Volkswagon Of America Joins 2012 Sea Otter As Title Sponsor

MONTEREY, Calif. - February 22, 2012 - North America's largest cycling festival has a new partner for 2012, as automaker Volkswagen of America, Inc. joins the Sea Otter Classic as the title sponsor.

The event, which takes place April 19-22 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area near Monterey, Calif., is now the Volkswagen Sea Otter Classic Powered by SRAM.

"It's an incredible opportunity for Sea Otter to welcome one of the most recognizable brands in the world to the event," said Frank Yohannan, president and CEO, Sea Otter Classic. "This partnership speaks volumes about Volkswagen's commitment to our sport and the culture of cycling. And as a corporate leader in promoting safe cycling, Volkswagen is the perfect partner for Sea Otter racers, riders, and fans."

A new title sponsor is the latest in a series of updates for the iconic festival. These include the introduction of cyclocross racing, an expanded kids riding area, an invitational downhill skateboarding exhibition, and enhanced outreach for female cyclists.

"Sea Otter provides us with the perfect partnership to expand on our commitment to environmental sustainability that goes beyond fuel-efficient vehicles," said Jonathan Browning, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. "We're proud to support this world-class event that spreads the passion for cycling from children to adults."

Volkswagen has also recently partnered with the national cycling advocacy group Bikes Belong to support development of bike-friendly communities and create a cleaner environment. Volkswagen's support of cycling is part of the Think Blue.® initiative, which encompasses all of the company's efforts to promote eco-friendly mobility and encourage environmentally conscious behavior.

For more information regarding the Volkswagen Sea Otter Classic Powered by SRAM, visit www.seaotterclassic.com.

About Sea Otter Classic

A four-day "Celebration of Cycling," Sea Otter Classic is regarded as the world's largest cycling festival, hosting nearly 10,000 professional and amateur athletes and 50,000 fans. The 22nd Annual Volkswagen Sea Otter Classic Powered by SRAM will be held April 19-22, 2012 at Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, California. For more information, visit www.seaotterclassic.com or call (800) 218-8411.

About Volkswagen of America, Inc.

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen's operations in the United States include research and development, parts and vehicle processing, parts distribution centers, sales, marketing and service offices, financial service centers, and its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Beetle, Eos, Golf, GTI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat, CC, Tiguan, Touareg and Routan vehicles through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers.

2012 VP Components Dirt Club Enduro Announced

SANTA BARBARA, CA., (February 17, 2012) – The VP Components Dirt Club Enduro will be an awesome and exciting test of speed, skill and endurance for mountain bike enthusiasts of all levels.  This two day event promises to be an exhilarating and rewarding adventure for all.

The VP Components Dirt Club Enduro format will be based loosely on WRC Auto Rally and European MTB Enduros.  Our event will feature predominantly downhill timed special stages linked together by non-timed liaison stages.  Each rider will complete the courses on the same bike without shuttles or lifts, riding along through check-points to the start of each timed special stage.

This is an event that is all about having fun and riding your bike fast.  The top athlete in each category will be the fastest and most skillful bike handler for sure.  There will be a mix of pure Downhill type tracks, Super D tracks, and XC descents.  And because the riders will have to ride the liaison to the start of each timed stage, there will also be a strong fitness element to this race.  There will be cash payout in the Open/Expert Men and Women categories and high value prizes at least 10 deep in every category.

The DIRT CLUB near Los Olivos, CA is a private location for mountain biking enthusiasts to enjoy their sport in a safe location completely removed from other trail users, this is a 100% conflict free riding area. With downhill trails, super d trails, a dual slalom course, a 12 mile cross country course, an ever expanding pump track, a new DJ line, and miles of dirt double track ranching roads, countless opportunities are provided for riders of all abilities to explore and have fun.  This venue has hosted various MTB races the past 12 years, including the Santa Ynez Valley Classic leg of the US TRIPLE CROWN SERIES. 

The Stages:

SESSION 1 features two laps of a 10 mile loop with 4 special stages per lap for a total of 20 miles and 8 timed special stages.  The special stages will all be short in duration, ranging from high-speed less technical trails, to short downhill and super d tracks with berms, jumps, and drops.  We expect this to be a 2-2.5 hour day.

SESSION 2 (Night racing) will require each competitor to have a light and will cover a 6 mile loop with 2 timed special stages.  The special stages will be held on tight and fast descending cross-country single track that we expect to run around 3 minutes in duration each.

SESSION 3 will be the big day that likely decides the winners over a 10 mile course with two timed special stages.  This will be essentially a two run Super D on the Dirt Club’s new Super D Flow Trail.  The Super D Flow Trail features two short climbs, berms, pump features, jumps, drops, and even a big sender for 15-20 minutes per run.

*All courses can be ridden by riders of all ability levels and there are slower beginner options for challenging features.

