GT Sensor

The Sensor is GT’s all-new trail bike platform filling the gap between the 100mm travel Marathon bikes and the 150mm Sanction models. Unfortunately, weight and restrictive handling are not on its side.

Ride & handling: Excellent traction but no speed demon
The major downside of the Sensor's complex frame is the high weight, creating a deficit of a couple of pounds over the lightest comparably specced and suspended bikes. This means despite a relatively long, XC-style position and a firm feel from the small volume Boost Valve-equipped Fox shock, it’s not a naturally eager accelerator or speed holder on long stretches. The long stem and narrow bar plus noticeable twist from the front end make it less confident on steeper descents or in tight technical situations too.

Where it does shine is slow, steep climbs. Here, high levels of traction from the I-Drive set-up offset the weight to crawl tenaciously over the most testing crux moves with impressive surefootedness. The steady steering set-up and a relatively steep seat angle keeps weight forward for excellent front wheel connection when you’re clawing your way upwards.

The high pivot point for the rear swingarm gives a distinctive up and back wheel path that combines with the BV shock and semi-isolated drivetrain to handle big flat-faced strikes and block wallops surprisingly well too. The same applies to the 15mm screw-thru axle Fox 120mm fork – although our sample came with a 2009 unit, not the 2010 FIT cartridge damper version.

The Sensor has outstanding traction and big-hit capability for a 120mm bike. It’s very heavy though, and the technically tenacious suspension doesn’t mesh well with the restricted leverage cockpit. It’s low on UK practicality and the loosening bearings on our sample were a worry.

Frame & equipment: Ringing the changes with a new design
GT has been using the I-Drive system with a separate crank-carrying subframe linked to rear swingarm and mainframe for 13 years. The Sensor is a totally new frame though, with hydroformed triple butted tubeset and trademark penetrated top tube/seat tube junction. Clamp-in bearings under the CNC machined ‘film reel’ covers facilitate easy tightening and replacement.

They rattled loose very quickly on our test sample, though, which doesn’t bode at all well for long-term reliability. GT has also used a conventional head tube rather than a stiffer tapered steerer style, and there’s a front mech on a short stub pipe instead of a Direct Mount’style.

There’s no convenient bottle mount, and the barrel adjuster for the cable is mounted on a mud-collecting, tyre clearance-limiting crossbridge as well. It’s well priced for a full suite of Shimano XT kit, though.

from bikeradar.

Sam Pilgrim wins Leogang White Style

British dirt jumper Sam Pilgrim won the White Style event in Leogang, Austria on Friday night, in a competition that was dominated by Europe’s best top riders.

Sweden’s Linus Sjöholm took second place ahead of Frenchman Yannick Granieri on the course built from snow and designed by Grant ‘Chopper’ Fielder. UK rider Sam Reynolds finished in eighth place, ahead of fellow Brit Fielder in ninth.

The course started with an igloo, then a set of two doubles, two massive bowls with a 15ft drop and a final 40ft double. More than 2,000 spectators watched the ice-cold action.

Pilgrim blazed the finals with a tailwhip at the start, frontflip at the first double, backflip no hander at the second, 360 X-up out of the fruit bowl, tuck no-hander and backflip at the second bowl, and a backflip table at the last jump.

He said: “Crashing on snow isn't that funny, because it’s much harder than you might think. It took me a bit to cope with it when I competed the first time at the White Style, but man, it was fun this year and Chopper did a really great job. Big respect!”
Results

1. Sam Pilgrim (GBr)
2. Linus Sjöholm (Swe)
3. Yannick Granieri (Fra)
4. Amir Kabbani (Ger)
5. Darren Berrecloth (Can)
6. Cameron McCaul (USA)
7. Jamie Goldman (USA)
8. Sam Reynolds (GBr)
9. Grant Fielder (GBr)
10. Niki Leitner (Aut)
11. Martin Söderström (Swe)
12. Jakub Vencl (Cze)

source : bikeradar

Riding is My Ritalin

Adam Leibovitz is conducting a startling, risky and groundbreaking experiment that could transform the way doctors treat ADHD: He's pedaling his bicycle

