With their suspension lining up at the World Cup XCO races again, Manitou needed a modern XC fork and shock for the Rockrider Ford Team riders.The new Manitou R8 and Mara are it, offering an updated take on their dampers, lowers, and air springs for the front and rear of the bike. Lets start with the forkManitou R8 suspension forkAll photos courtesy of Manitou / HBG.Built around their 34mm stanchion platform and signature reverse arch, the new R8 comes in at a claimed 1450-1480g. They claim the rear arch is stiffer than a comparable front arch, or lighter than one with equal stiffnessa win either way. And now they have bolt-on fender mounts and pressure-relief bleed screws, too.The uppers (stanchions) are Hyperlite, a lightweight alloy design borrowed from sister brand Answer, with deeply bored cutouts and external machining on the crown to save weight.At the bottom, the new Hexlock SL-R is their lightest-ever thru axle at just 25g.Internally, a new XC-tuned Dorado air spring is a bit lighter, but keeps the ability to change travel at home in 10mm increments, from 80mm up to 120mm. The adjustments change both positive and negative air volumes in tandem, so the ride quality is consistent no matter how you set it up without needing to buy an entirely new air spring just to change the travel, which is how many of their competitors forks work. A new XC version of their IVA volume adjustment lets you tune the air spring, too.The damper is also new. Its an XC-specific VTT Pro-X thats lighter and has a unique three piston/three position adjustment. Unlike other dampers that make adjustments to the same high- and low-speed circuits, Manitous multi-piston design lets them have distinct settings in all three modes firm, trail, and open.In Firm mode, its basically locked out, with its own piston essentially closing off both circuits. In the middle position, a second piston adjusts both high- and low-speed circuits to create a supportive platform that can still absorb the terrain. In the open position, a third piston lets you independently adjust low-speed compression damping to your liking while high-speed is opened up to be more responsive to big hits.Basically, its kinda-liking having external controls for both, but with three mostly pre-set settings that adjust both high- and low-speed compression with a single knob. Theres also an 18-click rebound adjustment on the bottom.Available in 29er only with 44mm offset, boost spacing, and an option for remote lockout lever. Speaking of, they have a new Ace/Deuce lockout lever with three paddles, one for fork and shock lockouts, one to release the lockout, and one for dropper seatposts. Whats cool is that you can stack them however you like, putting suspension or dropper controls on top or bottom.Manitou Mara air shock goes XC to EnduroThe new Mara shocks come in three varieties Inline, Inline with King Can, and Piggy Back. All three get new, more durable air piston architecture and are easy to tune with positive and negative volume spacers that need no special tools to install.Inside, a new compression piston and updated shim stacks improve small bump compliance. Mid-stroke support is adjustable using external compression adjustments and the volume spacers.All three also use their Balance Groove, which is essentially a check valve that automatically equalizes positive and negative air pressure, same as pretty much every fork out there except Cane Creeks Helm.For XC bikes, the slim Mara Pro IL XC inline shock (above, left) has a new Lite Can air can, which has lower total volume for a firmer, more efficient ride quality. That makes it ramp harder, but for XC racers, it also keeps it from wallowing around under hard pedaling and sprints.For trail bikes, the new King Can oversized air can adds more volume with an outer sleeve. Its found on the Mara IL Pro & Comp (inline) and Mara Pro PB (piggy back), giving you options for longer travel bikes, all the way to DH and park riding.The Mara Pro PB adds a two-position switch that lets you quickly toggle between two pre-set modes Work (for climbing) and Party (for descending). Work mode uses one damping circuit, and Party uses another that you can tune with external high- and low-speed adjustments.Theres also a fourth Mara Pro PB DH that loses the Work/Party switch since its aimed at lift-served riding with no climbing.Manitou Mattoc LEPining for the glory days? Back when you had one fork for everything from XC to DH?For a limited time you can get a fully modern Manitou Mattoc trail fork in the black and silver finish that the legends rode, except its for 29 wheels, not 26.Claimed weight is 1750g and it comes preset at 140mm travel but can be easily adjusted from 110mm to 150mm. It comes with their Hexlock SL2 thru axle, Dorado Air system, and IRT dual-positive air spring adjustment that lets you separately tune the mid- and end-stroke ramp.HayesBicycle.comThe post Manitou Unveils Lighter XC Fork & Shock, Plus Retro Mattoc appeared first on Bikerumor.

One of the many unwritten rules of the peloton has long been that when the race leader - in the case of the 2024 Tour de France, the Maillot Jaune wearing Tadej Pogacar - stops for a nature break, there is a respectful ceasefire of attacks until the leader returns. According to Egan Bernal however,...

Route Details & Race Manual Junior Tour 2024The post Route Details & Race Manual Junior Tour 2024 appeared first on IrishCyclingNews.com | Irish Cycling News | IrishCycling.

