Yesterday I drove the couple of hours down to Wörthersee from Salzburg to go check out the GTI festival, the new Audi E-Bike and to meet up with some people from Kiska and a couple of Audi designers. The festival was interesting to say the least. The location is stunning, set on a huge lake with snow-capped mountains surrounding it. We parked on the other side from the festival and hitched a ride on a small private speedboat for 10 euros which seemed a pretty good deal. The festival itself is pretty much like Octoberfest but with cars. There were already half dressed casualties passed out all over the place by 11am when we arrived but everyone seemed to be having a good time. Will post some photos of the rest of the show later, but for now, here are some I took of the Audi E-Bike.

It’s official. #SummersBack. The Whistler Mountain Bike Park opens in less than 24 hours and as you can see, Mother Nature cooperated this year by melting a ridiculous amount of snow left over from winter as Trail Crew were hot on her heels. Not every year can the dirt on opening day feel like mid-June, but it’s sure damn appreciated when it does.

As of 10am on Friday May 18, Fitzsimmons Express will start serving up endless conveyors of gravity fed Park laps signifying summer has officially begun in Whistler. Anticipation for this day started last fall as the most dedicated riders finally had to hang up the two wheels for two planks.

It’s just the beginning though with more anticipation to come. Extended Play hours and Garbanzo Zone opening in June is next followed by the new Peak Zone’s Top of the World alpine trail in July and Crankworx Whistler in August. The line up for what’s to come is always anticipated but every year it seems so new.

Anticipation is sweetest the second the bar drops. Taste the candy. Bike season is here!

We decided to rent a RED EPIC for the day and needed something sick to film. We hooked up with the Kangas brothers, two of swedens most up and coming downhill mountainbike riders. This is what we got.

Produced by:

Christoffer Kristiansson
visual-creations.se

Simon Berggren
berggrenphotography.com

Shot on RED EPIC with RED Primes – 18mm, 25mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm & 100mm.
Edited in Premiere Pro CS5.5 and RED Cine-X.
Shot on location in Högdalen, Sweden.

One of the highlights on the Audi stand is the bicycle technology concept known as the Audi e-bike Wörthersee – a sport bike that does not fit into any of the usual categories. It is neither a pedelec nor a conventional bike, but is best described as a high-end pedelec made by Audi for sport, fun and tricks. The Audi e-bike Wörthersee combines the Audi brand’s principal competences – design, ultra, connect and e-tron – and explores the limits of what is technically feasible in terms of design, lightweight construction, networking and electric mobility.

This show bike is futuristic at the very first glance – a bike for tomorrow and beyond. All its components, even the pedals, have been shaped by Audi’s designers, for instance the 26-inch wheels made from CFRP that weigh only 600 grams (1.32 lb) each and have innovative large-area blade-pattern spokes.

The Audi e-bike Wörthersee’s ultra-light carbon-fiber frame weighs only 1,600 grams (3.53 lb). It makes use of bionic principles derived from nature. Material reinforcements are needed only at the points where loads actually occur. The swinging arm for the rear wheel is also made of CFRP. All in all, the Audi e-bike Wörthersee represents the full extent of the brand’s expertise in ultra-lightweight design.

The rear wheel is driven by a chain. The electric motor is a permanent magnet synchronous machine; it is located at the lowest point on the frame and drives the bottom bracket shaft directly. Maximum torque at the rear wheel is in the region of 250 Nm (184.39 lb-ft). Peak output from the electric motor is 2.3 kW – a new top value on the e-bike scene. Excluding the battery, the complete bicycle weighs only 21 kg (46.30 lb), equivalent to a power-weight ratio of 9 kg (19.84 lb) per kilowatt, or 7 kg (15.43 lb) per horsepower – another record-breaking value.

The park’s don’t open for a few more weeks here and I am still waiting for a wheel spacer for the front wheel, but I am really looking forward to seeing what this Transition TR250 can do. 180mm’s of travel, brakes almost as big as on a motocross bike, really slack geometry and a weight of around 16.5KG mean this bike should fly downhill. Pretty wide handlebars too!

Once again, big thanks to R107 bikes and BT.

Dylan Sherrard at KBR by allanmc

More at Pinkbike here.

Funny seeing Sheffield. I spent nearly 4 years of my life there at university and haven’t been back since. The peak district is gorgeous and it was a fun city to be at times, especially in the summer, but at other times, like when you wouldn’t see blue sky for months on end, and you and everyone you knew were bouncing off their overdraft limit every month it was grim as hell. Anyway, Steve Peat, the man the myth, the legend comes from there so that’s something good going for it.

This Is Peaty Episode One takes you on an international whirlwind adventure. Starting at the legendary Ingle Gym, Sheffield, along with close friend and Heavyweight boxer David Howe, Steve hasn’t been slacking in the off-season, that’s for sure.

Getting in quality Downhill runs in the UK is tough for someone like Steve, who’s nearest uplift is almost 2 hours away… So any excuse to head for San Romolo has to be a good one. Staying over at Argentina Bike with SPS rider James Swinden in tow, one Piaggio purchase later and a few amazing days in the sun, the season was off to a solid start…

“This bike has so much power!! My wheelies never looked better :-)
Look at this monster Audi gave me to test. Ultimate fun for pros, not for rookies. Sorry Petra, too good to share!”. – Julien Dupont

It took a while but the stars were eventually maneuvered into alignment and a Transition Bandit 29er ended up at my door. I wanted a bike which was fun to go up on as well as down and after ignoring 29er’s for a while after reading a lot of negative comments about them I finally read a full review on one and the phrases “makes it easier to go uphill” and “faster on the flat” made me think again about the whole 29er thing.

This is pretty much the stock build, I just swapped the bars and added some pedals.

The bars I put on are 710mm but I am going to switch up to 750mm for more stability downhill.

After a few short rides I managed a 55km ride yesterday up and down the sides and all the way around a big mountain here and I have to say this bike is wicked. Not sure about making it much easier to go uphill, you are still the engine after all, but the bike flies downhill. It only has 130mm travel but with the big wheels It felt as much as on my old 160mm bike. Absolutely flew over anything I pointed it at. Caught some nice air and it soaked it up no problem. Some comments I read said 29er’s were not as maneuverable but it felt great to me on the tight single-tracks as well as rocky rooted downhills. Mega stable, light and yea, it wasn’t too bad going uphill either. In fact it’s probably the easiest bike I have ever pedaled uphill on. 10 speed on the back, 2 in the front. So far, well impressed with it.

Big thanks to R107 bikes for giving me a good deal on it and for the fast delivery. Hit them up if you want one yourself. Also big thanks to BT.

I originally had a green one on order but on the recommendation of R107 bikes I switched to this Pewter color and am really pleased I did as the finish on it is superb.

After being at the top of the international BMX scene, Canada’s Darren Berrecloth switched to full-suspension MTN bikes in order to go bigger.

Harry Main brings it like no other in this new Nike edit hot off the drive of Matty Lambert.
Hitting up Spain, Harry works the Eurocamp set up half an hour outside Barcelona that incorporates the ramps from the Nike BMX PRO vimeo.com/13095440. An insane 15 mile drainage ditch also gets a going over and sees Harry taking the flair drop out of the park for the first time, and Sergio Layos ramps in Madrid receive some similar Harry Main treatment as he pushes transition riding to yet another level.
Also – check out even more progression and the first real glimpse of ‘The Scouse House’, Harry’s own private ramp facility at home in Liverpool, UK.

Harry is definitely fired up 2012.