Dirt Mountain Biking

2010

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• • Dirt 100 2010: THOMSON ELITE SEATPOST

  • February 23rd, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 12

  • Thomson products are one of the most desirable brands in mountain biking and it’s clear to see why when you inspect the components at close quarters. They are engineered to perfection, are super stylish and just have that ‘it’ factor. …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: CONTOUR HD HELMET CAMERA

  • February 22nd, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 5

  • Media is so much more accessible nowadays and the rise of the helmet camera has finally come with wire–free models, no more faffing about with cables and backpacks. We had the previous incarnation of the contour cam and found it …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: FREE LAP TIMING POLES AND WATCH

  • February 21st, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 7

  • We all like a little competition right? Well OK some of us claim not to, but deep down we all have a competitive streak. The combination of Freelap timing poles and watch allow us to live out our racing dreams …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO AM 40 FLAT SHOES

  • February 20th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 7

  • While the styling definitely won’t be to everyone’s taste, some of the Dirt team have been thrashing the Shimano shoes around the globe for a few years and swear by them. The new AM40’s are a flat pedal only shoe …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: FIVE TEN IMPACT SAM HILL EDITION SHOES

  • February 19th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 9

  • If you haven’t heard of Five Ten sticky rubber yet then where have you been hiding for the past four years? It has revolutionised flat pedal riding and as a result there are many more riders on the local and …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: POC SPINE VPD VEST BACK PROTECTOR

  • February 18th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 2

  • The POC back protector caught our attention when we visited their factory back last year, with more and more riders looking for alternative and lighter alternatives to protection than the full armour suits worn a few years ago, it is …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: POC JOINT VPD ELBOW GUARDS

  • February 17th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 0

  • POC have burst onto the scene just recently and have been supporting a number of World Cup riders and teams. We’ve been really impressed by the company and their product; the Joint guards do just what you want from an …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: DAINESE BODY ARMOUR

  • February 16th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 3

  • For ultimate protection Dainese jackets are still the best available. The Italian company have been producing armour and protection for the world’s best athletes in the motorcycle and bicycle industry for many years, and the Dainese jackets have been well …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: TROY LEE DESIGNS T–BONE KNEE GUARDS

  • February 15th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 1

  • Troy Lee Designs’ T–Bones give the ultimate protection. We love their close fit, padding and
    support right around the knee area. We’ve taken plenty of slams on the T–Bones and they have protected us better than any other guards, and for …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: TSG SUPER LIGHT

  • February 14th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 0

  • The TSG Superlight is a quality bit of kit. It offers all the added protection and styling that a skate/ BMX helmet offers over a traditional MTB lid, but at a ludicrously light 300grams. With plenty of ventilation incorporated in …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: GIRO XEN

  • February 13th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 4

  • The original all–mountain lid, with vents a plenty, a super lightweight shell and sleek styling, it stood
    out to the more adventurous trail riders by offering increased protection and coverage to the back of the head. As we said, we each …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: FOX RACING FLUX

  • February 12th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 0

  • The Flux is a super trail helmet in the same vein as the Giro Xen, we can’t pick between the two in the office, and it all comes down to styling and personal preference. The Flux is a lot more …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: LEATT NECK BRACE

  • February 11th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 25

  • The Leatt brace is an innovative product and is one that has sparked many a discussion (or argument) over the effectiveness of neck braces. Unfortunately there have been a few high profile neck injuries that have affected riders and their …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: FOX RACING RAMPAGE

  • February 10th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 3

  • While the D3 sits at the top of the pile it has a price tag to match, we think Fox have produced a great offering with their Rampage helmet. At a modest price they have produced a well styled helmet …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: TROY LEE DESIGNS D3

  • February 9th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 11

  • There has been quite a buzz around the new D3, mainly because Troy Lee’s D2 is so iconic and everyone’s favourite full face lid. The D3 has significantly more protection, sitting somewhere in the middle between the D2 and the …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: E.THIRTEEN CHAINRING

