Matt Whitaker from Wide Open Distributors stopped by the office yesterday with some fresh goodies that have just arrived onto their shelves. First up and much anticipated is the new 650b fork from Marzocchi, the 350CR. The 350 uses 35mm stanchions and is for 650b wheels only. It features 160mm travel although it can be changed internally to 140mm. The CR model pictured has compression and a rebound adjustable damper with damping more suited to trail and (buzzword) riding. RRP on this puppy is $1099, not all bad for a fork of this quality with a three year warranty and a weight under 2kg.
Next up out of Matt’s bag was the ENVE Minnaar Bar. The big guy finds the standard DH 800mm bar a little on the narrow side and ENVE have released his 808mm bar to the public, complete with rainbow stripes. ENVE quality always comes with a matching price tag and the bar will run you RRP$299
And when I said these products where coming out of a bag, I wasn’t lying. Wide Open are going to bring in a limited number of these very rad ENVE backpacks; lots of space, bladder compatible and waterproof zippered throughout. No word on price or an ETA just yet but as soon as we have it, we’ll let you know. Hell we’ll even have them in the Spoke webshop.
Thomson have released a slightly more affordable bar in the Alloy Trail. It’s 750mm wide with 12mm of rise, 6° of backsweep and 4° of upsweep. The clamping area is 50mm allowing a different bend profile for a more compliant ride. RRP on the bar is $155
Also from Thomson was this new flippable 80mm X4 stem. It gives you 10° up or down, so can do dual duty on 29ers and smaller wheeled bikes, and there is also a flippable 70mm in the works as well. RRP is $128
Thomson also realised that they were missing a popular size for people that found X4 50mm too short and the 70mm too long. You guessed it, there is now a 60mm size! Again RRP is $128
We haven’t heard much from Atomlab for a while but this new XD Driver body equipped hub looks like a good starting off point for getting reacquainted. It features 102 points of engagement via six pretty swanky pawls.
As well as that it features cartridge bearings for super smooth rolling and only fits 12 x 142 thru axles. RRP on this bulletproof hub is $340 and like everything else in this post it’s available now from your local shop. If they don’t have it they can get it in!
That bag. It’s attractive. I’m attracted