Cycling

Niner announced two new chassis to its expanding range of 29ers: the alloy JET 9 short-travel, cross-country, full-suspension machine and the intriguing ROS 9, an aggressive chromoly steel hardtail.All-new JET 9 sheds weight, adds travelNiner's short-travel JET 9 platform gets a complete overhaul for this year. Rear-wheel travel grows from 80mm to a more useful 100mm while the claimed frame weight drops to a more competitive 2.86kg (6.3lb) from the previous 2.97kg (6.55lb). Weight was shaved nearly everywhere you look with updated forgings for the seat stay and chain stay yokes, all-new 142x12mm thru-axle rear dropouts, and a clever one-piece PF30 bottom bracket shell that directly integrates the forward lower linkage pivot and the lower shock mount. The main upper linkage pivot is now built right into the seat tube instead of the predecessor's extra welded-on mount and according to Niner, a switch from hydroformed aluminum tubes to air-formed ones (using superheated and pressurized air instead of oil to push the walls out against a steel die) allows for more precise wall thicknesses and greater cross-sectional variances from end-to-end, too. Other features include Enduro Max full complement sealed cartridge bearings in all of the pivots, alloy pivot hardware, a longer rear shock stroke, post mount rear brake caliper tabs, and a low direct mount front derailleur. There are no ISCG tabs built in but that's become less of an issue with the advent of various thick-thin stepped chainrings now flooding the market.The new, lighter and bigger-travel Jet 9Geometry receives some subtle tweaks as well. Notably, head tube angle has slackened a full degree to 71 degrees with a 100mm-travel fork or 70 degrees with a 120mm-travel one and reach has decreased just a few millimeters across the board. Seat tube angles are also now a constant 73 or 74 degrees across the board depending on fork travel. Bottom bracket drop is carried over from last year although curiously, the chain stays have grown slightly from 450mm to 454mm. Shorter riders will be happy to see the addition of an extra-small size, too.Retail price for the frame will be US$1,849 including a RockShox Monarch RT3 rear shock. Niner will also offer three complete builds, all with 2x10 drivetrains: the '4-Star' with a SRAM X0 drivetrain, RockShox SID XX fork and American Classic Race wheels for US$4,899; the '3-Star' with Shimano Deore XT, a RockShox SID RL and Stan's NoTubes Arch EX wheels for US$4,199; and the '2-Star' with Shimano Deore/SLX, a Fox 32 Float CTD Evolution fork and American Classic Terrain wheels for US$3,099.All of the new JET 9s will be available around early September.Brand new ROS 9 blends steel hardtail reflexes with a long-travel front endAlso coming from Niner this September is the new ROS 9 – a tough steel 29er hardtail designed for use with a 120mm or 140-travel fork and with a slack 67-degree or 68-degree head tube angle to match.Niner builds the ROS 9 with a sturdier front end than its SIR 9 steel hardtail. Butted 4130 chromoly steel is used instead of the SIR 9's Reynolds 853 pipes, the diameter grows to 34.9mm throughout, and the 44mm tapered head tube is bolstered with a bigger gusset beneath the top tube. The steel ROS 9 frame weighs a claimed 2.77kg (6.1lb)The differences become more pronounced as you move further back. A drastically curved seat tube and eccentric bottom bracket on the ROS 9 allows for effective chain stay lengths as short as 418mm (22mm shorter than the SIR 9) while still retaining multiple chainring compatibility and tire clearance for up to 2.35in rubber thanks to a clever bolt-on, high direct-mount front derailleur mount and a slick forged chain stay yoke. As Niner expects the ROS 9 to be used in a heavier-duty capacity than the SIR 9, there's even internal routing for a stealth-style dropper post.Borrowed from the SIR 9 are the chain stays and seat stays, the forged 142x12mm thru-axle rear dropouts, and tidy post mount rear

Carousel short title: TDF 2013 Preview Our stage by-stage guide to the 100th edition of cycling's biggest race Gallery Image Reference: Tour de France 100 logo Gallery Reference: Tour de France 2013 A first visit to Corsica, a time trial with Mont-Saint-Michel as the backdrop, a summit finish on Mont Ventoux, an unprecedented double ascent of the Alpe d’Huez, and in another first, a grand finale at night on the Champs-Elysées – organisers ASO have done all they can to ensure the 100th edition of the Tour de France will be a memorable one. Here’s our stage-by-stage preview. read more