  • February 8th, 2010 @ 8:30 AM | 2

  • A chainring is a chainring right? Well sort of, but e.thirteen rings do offer something a little different to the competition. You see, instead of the usual 34, 36 and 38 tooth increments, the e.thirteen rings are available in odd …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SRAM XX DRIVECHAIN

  • February 7th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 7

  • SRAM are an innovative company driving forward developments in all of their groupsets, and with the XX they are leading the way into a 10 speed set up (one which Shimano have already announced they plan to follow in 2010). …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO SLX CHAINSET

  • February 6th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 6

  • This is a beautifully engineered chainset at a great price point, it makes full use of the developments in Shimano’s top end chainsets of XT and XTR over the past years, but at a price point that is affordable to …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO SAINT CHAINSET

  • February 5th, 2010 @ 8:30 AM | 4

  • Shimano Saint has become the benchmark for downhill cranksets. They have remarkably managed to produce a chainset as strong as most three piece cranks and super stiff whilst shaving further weight off in this most recent incarnation. The Saint chainset …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: PROFILE 3–PIECE STEEL CRANKS

  • February 4th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 1

  • No one makes 3–piece cranks like Profile, they have been there from the beginning producing BMX race cranks and have maintained their profile (pun not intended) as the leading brand in this market. There are countless copies out there now …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO XTR CHAINSET

  • February 3rd, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 1

  • The ultimate chainset, the XTR’s are simply stunning. So too is their price tag unfortunately, but quality of this standard costs money. The XTR’s are fiendishly lightweight and deceptively strong, dealing with all trail duties with ease. While they are …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO DX SPD PEDALS

  • February 2nd, 2010 @ 9:09 AM | 3

  • We had to make a call on the pedals; it was between the DX SPD and the Crankbrothers Mallets. While the Mallets have the advantage of being able to clip–in from multi directions and offering a bigger platform, they do …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: POINT ONE RACING FLAT PEDALS

  • February 1st, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 1

  • Point One Racing are proving to be pretty innovative with their new component range. Their Podium pedals caught our eye when we first saw photographs of them, and when they landed in the office there was an instant ‘oooh’ from …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: GAMUT CHAIN DEVICE

  • January 31st, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 2

  • We love the P30’s ease of installation, no other device comes close to the Gamut when it comes to trouble free fitting. Chain devices have been notoriously difficult to set up over the years, usually involving fiddling with tiny bolts …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: E.THIRTEEN LG1+ CHAIN DEVICE

  • January 30th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 2

  • The e.thirteen device has been remodelled for 2010 and we really like the new set up. Whilst it doesn’t feature any huge innovative design it does pull in on a lot of the best ideas from other manufacturers and delivers …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO SLX REAR MECH & SHIFTER

  • January 29th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 4

  • In the same way that we would choose the X.9 shifter and mech in the SRAM line up, we love the SLX groupset from Shimano; it is stylish and does the job every bit as well as the more expensive …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SRAM X.9 REAR MECH & SHIFTER

  • January 28th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 5

  • While Sram’s X.0 offers all the bling and weight savings associated with a top of the range groupset, in reality the X.9 shifter and mech offers all the same functionality, with sharp snappy shifting, at considerably less cost. We are …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: AVID ELIXIR CR BRAKES

  • January 27th, 2010 @ 9:30 AM | 2

  • These Elixir brakes are a definite improvement over the older Juicy models. They offer heaps of stopping power and with their inline reservoirs further cleaning the shape of the levers they are some of the best finished and ergonomic brakes …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: SHIMANO SAINT DISC BRAKES

  • January 26th, 2010 @ 9:15 AM | 4

  • Shimano don’t mess about, when they release products you can be pretty confident they will be bang on. The Saint brakes are their flagship freeride and downhill brakeset and cope really well with longer drawn out alpine descents. They dissipate …

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• • Dirt 100 2010: FORMULA R1 BRAKES

  • January 25th, 2010 @ 8:30 AM | 0

  • We have had these brakes through on a few test bikes now and they firmly rate up there as one of our favourites. They are crisp and good looking, they look expensive and perform faultlessly with great power and decent …

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