Mountain Bike Parts Reviews

Part#1: First Look! 

SIXSIXONE has always been one of my favourite helmet brands due to their stylish look, awesome shell and proven fit & safety. So each year I'm always curious to know what the Team at 661 have pulled out for the upcoming season. I was lucky enough to be at the Sportz warehouse yesterday to see the all new Evolution Helmets and Knee/Elbow pads be unloaded from the international shipped container.

Never underestimate your how important it is to have grip especially while racing. It can decide whether you win or lose so when it comes to picking the correct tyres for the conditions come race day, you will be fooled not to look into the Schwalbe Tyre Range. Offering tyres for all conditions, compounds and options, you will always be able to find a tyre to suit the track conditions. Today we looked into Schwalbes Specific Downhill Tyres and after running a few ourselves, we'd recommend you also check them out yourselves, whether or not you are a keen racer or a local punter.

Mmm, they sure do look the goods. A touch of old school with its squarish shape, but a whole lot of new school CNC machinery, external bearings and more. The graphics on the arms are cool and tough looking, which is sure to intimidate the competition hey? But, as we all know, looks aren’t everything, so I was keen to actually bolt down a mountain on these rods. Mt. Buller seemed a good size hill, so there we would give this crank set a bit of a thrashing.

I gave them a good tryout over a series of weekends down the mountain, and they felt great. Power down and you’re off; I couldn’t feel any flex in them at all. I cracked down pretty hard on a nice bolder in the trail, right on the downstroke. It threw me and my bike around a fair bit, but the crank was perfect [‘cept a small scratch]. The cranks do give you the confidence in your pedal stroke and the power you get from them, which means you can focus on just powering down on them. I must say I couldn’t fault the Diabolus Cranks.

Currently I'm running an Atomlab Aircorp rim in 24" diameter (36 hole if you wanted to know). I'm running it for my dirt-jump and urban needs, and through hard case's, and landing on flight's of stairs, it's held up. I havn't had the need to get it trued for about 7 months. They're a great rim for all the dirt-junkies, and urban riders out there. With the choice of 32 or 36 holes, and 26" and 24" diameters, and a 32mm wide platform make this rim extremely stable.And plus, running V-Brakes is finally an option! With higher sidewalls to accomodate.

They retail for around the $100 mark, but rumours have come into play that the Aircorp rim will be discontinued for 2005 onwards, sadly it isn't with it's brother rims at home in the 'wheels' section at Atomlabs website. Overall, a great rim, but slightly on the heavy side, and pinned instead of maybe a slightly stronger welded joint...

Cams rating, 8.5/10.