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    Wednesday, May 31, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Iron Horse Azure World Cup review in Mountain Bike Action

    SUSPENSION TYPE: DW-Link.
    DESIGNER: Dave Weagle.
    CHASSIS DESCRIPTION: Iron Horse’s fresh take on the dual-link arrangement is to configure the linkage to create a line of acceleration that counters the rider’s mass as it lags behind like a pendulum and compresses the rear suspension with each push of the pedals. The DW-Link achieves its “antisquat” pedaling action without the need for platform damping in its shock (although the current production Azure World Cup does use a stable-platform damper). The Azure’s well-built chassis is designed with a conventional hardtail look and a firm, quick-accelerating ride.
    SHOCK/SETTINGS: Fox Float R: rebound, 5 clicks in; air spring, 150psi; sag at 25 percent.
    FORK/SETTINGS: Fox Float RLT: rebound, 10 clicks in; spring, 80psi.
    TRAVEL: Fork, 3.9 inches; rear, 3.5 inches.

    PERFORMANCE
    The Iron Horse ridden in our comparison is a preproduction version of the Azure. Despite being a couple of pounds over the weight of a true World Cup sled, Iron Horse’s first serious attempt at a pro-level, cross-country machine is impressive. Its technical climbing skills, combined with sharp acceleration, earn high marks for anyone who wants a race-worthy trailbike. The DW-Link suspension remains functional to an appreciable degree under power and braking forces, so it makes good use of its minimal wheel travel. When we set up its Fox fork’s lockout threshold to act as an on-the-fly platform valve, the Azure became the easiest bike of the five to ride. Just get on and go. Iron Horse’s take on dual-link is an effective, set-and-forget system.

    RATINGS
    Seated pedaling: 9
    Feels smooth, efficient and brisk at the pedals in any gear combination.
    Out-of-the-saddle acceleration: 8
    Surges forward even with a moderate effort. It encourages you to power over rollers without downshifting. A more centered position over the bike minimizes fork bobbing.
    Seated climbing: 8
    Active rear suspension makes it a good technical climber. Its anti-squat action helps keep you moving in a straighter line. The Giant edges it out in this category.
    Out-of-the-saddle climbing: 9
    Crisp acceleration with each step on the pedals, and traction always seems to be available. Less need to lock out the fork than with the others.
    Small bumps: 7
    The Azure handles chatter and small braking bumps well, but anything larger and the ride will turn noticeably harsher.
    Big bumps: 7
    The DW-Link suspension delivers a smooth, no-bottom feel over G-outs and jumps with its minimal travel. Drop the rear wheel into a deep rut, however, and it will surprise you with a
    big thud. Sharp-edge impacts seem to affect the Azure more.
    Active under power: 7
    Very good suspension action while climbing and accelerating, but there’s just not enough travel to take advantage of this important feature.
    Active under braking: 7
    There is a bit less suspension action than the Giant has when you pull the brake lever, but the Iron Horse’s centered cockpit weights the rear tire better and reduces skidding.
    IRON HORSE AZURE TALLY: 7.75

    Tuesday, May 30, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Iron Horse's Sam Hill takes World Cup lead!

    Hill takes win and World Cup lead


    Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) was hoping to repeat his immensely popular win from last year, he had to settle for fourth; hampered by a broken knuckle. Australian Sam Hill took the win, and the overall lead in the men's World Cup, with crowd favorite Cedric Gracia finishing second.

    Hill wasn't the fastest in qualifying, running second to Greg Minnaar (Team G-Cross Honda) by three-quarters of a second. But in the final Minnaar was less than a second ahead of his qualifying time, good for third, while Hill knocked four seconds off his seeding run time. World champion Fabien Barel (Kona Les Gets) was also expected to do well, after qualifying third, but crashed coming out of a jump halfway down the course, and lost valuable seconds, pushing him back to seventh.

    "I really like this course" said Hill, "it's the most physically and mentally challenging course on the World Cup circuit. I'm actually not surprised to win here, because I always feel good on this course."

    Minnaar put his relatively minor improvement over qualifying down to not being prepared for the changing conditions at the top of the course. "I was not really aware of how much windier it had gotten at the top of the course, so it blew me around quite a bit and I definitely lost some time there."

    Steve Peat broke a knuckle on his right hand while traveling back from a downhill event in Lisbon two weekends earlier. He was in an altercation with a man who attacked him, and broke his knuckle. "I don't have as much strength in the hand, and I can't pull on the brake lever very well. I have to keep it taped, and it meant that I wasn't able to train as much because it is so painful."

    Results
    Samuel Hill (Aus) Monster/Iron Horse/Mad Catz 4.25.332
    Cédric Gracia (Fra) Commencal 4.26.59

    by By Rob Jones in Fort William

    Friday, May 19, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Sam Hill with his Iron Horse Sunday World Cup on the Podium Again!

