Summer Blowout!!

The summer isn't over until PricePoint has it's Summer Blowout sale! There are over 600 products discounted up to 80% off! Be sure to visit PricePoint.com to save BIG on bikes, frames, parts, clothing and accessories!

Price Point Sponsored Riders Complete the TransAlp Race!

We are extremely proud to report that Markley Anderson and Paul Loete of Team Crank have successfully completed the European TransAlp Race! This race is eight straight days of brutal climbing through the mountains of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. Although they will be posting a full race report on their blog by this weekend, they did give us a little preview.

It was a tough race and they were almost out of contention from shortly after the start. Markley had a bad crash that left him bloodied and pretty shaken up. He managed to hang on and ride through it for 4 hours until he finally crossed the finish line. Although they got into a rhythm after that, the nature of the course was relentless. With almost 65,000 feet of climbing over 375 miles that works out to an average of over 8,000 feet of climbing and almost 50 miles a day... off-road! The conditions were so tough that over 20% of the competitors would drop out by the end. Just to finish is a massive accomplishment. You can check out all of the details of the event itself at the Bike TransAlp website.

The guys were happy to report that all of their equipment performed far beyond their expectations. They use a lot of Sette components and accessories and the very core of their ride is a Sette full carbon mountain bike frame. And if you're wondering when you'll be able to get your hands on one of these beautiful and affordable frames, check the Price Point site after September 1st. Sette has promised to have a bunch of new bikes and frames to us by then.

As Team Crank shares more news, stories and images of the race we will share some of them here. In the meantime, congratulations Paul and Markley!

We Have Our Winners for the Twenty20 Contour HD Camera Contest!

Shimano 10-Speed for Mountain Bikes is in the House!

One recent addition to the pantheon of products offered here at Price Point is the all-new Shimano Dyna-Sys component range.

Dyna-Sys, Shimano speak for 10 speed, is currently offered in both SLX and XT level components. The SLX is virtually the same design as XT but uses some different materials to keep the cost down but with a small weight penalty. SLX and XT Dyna-Sys series components can be mixed and matched no problem.

Unlike the other big “S” component manufacturer out there, Shimano chose to go with a 3x10 for Dyna-Sys. While a 30 speed drive train may sound excessive, the logic behind Shimano’s decision is actually pretty sound.

By adding a 36 tooth cog to the cassette and revising the gearing on the crankset to 24/32/42 Shimano has essentially found away for more gears to equal less shifting.

Now bear with us for a sec while we break it down.

By adding a massively low gear in the back, Shimano has dramatically increased the useable gear range when you’re riding in the middle or big ring. Shimano refers to the middle ring as the “Primary Drive Gear” and with a spread from 11 – 36, you’ll be amazed at how much you don’t need to shift out of the middle ring.

When you do have to shift up front, the smaller jumps between the chain rings equals smoother shifting and a much more seamless transition to a new range of gears. By making the ratios up front a little tighter, you won’t have to shift as much in the back to find that perfect gear when making shifts between chain rings.

The other intriguing aspect to Shimano’s 3x10 system has to not so much to do with shifting as it does with the bike that you’re possibly riding. If you get into the nitty-gritty technical aspects of full suspension designs, you’ll quickly learn that the majority of suspension platforms are designed for optimal performance when ridden in a 32-tooth middle chain ring, which is something a dual ring crank is obviously going to be missing.

Now does that mean 2x10 systems are suddenly horrible? Not at all. In fact Shimano even has an XTR 2x10 system coming down the pipe. But for anything outside of a XC race machine, Shimano feels a triple is the way to go.

As with any monumental change in componentry, there’s not going to be much carryover from previous generation equipment. Freehub bodies that are 8/9 speed compatible are now 8/9/10 speed compatible as the dimensions of the cassette haven’t changed. So there’s no need to fret about getting new wheels. Shimano simply squeezed 10 gears into the space of 9 and this is where things start to change.

Because the cogs are narrower with less space in between, all the important drive train bits were designed to be specific to 10 speed. The chain and chain rings are narrower and the derailleurs are specific to the new gear range. On the front the big change is a revised cage to work perfectly with the new crankset. The rear sees bigger changes. The long-cage Dyna-Sys specific derailleur can be ridden in a ridiculous crossover gear of 42/36 without breaking a sweat.

