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SRAM's superlight Red cogset is totally hollow inside.

The Red rear derailleur is shockingly light to pick up, and it shifts great and has precision-ground pivots.

The cage of the Red front derailleur is all titanium. It is tightened up in spacing and shaping to produce its best performance specifically with SRAM chainrings and chain. It only comes in braze-on style. You can use a superlight spring-steel band.

Red's Double Tap lever guts. The shift lever and the brake lever are both adjustable for reach, making this the only high-end road lever that can be adjusted to fit small hands.

Zinn's own marketing targets an often over-looked segment

The Mavic TraComp features composite spokes working in both Traction (i.e., in tension) and Compression. In a crash with another rider, a test rider caught a pedal in the wheel that broke four spokes. The wheel was still true.

Since the spokes in the TraComp are not under high tension at all times, the spoke heads could move in the hub as the wheel rolls but the red cylindrical insert prevents that.

Shimano's new Dura-Ace wheel now uses normal nail-head straight-pull spokes with nipples at the rim so that wheel truing is done conventionally, by tightening and loosening spokes at the rim, not at the hub.

IRC's Formula Pro Tubeless road tire has a thinner, more supple casing and stickier rubber than Hutchinson tubeless road tires to further close the gap on performance versus a tubular tire.

Fizik's 2008 high-end mountain-bike saddles are now built to go with specific types of bike riding, which is also dictated by the bike’s suspension travel. So you select the saddle model based on how much suspension travel the bike has.

Fizik's free gelato was a big hit – who wouldn’t like gelato on a sunny day?

Pivot's Mach 5 full-suspension trail bike with five inches of rear travel utilizes the tried-and-true DW Link suspension system. Pivot was founded by Titus founder and former owner Chris Cocalis

Thus far Pivot has six bikes using two DW Link frame models, the Mach 5 and the Mach 4 four-inch-travel cross-country frame.

The Bianchi Camos has a flexing carbon chainstay for lateral stiffness, vertical suppleness, and low weight.

The Camos chainstay is flippable by unscrewing bolts at the bottom bracket, thus making the rear end stiffer or more compliant.

Masi's elegant internal-gear town bike is enough to make any Italophile swoon.

WTB co-founder Mark Slate has launched a new independent venture in addition to his WTB duties, which he still fulfills. OSBikes.com are one-speed 29er bikes, yet the OS stands for Of Spirit.

Yakima's Big Wheel was at the demo showing its smaller nephew the ropes.

The BH Speedrom is a stiff, precise, great-riding monocoque carbon bike. The frame weighs under 1000 grams, yet this Ultegra SL-equipped model I rode retails for under $2,800!

The UCI cyclocross season had its West Coast kickoff this past weekend in Washington state with Star Crossed, a Saturday-night party disguised as a ’cross race at Marymoor Park Velodrome in Redmond, followed by Sunday’s Rad Racing Gran Prix at Steilacoom Park in Lakewood.

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Veteran cycling team director Len Pettyjohn and 17-year pro Scott Moninger have joined the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team as director and assistant director, respectively. Harm Jansen will direct his final race for Toyota-United at the World Championship Sports Network USA Crits Finals on Thursday in Las Vegas. Pettyjohn, 66, has worked with the likes of Greg LeMond, Davis Phinney, Alexi Grewal and Moninger while directing a number of domestic teams, from the Panasonic squad of 1980-81 to the dominant Coors Light team of the early 1990s. Moninger, 41, has 275 victories to his credit and

Barry Wicks and his new Kona Major Jake

The team is using KORE’s new Kross Race cantilever brake

FSA provides many of the team’s components including the top-end K-Force Light crank with a ceramic bottom bracket

Wicks uses a 44cm K-Force carbon bar

Ryan Trebon’s steed mirrors his teammate's, with a few slight differences. Trebon has a Dura-Ace front derailleur (Wicks uses an FSA model)

Trebon also prefers an SLK crank

The 2008 Major Jake has brazed cable stops that accommodate a full-length rear brake housing. They also retrofit with stops for a more conventional setup

