Emily Batty, POC’s digital helmet, and women’s kits tested: Pinkbike Digest
What’s going on in the mountain bike world? The Pinkbike Digest showcases the top dirt articles from our mountain bike sister-site, Pinkbike.com. You’ll get coverage from racing, tech, and some fun storytelling along the way.
5 Things We Learned at Snowshoe XC World Cup 2019
By: Edd Spratt
The final World Cup in Snowshoe provided some extraordinary racing all weekend and the XC was no exception. Read about the 5 things we noticed from the sidelines. (Read more.)
Shimano Loosens Micro Spline Hub Licensing Restrictions
By: Mike Kazimer
When Shimano first announced their new Micro Spline driver body design only a select few manufacturers were granted the license to produce compatible hubs. The design has 23 rectangular splines that allows for the use of a multi-part cassette with a 10 tooth cog, which is what Shimano’s new 12-speed cassettes use. Shimano never outlined the specifics required to obtain a license for the design, but several smaller aftermarket manufacturers publicly voiced their displeasure about the limited number of licenses that were being doled out. (Read more.)
Interview: Emily Batty on Loneliness, Burnout & The 2020 Olympics
By: Sarah Moore
After consistently being at the pointy end of the World Cup circuit for the past several years, with podiums in five of the World Cup rounds last year, and a third-place at the World Championships in Lenzerheide, it was expected that Emily Batty would continue her winning ways in 2019. Perhaps even finally getting that elusive World Cup win. When she finished 28th in Albstadt, it was her worst World Cup race result ever. A 38th in Nove Mesto meant it was no fluke, something was off. [Sarah Moore] caught up with Emily Batty after the World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne to find out more about what made this season so difficult for her and how she’s turned things around towards the end of the season to finish 9th on home soil. (Read more.)
Review: 8 of the Best 2019 Women’s XC Race Kits – Tested at the BC Bike Race
By: Sarah Moore
Look fast and you’ll go faster. Believe it or not, there’s actually scientific research that can prove this correlation. Although being comfortable ranks pretty highly when you’re spending anywhere from 15 hours and 43 minutes (race winner Felix Burke’s time) to 47 hours and 16 minutes (the red lantern of the event’s time) in the saddle and doing 300 kilometers of singletrack over the course of a week.
Read on for how the kits [Sarah Moore] wore during the [BCBR] race from Pearl Izumi, 7mesh, Giro, Liv, Specialized, Bontrager, Assos and Rapha performed. There’s also a bonus Velocio kit review since it arrived too late for me to race in it but I’ve been wearing it since. (Read more.)
POC’s New Helmet Stores Your Medical Data – Eurobike 2019
By: James Smurthwaite
POC have teamed up with twICEme, a Swedish start-up, to create a helmet that stores your medical data and can transmit it to first responders in case of a crash.
The whole system works through an app that POC have developed to go alongside the helmet. You upload your data to the app including information such as your blood type, allergies, existing conditions and your organ donor status and then transfer this data into a chip in the helmet. First responders will then be able to scan the helmet using their own app and receive all the data to their phone. (Read more.)
SRAM to Introduce a $15 Universal Derailleur Hanger – Eurobike 2019
By: Mike Levy
There are a bunch of places on a bike where I suspect that we’d all love to see some uniformity applied. Seatposts, hubs, and bottom bracket dimensions, and of course down at the derailleur hanger. We’ll have to keep waiting on the first three, but SRAM is moving ahead with their $15 USD Universal Derailleur Hanger to tackle the latter. Not only is it just $15, but it’s also open-source; there are no licensing fees.
Why should SRAM do this if bike companies already use their own hangers? (Read more.)
US Secretary of the Interior Opens National Park Trails to eMTBs
By: Daniel Sapp
According to a statement from the United States Department of the Interior, eBikes, including eMTB, will now be classified as non-motorized bikes and will have the same rights and access to federal trails in many national parks and other federally managed lands, at least those managed by the DOI which accounts for about 75% of public lands in the US.
So what does this exactly mean? (Read more.)
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