Still trying to find a proper single speed cog for your cassette hub?
EndlessBikeCo. has just what you are looking for. Kick-Ass-Cogs have a wide base that won’t dig into and damage your free-hub body. Additionally, the precision designed tooth profile runs super smooth and quiet by fitting your chain perfectly.

B-Forty Productions and Eastside Freeride Entertainment are back with their second production, Eastside Freeride 2: Live Sessions. Our second production blows the previous film out of the water with killer riding segments by some of the hottest names in the freeride scene for the years to come.

Devinci announced that it has inked a sponsorship deal with Ontario-based Downhill Team Primary for 2005. The 5-man elite team consists of Ontario's fastest elite racers, including Ontario Cup overall 5th, 3rd, 2nd place winners, as well as the Provincial Champion.

Bombshell / Avent Factory Racing just signed the Anderson Brothers. "I have watched these two athletes excel the past few years with the huge support of there family allowing these guys to reach the top," stated Jason Anderson Bombshells / Avent jack of all trades.

Iron Horse Bicycle Company LLC is pleased to announce that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Diablo Freeride Park, the east coast's premier mountain bike park, that will make Iron Horse the exclusive bike partner of Diablo. Diablo will be Iron Horse's official research and development facility and will also exclusively offer Iron Horse bicycles for visiting riders to rent.

We only have 2.5 months left before chair lifts everywhere start opening for bikers! There is no time left to procrastinate on getting fit for biking season so check this out: Group Personal Training – otherwise known as dryland training. Every year it takes a little longer to get back in the saddle and you want this transition to be as fast as possible. Stretching lowers the chances of injury; working out your weaker muscles makes you more balanced and stronger overall. Join up for the next session - Starts March 14th!

Flyin’ Brian Lopes is coming to Canada.
The organizers of the Toyota Indoor BMX and Mountaincross Championships have announced that Brian Lopes, considered to be one of the top mountaincross racers in the world, will race in this year’s 4x event at the Toronto Bike Show March 4-6.
The GT sponsored rider will be promoting his new book, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, which he coauthored with journalist Lee McCormack. The book came out last month, and Lopes will be doing book signings throughout the weekend.

Last Saturday I made a short trip to Thorsby Alberta to attended a jam competition.While there I had the pleasure of sharing a cool one and pizza with Dropin rider Jared Jesperson. After seeing his antics and the craziness on the Dropin bus he was not at all what I had expected. While sure he can throw it down at a party with the best of them, what I found was an easy going,well spoken young man.During the competition he had at least 50 young riders approach him, he greeted everyone and answered all their questions with a friendly easygoing attitude.

To see how Jared finished my sentences read on.........

Canada's top race and freeride supporter is thrilled to welcome Fionn Griffiths as the newest member of the Norco Factory Team.

In only 3 years, Fionn has become a fierce competitor on the World Cup DH circuit with 15 World Cup podium finishes, including 2 World Cup wins at Mont Ste Anne, and Grouse Mountain in 2002 (apparently the Canadian climate agrees with her). In addition to holding the DH National Champion title in the UK for 5 straight seasons and being the 2003 NORBA series Champ, Fionn is also an accomplished 4x racer and dirt jumper – not bad for a 22 year old.

Stump503, which was founded in 2000, just updated their web site. They are still working out some minor bugs, but look pretty good for the most part. They are constantly doing updates so I recommend checking in on a regular basis.

In the past four years, the coaches of the Sugoi Dirt Series women’s technical mountain bike camps have given hundreds of women new skills and confidence on their bikes. More than that, lives have been changed as the self-esteem gained from conquering fears and riding the previously impossible inevitably carries back into everyday life.

Dutch bicycle manufacturer Be One Bikes is back on the U.K. bicycle market. "Things are already rolling," says Be One's marketing and sales director Dennis Weijers. "Be One is a brand that is well positioned for the UK market, this market is a perfect fit for Be One Bikes."

Looking for an easy way to make your Hayes brakes more comfortable and easier to modulate? Hayes Brakes has introduced a new replacement lever set for both the HFX and HFX-MAG series brakes.

