2013 Intense M9 650B Prototype

Intense Cycles showed up today and had along with them a prototype M9 650b or 27.5" wheeled bike. They actually had 2 there the red one was almost a standard M9 with bigger wheels. The silver one has revised geometry, different rear triangle to shave weight, built in bump stops and cable routing. These will be making a bigger appearance at Sea Otter!

2013 Icycle Race Report By GoJamMedia

Rain, Sleet, Snow, Ice? No Problem…. It’s Icycle 2013

With some of the strangest swings in the weather the country has experienced since records have been kept, January 2013 wouldn’t be any different. Leading into the weekend (Thursday/Friday), the entire Carolina weather map was blanketed with the color pink. What would that mean for the weekend? Well for the racer on two wheels, nothing really….. it’s racing, regardless of conditions. That’s kinda the whole point. This race isn’t called Icycle just cause it’s a cool name. Getting there on four wheels with your gear and two wheels either a twenty minute or a two hour drive would be the challenge. Social media offered a means documenting the brave souls that attempted the drive to Fontana Lake, North Carolina on Friday afternoon. Between the million or so questions of “How were the roads”, I’d also be willing to bet that everyone had their eyes on the forecast and the weather man for what morning road conditions were to be. Personally, I was glued to the tube.  As expected, even local news took every opportunity to sensationalize a whole bunch of precip. All one heard as “Breaking News” was cars off the highway every which way but straight.

Get up early, or leave late? That was the decision race morning. With the temp hovering right around freezing and the kickoff of the Beginner and Sport XC classes at 1100, most didn’t have a choice. Let’s Roll! Thankfully the sun showed its face and kept the ice on the thaw. Can’t say I saw one idiot putting their car off into the median or into a tree and just minor ice in the three hours of driving it took to get out to Fontana Resort.

1100 was the start of a long day of BRRR!, bikes, and buds! It began with a mad dash to your bike with the Sport Class followed by a two minute split for the beginners/bike big class with the same sprint. Rounding the first seven miles in Sport it was Tyler Gay with Jay Fesperman literally right on his heels. Looks like we have a real XC Race Fellas! By the end of the final lap (lap two) it would be Jay over Tyler by 7 secs. Full Sport and Beginner Results are at the end of the report.

1300 started the second round of racing with the Elite and those that enjoy self-induced pain, the Single Speeders. Remember the mention of the temps hold just at or above freezing? Well, fast forward two hours to the mid-day festivities and Icycle should have temporarily been named Mudicle. Yes, messy it was! Out of 16 Pros each covered in mud, it would be Brian Sheedy over Cody Philips by just about 2.5 minutes. The Pro Women ended their three laps with Erica Zaveta with an impressive 30 min lead over Nicole Miranda.

Now moving on to what Icycle is really created its reputation on, the night sky, with snow, ice and whatever else mama nature can throw at you with only a min of 10 watts lighting your way..... the Nighttime Downhill. This is what brought 73 entries and why this has become such a classic event. 1500 meant the first shuttle was running with 4 hours of practice (really just waiting on the bright shiny sun to dip below the ridgeline). As the sun left us, so did the warm temps. The bonfires fired up as spectators and riders waited for the 5 classes to post their best time in the night. The Elite Men would fall with Ryan Taylor taking the top sport with just under a second over second place Jon Tumas and 3 seconds over Trey Cassell rounding out the podium in third.

Yeah, it pretty damn chilly by the end of the long 10 hour day on course, my toes were frozen and I was tired. But I am telling you this is a MUST DO EVENT, such a blast!!!! It’s marked on my calendar for 2014 and I suggest you do the same. See you all next year!

Thanks to Chris Herndon, James Chaput, Danny Cesare and all those others involved that will remain unnamed to protect the guilty. Also a shout out to all the sponsors, Cane Creek, Industry Nine, Specialized, Suspension Experts, Oskar Blues Brewery, Sycamore Cycles, Fontana Village.

