Journal
Need a New SRAM Transmission?
What Is SRAM Transmission? In late summer 2022, the mystery groupset was first spotted on Nino Schurter's Scott Spark RC at his winning performance at the UCI World Championships. Once spotted, the rumor mill started churning. What is it? When will it be available? How will it be different from...
Beautiful Bicycle - A Sleek BMC Kaius
We all love the BMC Kaius. Based on how often folks contact us about BMC’s latest gravel bike, that is. And there is good reason for that: the more folks ride gravel bikes, the more they realize they don’t necessarily need a Swiss Army knife-type of bike. Rather, they want the confidence...
Isaac's Tech Review of his Santa Cruz Hightower
With a handful of trail bike releases over the last year, most of them like the SCOTT Genius and the 5010 are significant revisions of previous models while others like the SCOR 4060 are completely brand new. During these new bike launches and changes, the Hightower got lost in the media storm...
2023 TIME Alpe d'Huez Review - Evolution, Not Revolution
TIME bikes are the definition of ‘if you know, you know.’ TIME doesn’t have the exposure it did years ago underneath the capable Tom Boonen or Paolo Bettini. But the reasons why TIME was so special - the dialed handling, the unique carbon construction, and the accompanying elite build quality - carry over...
Wait, is that an eBike? Your guide to the new TQ-HPR50 motor.
As you may know, electric bikes have been blowing up in popularity and every brand now has a bike that they claim to be the best. These bikes all come with different specs, different geometry, different weights, and, most importantly, different motors. By now, you will know of motor brands like...
A Unicorn of a Groupset - New SRAM Force AXS
With spy photos coming and going, and murmurs about new drive trains circling about, we’ve undoubtedly been curious about what has been cooking in that AXS powered kitchen called SRAM. Well, today is your lucky day. SRAM announced the new SRAM Force AXS drivetrain. With lots of changes - some...
Beautiful Bicycle - A Mechanics Dream Otso Warakin TI
There’s a plethora of cool staff bikes around the shop at Contender Bicycles. If you ask any of the staff what their favorite is, you should be prepared to get a long-winded explanation on why or why not some bike is cool and unique. With this excess of bikes, we...
The ENVE MOG Gravel Bike Wants To Please Everyone
An ENVE gravel bike was inevitable, wasn’t it? ENVE released the Custom Road road bike, an intriguing frame that leveraged the Utah company’s expertise in carbon fiber construction to make a holistic road bike package. Next was the ENVE Melee, which brought ENVE’s design cues and features to a more...
The Shimano S-Phyre RC903 Road Shoe: If The Shoe Fits...
Shimano’s S-Phyre road shoe has received a refresh. Compared to its predecessor, the RC902, the new Shimano S-Phyre RC903 sees updates with the goal of being more comfortable and lighter. The tweaks are small but considering the existing shoes offer excellent fit, power transfer and control befitting a top-tier road...
How to Adjust Your Mountain Bike Suspension - Contender Setup Guide
You’re not a number. Neither are the trails you ride, the bikes you choose, or how you enter into a corner on your mountain bike. That’s why we’ve set up this mountain bike suspension tuning guide, as an easy - and complex if you want - way to make sure...
SCOTT Spark RC vs Santa Cruz Blur vs Orbea OIZ Cross Country Bike Comparison
Cross-country bikes have become more capable and faster in the last few years. The industry has turned away slightly from making everything as light as possible, with the interest of durability and functionality in mind. Three of our brands have made their racing bikes into extremely capable beasts. SCOTT and...
Video Review - Orbea Rise e-MTB First Look
The Orbea Rise electric mountain bike is one of our favorite electric mountain bikes available. While there might be competitors, there are still few options quite like it: low weight, enough power, and importantly, handling and ride quality that feels similar to an acoustic or standard trail bike. While we...
Beautiful Bicycle - A Matchy Moots Routt RSL
Titanium fans love that a bike can be more than just raw performance metrics. Gravel riders - outside of a small contingency of racers - love the idea of durability and timelessness. What do you get when you combine the two and add a sprinkle of sportiness? The Moots Routt...
The Insider's Guide to MAHLE X20: Updates, How-Tos, and Our Favorite eBikes
We’ve had great success with the MAHLE X35 drive unit. Not only is it one of the most common electric bike systems in lightweight road and gravel electric bikes, but it was so low-profile in it's look that the only way one might realize an X35 bike was electric was...
Giro Aries Helmet Review: More of Everything
When someone says the words “What helmet should I buy?” Many helmets and brands come to mind but none as prominently as Giro. Giro has a 40-year history of providing some of the best helmets for all types of bike racing, and they have now released their most advanced helmet...
