High-end component maker Chris King, which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, has launched a new SuperBoost mountain bike hubset, along with a newly designed 36-tooth freehub ratchet with 10-degree engagement. While Centerlock is now the dominant standard to attach a disc brake rotor, Chris Kings new hub is designed for six-bolt rotors. According to Chris King president Kirby Bedsaul, the new hubs fill a gap in the brands line-up: Now we offer 6-Bolt compatibility across all of our mountain hubs. It really completes the picture for riders across the spectrum. All Chris King mountain hubsets are now available in either brake standard. New slower-engaging ratchet The new 36-tooth ratchet is engineered to be quieter. The new hubs can be fitted with either a 72-tooth freehub ratchet or a new 36-tooth ratchet with 10-degree engagement, enabling riders to tune their engagement angle. Chris Kings hubs have usually come fitted with the 72-tooth ratchet. But the new 36-tooth option is a response to a request from Santa Cruz Syndicate team rider and downhill world champion Jackson Goldstone for a hub with fewer points of engagement, which the brand says enables the hub to spin faster. Bedsaul continues: At this level, theyre searching for milliseconds, and they see this as a meaningful contribution toward that goal. Jackson won the key races last season on the prototype 36T hub, which reduces hub drag and noise significantly. Lower freehub noise enables downhillers to hear other bike sounds better. The lower freehub noise from the 36-tooth ratchet compared to its buzzy 72-tooth ratchet is significant for downhill racers, according to Bedsaul, because it enables them to hear noise from tyres, brakes, chain and suspension better, to provide feedback on the bikes performance. The 36-tooth ratchet doesnt only have fewer teeth, theyre re-engineered to reduce the contact area, which further reduces drag and enables the brands RingDrive 2.0 lubricant to penetrate the ratchets better. The new hub is available in the usual wide range of colours. Chris Kings RingDrive ratchet lube includes nanoparticles and is claimed to reduce friction, improve cold-weather performance and add to ratchet longevity. It also sells its newly launched Gold Grease for bearings, designed to help them spin faster, with a claimed 25% reduction in drag over its previous silver grease. Chris King says you can retrofit the 36-tooth ratchet ring to any of its hubs made since the 1990s. It recommends the 72-tooth ring for most riders on most terrain, though, and says even its team riders still use it if theres significant pedalling needed.

Le Tour de France has already started four times in Germany. In 1965 the Grand Dpart took place in Cologne, in 1980 it was Frankfurts turn, in 1987 it was West Berlin, and the last time was in the city of Dsseldorf in 2017. In 2029, the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall will be cele...

The 2026 season has started at full throttle for Demi Vollering. The Dutch rider claimed two stage victories and secured the overall classification at the Vuelta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, confirming early on that she has entered the new campaign in excellent physical condition. Last Satur...

This weekend marked the start of the first Spring Classics on the road, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday and Kuurne Bruxelles Kuurne on Sunday, two races that traditionally open the cobbled season. After a long and demanding day of around 195 kilometres, the race finishing in Kuurne delive...

Hutchinson has added new wider tyres to its Blackbird range, with 32mm and 34mm widths now available for all Blackbird variants: the Blackbird Race, standard Blackbird and Blackbird All Season. There are two pieces of good news. First, the wider tyres are the same price as narrower options and, second, Hutchinson says independent testing shows the 32mm tyres roll 5% faster than the same tyre in a 30mm width. According to Hutchinson product manager, Martin Chuchu: The industry believed that wider tyres would hinder performance. We wanted to challenge that. With the 32mm and 34mm Blackbirds, we want to demonstrate precisely that this vision is outdated. A wider tyre performs better: it filters vibrations, provides damping, and, above all, delivers a level of stability you feel immediately, especially in high-speed corners. Faster than a 30mm tyre Hutchinson cites added cornering grip and stability from the added width. Wider tyres are increasingly taking over, not just for amateur riders but for the pros, too. However, rather than launching a me-too product, Hutchinson wanted to prove its new widths offer an advantage over narrower tyres. So, it sent its 30mm and 32mm tyres for independent testing, which found a 5% gain in efficiency for the wider tyre. There were also measured improvements in comfort and grip, as you might expect. Hutchinson highlights three benefits of its new wider tyres: rolling resistance, grip and stability, and ride comfort. It says the energy saved from the lower rolling resistance and reduced fatigue far outweigh any aerodynamic penalty from the increased tyre width. It's also a proponent of wider rims to enable you to lower your tyre pressure further. It suggests riders should choose a 32mm tyre for performance or a 34mm tyre for training or racing on damaged or cobbled roads. That ties in with our opinion here at BikeRadar. Only last weekend, Warren Rossiter documented his move to tyres of 30mm or more, with his newest bike fitted with 32mm rubber. For him, its not about rolling resistance though, but the abysmal state of UK roads, where a wider tyre can help with ride comfort and stability. It's not only Hutchinson that's going wider, with Continental launching a 35mm option for the GP5000 S TR in February and Pirelli puffing up its P Zero Race TLR to 40mm at the end of 2024. Blackbird tyre widths and prices The new 32mm and 34mm widths are available across the Blackbird range. The new tyre widths are available across Hutchinsons three Blackbird tyre types. Hutchinson was a pioneer of tubeless and all three are tubeless-ready. The Blackbird Race tyre is now available in 28, 30, 32 and 34mm widths, priced at 69.99 / 79.99. The Blackbird all-rounder tyre adds a 26mm width if youre still old-school or your bike lacks the clearance to go wider, as well as black and tan sidewall options, and is priced at 61.99 / 69.99. The Blackbird All Season tyre, aimed at wet and cold conditions, has the same 28, 30, 32 and 34mm widths as the Blackbird Race and is priced at 61.99 / 69.99.