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The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.What is going on at Phonak?VeloNews,Are my eyes deceiving me or have two riders from Phonak both testedpositive for blood irregularities? (see "Perezimplicated in blood doping, Spanish daily reports" and "Perezmaintains his innocence"). With this being the case, it makes youask two

Perez was the big surprise of this year's Vuelta

The hard-working Trebon outlasted Kabush

Knapp had to work a little harder today, too

Nys just couldn't shake the guy

Jonathan Page

Jeremy Powers

Gore's Tool jacket

Perez at the Vuelta

Commeyne went away three laps from the finish and soloed in for the win

Knapp was smooth through the sand

Kapow! Kabush

Another view of the Double Barrel

Whom would you rather have running your club?

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Predicting a ‘craptacular 2005 Tour’Editor:May I be the first to write in and predict a craptacular 2005 Tour? Three mountain stages in as many weeks; who cares if Lance wins seven of the damn things? Whatever it is, it will be boring as hell and nobody’s going to want to watch. I

BOSTON – New England’s best cyclocross racers are expected to come loaded for bear as they play host to Rounds 3 and 4 of the Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross this weekend at historic Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The two-day event on Oct. 30-31 will inevitably shake up the national standings and pay out more than $12,000 in prizes. With a tightly packed leader board in the elite men’s category, Marc Gullickson (Redline) will have to fend off strong challenges from Maine native Adam Craig (Maxxis Giant) and Massachusetts’ favorite son, Mark McCormack (Clif

I could tell you secrets like the government tells liesAh, but no one listens anymore.–Anaïs Mitchell, “Before the Eyes of the Storytelling Girls,"from "Hymns for the Exiled" “Keep the politics out of our bike racing!” the letter-writers screech, as if such a thing were possible. Anyone whose participation in the sport extends beyond pinning on a number knows all too well that bicycle racing is about as apolitical as the United Nations General Assembly on an August afternoon with the air conditioning on the fritz and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the agenda. My own cycling club, Dogs

Cipo' had an undistinguished and painful '04

Tom Reeder (left) and Joe Ward, with the new Cane Creek Double Barrel shock, developed with Öhlins

Öhlins suspension on Eric Bostrom's Ducati Austin/Parts Unlimited Ducati 999. Note the enormous gas reservoirs to control damping. The blue rods measure performance characteristics for later analysis.

A close-up of the Öhlins shock on Bostrom's bike. The threaded gold rod in front of the shock is a ride-height adjuster, which can help shift more or less weight to the front wheel as conditions require.

Cane Creek's Double Barrel Coil/Oil shock

Cane Creek's Double Barrel shock's twin tube design has separate adjusters for compression and rebound damping

Kuips' top-of-the-line cyclo-cross model

The nifty Dugast tubulars on Frischy's Athens bike

Getting a handle on suspension

Studly Nokian tires

Weighing in with a new scale is Feedback Sports

Ausbuher

If Armstrong does a three-week tour in 2005, says Johan Bruyneel, 'it will be the Tour.”

Fewer time trials and summit finishes give Armstrong's rivals hope

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Why the 50 percent cutoff?Editor:I fail to understand why the UCI and other governing bodies chose an arbitrary hematocrit of 50 percent as the cutoff for male cyclists.All the research I have done seems to indicate a "normal" hematocrit range of around 45-62 percent. This "normal" range

108th CONGRESS2d Session  S. 2195 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to clarify the definition ofanabolic steroids and to provide for research and education activitiesrelating to steroids and steroid precursors. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESMarch 11, 2004Mr. BIDEN (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. STEVENS,Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. ALLEN, and Ms. MURKOWSKI)introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to theCommittee on the Judiciary  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A

The rumor mill says Mayo may be leaving Euskaltel

Ridley bikes is not only a newcomer to the U.S. but to the professional peloton as well. Ridley’s parent company was founded in 1990 by the precocious Jochim Aerts, who was all of 18 at the time; that first business was set up to build custom frames for other, more established companies. Aerts did not launch his own brand, Ridley, until 1997 (he took the name from an English actor he liked — the name, not the actor). Since then, however, Ridley has become a frequently seen name in the professional peloton, with a buzz about its performance that eventually caught the ear of Sinclair Imports,

Armstrong will do lots of mike time in his new gig

Homeward bound: Johnson plans on a domestic schedule for 2005

Lance Donnell of Sinclair Imports, with the Ridley Superdamocles

The Ridley Damocles is a carbon fiber monocoque design with dramatically shaped tubes

The X-Night is Ridley's top cyclo-cross bike, a full carbon frame complete with top-pull cable routing to keep all systems go in the muck

The Crosswind is a much more economical 'crosser, welded from lightweight taperwall aluminum tubing

The Excalibur carbon monocoque frame will sell for about $2000

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Fond memories of DedeEditor:I just caught the last report from Dede Demet-Barry. I'm so glad you did all the racing and writing for all those years. Not to mention the training, and all the schooling. I really enjoyed the times we talked or even rode together back when you lived in

