E*thirteen downhill crankset review

The downhill cranks from e*thirteen were designed and developed by their co-company, The Hive, and are constructed from 7050 aluminium which is forged then machined to make these sleek looking beauties.  At their heart sits a heat treated chromoly spindle in either 113 or 123mm lengths depending on your bottom bracket shell width. It’s this 30mm spindle that helps keep things stiff, along with the polygon interface where the non-driveside crank arm attaches. Fitting the e*thirteens is a fairly straightforward process but you’ll need to read the instructions to get things set up perfectly.They do actually provide the tool for the...

Read more »

Maxxis Advantage 2.1in mountain bike tyre review

We’ve Put the Advantage tyres through the grinder for a few months now and they’ve thoroughly proved their worth. We tested the 2.1in foldable dual compound LUST but there are also 2.25in and 2.4in versions. The Advantage will suit aggressive cross-country/trail riders.  They corner really well thanks to the big side knobs, which inspire fast riding, and they love getting loose in loamy flat turns. The LUST sidewalls are light and very tough and we’ve had no problems deflecting rocks or losing air running them at low pressures. The central diagonal tread makes for brilliant climbing and braking on everything except really wet rocky...

Read more »

Giant Anthem X1 review

Steep-angled 100mm-travel full-suspension bikes are normally great for tearing up between the tapes, but Giant’s Anthem X continues to tear up the rule book. Tweaks to the frame for 2011 make it feel like it spent the whole winter down the gym building muscle exactly where it makes the most difference. The result is a totally ripped all-terrain athlete that’s equally inspirational in terms of ego boosting efficiency and scorching speed on startline or singletrack alike. Add benchmark trail kit and you’ve got an extremely versatile, extreme velocity machine whatever you aim it at. If you're more about GPS and maps than jumping gaps,...

Read more »