By Bruce Barcott

One evening in the late autumn of 1997, Jeff and Lori Leibovitz arrived at Skiles Test Elementary School in Indianapolis for a meeting with their son Adam's first-grade teacher. The Leibovitzes were upbeat. First-grade conferences are typically full of wonderful reports about children's wonderful progress in learning to read and write. But the Leibovitzes walked into Adam's classroom that night to find the assistant principal sitting with Adam's teacher. The assistant principal did most of the talking. She told them their son showed classic signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD: He had trouble sitting still in class; his focus pinballed around the room; his hands were a whirl of perpetual motion. Adam's teacher had taken to giving him rubber bands to occupy his busy fingers.

Jeff and Lori listened in shock. Adam was a rambunctious kid, but his behavior didn't strike them as unusual. Adam's ADHD wasn't extreme or debilitating, the assistant principal told the Leibovitzes. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing. The boy's condition was acute enough to cause learning problems but mild enough that he'd likely slip through the system's safety net for special-needs students.

"It was a horror story," Lori recalls. "Here was our oldest child, just starting school, and we're told that he's always going to struggle with this. They said he'd fall through the cracks and would never amount to anything. It was earthshaking."

At the time, ADHD diagnoses were exploding across the United States. From 1990 to 1998 the number of children and adults identified as having the disorder shot up from 900,000 to nearly five million. Jeff and Lori came home that night and plunged into the research. Lori read everything she could find and attended local support-group meetings. Most of the advice pointed in one direction: a prescription for amphetamines such as Ritalin. The powerful stimulants (the Food and Drug Administration labels them as Schedule II drugs, the same category as morphine and methamphetamine) have a paradoxical calming effect on the minds of ADHD patients. They're convenient, effective and popular—90 percent of ADHD patients who take them see improvement. Pop a pill; problem solved. Many parents swore by them. Teachers praised them for bringing calm to unruly classrooms.

But the Leibovitzes were reluctant to go that route. They were leery of the side effects, which can include heart palpitations, sleeplessness, dizziness, irritability, headaches and nausea. For the next three years, they opted instead to give Adam and his younger brother plenty of exercise. "We always had a lot of running-around time," Lori says.

Adam became a high-energy kid who was also very bright. By fourth grade, though, the demands of schoolwork began to outrun his ability to keep his ADHD in check. The experience was like having a motion detector wired into his brain. "Every little movement or sound would catch my attention," he says. "If I caught a glimpse of somebody walking past the classroom door, my mind would latch onto that: 'Who's out in the hall? What are they doing out there?'"

His parents worried that he wouldn't keep up. "As he grew older, every year he'd be expected to concentrate a little harder and sit a little longer in his seat," his mother says. "When it came time to do his homework, he'd be rolling around under the table or running into the next room. He'd shout out the answers to us. He always knew the answers. He just couldn't sit still to write them down."

from bicycling.com

How To Ride Through The Rocks

Some call them “baby heads,” because the largest rocks that a cross-country mountain bikes can roll over for any distance are about the size of a toddler’s noggin. Most riders call them rock gardens and steer well clear of such things. There comes a time, however, when you’ll have to pedal over a patch of rocks—perhaps because you were traveling too fast to stop in time, or maybe because you’d like to ford a shallow creek bed without making a mess of your brand new shoes. Either way, you’ll find that, with a few tips and the ability to “flow with the changes,” you can ride over and around a very nasty section of baby heads and live to enjoy the experience in mountain bikes.

Choose and commit: Choose your line well before you enter the rocks. Firm up your arms and upper body and pedal smoothly. Commit to your line.

Meet your new friend Mo.
Bouncing over rocks in mountain bikes uses a lot of energy, so be prepared to ride into the baby heads with a little speed. Momentum is your friend, but don’t overdo it. Pedal into the rocks at about jogging speed. Choose a gear that is about midway through the cogset and in the granny chainring, or use the middle ring paired with the lowest cog.

Straight is great: Choose the straightest possible line that takes you over the smallest rocks. Look well ahead so you won’t fixate on a difficult section and fail.