What began as an off-season surf odyssey nearly ended in tragedy when thugs attacked Chris Wherry and Walker Ferguson on a remote beach in Mexico during the first week of October. The duo left Boulder, Colorado, September 20 in Ferguson’s customized Toyota van, heading towards warm weather and Pacific-side swells on mainland Mexico. Nearly two weeks into the trip, however, things went awry. “We left Boulder and drove south,” Wherry said. “It had just snowed and all the high peaks had snow on them. The leaves were changing and it was an insane backdrop.” The pair spent an evening visiting

Vannoppen gave it his best, but sprinting against Vanthourenhout is no day at the beach

Pontoni shows the way to the finish line

Valverde will be wearing Illes Balears colors in 2005

Nys and Vanthourenhout dice it in Superprestige No. 2

Despite an injured shoulder, Nys hopped the barricades

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Puma had a round pedal before SampsonEditor:So Eric Sampson is taking credit for inventing the round pedal (See "Tech Report: What we didn't see in 'Vegas")? Hmmm. Facts say otherwise. Puma had a round pedal years before the Sampson Stratics - which wasn't really 'round' anyway. Don't

The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) is planning a weekly series featuring the best in the sport of road cycling. Completing the survey will assist the network in developing the most exciting and compelling show possible. We want to hear from you! Please click on the link below to take part in the survey and enter your name in a drawing for a Victorinox watch to be drawn at the close of the survey. TAKE THE OLN SURVEY ---------Official Rules No Purchase Necessary Eligibility: Drawing is offered only in the United States to legal United States residents at least 21 years old. Employees of

Beke in 2003

Tech Report: What we didn't see in 'Vegas

2004 Texas State road, Madison and Pursuit champion, Steen Rose on one of Don Walker’s handcrafted track beauties

Micaela, Paolo and Alessandro Guerciotti, with Bill and Carol McGann of Torelli Imports.

The Guerciotti EM2 is the same bike used by the Guerciotti/Selle Italia team. It's built with Dedacciai EM2 tubing and comes with a Sintema carbon fork.

The Guerciotti Cartesio carbon monocoque.

The Guerciotti Hero, built with Dedacciai Energy aluminum tubing, is one of the company's most affordable framesets, with a suggested retail of about $1100, complete with carbon fork.

Vasseur in 2003

RLX is done and JHK is looking for another team.

Wiens is done racing and probably managing, too.

Doping charges against a top French cyclist involved in the Cofidis inquiry have been dropped, legal sources said Friday. Cedric Vasseur, once a member of the U.S. Postal team, was one of eight Cofidis riders to be investigated by magistrates in the doping affair which rocked the team in January. The 33-year-old, a former wearer of the Tour de France yellow jersey, has been suspended since April when it was revealed that traces of cocaine had been found in a hair sample. A counter-analysis later proved negative and Vasseur also claimed some of the evidence in his witness statement had

This week, we're following up on a question from J.R. from New Hampshire,who asked about team contracts:"How is it that racers can negotiate deals for the following seasonwhen they are under contract with a team for the current season. When arider is thinking about jumping to another team it can't make for the bestteam chemistry. In professional leagues there rules against this, aren'tthere?"Lastweek, we looked at general American law. Unfortunately, general lawdoesn't mean much when you face league restrictions, such as this examplefrom the National Hockey League:TamperingAny action by an

Cipollini breaking Alfredo Binda's Giro record in 2003

The Russian Olympic Committee has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport seeking to strip American Tyler Hamilton of his Olympic time-trial gold medal and give it to Viatcheslav Ekimov because of a doping controversy. A committee statement issued Wednesday said its appeal was filed with the Lausanne, Switzerland-based court last Thursday. "The ROC insists on the disqualification of Hamilton," the statement said. Hamilton edged Ekimov in the Athens Olympics in August. (see"Hamilton takes Olympic TT") An initial doping test led to suspicions Hamilton had used a blood

The Mail Bag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.Literary foolsVelo,Hey, nice piece of writing, Hunter S. would be proud (see "Friday'sfoaming rant: Trick or treat").  Maybe it’s the water herein Colorado.Just one question, though: How the hell do you punks know about thereal Thomas Wolfe?Thanks,Phil StruveColoradoPhil, we have to

Congress Honors Mountain BikingIn an effort to get kids more active and help fight childhood obesity,the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution officially declaring"National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day." The legislation is in memoryof Jack Doub, a teenage mountain biker from North Carolina.Promoted by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA),National Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day encourages adults and cycling clubsto introduce kids to the sport of mountain biking. The day is scheduledfor the first Saturday of October each year.The House adopted House

Will Pereiro be the last pro winner of the Classique des Alpes?

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas

Show me the money

Tech Report with Lennard Zinn: More from 'Vegas