The first week of the Tour de France 2024 came to an end this past Sunday, July 7, with the celebration of stage 9 of the race, the gravel stage, which gave a tremendous show before the rest day that is being given this Monday.For this reason, our colleagues at Ciclismoaldiahave decided to make an...

The long-awaited has been confirmed and we finally know for (almost) certain which four names will represent the host country at the Olympic Games in Paris.It's been speculated in long advance that the spearhead of French lineup should be the two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe. The 32-year-o...

Just like Tadej Pogacar, Geraint Thomas is attempting a Giro-Tour double for the first time in his career. But while the Slovenian who dominated the pink race a month ago is in the mix for victory in France too, the 38-year-old Welshman already dropped out of the GC in the first week.But even withou...

Michael Morkov will retire at the end of 2024. Now this doesn't come as a complete surprise because as we know, the 39-year-old only joined Astana Qazaqstan ahead of this season with the aim to break the Tour de France stage victories record with Mark Cavendish. As this has been accomplished, there...

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, Bahrain - Victorious entered the Tour de France with Santiago Buitrago as their main leader. Despite losing a bit of time in Bologna, theColombian rider remains in a solid 15th place (14th after the injury of Aleksandr Vlasov) in the general classification, within two mi...

A sprint stage and a visit to the centre of France today, or at least to two of the places that stake their claim to be the geographical centre of the country.Stage 9 Review: notes to commend a fine days racing with plenty of action and constantly changing scenarios:Anthony Turgis got an overdue win, a podium finisher in SanremoHe was one of the first riders to race regularly with a 55T chainring, hes on his seventh Tour and has ridden most if not all of them with one, a sign of his force.The other winner was Jonas Vingegaard who survived the onslaught and without looking his odds on the overall must be shortening, with stories of a third week revival.France has a lot of vineyards with gravel roads in between and after this expect more although note the Troyes stage was in the planning for years, the Tour de France Femmes were the pioneers and this validated things for the men.The Route: 187km and 950m of vertical gain, the flattest stage of the race outside of last weeks time trial. That mysterious bump close to the finish? Nothing much, a long straight road that does rise but no more than 5% for a brief moment.The course does have some changes of direction, it goes east to Vierzon, then south, the east, then south as if trying to catch the wind but it might not blow enough.The Finish: a run through town to finish by the pyramidal building, a site that has hosted previous Tour and Paris-Nice finishes. Rather than a straight run to the line there are three bends in the final kilometre, a pinchpoint at 700m with the final corner at 500m to go.The Contenders: a likely sprint stage. Theres no hierarchy but Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the persistent pick for close finishes, hes clearly not got last years form, likewise his leadout Mathieu van der Poel but hes coming close. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco) has shown he can win fast flat sprints, likewise Mark Cavendish (Astana).Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) is close easier to see for a podium (nobody who finishes second or third actually visits the podium) and the flat finish isnt what green jersey Biniam Girmay (Intermarch-Wanty) thrives but he can keep racking up points by placing too.Philipsen, GroenewegenCavendish, GirmayDe LieWeather: sunny and 29C with a risk of a thunderstorm late in the stage but more likely in the evening. When the Tour came here in 2013 the route looked the most dull stage of the Tour on paper but crosswinds turned it into a big day but this is normally a calm region. A weather system is coming in but gently, and a 15km/h wind from the WSW means a crosswind and it could gust stronger but unlikely.TV: KM0 is at 1.25pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.35pm CEST. Tune in for the sprint, tomorrows stage offers a lot more.Postcard from Brure-AllichampsWhere is the centre of France? With 10km to go today there is Brure-Allichamps and as the postcard shows it hosts the column of the centre of France. The finish today Saint-Amand-Montrond also stakes a claim, as do five more places.Its a tricky question. First we have to define what is France because as a political entity it includes overseas departments in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. More often mtropolitain France is typically deployed, as in mainland France but do we include Corsica or not? This only narrows things down.Brure-Allichamps got there first when cartographers selected it in the late 18th century but this was a rudimentary attempt using the best means at the time. Clearly maps were only partially accurate and Frances borders have since changed which tweaks things significantly.Today it is possible to be more accurate, even to account for the curvature of the planet. Frances Institut national de linformation gographique et forestire, the government agency tasked with measuring and mapping Frances geography, often better known as IGN, has worked on this geodetic project. Using the Affholder method, it involves plotting the boundaries of the area, in this case France, on a spheroid to mimic the Earths curvature and then to finding the centre of gravity which sits slightly below the surface and marking the place above. So where is the centre? The answer is for the race to continue past Saint-Amand for 30km to reach the small village of Nassigny; or if you want to exclude Corsica then nearby Vesdun just to the northwest.The post Tour de France Stage 10 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Sir Bradley Wiggins, who recently entered bankrupcy, will be a special guest onLance Armstrong's podcast for the next week, it was revealed on Sunday.Wiggins, the winner of the 2012 Tour de France,suggested toCycling Weeklylast monththat he had a job lined up for the French Grand Tour, and has...