Heule's carbon Stevens

The Swiss champ has lots of carbon on his bike. The brakes are by Spooky, while the Ritchey WCS fork may set the bar for mud clearance

The wheels are custom with DT Swiss hubs, fitting for a Swiss rider, laced to seldom-seen Ritchey aluminum tubular rims

Dura-Ace SRM crank is fitted with a custom 46-tooth Dura-Ace outer ring, produced for sponsored athletes only

Ritchey alloy cockpits can be found on both of Heule’s bikes

Molly Cameron was sporting new wheels from sponsor Chris King. The 68mm Edge carbon rims were laced to new high-flange, cyclo-cross specific hubs

Danish national champion Joachim Parbo has been riding SRAM for three weeks and gives it a thumbs up

Parbo's cockpit is a mix of Selcof

The brakes are Ridley’s 4ZA brand with BBB’s pads and post mount carriers

Andy Jacques-Maynes's Specialized Tricross S-Works carbon frame

He relies on a single 42-tooth Rotor chainring mounted onto a 175mm Specialized S-Works carbon crank

SRAM Double Tap shifters operate short arm Tektro linear-pull brakes that don’t require adapters to work with road levers

And the Phnom saddle is up to the rigors of cyclocross, says Jacques-Maynes. It has tougher titanium rails than the road-oriented Toupe

Pettyjohn

After three long weeks of sometimes exciting racing, the remaining 145 riders rolled into a festive welcome in the heart of downtown Madrid to conclude the 2007 Vuelta a España with an exhilarating finishing sprint. Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) used his lethal bike stab to hold off Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) to win his third stage in Sunday’s final romp into Madrid and bring an end to the season’s final grand tour.

The final podium

Bennati v. Petacchi at the line

Th-th-that's all, folks

A toast to the finale

Kolobnev enjoys a treat of a different sort

The weary peloton heading for home

American Jill Kintner took her third-consecutive four-cross world title at the 2007 UCI world mountain-bike championships in Fort William, Scotland. Despite crashing during a warm-up run and suffering a hyper extended arm, Kintner dominated the finals, winning every round she entered by a sizable margin. The success came on the heels of Kintner’s return to BMX racing. A former BMX world champion, Kintner swore off the little bike after successfully transitioning to gated mountain-bike racing. Even in 2006, when the first-ever Olympic BMX race was just two years away, Kintner said she

Samuel Sánchez delivered his third stage victory of this year’s Vuelta a España to secure his Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team its first-ever podium finish in a grand tour in the team’s 14-year history. Sánchez roared over Saturday’s short 20km individual time trial in the suburbs north of Madrid to knock Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) off the podium and give compatriot Carlos Sastre (CSC) a good fright for the second spot on the podium.

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) has backed UCI demands for a doping investigation into Spanish cycling ace Alejandro Valverde. The UCI believes it has enough evidence on Valverde to show that he was involved in the Operación Puerto doping affair in Spain, and has recently said he would be banned for next week's world road race championships. Valverde, who finished third in last year's championships, has always protested his innocence - and has recently won the support of the Spanish cycling federation (RFEC). The RFEC believes its rider has no case to answer and said it would

Second stage win in two days, Sánchez fights his way on to the podium

Barring alien abduction, Menchov seems set to win in Madrid on Sunday

Sastre did what he needed to preserve his position on GC

Evans says fatigue may be taking its toll

McCartney now has his eye on Stuttgart..

Vande Velde finished 14th, 41 seconds off of Sánchez's time.

Backstedt set the day's early standard.

Sánchez wins, climbs podium; Menchov secures; Sastre endures

Yesterday it was Vladimir Efimkin, today it was Cadel Evans. Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre played executioner for the second straight day and clawed his way ahead of Evans into second place overall Friday at the Vuelta a España after a grueling, six-climb stage finishing atop the rainy and foggy Abantos summit. Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won ahead of ahead of Dani Moreno (Relax-GAM) to score his second stage victory of this year’s Vuelta while Sastre crossed the line third just ahead of race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at three seconds back.