Cross Country Beg Men:

1. Charles Gay 418 1:01:30 1
2. Christopher Kent 413 1:05:33 2
3. Ian McGeffiche 423 1:13:27 3
4. Calhoun Clark 410 1:14:11 4
5. Jarret Peek 422 1:16:22 5
6. Philiip Isaacs 409 1:30:17 5
7. Joseph Ledford 417 1:36:06 6
8. Charles Gardella 415 1:38:48 7
9. Rick Schrader 421 1:42:36 8
10. Tim Walters 420 1:46:36 9
11. Bergen Khare 411 1:48:24 10
12. Henry Khare 412 1:50:04 11
13. Chase Cannon 425 1:55:08 12
14. Nick Iogue 414 DNS 13
15. Kelly Riffle 416 DNF 14
16. Kilby Smir 424 DNF 15
17. Tyler Mode 426 DNF 16
18. Brad Kite 427 DNF 17

Cross Country Sport Men:

1. Jay Fesperman 330 1:18:32 1
2. Tyler Gay 344 1:18:39 2
3. Matt Schumaker 350 1:28:19 3
4. Nicholas Lacombe 348 1:30:22 4
5. Mark Miller (Richard Lover) 339 1:31:28 5
6. Sam Benton 334 1:32:10 5
7. Christopher Rampton 331 1:34:42 6
8. Gary Swingle 337 1:36:50 7
9. Keenan Smith 335 1:38:10 8
10. Justin Becker 347 1:41:15 9
11. Eddie Capps 346 1:47:14 10
12. Ty Houck 338 1:49:50 11
13. JT Carson 351 1:55:00 12
14. Allen Grosse 349 1:57:03 13
15. Dare Cline 340 2:10:40 14
16. Stephen Houston 343 2:15:59 15
17. Joshua L Simpson 342 2:16:46 16
18. Charles Studley 336 2:35:57 17
19. Tom Kaczmarek 341 Did not complete 18
20. Eric Vest 329 DNF 19
21. Jay Ferguson 352 DNF 20

Cross Country Big Bike:

1. Noelle Khare (Tandom) 422 1:19:29 1
2. Mark Duckworth 424 1:20:28 2

Cross Country Beg Women:

1. Deborah Walter 419 0:41:52 1
2. Heither Schultz 428 1:00:02 2

Cross Country Sport Women:

1. Danielle Froysted 345 1:08:42 1
2. Scout Clark 332 1:16:10 2
3. Tiffany Pease 333 1:32:40 3

Cross Country Expert Men:

1. Brian Sheedy 172 1:35:18 1
2. Cody Philips 182 1:37:49 2
3. Bradford Perley 170 1:41:00 3
4. Wes Lamberson 186 1:42:35 4
5. Troy Adams 181 1:44:49 5
6. Greg Gibson 176 1:51:30 6
7. Barnabas Froystad 174 1:51:33 7
8. Glenn Poupore 179 1:57:44 8
9. Ray Dangelmaer 185 2:05:33 9
10. Tim Anderson 177 2:06:30 10
11. Blake Stephenson 169 2:18:48 11
12. Jonathon Moore 178 2:31:06 12
13. Kurt McCentire 173 DNF 13
14. Linden Blaisus 180 DNF 14
15. Drake Lindsey 184 DNF 15
16. Lewis Gaffney 167 DNF 16

Cross Country Expert Women:

1. Erica Zaveta 166 1:27:03 1
2. Nicole Miranda 168 2:08:23 2
3. Rebecca Bulop 171 2:41:28 3
4. Jackie Batson 175 2:01:45 4
5. Mandy Meyer 183 DNF 5

Single Speeders:

1. Eric Nicoletti 246 1:28:07 1
2. Donald Hoafer 247 1:35:25 2
3. Kurt Rampton 249 1:41:16 3
4. Dominic Fedele 252 1:42:30 4
5. Nick Barlow 254 1:44:32 5
6. Chris Meyer 253 1:45:41 6
7. Collin Rohde 251 1:52:14 7
8. Robert Hope 248 DNF 8
9. James Harnois 250 DNF 9

ICYCLE DH Hard Ass:

1. Jay Ferguson 204 1.57.37 1
2. Eric Vest 29 2.12.96 2
3. Dominic Fedele 205 2.40.83 3
4. Dare Cline 203 3.28.15 4

ICYCLE DH Expert Women:

