26, 650b, 29er

650b wheels are not the second coming of Jesus

Not a 650b wheel

...although you might be forgiven for thinking that, if you've been reading any MTB magazines or website this last year. And the year before that, it was 29er wheels that were going to solve the energy crisis and save the planet.

Grind My Gears

Be careful who you listen to...

Why Other People's Drivetrain Reviews Suck

Flattening out the Bumpy Bits

Shocks Absorbers... The better they are, the less you have to think about them. So what goes on inside the average MTB shock?

An average MTB shock, yesterday.

Spring & Damper

A basic shock absorber consists of two things, a spring and a damper. The spring is quite simple, a metal coil, or an air spring. The spring supports (or suspends) the weight on the bike (i.e. you). We won't consider springs very much here. Suffice to say that when you compress a spring, it extends again, and can oscillate. Oscillations are baaad, mmkay? A shock that did this would ride terribly. We need a thing to stop the oscillations - the damper. The damper is where the magic happens. Let's look inside...