Over the past few months I've been testing, or should I say 'enjoying', some fresh new products. Here are a few that I really like.

There's more than one way to make a bicycle wheel stronger. For example, you can make the rim wider, deeper, thicker or reduce its diameter. Hubs are no less important and over the years many companies have tried unique flanges, asymmetrical and/or proprietary designs in an effort to keep optimum strength to weight ratios. In the spoke department, you can reduce length, increase thickness, or add numbers to increase strength. Bombshell's Crusher wheels take the latter approach, using a whopping 48 spokes at each end. Just for good measure, they use some of those other tricks to build the most indestructable wheelset I've not only ridden, but seen to date!

Ridden to World Championship Overall Titles in 2001, 2002, 2003 and now 2004, there’s no denying the Rock Shox BoXXer, first introduced to consumers in 1998, has an impressive racing pedigree. In fact, according to an informal survey at the 2003 Downhill World Championships, the BoXXer outnumbered all other suspension forks added together, gracing an impressive 58% of competitors’ bikes. This is even more telling when you consider that only about 20 riders were directly sponsored by RockShox and a large number of racers at the World Champs are privateers, who foot the bulk of their own product costs.

There are no words to sum up how much I love my .243 frame. After receiving it sometime around February I soon figured out that we were in for one hell of a roller coaster winter, but that didn't stop me from riding. I had to get my fix, it was like a drug, the bike just made me want to go bigger, longer, faster. It wanted to do it all. So if it wanted it, there was only one thing to do......