1. Erica Zaveta 289 1.58.99 1
2. Nicole Miranda 290 2.26.24 2
3. Scout Clark 164 2.44.03 3
4. Rebecca Bulop 291 3.33.21 4

ICYCLE DH Beg Men:

1. Bergen Khare 165 2.05.05 1
2. JT Carson 179 2.05.68 2
3. Clancy Loorham 189 2.11.12 3
4. Calhoun Clark 163 2.18.52 4
5. Henry Khare 202 2.32.71 5
6. Aiden Loorham 190 2.38.09 6
7. Kilby Smir 177 3.04.27 7
8. Jeff Arnette 187 3.19.87 8
9. Kevin Loorham 188 6.14.80 9
10. Henson Littlejohn 180 6.33.27 10
11. Andy Zivinsky 191 2.00.64 11
12. Nick Iogue 166 DNS
13. Joseph Ledford 167 DNS
14. Joshua L Simpson 168 DNS
15. Stephen Houston 169 DNS
16. Jarret Peek 170 DNS
17. Chase Cannon 178 DNS

ICYCLE DH Sport Men:

1. Chris Fisher 138 1.38.92 1
2. Nick Frantz 124 1.42.02 2
3. BJ Froystad 139 1.44.14 3
4. Zach Miller 136 1.46.05 4
5. Tom Robenson 129 1.49.46 5
6. Craig Kirkpatrick 116 1.54.21 6
7. Owen Witcher 137 1.54.52 7
8. Zachery Slaybaugh 122 1.56.77 8
9. Nick Kerr 117 2.00.46 9
10. Kurt Rampton 114 2.05.17 10
11. Micheal Kane 125 2.07.30 11
12. Philiip Isaacs 113 2.13.96 12
13. Christopher Rampton 100 2.14.05 13
14. Collin Rohde 120 2.17.71 14
15. James Burkhardt 130 2.20.83 15
16. Nathan Wisch 123 2.21.21 16
17. Ray Dangelmaer 126 2.21.36 17
18. Bryon Muniz 128 2.25.74 18
19. Randy Charles 119 2.27.46 19
20. James Harnois 118 2.29.36 20
21. Brian Fane 127 3.04.30 21
22. Kelly Riffle 115 DNS

ICYCLE DH Expert Men:

1. Ryan Taylor 54 1.33.96 1
2. Jon Tumas 31 1.34.77 2
3. Trey Cassell 46 1.36.71 3
4. Kip Smitz 45 1.36.80 4
5. Austin Parsons 47 1.38.52 5
6. Ryan Dunn 41 1.38.80 6
7. Jeremy Raney 60 1.39.83 7
8. Nichdoy Milet 55 1.40.61 8
9. Justin Mitchell 49 1.40.74 9
10. Wes Dickson 83 1.41.05 10
11. Zac Avant 121 1.41.52 11
12. Drake Lindsey 53 1.41.80 12
13. Matt Griffin 80 1.41.80 13
14. Jay Fesperman 30 1.42.33 14
15. Eric Nicoletti 37 1.42.93 15
16. Wes Lamberson 56 1.43.18 16
17. Blake Stephenson 40 1.48.58 17
18. Lewis Gaffney 39 1.49.89 18
19. Mark Duckworth 43 1.49.96 19
20. Justin Rush 81 1.51.52 20
21. Greg Gibson 44 1.54.14 21
22. Ethan Quisenberry58 2.00.08 22
23. Cashion Smith 57 2.07.05 23
24. Eric Vest 29 2.08.68 24
25. Ross Mckinney 38 2.12.08 25
26. Kurt McCentire 42 DNS

2013 Eastern States Cup Schedule

Downhill Series
May 19     Mountain Creek, NJ           ProGRT – NJ State Championships
May 26    Plattekill, NY                        ProGRT
June 9     Pats Peak, NH                       New Hampshire Bike Festival
June 16   Sugarbush, VT
June 23  Mount Snow, VT
July 7      Plattekill, NY                        Independence Weekend Bike Gathering
Aug 11     Killington, VT                      VT State Championship
Sept 1      Plattekill, NY                        NY State Championship
Sept 15    Attitash, NH                         NH State Championship
Sept 22   Sunday River, ME               ME State Championship
Oct 6       Jiminy Peak MA                  MA State Championship
Oct 13     Plattekill, NY                        Eastern Regional Championship Finals

