Despite the name, American Eagle is a Dutch brand that Olympic champ Bart Brentjens is a big part of. Brentjens took gold at the Atlanta games, which where the company's Atlanta hardtail takes its name from, but it looks like they're about to double the number of bikes in their catalog by adding a full-suspension rig. They haven't shared any details yet, but it looks like a fairly straightforward, single-pivot layout with a flex-pivot at the axle and DT Swiss suspension.
The new bike isn't anything too wild, but with American Eagle's Atlanta 2.0 hardtail frame said to weigh just 950-grams, you can bet this carbon full-suspension rig is going to be a featherweight. Can you name the full-suspension cross-country bike that it looks pretty similar to?
Shimano's new
12-speed XTR broke cover awhile back, and while the lion's share of the attention has rightfully gone to the new drivetrain bits, Shimano has also revamped their top-tier brakes to boot. There's a new two-piston XTR caliper for the gram counters and a four-piston stopper for those who want more power, but the fresh 'Ice Technologies Freeza' rotors haven't been seen much in the wild until now. Shimano is still using sandwiched stainless steel and aluminum construction, and there's a new shape to the Center Lock aluminum spider that's said to be stiffer, along with black inboard cooling fins that are designed to shed heat faster.
Nino's Scott running the
#1 plate and a SRAM wireless drivetrain again, but he's gone with a normal seatpost instead of a dropper. That might change come race-day, though... Will we see
that wireless, electronic Reverb on his bike to match his drivetrain?
Are you even a World Cup racer if your bike doesn't have some custom touches? Emily Batty's Procaliber 9.9 SL is rocking a Canadian maple leaf cap on top of her negative rise stem, a fitting touch for her sort-of home race.
Gold chains, carbon wheels, and tire pressure dialed to the tenth of a psi.
Trek's Anton Cooper has chosen to go the hardtail route on his Procaliber 9.9 SL instead of the Top Fuel, and it's been built up with a wireless drivetrain and custom 40-tooth chainring because watts. All the watts. A tiny MRP guide acts as insurance, and he's rolling on a set of prototype, fast-rolling Bontrager tires that probably don't weigh much at all. Check out the negative rise on his stem, too.
Cooper's monster-sized 'ring aside, word is that most racers are going to smaller than usual chainrings due to the steepness of the climbs on the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup cross-country track.
You have to be ready for anything out on course. Mechanics need to have spare wheels and other parts ready to go at a moments notice.
Felt's Edict is a 100mm-travel full-suspension bike dedicated to cross-country racing, and Thomas Litscher's bike has a host of ultra lightweight Ceetec carbon parts originating from his native Switzerland. How's a 23-gram bottle cage and 7-gram seatpost clamp sound? He's also using their carbon seatpost that has a 110kg weight limit and built-in flex for a more forgiving ride. Chaoyang is in the middle of developing their own tire lineup, and that's what you'll find on Litscher's DT Swiss XR25 wheels.
de.aliexpress.com/item/MIRACLE-29er-full-suspension-carbon-MTB-frame-XC-Cross-Country-mountain-bike-carbon-frame-with-BB92/32828949787.html?spm=a2g0x.search0103.0.0.38c13d97daDzLn
What pressure gauge will read to 0.1psi accurately I.e. +/-0.05psi? Something custom? I'm not sure that any of the commonly available digital gauges offer this and the ability to read an analogue gauge this well seems unlikely, as the needle thickness is surely prohibitive?
There are gauges with even smaller resolutions and tighter accuracies all over the place in motorsports. Auto Meter's Pro-Comp digital gauge reads in 0.01psi increments with 0.25% full-scale accuracy.
There are stories of road teams doing leak-down tests on their tires. Knowing that they'd get to a particular section of cobbles in Paris-Roubaix after X hours of racing and they desired Y pressure, they could over-inflate their tires for the start to ensure they arrived at that cobble sector with the desired pressure.
That's wtf.
I don't think "the industry" or if you'd prefer, "the man", is coming up with negative stems as a selling point. It's simply a fit issue.
This
I'm 6'5" and as a result all my bikes have a much higher saddle than handlebar without needing any negative rise stems and also whilst using extra stem spacers.
15mm, zero, negative 10mm, etc.
I don't think short people need an entirely different nomenclature, do you?
A very loosely related example:
When you brake on your bike you don't decelerate, you are subjected to negative acceleration - acceleration is difference between velocities over an amount of time. If you brake then your velocity drops and therefore the difference in terminal velocity minus start velocity will be a negative number. As that is the definition of acceleration, it has to be an acceleration, but the minus in front indicates that it is having the 'opposite effect' on your bike. The math doesn't change