Hope Prototype Pedals

Looks like Hope may be jumping into the pedal market. If they are half as good as their brakes they should be awesome.

X-Fusion Signs Brian Lopes

Brain Lopes On X-Fusion Suspension For 2012 from Devin Schmitt on Vimeo.

X-Fusion is pleased to announce the signing of 4-time World Champion Brian Lopes. A Mountain Bike and BMX Hall of Fame member, Lopes professional cycling career has spanned over 20 years. During that time, he has won over 19 titles and still has more World Cup event wins than any other male athlete in history.

“There were a lot of athletes looking to ride X-Fusion for 2012, but we decided to work with Brian because he offers more than just a marketing face for the brand”, says X-Fusion Marketing Manager John Hauer. “We’ve already benefitted from his testing expertise and since he is riding everything from cross-country to downhill to pump tracks to dirt jumps, he can positively affect our entire product line.”

X-Fusion’s close relationship with another local Santa Cruz company, Ibis Cycles, also helped with the partnership between Brian and X-Fusion.

“Around Interbike, I found out Ibis was using X-Fusion forks and shocks on their Special Blend complete bikes”’ says Lopes. “All the Ibis guys there were raving about the performance, so I knew it was something I should check out”.

Lopes has signed with X-Fusion for two years, and for he plans to take part in a diverse competitive schedule of events consisting of Sprint Eliminator, Enduro, Super D, Downhill and Dual Slalom Races.

Tracy Moseley Announces T-Mo Racing

Tracy Moseley, the 2011 downhill World Cup champion and 2010 downhill World Champion, will be refocusing her racing efforts in 2012 under the T-Mo Racing banner. The Trek-sponsored rider will expand her racing calendar to include a variety of race formats next year.

Having begun her racing career in the early 1990s, downhill became Tracy’s speciality, although she has always enjoyed mixing up her mountain biking. Going forward, Tracy will return to her multi-discipline roots and will participate in several races in 2012, including World Cup downhill events, Pro Sprint Eliminator races, and a special focus on enduros.

“After 12 years on the World Cup downhill circuit and the achievement of all the goals I set for myself, I felt that the end of 2011 was a perfect opportunity to make a change in direction and pursue some new challenges,” said Tracy. “I would like to extend my thanks to Trek World Racing and everyone working behind the scenes at Trek for the most successful three years of my career to date. That support has allowed me to attain both a World Championship title and a World Cup title. I look forward to continuing my relationship with Trek as both an athlete and ambassador, as I pursue new ventures,” she added.

With support from Trek, Tracy’s new objective is to elevate her profile as an all-round mountain bike athlete. She has set goals to finish in podium positions across all of her planned races, and to gain points for World Championship selection in both cross country Pro Sprint, and downhill. She will have a variety of bikes from the Trek quiver to choose from, including a Session 9.9 and Slash, as she pursues her new aims. “We are delighted to keep Tracy within the Trek family,” said Trek UK’s Marketing Manager Andrew Griffin. “Her successful career and outstanding reputation made furthering the relationship an easy decision to make. We look forward to supporting the shift in her racing career,” he added.

Andreu Lancondeguy Signs With YT Industries

As of right now, the enfant terrible of the freeride scene, Catalan Andreu Lacondeguy is riding with a new bike sponsor: YT has signed the young Spaniard and is looking forward to working with one of the most colorful personalities of the mountain bike scene.
 


The 22 year-old freerider from Barcelona is definitely the most flamboyant of mountain bike stars. Andreu is well known for his exceptionally high, far and super extended supermans, unmatched in style and elegance. This is why Andreu’s bikes are always under a bit more stress than those of other freeriders and have to withstand extreme gravity forces; one of several reasons why Andreu chose YT-Industries, a brand that stands for quality and innovation.
 