To find out how they have improved them read on......

Nothing new to B.C. Mountain Biking news pages, another riding Mecca is under attack; this time it’s Vedder Mountain in Chilliwack B.C. A forty-five minute drive east from Vancouver the home of the North Shore (also suffering from its own government pressured trail woes at the moment), the east side of Vedder Mountain has recently become the subject of a Weyerhaeuser/Northwest Hardwoods proposal to log off stands of deciduous trees.

Questions/Comments

We busted out of Prince Rupert at night in order to wake up in a fresh zone the next day. Headed East. When we got to Terrace we were told that we drove one of the most scenic roads in Canada the night before, oh well. We're making a bike show not a nature show!

In other Drop In News; the day you see this episode (January 26) we are driving from Calgary to Vancouver with all of our gear to meet up with Milkman, Ambrose, Shawn, Darren, and Derek Frankowski to fly to New Zealand for Drop In season 4. Since the seasons are overlapping we will use the season 3 site for updates (www.dropintv.com) until the season 4 site is up and running. Wish us luck!

For more inside info on episode 7...

PinkBike is temporarily camping out at the Advil Outdoor Adventure Show this weekend at BC Place in Vancouver. This show typically brings big crowds for the real beginning of biking season on the balmy Canadian West Coast. For our interest, there is a trials demo featuring some of the youngest western Canadian trials riders, dirt jumping, which is typically a big draw for the crowds on Saturday and Sunday, and the North Shore challenge complete with stunts, burms, drops and tons of dirt.

Earlier this year Weyerhauser/Northwest Hardwoods proposed a new Forest Development Plan for Vedder Mountain in Chilliwack. This will negatively impact all recreational groups (Hiking, ATV/MX, Equestrian) but more importantly biking. Already the proposed cut blocks are on top of some of our favourite trails (Dilemma, Mexican Ninja, Mongoloyd), which would lead to their destruction. See the MAP (Cut blocks in yellow)
A Rally to save Vedder Mountain is scheduled for this Saturday, February 19 at 3:00pm. BE THERE!

Radek sat down and chatted with Bjorn.

The GT/Hyundai Team proudly announces the athletes of its 2005 MTB teams. Always a powerhouse, the 2005 teams are sure to be a force to be reckoned with.

Voting for mountain bike’s next superstar to begin on March 4, 2005 at www.raceface.com/ufc

Race Face Performance Products along with Giant Bicycles and Manitou Suspension today announced the Sweet 16 finalists for the 4th annual Race Face Ultimate Freeride Challenge (UFC). The 16 finalists were chosen by an all-star cast of mountain bike icons and will now compete in the unique on-line, peer-powered video contest for a professional sponsorship contract worth more than $25,000.

Just a quick heads up that the polls are now open for the 2nd Annual Bike Magazine Reader Poll & Video Awards. Vote for your favorite Mountain Bike video of 2004, 5 favorite Male Riders, 3 favorite female riders and you'll have a chance at winning some cool prizes.

VOTE NOW

We had no choice but to continue North from North Vancouver Island otherwise it meant a lot of back - tracking. We knew there was a small scene in mid-central B.C. largely undiscovered so how do we get there.
B.C. Ferries hooked us up with a free passage on their Inside Passage sailing which took us diectly to Prince Rupert.
Is there riding in Prince Rupert? That's the same thing we were wondering.

It’s still the middle of winter in Alberta, but for some of us it’s time to take that bike out of the rafters and dust it off. INDOOR 4X racing has started ... IT’S RACE TIME! If you’re a 4X racer, or you’d like to give 4X racing a try, then read on . . .

Intense Bikes and SponsorHouse.com teamed up in 2005 to organize, strengthen, and structure their Sponsorship Program. Intense incorporated the SponsorHouse system to offer solid grassroots sponsorships to deserving riders. After sponsoring and securing the new 2005 Intense Racing Program, we ask the newly hired Team Manager, Nick Sunseri, some questions.