Enduro Series
July 6     Plattekill, NY                         NY State Championship Independence Weekend Bike Gathering
July 14   Attitash, NH                          NH State Championship
July 28  Killington, VT                        VT State Championship
Aug 4     Sunday River, ME                ME State Championship
Aug 25   Killington, VT                       Enduro Regional Championship

SuperD Races (more to be added)
May 25   Plattekill, NY                      NY State Championship
July 5     Plattekill, NY                      Independence Weekend Bike Gathering

Santa Cruz Syndicate Through 2015 And Beyond

Santa Cruz Bicycles keep the Syndicate family rolling together through 2015, and beyond...

Reigning DH World Champion, Greg Minnaar has signed with the Syndicate for a further 3 years, as has continually rising Rat Star, Josh Bryceland. Meanwhile, Steve Peat, the man for whom the media are running out of legend-themed superlatives, has now signed for a further 5 years.

"With the 2013 World Championships being held in my home town, this year will be the biggest of my life" declares Minnaar "we've spent years refining both the bike and the team dynamic, and I couldn't imagine going into this season with any better setup".

"This year's gonna be banging," said Bryceland, who is currently out training in California. He then added something about "loving it", "getting rad" and "being focused"... we think.

Bryceland's early mentor, Peaty, remains similarly enthusiastic, even after so many years.

"I love racing as much now as I did when I first started," says Steve. "For me, there was never any question about sticking with Santa Cruz for the rest of my professional racing career... so long as they'd have me!"

"Steve is one of a kind in the industry right now," replied Rob Roskopp, team owner. "His 20 years of racing and product development experience is invaluable, and I want to keep that knowledge here within the team."

In addition to downhill races, the Syndicate also looks set to compete in a select number of Enduro World Series rounds in 2013.

"I'm eager to see how the whole Enduro World Series format develops," says Roskopp. "Given all the scandals in cycling recently, I think everyone in downhill can feel proud of what they've built... all in spite of the poor direction our sport's had from the top. The Enduro World Series gives gravity racing a fresh opportunity to develop a self-sustaining model, free from the sort of illogical constraints the World Cup faced. So for that reason, Santa Cruz will be an Official Supporter of the series."

The Syndicate is also proud to announce they'll be working with all their World Championship winning partners once again for 2013.

The squad's first official outing of the year is in March, when they head to Spain for the annual pre-season test session with Fox Racing Shox. All riders will be on the new production V10c frames, the exact same models as those available to the public.

Racing kicks off in April with the traditional DH season opener at Sea Otter (USA) on April 21st. The first round of the Enduro World Series takes place on May 19th in Punta Ala (ITA) whilst the Syndicate's World Cup campaign proper starts on June 9th in Fort William (GBR).

The Syndicate retains the indomitable Kathy Sessler as team (& team party) manager, with tech support from Doug Hatfield, Jason Marsh and the occasional cameo.

"We do our best to build a sense of stability and family within the Syndicate," concludes Roskopp. "Maintaining long-term relationships with the right athletes, personalities and crew is key to that. It creates something greater than the sum of its parts, and that's what delivers consistent performance over time... which I think our track record proves."

2013 MacMahone Killmeister

KILLMEISTER is a full suspension frame designed for downhill cycling on particularly steep, rocky trails. The herring-bone system helps intendly for high speed descent and easily push, or shuttle via chairlifts or motorized vehicles, to the trailhead. Internal cable Routing (ISR) stops for rear break, 100% CNC machined yoke, the connection of bottom bracket and seat tube get more dedicated & supple ride at higher speeds.

Recommended use: Downhill
Material: AL7005 T6
Size : 390.5mm
Weight : 3800g
Rear shock: Rockshox VIVID COIL R2
Wheel travel: 203.6mm
Color : White, Black, Silver, Raw

MACMAHONE CYCLES