Santa Cruz has decided that the perfect time to test a full carbon version of the already half carbon V-10 is at the Val Di Sole.  

For more info and pictures check out Dirt Mag.

Specialized has used Crankworx to debut their new Pro DH platform pedal.  At 500g +, they are not the lightest pedal, but they are thin at just 10mm thick.

Check out bikerumor.com's full write up on the new pedal from Crankworx.

Features:

• Infinite travel adjustment from 180mm to 225mm (new patent)
• Infinite Bottom bracket adjustment from 13.5 to 14.5 (new patent)
• Infinite wheelbase/chainstay adjustments from CS 16.7 to 17.6 inch (new patent)
• Low friction Uni Axes suspension system with ultra stiff mono arm (new patent)
• Estimated weight with Fox DHX 5.0 Air is said to be around 9 pounds

We knew it was only a matter of time, and honestly I am surprised it didn't happen until half way through the World Cup season, but Aaron Gwin was sporting a new carbon Session DH for practice at Mont Sainte Anne this morning.  Keep an eye on Dirt Mag for more photos and info.

South Korea's Fierce Bicycle Components are showing off their new Fox 40 crowns with integrated stem.  There isn't a whole lot of info about them, or a whole lot of possibility that these will ever make it State side, but they are pretty swank looking.

Empire's new AM 150mm trail bike prototype was on display at Fort William last weekend.  The entire frame aside from the seat mast is machined from solid billet aluminum.  Designed around a 38T front chainring, the bikes suspension is tuned for 10 speed drive trains and the headtube has an included angleset.  Keep your eyes on Empire Cycles for future updates.

It looks like Cane Creek is following Rock Shox into the DH air shock market with this prototype Double Barrel Air making an appearance at Fort William this weekend.  I am sure more details will begin to trickle out as we get closer to Interbike, but for now check out some of the new bits spotted at Fort Bill over at Singletrackworld.com.

Not a lot of information about it, but Chromag appears to be playing with the idea of a full suspension rig with a steel front triangle and an aluminum rear end.  Looks like a promising design, it'll be interesting to see if it ever comes to light.

Over the weekend at the US Open, Fox decided it was time to give everybody something to talk about.  During one of the early morning practice runs, they strapped this prototype inverted fork to the front of Gee Atherton's bike and sent it down the hill, and other than giving everyone a little peek at speed, they refused to say anything else about it.

What has been unveiled, as well as a lot of speculation can be found over on PinkBike.com

You don't really see a lot of bikes from the old Soviet Union, but they actually have a pretty big scene and by the looks of it, some manufacturing, the biggest being "Forward Bikes" and this is their new "DH" model.  Although there isn't a ton of info about any of these bikes, you can read (In Russian) about the Forward DH over at twentysix.ru.

We first noticed these installed on the new Mountain Cycles bikes at Sea Otter earlier this spring and were wondering what was up with the massive BB spindle, now there are some answers.

"First things first... THIS IS NOT A NEW BB STANDARD...but rather a BB system that fits into Press Fit 30 and BB30 frames, Praxis has a new bottom bracket and crank system that feature a 35mm spindle."

Taiwan based Wheeler has unveiled its new long travel enduro / light freeride bike, the Raptor.  With 180mm of travel, the Raptor features wheelers SSP or "Super Single Pivot" suspension, in which the main pivot is basically the bottom bracket.  Completely made from carbon fiber, the Raptor weighs in at a light weight 29 lbs.

Keep an eye on Wheeler Bikes website for more information at www.wheelerworldwide.com.

Photo Credits: www.mtb-news.de

Hope appears to be moving forward with it's newest version of their upcoming crankset.  This one appears to be for a 2x10 setup since it's missing the granny ring tabs.  Keep your eyes on www.hopetech.com for future updates.

Check out this pretty simple but ingenious rear facing GoPro mount that Tyler from Twenty6 Components whipped up.  Maybe there's a future in making something other than ridiculously expensive pedals?

See it here on the Twenty6 Blog.

Some Quick Specs:

• 170mm Travel
• 13.5" BB Height
• 16.3" Chainstays
• 65° Head Angle

It looks as though Giant team rider Duncan Riffle let a little bit of info slip while he was running around the pits at Sea Otter about what is in the works from Contour.  What he is holding is the Contour Plus, the latest iteration of the popular POV HD helmet cam.  Sporting a new brushed aluminum appearance, the Contour Plus is said to feature a wider 170° viewing angle, up from 140° which will match GoPro's top model.  Also, apparently from the nice blurry photo below, the new cam will feature an HDMI output jack for delivering HD content straight to your TV as well as an external microphone port for hooking up a remote mic and the video quality and bitrate is said to be improved over the current ContourGPS.

