year–expect the good stuffto be delivered to your shop early in 2004. It will be available in 155-180mmlengths and will be 10-speed specific. No word on price, but keep in mindcurrent XTR crankset and BB is running almost five bills–ouch!

And Speaking of Racks…
Top Line Racks dropped us a line with an update on its latest creation:the Maggie Rack. Designed to fit “any vehicle” and accept both Yakima andThule attachments, and affordably priced (less than Yakima or Thule crossbarsand towers), the Maggie seems like quite a deal. According to spokesmanTom Braceland, the Maggie is, “an attractive, rugged rack that may appealto you on looks alone. It is also simply, yet ingeniously designed to fitany make or model of car, van, or SUV. You can pick a great-looking rackguaranteed to fit your car or SUV with no worries about fitting all youraccessories.”

Curious as to how one rack might be able to attach to every vehicleon (or off) the road, Braceland followed-up by explaining that the rackmust, “be permanently attached to the roof of your car (i.e. drilling throughthe roof).”

If drilling into the rook of your hot-off-the-boat $32,000 VolkswagenR32 sounds appealing (or having it professionally installed) check outwww.toplinemfg.com.

A Race Note
While hanging about the well-run awards ceremony at the Tour of Canyonlandsthis past weekend, I couldn’t help but notice that the pro men’s and women’spodium were suspiciously vacant of first place champs. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski(RLX Ralph Lauren) and Kerry Barnholt (SoBe-Cannondale) were both MIA whencalled to receive their plaque, leaders jersey and $100.

It got me thinking, “isn’t it the job of a pro to be a positive spokesmanfor his sponsors–a regular ambassador to the products he/she are paid by?”

But alas, both victors had split town not long after crossing the finishline.

Now, I certainly understand both had long drives back to their Denver-areahomes (6 hours), but there were plenty of attendees who had longer drivesand better things to do than sit around for the three-hour ceremony. Horgan-Kobelskistated he, “needed to check out of his hotel to avoid being charged foranother night, “while Barnholt needed to, “make it back to her ill friendin Colorado.” I might buy the “sick friend” story, but “checking out?”Com’on Jeremy?

My point is that both Horgan-Kobelski and Barnholt are paid professionalswhose job it is to win races. But in addition to winning races, I’m prettysure meeting other racers, signing autographs and generally participatingin the “not-so-important” awards ceremony would also be somewhere in theirjob descriptions? Sure, the Tour of Canyonlands isn’t a NORBA nationalor World Cup event, but they both committed to entering the event and Ifeel copped-out by ditching the event early. Being able to meet the prosis part of the attraction of going to races, and this particular crowdwas robbed of that opportunity. Funny how the previous day’s downhill victorsCédric Gracia (Siemens-Cannondale) and Gale Dahlager (Astrix-PoisonSpider) managed to “tough it out” for their awards…

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