Our favourite “does what it says on the tin” bike designer is on the move (or not, as he’ll still be working from the same garden shed) .. tune in on Monday for more details.

Good luck, Brant, it’s gunna be ace.

In the meantime, you can watch as people speculate wildly over at SingleTrack World

It’s far too late to mess with a proper post about this but Santa Cruz have just released details of the new Blur XC. Surprisingly they’ve ditched metal entirely and gone with carbon, more details here expect it to cost a *lot* (with the currently weak pound)

Bike pictured, in large 22.4lbs… not a fatty!

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Update, UK pricing is £2,299, thank you! terrible exchange rate

.. world collectively thinks “hey! they spelt that wrong”

It’s official Swobo have hit the mainstream. Owen Wilson seen spotted somewhere in America having a nice pootle back from the shop on his Swobo Folsom.

(img via defamer)

I finally got hold of proper high res images of the 08 Niner Bikes range for my day job, so I thought I’d treat you to a nice image of the forthcoming Jet 9.

3.1 inches of travel , 5.9lb frame weight, Black or Kermit Green, USD 1,749 (approx 1,250 GBP)

More Info: www.ninerbikes.com

Santa Cruz have just revealed a new Blur LT, it’s expected to be available in “April” but going off past delivery estimates you can expect this to be more realistically sometime in June in the UK.

The most immediately obvious change is the dropped top tube to give greated standover, less noticable changes include 5mm more rear travel, designed for 140mm forks, Carbon fibre upper link re-designed pivot assemblys to decrease flex and eliminate creaking, this frame will also be the first Santa Cruz to feature grease ports, a welcome addition for any UK rider.

There’s a worrying development in the colour department with the introduction of a option called “skidmark” which, I really hope requires a US-UK translation and it isn’t poo brown!

US Prices: 1750 for Painted and 1950 for Anodized

David C. Joyce, president of Ripon College, has a great idea – dump the car and get a free bike.

Based in the middle of a cornfield in Wisconsin, Ripon College is tackling the unnecessary reliance on the automobile by offering a simple and effect alternative transportation device to 200 of it’s 300 new students. The College has already bought up the only main road though the campus and plans to remove remove it entirely, add this to the already completed relocation of their parking lots from the centre to the edge of the campus the area’s becoming quite inconvenient for cars.

It helps that Mr Joyce is a cycling nut and Trek, the suppliers of the 200 cycles is based in the same city (or town, or whatever Wisconsin is – it is a State? yes, let’s call it a State, for today.)

Full story here and more info here

ASO announced today that Team Astana have not been invited to join Le Tour.

This means that Alberto Contador wouldn’t be able to defend his crown this July.

I find this a bit of a slightly unfair decision as the reason cited for exclusion was last two year’s drugs scandal, however Team Astana is essentially what was previously half the Discovery Team, with new sponsors, and as far as I can see non of the same management personnel are involved. I can see another summer of nonsense in the pro cycling world.

If the team aren’t invited then it’s looking like another Tour with no defending champion.