For additional information on the event, see the event website; www.vp-usa.com/enduro

Enve Announces Twenty6 DH Rims

When the unconventional concept of a full carbon downhill clincher was presented, the idea was met with incredulous comments of, “it will never happen.”  But our thoughts were focused on achieving faster cornering speeds, direct lines, maximum durability, and responsive accelerations that were previously unachievable. We had to make it ENVE® worthy, and in 2011 when Steve Peat used the same set of race wheels all year, we figured the rims were ready. So here we are, after nearly two years on the world’s harshest courses under the world’s best riders, we are ready to offer this factory race technology to the world.

ENVE is proud to release the world’s first all carbon downhill rim...

Key Features:
DH specific 100% uni-direction carbon fiber construction provides:

• -Unprecedented tracking and cornering performance
• -Sizeable weight savings over DH specific alloy rims, most  DH specific alloy rims weigh between 580-660 grams
• -Improved stiffness over DH specific alloy rims

Proprietary Toughened Resin System:

• -Guarantees superior strength and impact resistance when
• compared to much heavier alloy rims
• -Dampens trail feedback

ENVE Patented Molded Spoke Hole Technology:

• -Virtually maintenance free wheel builds
• -Stronger spoke holes allow for higher spoke tensions

Specifications

DEPTH	31mm
WIDTH	30mm (21mm Internal)
WEIGHT: RIM	475g
WEIGHT: King ISO DH**	1843g
WEIGHT: DT440**	1865g
HOLE COUNT	32
ERD*	535
FINISH	UNI

ENVE DH RIMS

Factory Nukeproof Signs Fogelquist

Nukeproof is excited to announce the signing of Canadian dirt jump star Jack Fogelquist.

Jack will ride the Snap 4X Pro bike along with a Scalp DH, Mega all-mountain bike and, already in the prototype stages, a dirt jump frame and a well underway special slopestyle frame project. You can expect to see a sneak peak of Jack’s first proto slopestyle frame soon!

Nukeproof has supported Jack with components for a few years and we were keen to offer him a full factory ride; he loves to ride and is always trying hard to innovate and progress his riding.

On top of riding he’s an editing machine with his great Fogelsode series that is always a winner online. We are sure he’ll be a great ambassador for Nukeproof and are looking forward to helping him go all the way to the top.

Talking about joining the Nukeproof program Jack said: "I'm super excited to be riding full Nukeproof this season! Nukeproof has grown a ton over the past couple years and I'm looking forward to representing them on this higher level. All of their components are top notch, so I know the frames will be nothing less!"

"I’m stoked to be working with Nukeproof to develop a dirt jump and slopestyle-specific frame is an incredible opportunity! Slopestyle is a unique type of riding, so having a bike that is designed purely for it will help a ton. I'm super excited with what we've come up with so far and can't wait to begin the prototyping phase!"

Key events on Jack’s calendar for 2012 are:

Sea Otter Classic

Upside Down and Underground

Teva Games

Jump Ship

Crankworx Colorado

AT's Showdown

Keep up-to-date with Jack and all the news and developments from Nukeproof at www.nukeproof.com and on Facebook as well as Jack’s personal blog site http://fogel.fogfam.com

Tri-Ride Checks Out The 2011 Zerode G-1

"A bike like the Zerode G-1 requires a different approach than most traditional downhill bike. The gearbox is quiet beyond belief, it happens sometimes wonder if he's really working. The fact of not hearing the noise of the chain that falls on the pinion creates a feeling of comfort and reliability. Fluency and accuracy are the notes that sound the Shimano Alfine. Even under stress by pushing on the pedals we have never perceived a lack of transmission. The position of the chain parallel to the sleeve up and the tensioner on the right side of the hub makes the bike extremely quiet, also on punishing routes with rocks and roots.

The fact that the weight is for the most part placed in the center of the bike plays a decisive role. The G-1 flows wonderfully! Just a very balanced weight allows a firm response when you push on the pedal and change direction. The friction of the ground seems to fade away under the wheels.

Sensational the shock Fox DHX RC4 Kashima Coat with striking sensitivity and ability to absorb shocks. The system will pull the wheels of the paste G-1 to the soil, seems to be on track. The Zerode reminded us of the first sensations experienced on board the Sunday a few years ago. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, no matter what's in the middle. The G-1 Driving is so, eating rocks, rocks and roots. In a nutshell “Sam Hill style”!

Fast and smooth on the bike technician can maintain high speed even in situations where normally you would be inclined to pull the brakes. The G-1 squirts between the asperities giving a strong sense of acceleration. Even on the trail fast and compact the bike behaves very well, in maintaining impeccably precise trajectories. We noticed a few’ of loss of adhesion, in some circumstances, only because of the tires mounted (Kenda Mucus 2.35 DTC front and Kenda Blue Groove 2.35 DTC rear). It may not be suitable for most of the covers have to navigate the rocks and wet roots, at least not so hard compound."

Zerode G-1 Test By TRI-RIDE