    The Randall Scott Cycle Company would like to give a big round of applause to Iron Horse downhill rider Sam Hill for taking 3rd in the Red Bull Lisbon Downtown!

    “For those of you following the gravity junkies – Sam Hill Seems to be keeping with his typical dominating style. For those of you who don’t know, Lisbon is one of those crazy red bull events – it’s essentially a downhill race through the streets of Lisbon. No dirt, just steps, streets, sidewalks and cars! It’s unique and scary all at the same time! The DW-Link seems to podium at EVERY RACE! It’s the weirdest thing… I’ve seen riders be consistent before, but not a frame. Even at amateur races, the Iron Horse Sundays seem to litter the podiums.

    Randall Scott Cycle Company Congratulates Sam Hill on ANOTHER podium!”

    Visit Pink Bike for the full story!

    Thursday, May 18, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Firing Up Your Sprint!

    Firing Up Your Sprint! By: Adam Mills, CTS Senior Coach

    Sprint power is a major component in competitive cycling and can significantly improve your chances for a successful break away, hill climb, and final push to the finish line in competitive bicycle races. Every competitive cyclist desires a crushing sprint capable of placing them on the podium of any race, but many riders lack a dependable sprint which can deliver a good result. The secret for developing a superb sprint is to follow a progressive training program. Such a program significantly improves your ability to utilize a powerful sprint that will put you in position to win any event, including that “city limit” sign at the end of a group ride.

    Contrary to contemporary belief, on-the-bike sprint training does not usually result in any significant increase in muscle mass. That being said, the first thing to realize is that you probably already possess the raw materials needed to fuel a powerful sprint. That is, you have muscle mass and some of you have lots of it. Odds are that you will see significant improvement by simply maximizing your motor unit synchronization, which is a fancy term to describe the process of learning to fire as many muscle fibers as possible simultaneously.

    Developing the necessary physical tools to improve your performance does not happen overnight, but according to recent studies can take as few as about five weeks. First and foremost, you need a good fitness base. If you’re not already in moderately good shape, a month or two of two moderate training sessions during the week and two long training sessions on the weekend will probably do the trick.

    Now, it’s time to get those afterburners fired up by warming up. A good warm up is an integral part of sprint training and will allow your muscles to contract with maximal force while decreasing the chances of any acute muscle injury. Typically, riding around at a moderate pace for about thirty minutes with some high cadence pedaling (aim for 110+ rpm), and/or some hard efforts, such as riding up short hills, are a good idea.

    Time to open the throttle. The first workout is a series of 12-second sprints called PowerStarts that will develop your ability to apply force to the pedals and improve your acceleration. On flat terrain, roll along at a slow speed (3-5 mph). In a heavy gear, so you’re accelerating against a heavy resistance, jump out of the saddle while pulling on the handlebar drops, using the leverage of the handlebars to move your body over each pedal as you drive them downward. Concentrate on getting on top of that gear as quickly as possible. You should just about be spinning-out the gear when the interval is over. Start with five of these efforts and allow five minutes recovery between intervals.

    This next workout is your trump card to developing a dominant sprint. This is the 20 second FlatSprint. Sprints are always performed at 100% maximum effort. On flat terrain, roll at a moderate speed. As before, with your hands in the drops and in a light gear, jump out of the saddle and accelerate to your maximum speed as quickly as possible, keeping your head up and driving with the legs. Then, quickly shift one gear harder, return to the saddle, and spin out the remaining part of the sprint. Focus on maintaining high pedal speed with smooth and efficient form for the entire sprint. You should start with six of these efforts, taking five minutes of recovery between each sprint. As your sprint training progresses you will build your way to ten FlatSprints.

    At the conclusion of your hard work and consistent training, you will be ready to unleash your new found skill on the unsuspecting competition. Good luck, be safe, and keep the pedals turning!



    Adam Mills is a Senior Coach with Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. (CTS) and an experienced competitor in national-level road, mountain, and cyclocross races. To find out what CTS can do for you, visit Bodylinks. References:

    Burgomaster KA, Hughes SC, Heigenhauser GJF, Bradwell SN, Gibala MJ. Six sessions of sprint interval training increases muscle oxidative potential and cycle endurance capacity in humans. J Appl Phys 2005; 98: 1985-1990.

    Carmichael C, Karow B, Burke E. Carmichael Training Systems Training Manual. Carmichael Training Systems, 1999.

    Creer AR, Ricard MD, Conlee RK, Hoyt GL, Parcell AC. Neural, metabolic and performance adaptations to four weeks of high intensity sprint-interval training in trained cyclists. Int J Sports Med 2004; 25: 92-98.

    Laurrsen PB, Shing CM, Peake JM, CoombesJS, Jenkins DG. Interval training program optimization in highly trained endurance cyclists. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002; 34(11): 1801-1807.