Andreu says about his new sponsor: "I feel really great on the new bikes. Especially the Dirt Love looks really cool and is great to ride. Perfect for big jumps, just like a dirt jump bike has to be! It wasn’t that easy to find a brand that fits my style perfectly. But when I looked at the 2012 YT-models, I found some amazing bikes that almost seemed to be custom-made for me. YT was definitely the right choice.“ 
 


The young team of the bike manufacturer from Forchheim (GER), which has been awarded several prizes for their unconventional and innovative design, is also looking forward to the cooperation with Andreu Lacondeguy. Markus Flossmann, YT-Industries’ CEO comments: "We are extremely proud Andreu chose us as his new sponsor because of our products. We can’t wait to work with him! Anyone who knows us knows that Andreu and YT are the perfect match. Just like him, our brand is kind of unconventional and a bit different.“
 


For the next season, Andreu will ride on the YT-models DIRT LOVE, PLAY and TUES 2.0. To embrace his style completely at every point, Andreu will actively participate in developing these bikes. For YT and Andreu the 2012 season can already begin!

UCI's Response To 4X Being Cut

Next year the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar will undergo a facelift: the disappearance of four-cross and the official introduction of the cross-country eliminator (XCE) aim to keep the mountain bike discipline abreast of current trends.

However, the UCI’s Manager of Off-Road Disciplines, Peter Van den Abeele, stresses that the withdrawal of four-cross from the World Cup in no way rings the death toll of this spectacular format.

“Four-cross has been an important part of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series for many years,” says Peter Van den Abeele. “Since its introduction, it has been highly appreciated both by riders and spectators. The UCI supports four-cross and sincerely hopes that organisers will continue to register their four-cross events on the UCI international calendar.”

He confirmed that the withdrawal of four-cross related only to the World Cup. The format will remain for the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Leogang, and registrations for four-cross races are still being accepted for the UCI international calendar. Peter Van den Abeele adds that the UCI is open to working with any organiser looking to host a UCI registered four-cross event during a World Cup weekend.

“With enough advance notice, we can work together to ensure that, where possible, timetables and services complement each other for the benefit of the sport.”

So why will we no longer see four-cross at the World Cup?

“Four-cross has proved more successful in some regions than others. This fact, coupled with the high financial costs and the environmental issues associated with the building of four-cross courses has led the UCI to make this decision. Four-cross competitions remain viable in a few World Cup venues but the lack of interest in others does not warrant continuing with this format in the World Cup series.”

He added that the gravity events were an important part of the mountain bike discipline and would still be strongly represented in the World Cup by the ever-popular downhill competitions. One of the aims of the decision to withdraw four-cross was to nurture and develop the format in regions where it has a large following, without forcing it on regions where it generates little interest.

“Although there is low participation in four-cross events in the World Cup, the UCI is convinced that the development of more regional, national and other international events will benefit this exciting format,” said Peter Van den Abeele.

Cross-country eliminator

Meanwhile the increasing popularity of the cross-country eliminator format has led the UCI to officially integrate it into the 2012 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Introduced in Europe two years ago, this format, suited to Olympic cross-country (XCO) specialists, sees four competitors race each other over a lap of around 1km. World Cup test events held in Dalby Forest (GBR) and Nove Mesto na Morave (CZE) last season were very successful, and in 2012 the format will be part of the World Cup events in Houffalize (BEL) Nove Mesto na Morave and La Bresse (FRA).

2012 will also see the crowning of the first XCE World Champion: this new format is being introduced to the UCI World Championships, and will be raced the day after the XCO event.

Development of gravity endurance events

Another flourishing mountain bike format is that of gravity endurance, which UCI Gravity Endurance Coordinator Chris Ball is looking to develop within the UCI by working with existing “enduro” events and riders.

His aim is to develop a discipline that will attract an increasing number of mountain bikers as it combines the physical endurance of cross-country riding with the technical difficulty and excitement of downhill racing.

The UCI invites organisers of current gravity enduro events to contact the UCI with a view to establishing a UCI Enduro Calendar from 2013. Enduro events can be in the form of multi-stage races, day races or mass start races.

UCI Communication Services