The official word from Shimano is that the only compatible part from previous generation components is the front shifter. Because of this they are offering a 10 speed rear shifter available separately so that you don’t have a shifter go to waste or that you don’t end up with an unnecessary spare if you’re building the ultimate 1x10 set up.

While needing a to buy a whole new component group might sound like a bit of a bummer, especially if your hide is still a little chapped from having to ditch your sweet anodized purple brake levers when Shimano released the mighty V-brake, try to look at it this way: you’re getting a whole new component group!

That alone should be reason enough to celebrate.

Check out the whole lineup here.

Adventure Racing, Texas Style

If you like mountain biking to have a sense of adventure, and you like your adventures REALLY big, then the folks at Texas Adventure Racing might be serving up exactly what you need. They had a very successful race in April and have 2 more coming up by the end of the year.

First up will be the NavTexas in Huntsville on October 24, 2010. This is not only a fantastic event for the seasoned veteran but also a great opportunity to get your feet wet and find out what's involved. They are holding both a training class and a race, so dive in and have fun at whatever level you feel most comfortable.

Second is the Huntsville Hammer which has Sprint, 6 & 12 Hour variations. This will also be held in Huntsville and will take place November 13, 2010. Not a bad way to potentially wrap up your race season!

Check out their site here for all of the necessary details.

As If The Summer Wasn't Hot Enough - Team Crank Turns Up the Heat

Team Crank was at it again last week and turned in another great performance at the Cranky Monkey 12 Hour MTB race Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. The temperature hit over 100 degrees.

It wasn't all smooth sailing. Twice they almost had to call it quits due to the extreme temperatures. Somehow they manages to rally both times and were able to hang in for a 2nd place finish. In the process they managed to cover over 110 miles in 11 hours with over 16,000 feet of climbing.

There's a phrase that comes to mind looking at this last picture of Markley on a climb, "Only mad dogs and Englishmen (and now Markley and Chris) are out in the noonday sun". We'll now have to ad Markley and Chris to the short list. This image is truly a portrait in perseverance. (Check out a zoomed version of his facial expression on their blog.)

You can see all of the Sette products that they use on our site by clicking here. Also, check out the whole story on their blog.

Next up... the TransAlp Race in Europe. We eagerly await their race reports!

Explosive Savings? That's Right, It's a 4th of July Sale!

We hope everyone has a fun-filled, but safe 4th of July. And while you're waiting for the fireworks to start, check out our sale for some exceptional savings:

Have You Seen Me? Coming to a Trail Near You...

A while back we received and email from a gentleman asking about the exact dimensions of Sette’s ST-7 workstand. As he explained, he was living on the road and space was at a premium in his Sprinter van. At the end of his note he said to check out the June issue of Bike Magazine.

It took all of a minute to find that issue of Bike in our break room and confirm our suspicions. That issue had arrived just a few days earlier and by the end of the day we’d all read about Craig Bierly with enviable admiration. A couple years ago he retired and reorganized his priorities so that the only thing on this to-do list was ride the entire lower 48. Once he achieved that goal he set a new one and is now in the midst of a 1000 day mountain bike adventure. Somewhere along the way he’d finally had enough of wrenching on his bike without a repair stand and lucky for him we still had a little room left in our sponsorship budget. A few days later a stand was on its way to a rendezvous with Craig as he was swinging through Ohio to wish his father a happy birthday. This morning we found this great photo waiting for us in our in-box.

PHOTO CREDIT: Dawn Kish

Looks like the stand made it to Craig safe and sound and he can now use one hand to work on his bike and the other to hold a frosty beverage without fear of his bike tipping over. If any of you out there now what he’s drinking, please let us know. That bottle looks very intriguing. Craig’s keeping a terrifically detailed account of his adventure complete with ride data so make sure you visit his website. It’s a great read. And the name R U Nuts Adventures makes us laugh because, to us, a 1000 day bike ride sounds like a perfectly reasonable adventure.