It’s safe to say that S.D.G.’s I-Beam seat and post system has come of age. After a full year on the pro racing circuit with teams such as Maxxis Factory and Iron Horse/MadCatz, the system has proven its mettle under fire. Geoff Kabush used an I-Beam system to win the 2004 NORBA cross-country and short-track points series. Downhill stars like Sam Hill and Colin Bailey competed on I-Beam all season, as did the Giant-Maxxis cyclocross team, featuring Adam Craig. Freeriders Eric Porter and Aaron Chase put the system to the test on a daily basis. For 2005 the GT, Sinister, Mongoose and Honda G-Cross squads, including Todd Wells, Eric Carter, and Greg Minnaar, have added their names to the roster, along with Specialized’s DH/freeride prodigy Kyle Strait.

The roster for Team Maxxis 2005 has been announced – and with three outstanding riders returning from last year, plus the addition of Mathieu Toulouse, this powerful cycling line-up can expect another winning season.

Read about it HERE

The Thorsby Indoor Skate Park Jam will be held on February 19, 2005 at Xtreme Inclinations in Thorsby, Alberta. Doors open at noon, and there will be riding until 9pm!

It didn't take long to fill the space left open by Matt Hunter for the upcoming tour of New Zealand. A rider has been selected and the flights are being booked now. Stay tuned.

Episode 5 of Drop In Season 3 was a wet one. Little did we know that the days wouldn't be very sunny again for about a month. For more behind-the-scenes tidbits...

Representatives from the International Mountain Bicycling Association will be contributing to a 3 day BC Recreation and Parks conference in Surrey next week. They will conclude their stay with field work at the popular South Surrey Bike Park.

Recently, many have been asking about a new chainguide mounting standard. Since 2000 many guide and frame manufacturers have been specing their guide and bikes with the ISCG standard. This standard was intended to allow riders to bolt their chainguides directly to their frames without any type of adapter.

Sorry about the late news for the preview into the next episode of Drop In coming up this weekend all across Canada. It was my birthday and it's been a bit hectic as we're coming up to the departure for New Zealand.

In other Drop In news Matt Hunter will not be joining the tour for New Zealand. I just recieved an email from him today from Panama City, his arm is not healing fast enough. We are on the lookout for one rider.
The new Drop In "Team Dirtbag" shirts are in the works and should be available soon.

Episode 4...

Thanks to all that participated in the poster
contest and to all that followed along. There were some really great ideas and a few that stood out from the rest so it was tough to decide who would get the
Adidas Evil Eye shades!

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to get invited to SRAM’s Ride Camp to get a sneak peak at their new 2006 X.0 component lineup. The camp was held in beautiful Oracle Arizona. Not only did I get to see all of their new stuff, but also got to ride a bike fully decked out with [L=http://www.sram.com]SRAM’[/L]s new 2006 X.0 drivetrain – let me tell ya, it doesn’t get much better than this! I’ll get more into that later, but first let me talk to you about what SRAM has is store for 2006. I can’t show you any pictures, so I’ll do my best to explain in detail what I saw.

Speedgoat is holding a Pink Bike Raffle - The bike is built from very limited edition parts from some big name manufacturers.

The raffle is a benefit with proceeds (ALL of them) going to the Breast Cancer Fund.

Please check it out when you get a chance and feel free to spread the word! The raffle goes until March 31, 2005. Tickets are $10 each. The raffle went live on the site Monday morning, and they have already sold 180 tickets! Their goal is 1000 tickets (or more)!

www.speedgoat.com

I wish I could say that I'm digging some dirt jumps and having fun, but I am currently digging up the Pinkbike website and making a mess. It's all in an effort to bring you some cool new features but it's going to hurt a little. Well not really. We're switching over to some new servers yet again, and running things on a different software version. Unfortunately there is no good way to test the efficiency and optimization other than running it live on Pinkbike with it's current load of 6 million hits a day.
You will possibly see some weirdness, slowdowns, shutdowns right before it all becomes pretty and fast again. Fun fun.