    MacDougall JD, Hicks AL, MacDonald JR, Mckelvie RS, Green HJ, Smith KM. Muscle performance and enzymatic adaptations to sprint interval training. J Appl Physiol 1998; 84(6): 2138-2142.

    Parra J, Cadefau JA, Rodas G, Amigo N, Cusso R. The distribution of rest periods affects performance and adaptations of energy metabolism induced by high-intensity training in human muscle. Acta Physiol Scand 2000; 169: 157-165.

    Paton CD, Hopkins WG. Combining explosive and high-resistance training improves performance in competitive cyclists. J Strength Cond Res 2005; 19(4): 826-830.

    Tanaka H, Bassett DR Jr, Swensen TC, Sampedro RM. Aerobic and anaerobic power characteristics of competitive cyclists in the United States Cycling Federation. Int J Sports Med 1993; 14: 334-338.

    Whitehead MT, Boyd JC, Magal M, Eschbach LC, Angelopoulos TJ, Zoeller RF. Post-exercise blood lactate decline after training in competitive cyclists and triathletes. AAHPERD 2005; 76(2): 238-242.

    Wednesday, May 17, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    K2’s Linear Link Design

    Hey guys, check out the improvements to the K2 T:Nine women's line.

    K2’s Linear Link design delivers light-weight, efficient suspension for smaller riders

    K2’s Linear Link design delivers light-weight, efficient suspension for smaller riders
    For the introduction of the first K2 T:Nine bicycle collection in 2005, we did not have enough time to develop unique rear suspension systems to suit smaller, lighter women riders. Like most other bike brands, our first women's full suspension bikes were adaptations of our existing unisex/men’s suspension designs. While the Small and Medium sizes of the resulting Myste Mountain and Spire Mountain bicycles were faithful to the K2 T:Nine Fit System, this approach did result in some compromises.

    • Extra Small were impossible to create due to the position of the suspension components inside the frame tubes
    • Most suspension components were overbuilt for lighter women riders, resulting in higher than optimal complete bicycle weights
    • The Spire Mountain's long travel resulted in women riders sitting higher off the ground when seated, and almost resting on the top tube when stopped

    For 2006, we developed our new K2 Linear Link suspension system to address all of these issues. The low leverage ratio inherent in this system allowed us to reduce the weight of many parts of the frame. The horizontal position of the shock in the frame allowed us to lower the top tube on all models and create an XSM size true to our K2 T:Nine Fit System.
    Our 2006 T:Nine Summit proudly features the K2 Linear Link suspension design, developed specifically to provide light-weight full-suspension performance to women mountain bikers across our whole T:Nine sizing range. In the future, we hope to trickle this technology down through our line so that more aspiring women riders may also benefit from its advantages.
    Ironically, when we tested the early prototypes of the Linear Link design, smaller male riders also found its blend of light-weight and efficiency addictive. In what may be a first in the cycling industry, this women’s-specific full suspension design was later stretched and strengthened to create the K2 Apache design to suit taller, heavier male riders. In order to maintain the quality of suspension performance on larger Apaches, we had to slightly reduce the quantity of suspension travel, meaning for once that it’s the men who will have to compromise!

    Tuesday, May 16, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Product we love! 2005 Iron Horse MKIII Team Review

    2005 Iron Horse MK III Team


    This bike has truly been a joy to ride. Since moving to Colorado in January of 2006, I have enjoyed the privilege of riding some renowned trails in the Boulder area and I also made it out to Fruita, CO to the annual mountain bike festival. Fortunately, I had my MK III Team with me at all times. The bike can pretty much handle anything from steep rocky technical descents to open rollers with kickers, as well as any climb out there. I have not ridden down any lift lines yet, as the season hasn’t open up in Summit County yet, but I will be sure to let you know how the MK III performs on the big mountains as soon as I do. If you are looking for something that was designed as a true all-rounder, the MK III is your bike. Features that make this bike one step above most, include the patented DW-Link suspension system which allows for reduced bob while pedaling and the DW-Link also provides for more efficient braking. As for suspension, the bike comes stock with a Progressive 5th Element Air Shock (can’t complain, quality stuff) and Manitou Nixon Platinum fork w/IT travel adjust. After about two rides, the IT travel adjust on the Manitou died and the fork was static in the compressed position, not to mention this was during a descent at Hall Ranch in Lyons, CO (see link: Hall Ranch in Lyons, CO). In Manitou’s defense, I sent them my broken fork and they replaced it with an 06 model with reasonable turnaround. However, during the time my fork was being fixed, I needed to ride so I purchased a Marzocchi Z1 Light ETA/TAS….GREAT FORK! I really like this fork, it has great feel which derives from the best dampening systems around, real plush. Plus, the white color looks sick with the light blue MK III. The only other modification I made is switching to an 8 inch rotor in the front, slightly more stopping power now, might come in handy when I get to the top of a chair lift. Also, I forgot to mention the Hayes El Camino brakes. Great stopping power and no fade make for a win combination. As you can tell I am very happy with my MK III and would recommend it to anyone considering a higher-end all mountain weapon.