Unofficially, the camera is said to be launching in May or June, just in time for everyone's summer antics.

Keep an eye on contour.com for more information.

Most people aren't familiar with North Shore Billet, but since 2003 they have been turning out high quality CNC bike parts out of their Vancouver BC based machine shop.  Specializing in small parts like derailleur hangers, cable guides, dropouts and other small accessories, many times their attention to detail and craftsmanship goes un-noticed, but it appears that they are stepping it up with their first venture into the stem market.  While still just a prototype, according to their blog, they have been working on the details of their first public prototype for some time.

The prototype is machined out of 6061 T6 aluminum, is 70mm in length and features M6 bolts all around as well as a pretty trick hollow top cap.

For more information, check out NorthShoreBillet.com

Brodie Bikes has released picts of its prototype gearbox DH bike based around the SR Suntour V-Boxx and apparently will be testing it at Whistler this year.

From the Brodie Bikes blog:

We’re proud to announce we’re teaming up with Whistler Mountain Bike to test/demo/ride our prototype Downhill SR Suntour Internal Gear V-Boxx. The big green mean machine will be ridden by Chris of Whistler Mountain Bike throughout the Spring in the Whistler Bike Park.

Gearbox bikes were developed to eliminate common problems associated with a derailleur based system. Although adding a significant amount of weight, the mass is centralized in at the core of the bike and down low; thus giving it a very stable and balanced feel.

Check out www.brodiebikes.com for future announcements and information.

Tomac was showing off their new DH rig, the Pimer 200 at Sea Otter over the weekend.  The bike is a significant redesign from the former Primer 220 and is said to be nearly 3lbs lighter than the old version as well.  Production models are set to retail for around $1600 for the frameset.

Keep an eye on www.tomac.com for upcoming info.

Kyle Strait's new 4X rig from Pivot Cycles.  It's a very early prototype, so no you can't buy one.  Not yours.

Not a lot of info about this one yet, but it appears to be the same mystery proto frame that was posted a few months back.

The big hype all over the internet over the past week has been the DiamondBack DH prototype that propelled rider Kyle Thomas to victory in the 2011 Double Down Hoe Down a few weeks back. Everyone is comparing it to Transitions TR450, although the linkage is a completely different setup and actually a lot more similar to the now dead Soul Cycles DH proto bike. (See Below).  What is amazing is the comparison to Massi's new DH bike and the TR450.  Both Massi and Transition are manufactured by Astro Engineering in Taiwan and by the looks of it, Astro has sold out the TR450's design to the open market.  Is this a case of Transition not designing the bike in the first place, or even worse a case of Astro duplicating it and offering it up to other customers?  Either way, it's just another in the long list of sorted stories about making bikes in the orient.

The now dead Soul Cycles DH proto.

Supercross BMX, BMX frame manufacturer for the past 20 years will be showing their first attempt at a DH bike, the Thumper, at Sea Otter. Featuring 8.25" of travel, 64 degree 1.5" headtube and a 13.5" BB it looks promising, although we can't get over this nagging suspicion that it looks really really similar to another design currently on the market...

This one definitely falls under the "WTF?" category.  Apparently taking a cue from Cove Bikes playbook, new German based Leak Cycles has released the first images of their "Butt Plug Evo 1.0" DH rig.  It appears to be some variation of VPP but there isn't a whole lot of information about them yet although it appears that they are designing and building them in house in Stuttgart-Rotenberg, Germany.  I will say that I whole heartedly support the naming convention though and think that because it is a German bike, it makes it work all the more.

You can check out Leak Cycles on Facebook for more information (In German)

British manufacturer Empire who brought us the Empire AP-1, the first ever solid cast aluminum DH bike has taken the technology and know how it gained from making the AP-1 and applied to a new endure version, the MX-6.  Boasting a solid billet 6082T6 aluminum front and rear end and a aircraft grade cast aluminum seat tower the MX-6 will offer 6" of travel and should be available sometime in late summer.

Check out www.empire-cycles.com for more information.

Last week we showed you some sneak peaks of new Australian bike manufacturers "2UP", their upcoming 150mm offering handmade in Australia.  We just received a slew of detail pics which show all the finer points of this otherwise simple single pivot.

The color is being called "Lamborghini Orange".  I am sure I know a certain person who runs Gnar Gnar Tours who would approve of the color choice.

The bike is completely hand build in Australia out of a complete Easton tube set.

The forward shock mount is swappable which allows for adjusting both the head angle and the bottom bracket height.

2 sets of swappable dropouts give the owner the option between 420/440mm chain stay lengths.

The solid center bridge for the swing arm provide the bike with its stiffness.

Simple and tested single pivot design.

Full 1.5 headtube provides compatibility with any fork steerer size out there.