Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope santa brings many bling new components to your stockings.

Cheers,

Ken & The XXIV Crew

A popular topic of debate amongst more aggressive riders is rim choice. The usual contenders in the DJ / Urban / Freeride market include Atomlab DHR/Trailpimp, Halo SAS, Sun MTX and Intense Mag 30s. One brand which has been around for a while but is relatively new in the rim market is the exalted DT Swiss brand. Best known for their spokes which are the choice of wheel builders the world around.

DT Swiss introduced last season the FR6.1d rim which is aimed as a Freeride rim, pitting it squarely against the previously mentioned market leaders. The rim is 32mm wide and 24mm high, the wide profile makes it resistant to buckling while the high profile makes it very stiff under driving forces. This produces an exceptionally strong rim which accelerates very well.
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The most important piece of fashion you can own being a rider are by far shoes. Not because they look cool, or you have more pairs than your girlfriend, but how practical they are for riding. I have used various different shoes for riding over time, dozens of different skate shoes, the hailed Dunlop Volley and even sports shoes (back in my darker grommet years).

All of these shoes will do the job, but they never really excel. Volley’s grip well, but they are soft and wear out quickly and do not provide adequate stiffness in the sole for use on pedals. Skate shoes are great but the sole designs are never really practical to grip onto flat pedal pins and they also suffer from the soft sole syndrome. Finally sports shoes, well they are just sports shoes, enough said.
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