Gee and Rachel Atherton win the Windham World Cup Dowhill Final, Moseley and Minnaar 2nd. It was a tight race for the men, the whole season coming down to the last race and a 0.37 of a second win by Gee.

More words and photos inside

Giant's Reign X1 looks to be one very capable do-everything type of machine. With 6.7inches of rear travel paired up to a Fox 160mm fork, the Reign X1 is looking to reign over the downhills, but still be able to get back to the top without too much hassle. For 2010 Giant redesigned the frame to eliminate the pierced downtube and shed some weight, something that can only help the bike's performance. Have a look inside to read two rider's perspectives on the revised X1!

Read on...

by Mark Wood

It’s been six years now that the Canadian bike brand Xprezo Cycles have been hand welding race performance bikes out of their Bromont, Quebec factory. Producing less than 1000 frames per year, their focus is on craftsmanship. Described as "high performance, low maintenance" by Antoine Larose, Brand Manager of Xprezo and coach of the QC Provincial DH Team, they presently produce 12 different bikes ranging from featherlite chromoly road bikes and hardtails to full suspension models, ranging from XC, to AM, FR and now DH. What makes the new DH offering special, besides its slack angles and low slung chassis, is its use of Chromo on the rear triangle and seat mast, giving the bike a unique look and some dynamic ride characteristics.

After three months of heavy use, the bike did a number of things well, most aptly, going fast...

Chris Oakley is a trail/all mountain rider. Like many of you he's in his late 30's and still needs his kicks. Gone are his band days, skating vert, racing downhill, today he is a family man, two kids and a good job as an engineer. Come the weekend he gets the pass out and hits the trails. Who better then to review this Gamut Chain Device than someone who is actually going to buy one?

Review inside,

In middle of the constant action throughout Crankworx week, most of the industry and media got together to preview the Life Cycles movie before the official premiere at Eurobike. We caught up with a few of those lucky enough to check it out to get their feedback and needless to say, everyone was blown away.

You can also now pre-order and be the first to own it when released in October!

The 2010 Magura Thor suspension fork is an impressive performer and among the best in its 140mm travel class. The old Thor's were a bit under damped - very plush, but prone to blow through the initial travel quickly - so much so that I would have to run a fair amount of compression damping even in downhill mode. Now, the fork feels magnitudes of improvements better - ie butter smooth at the top stroke, but without being over damped and harsh; and progressive on the latter of the stroke, but without harsh bottom out. Adjustments are also quite refined; the rebound knobs for example have logical tunable changes. The Magura Thor is also pretty stiff for a light fork - part of that is due to the double arch, but I'd hazard a guess that some of the stiffness is attributable to the 20mm axle - which is a very nice touch for a 140 fork.

Full review inside,

It is your chance now to work on some of the most amazing footage shot in mountain biking. The Life Cycles recut contest gives you raw footage shot by the crew on 4 stunning cameras including the DT Vision Highspeed Camera, Red One and others. You take this amazing footage and edit a 2 minute video teaser to your own music, in your own style. Upload it to pinkbike to the special "Life Cycles Recut" category and promote your edit to the world.

Check out the contest details, download the raw footage and start editing and submit your videos to get the most views you can. Contest ends Sept 15th.

Check out these videos showcasing all of day 1 action from Crankworx.

10 minutes of footage awaits..

Shimano chose Downieville, California, to let the media have their first ride on the new XTR Trail group and it proved to be an excellent testing ground. Day one has us descending an incredible amount of elevation on some of the fastest trails I've ever ridden - a perfect test of Shimano's new XTR Trail brakes. Inside you can find all of the information and photos, including their new Ice Technology finned pads and impressive aluminum core and steel sandwich rotors.

Keep reading to find out how the new brakes performed...

Windham, N.Y. – Three important companies with an international reputation have partnered with the Windham World Cup Group as sponsors of the three Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) races at the Mountain Bike World Cup Finals presented by Shimano to be held at Windham Mountain Aug. 26 – 29.