“Get straight; move ahead.”
Pick the straightest possible line through the rock garden. Survey your options well before you reach the point of no return and then commit to your mountain bikes line. As you reach the rocks, fix your gaze at least ten feet ahead. Avoid fixating on any single boulder along the way. If you do, you will get sucked into the rock, smack it, and then stall. Pedal smoothly and in circles as if your legs were an electric motor.

The right way: When a sizeable rock looms in your path, hit it and roll up and over. Avoid abrupt changes in mountain bikes direction.

Adopt the “Icebreaker” position.
The key to blasting through boulders is to lower your body slightly and get centered between the mountain bikes wheels. Bend your elbows slightly and brace your arms and shoulders. Imagine that you are punching at the rocks ahead with your front wheel. There is no need for a lot of leg power. In fact, bursts of power will vector you off line and ruin your balance. Keep pedaling smoothly and effortlessly, eyes forward. Let the mountain bike’s front suspension punch through the rocks

The wrong way: Trying to ride around tricky sections risks losing your balance. Ride as straight as possible, but if you do get deflected off line, go with the flow—follow your mountain bikes until you are balanced again.

Walk the dog.
There is no way that your mountain bikes will stay on your chosen line. Rocks shift and roll under your tires and you must also wiggle around to keep your balance. Keep your Ice Breaker stance with your upper body, but let the bike find its own line. If your bike drifts off line, follow it like you are walking the dog. As long as you are maintaining a relatively straight path across the rocks, it doesn’t matter if you veer a yard to the left or right. Go with the flow, but always with conviction.

Too much is a bad thing: Hard charging through the boulders will usually end in disaster. If you don’t carom off line, your mountain bikes rear wheel will probably bounce high and cause your mountain bikes to nose into a boulder—it could hurt.

Believe in your mountain bikes.
Okay, you have chosen a good line, pedaled with conviction, followed your bike off line a couple of times and kept your eyes forward. Now you must pass the final test: the deal-breaker boulder. It always happens—a large rock, bigger than you imagine that your tires can roll over, looms directly in your path. Do you attempt to steer around it, or play it safe, hit the brakes and start walking? Neither. Attempting to round a corner in a rock garden will destroy your momentum. Believe in the capabilities of your mountain bikes. Keep pedaling and simply bash up and over the boulder. Any rock that meets your tire at or below the axle level can be safely rolled. Don’t even lift the front wheel, just bash and dash. Maintaining a straight line is your best survival tool in the boulders.

Understanding Tire Terminology

Understanding Tire Terminology of Mountain Bikes.

ROTATION DIRECTION
If the tire’s tread pattern or even compound is designed to work while rolling in a specific direction, the company will stamp their recommended rotating direction. Follow their advice or your buddies will razz you if they notice you’ve mounted the tire backwards. Some tires have bidirectional tread so you don’t need to worry.

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
Get the magnifying glass out. This can be in tiny type.

HOT PATCH
Normally, a rectangular, multicolored ID stencil that lists the tire model and tire size. Other information can include the compound, casing construction and bead type. The hot patch is located on the drive side of the wheel (on bidirectional tires, the hot patch might be located on the non-drive side or the tire maker will use a hot patch on both sides).

MOLD NUMBERS
The manufacturer’s mold number doesn’t mean anything to the rider. Factory workers use this number to place the correct tires in the correct molds for curing.

AIR PRESSURE RANGE
These are recommended minimum and maximum air pressures for the tire. This tire should be used with at least 30 psi and no more than 50 psi. For those readers enjoying MBA in a foreign country, the other numbers represent the same thing (psi minimums and maximums) in bar’s and kpa’s.

TIRE SIZE (millimeters)
There are two numbers inside the parentheses. The first is the tread width target in millimeters. The second is the metric diameter of the bead (all 26-inch tires will show the number 559).

TIRE SIZE (inches)
The first number is the tire diameter and the second is the tire’s width. In this case, it is a 26-inch tire that is 2.5 inches wide.

Get the best tire for special adenture with Mountain Bikes