I went to a somewhat disconcerting public meeting this evening. The project was the reconstruction of the Cambridge St (Allston) overpass over the Mass Pike between Lincoln St and Harvard Ave. I'd link to the drawings online, but the project team didn't seems to realize that people want to see drawings online, and hadn't made any plans to put them up. This is a scary place to bike or walk because in the 1950's, a dense, walkable urban neighborhood was torn in half by a freeway. Then the planners who designed the freeway "reconnected" the two halves of the neighborhood with an overbuilt 6 lane highway and a scarily isolated, dangerously steep, chainlink enclosed pedestrian bridge. The sidewalks are crumbling and bordered with chainlink fence and highway style crash barriers. Because there are too many, too wide lanes, drivers go way too fast, and with crosswalks spaced half a mile apart, pedestrians end up playing chicken to try to get to the bus stop.The first shocking thing about this meeting is that while it was the first public meeting any of the advocates knew about, the proposed design was purportedly at 100%. I guess it's a sign of how much Mass DOT has changed, that public process has gone from a vestigial "this is what we're going to do, like it or lump it" single meeting to an actual process where advocates expect meetings at 25%, and 75% and sometimes even pre-design meetings. This is important because it becomes harder (more expensive) to make big design changes the further a project goes along, so a bike-ped unfriendly project can be rammed through because it's "too late" to make any changes to a bad initial design. There was a watershed moment in local advocacy in 2008, when the "Old" Mass DOT tried to ram a pedestrian and bike- unfriendly plan for the rebuilding of the Cragie Dam/ Museum of Science bridge through by presenting it as "complete" and the public outcry made them reconsider and made the project better. The old Mass DOT didn't understand or design for people, they just designed for cars. The new Mass DOT may still be mostly in a car minded design mindset, but they've learned that they need to listen to the people who bike and walk, and make some concessions to allow them to do so safely.Anyway, the crew responsible for this meeting were clearly from the old school, and as was explained later in the meeting, this project was designed and contracted for by the old Mass Turnpike Authority, before it was rolled into Mass DOT. So these engineers wouldn't know a livable street if it bit them, they were all about Level of Service and throughput and crash barrier standards. They had grudgingly put in bike lanes and put the road on a lane diet to slightly compensate for the fact that the street was 150% overbuilt. But they obviously hadn't given any real thought to pedestrian and bicycle motions at intersections or midblock. They'd even made the pedestrian environment less friendly by putting a giant concrete median and chainlink fence down the middle to prevent people from crossing where the side streets connect to this big road. There have been some tragic pedestrian deaths in this area, but putting a giant fence in the middle of the road is like forcing women to wear the hijab to prevent rape. God forbid we should require the cars to go a reasonable speed and provide safe and frequent pedestrian crossings.The good news is that they are putting the road on a lane diet. At only 27,000 cars per day, 6 lanes was way WAY too big (for a local point of reference, Mass Ave which is 4, and sometimes only 3 lanes carries more than 30,000 cars a day). The lanes are being "tightened" to a generous 11'6" and the extra space is going into wider (10') sidewalks and buffered bike lanes. However the buffer is only a painted stripe zone, basically a glorified shoulder.Given the speeds of the cars here (hopefully reduced by the lane diet) it's not comfortable for bikes to ride right next to 50 mph traffic

Camelbak has redesigned its popular Podium bottle range for 2014. They're more compactly shaped, easier to squeeze and easier to clean, too.The most significant change to the Podium bottles is the new cap, which retains the one-way valve and twist-lock features. The valve has been resized for greater flow, however, and the twist-lock is easier to operate. Best of all, the valve has been repositioned into the rubber bite piece and it's more readily removable for cleaning.The new Podium top pops off easily for cleaningCamelbak has also updated the shape of the bottle itself. Volumes remain the same as before at 610mL/21oz for the smaller size and 710mL/24oz for the bigger option but the finger grips are less intrusive so the bottles are now a tad shorter. Pricing is mostly unchanged at US$9 for the standard Podium, US$10 for the larger size, US$13 for the standard insulated Podium Chill, and US$15 for the larger Podium Chill. UK pricing was not immediately available. Don't expect to find any of them in stores until January, however.Hydration packs are unchanged for this year with the exception of brighter color options throughout to reflect similar trends in other segments of the industry. Most of the packs will still be available in more subdued hues, too.The women's Spark 10

Determined that Rasmussen's transfusions would not be detected

Continually blowing minds with riding and choice of lines.  Good on ya Danny.

Strong field confirmed for this year's race

Niner has introduced two new bikes, one expected and one completely fresh. Their recent fan-sourced bike naming contest...

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