Reaction was muted Friday in Spain following the news that Floyd Landis failed in his bid to fend off doping allegations from his disputed 2006 Tour de France victory. Oscar Pereiro - the man set to inherit the Tour crown – said the 2-to-1 decision against Landis will end what he described as a “14-month purgatory.” “Now I can start to believe it a little more. I’m still missing some sort of official notification from the UCI or the Tour organizers before I can say with certain,” Pereiro told Spanish radio. “Of course we’ll celebrate it once it’s confirmed. After a year of rumors and more

The picture that saved me 1000 words:Rarely a man of few words, we think O'Grady hit this one right on thehead. Do you agree or did he miss the mark? Letus know. Be sure to include your FULL NAME and HOME TOWN. Letters maybe edited for length and clarity.

17 professional years, with some 275 victories.

Former junior world champion Geneviève Jeanson admitted to doping during her career in an interview with Radio-Canada’s news magazine "Enquête."

SRAM announced Thursday that it intends to acquire wheel and component maker Zipp within the next 60 days. The two signed a non-binding letter of intent. The purchase would add a vital piece to SRAM’s puzzle, which already includes road and mountain bike drivetrain components (branded SRAM), suspension parts (branded RockShox), brakes (branded Avid) and road and mountain bike cranks, bars, stems and seatposts (branded Truvativ). “Zipp is a great company and respected brand, with a strong management team, advanced technology and superb manufacturing capability,” said Stan Day, SRAM’s chief

SRAM announced Thursday that it intends to acquire wheel and component maker Zipp within the next 60 days. The two signed a non-binding letter of intent. The purchase would add a vital piece to SRAM’s puzzle, which already includes road and mountain bike drivetrain components (branded SRAM), suspension parts (branded RockShox), brakes (branded Avid) and road and mountain bike cranks, bars, stems and seatposts (branded Truvativ). “Zipp is a great company and respected brand, with a strong management team, advanced technology and superb manufacturing capability,” said Stan Day, SRAM’s chief

Sánchez had a good day in the saddle, but missed passing Evans on GC by a scant nine seconds.

Friday's Foaming Rant: O'Grady weighs in on 'the decision'

Moninger in yellow at Redlands

Sastre battled to take time on Menchov, but it was no dice

Menchov stuck to Sastre like glue

It wasn't a great day for Evans, who slid to third on GC

San Lorenzo

Jeanson was regarded as fierce competitor.

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Dear Readers,Last column (Deliveranceof the bird man), we had a letter from C.W. in “deepest darkestWest Virginia” asking about self-defense, after his club ride was buzzedby “the clan from deliverance.” In response to the buzzing, the club’sfearless leader extended a one-fingered salute to the offending clan, whichresulted in the car sliding to a stop across the club’s path and a confrontationbetween “the enraged and rather large passenger.” This column, we’ve gotsome follow-up questions from readers, and next column, we’re going totake a second look at whether or not “flipping the bird” is

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre has been complaining all week that the 2007 Vuelta a España just wasn’t hard enough. With the top GC spots jammed in a deadlock since the climbing stage to Cerler in the Pyrénées, it seemed the relatively easy second half of the Vuelta was dooming the 32-year-old Spanish climber to yet another fourth-place result in a grand tour. Sastre – already twice fourth in the Tour de France and once fourth in the Vuelta -- was so frustrated, so fed up, that he even said he wasn’t going to attack anymore.

Belgian cycling star Tom Boonen has pulled out of the world road race championships due to injuries on his knee and back, the Belgian cycling federation said Thursday. Quick Step's 2005 world champion has thus been forced to bring the curtain down on what has been a mitigated season by his high standards. Boonen, who counts the prestigious Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders one-day classics among his many victories, crashed last week during a stage on the Vuelta a España and abandoned the race complaining of back and knee pain. A fitness test on Thursday confirmed Boonen's worst