    Sam

    Monday, May 15, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Products Featured in Outside Magazine's Gear of the Year 2006

    Hey guys, Outside magazine recently named three of our bikes in its annual Gear of the Year issue. Check out the reviews on the Litespeed Ghisallo, K2 Apache 5.0 and the K2 T:Nine Summit. Outside Gear of the Year 2006



    Litespeed Ghisallo




    The Ghisallo is a wake-up call for weight-freak roadies dutifully switching everything (even water-bottle-cage spacers!) to carbon: There's another gravity-defying game in town. Weighing less than a box of Clif Bars, this all-titanium frame is not only the wispiest factory model available; it's the lightest complete bike we tested. Compulsively shaped tubing keeps the compact frame relatively stiff. "On climbs, you literally rocket upward without expending any energy," said one tester. If you're one to order the most expensive wine on the menu no matter what, you've found your next trophy. Bonus: The ProBuild kit serves up full Dura-Ace and Mavic Ksyrium wheels. Bummer: Big cyclists, or those with lots of torque, may find the slight frame flexy. 15.7 lbs, 56 cm.


    K2 Apache 5.0


    One tester sprinted away the Apache as soon as it arrived and only returned it a few weeks later, after we threatened to withhold his pay - and even then it took a few days. The Apache is simply one of the most fun cross-country bikes we've ridden, especially for the money. It climbs a lot lighter than its weight suggests but still bombs descents like a supercharged Fabien Barel. We took it on all manner of trail, from Tucson's flat, loopy Fantasy Island Track to arm-jangling jeep roads, and we never found any terrain on which the four inches of suspension and assertive, head-foward geometry didn't feel at home. Bonus: All this and it comes with Crank Brothers Egg Beater pedals. Bummer: An upgraded fork with lockout would be nice. 28.2 lbs, 18-19 in.



    K2 T:Nine Summit


    If you like riding up as much as down, get this light and nimble climber. In Moab, testers powereed up steep slickrock and rutted trails with nonchalance. But it's not just a mountain goat: The new Linear Link rear suspension, which provides almost four inches of travel, yielded one of the most natural feeling rides of any bike tested. The SRAM drivetrain is straight value, and we dig the short-reach brake levers. Bonus: Hayes hydraulic brakes provide smooth stopping power. Bummer: The T:Nine saddle proved uncomfortable; budget a replacement. 28.7 lbs (medium).

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Product We Love! - Employee Review for Camelbak M.U.L.E


    Camelbak M.U.L.E. 100oz


    I like this Camelback for a few reasons. First off, it has ample water capacity at 100oz and it also has plenty of room what I consider to be necessities when on a mountain ride, including some kind of TOOL, I use a Topeak Alien XS Tool 17 Function (pretty much has everything you will need to do basic trailside repair…ALWAYS BRING A TOOL when you ride, in addition to your best buddy with whom you are riding) . I also like to carry and extra tube and/or patch kit depending on the type of tires I am running as well as a pump. Flats happen, especially when you are unprepared. I like the Topeak Harpoon Pump, which is small and does the trick in a Pinch… Overall the bag is not too big despite all the gear I just listed and should not weigh you down too much. Oh, and it also has a protective pouch to store your MP3 player so you can listen to tunes while you ride.





    Sam

    Tuesday, May 09, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Fox Epic Shorts Review

    I recently picked up a pair of the Fox Epic shorts and all I can say is NICE! Top quality construction throughout, perfect fit (true to size) & very breathable. My first ride with them was on a technical climb for about two hours in the hot sun; I thought they would bog me down, but not-at-all! The shorts have a removable liner for washing or for when you’re off the bike at the end of the day and you don’t have another pair of shorts with you. Did I mention breathable? Ahhhh….These shorts do it all.
    -Michael Gleason
    Director of Purchasing


    Monday, May 08, 2006

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Iron Horse DW Link Review!

    Iron Horse is quickly becoming the leader in the Mountain Bike industry. They are now receiving the respect they deserve! Great review on their DW link suspension system.

    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

    Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

    Randall Scott Lifestyle

    Giro d'Italia

    Is it true? Ullrich ditches his earring? I'm not sure that it's the most important news, but maybe it shows that Ullrich is growing up enough to actually win the Tour this year. Every year I hope that buckles down and trains properly, and every year he dissapoints.
    Check out the tour here for free! Live coverage and great news!!
    http://live.cyclingnews.com/
    Send Your Comments Here

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