Carbon fiber crankarms used to be the ultimate thing, and there was exactly one company who made them. When they debuted, crank cranks were exotic in every sense of the word. They were one of the most expensive sets of cranksarms you could think off, they were incredibly lightweight because of their hollow carbon construction, and they has a reputation of being a finicky product that required extremely precise setup.

Now it's mid 2010 and while not everybody makes carbon crankarms, most manufacturers due, sure all leading part manufacturers make them. And tough competition is now-a-day the name of the game.

Sram with the Truvativ brand is one of the companies that currently produces some carbon crankset for mountain bikes. The Truvativ X0 10-speed crankset, ever since we saw this beautiful crankset, we've been dying to get our hands on it for a trail test. Well, we finally did, and here's what we found out.

The paint for the Trek Madone 6.9 road bike is definitely eye-catching but the execution left a lot to be desired. If you go to the trouble and expense of a personal paint job it should be perfect. On the Trek Madone 6.9 the top tube decal is off-center and, as the head tube is there to act as a reference point, you will notice it every time you ride.

The Trek Madone 6.9 fork features an integrated crown race and alloy tips with huge 'lawyer' tabs. The paint masking is average but the carbon finish on the 'asymmetric' steerer tube is exceptional.

An impressive finish on the clincher hooks makes a great first impression. The Aeolus no longer uses paired spoking which will make truing the wheels easier. The skewers use a titanium shaft although their 121 grams weight suggested otherwise.

Both the bottom bracket and head tube of the Trek Madone 6.9 feature bearing seats that are moulded from carbon-fiber and the former is fitted with Enduro ceramic bearings. Every bolt on the frame was treated with either grease or thread lock and the entire bike has clearly been built with attention to detail. The derailleur hanger was straight too.

Building a new mountain bike with the Litespeed Pisgah titanium frame. Lets face it, all cyclists are never going to agree on some things. Take the ultimate material for the perfect bike, for example. While the majority believe that it's a carbon fiber build bike frame, the retro purists are never going to believe that it's anything other than good old steel.

But whenever I take a titanium bike out for a test ride, my local bunch of mountain biking enthusiastic friends show more interest than normal, checking out every detail of the bike and bombarding me with questions. Is it stiff enough? How does it ride? How much does it weight? How much does it cost?

Regardless of where they stand on the Carbon fiber / steel frame divide, they all usually reach the same verdict” 'Wow, man, this is a classy bike'

The Cannondale Rize Carbon 1, it's light, responsive, slim and just as effective, and fun, on the 60-minute trail-ride as it is on a 6-hour country and hillside exploring. The Cannondale Rize Carbon 1 is a mountain bike that impresses all riders.

Cannondale has the Rize available in five models, two carbon framed, but Cannondale also sells it as a frame/shock combo so you can become your own product manager. And built your ultimate bike.

The Cannondale Rize Carbon 1 we had our hands on tipped the scale just over 11 kilograms complete with Crankbrothers Smarty pedals, Cannondale Hollowgram BB30 SL Crank, 130mm Lefty Max Carbon w/PBR front fork, FOX Float RP23 rear shock, Mavic Crossmax ST UST rims and hubs, Maxxis Rendez, 26 x 2.1" UST tires, Shimano XT front derailleur and Shimano XTR rear derailleur, Shimano 9-speed chain, FSA Carbon K-Force handlebars with 25mm rise, 31.8mm Cannondale XC3 stem, Cannondale HeadShok Si headset, Shimano XTR brake set with 160mm front and rear discs, Thomson Elite seat post, and a nice Fi'zi:k Gobi XM w/Kium rails saddle.

The Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper HT Disc, while many mountain bikes fall into a gray area of usage. The Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper HT Disc is not one of them. The Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper HT Disc is made for cross-country racing.

The Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper HT Disc's frame, available in five sizes, is Specialized's own blend of carbon fiber called FACT 10M carbon. The Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper HT Disc's frame appears to have been sculpted rather than molded. It is a thing of beauty that almost obsoletes the notion of frame tubes, because every tube on this fram morphs into the next. The top tube and seat stays form one solid arch. The seat tube and downtube blend together at the massive bottom-bracket shell. In a word: stunning.

The frame uses forged disc dropouts with a replaceable derailleur hanger. An integrated, oversize bottom bracket was designed together with Specialized's S-Works oversized carbon crankset.

Baggy shorts or Baggies are what differentiate mountain bikers from road riders but like riders they come in all shapes and sizes. Do you need all the bells and whistles or should you keep things simple?

There are basically three types of shorts available – with loose or clip-in liners, with them built in, and without. The least versatile is the built type because you have to wash the short between rides. Unlined shorts on the other hand allow you to wear your preferred inner, be it a liner or a regular bicycle pants, and they're often cheaper because of this.

Baggy shorts with clip-in or loose liners are the most popular and some guys we know swear by them, but others have nothing good to say about them.

Most mountain bike professionals are pretty convinced 140mm of travel is best for all-round trail bikes. But that's not to say that shorter travel bikes don't make for good, or even great trail bikes. But before you take that as a green light for the whole lighter, faster, stiffer argument there are two things you need to consider – is a short travel mountain bike the correct tool for the job and how skillful are you going to be at riding that tool?

Basically you should know the type of terrain your spend 90 percent of your time riding. IF it's smooth rolling trails, not rock infested mountains, then surely it is better to be under-biked for 10 percent of your riding than over-biked for the majority of it? Determining your skill level is more tricky, but the truth is that inexperienced or less skillful riders will feel more confident and comfortable with more travel, even it is slower on the ups.

Can a folder bike be good? The Dahon Eco 3 is Dahon's answer to that question – available in 4 colors, simple design, 7 speed gear and ProMax V aluminum front and rear rim brakes.

Dahon wanted to make the Eco 3 a bike that you could ride comfortable around town. The mission statement for the Eco 3: a folding bicycle that is durable enough to ride every day, in all weather, and light enough to easily carry up and down the stairs of any mass transit system as long as it's folded.

For the most part, Dahon have accomplished that mission with the Dahon Eco 3 Folding Bicycle.

I often ride an more expensive foldable bicycle, made in England. These pricier folding bikes set a high standard for good street handling – stable yet agile. The Dahon Eco 3 didn't feel quite as graceful, but it handled nicely enough in Bangkok traffic. Cornering was quite decent for a folding bicycle. Like all folding bicycles, there's a bit of frame and stem flex, but the Dahon Eco 3 had these in moderation. I still wouldn't recommend this bicycle to anyone over, say, 100kilo.

The Bonrager Race Lite Mountain shoe, Bontrager is the component and apparel division of Trek/Cary Fisher family, and the Race Lite Mountain is one of the shoes offered for mountain biking.

Bontrager begins with an inForm design that they hope delivers the ideal amount of toe-spring, with the toes at a slight angle in relation to the carbon-reinforced sole to help stabilize the foot while cycling. The Bontrager Race Lite Mountain shoe uses a derby cut pattern, where the tongue extends to the toe. This makes the volume of the toe box more adjustable in order to accommodate a wider variety of feet. The Race Lite Mountain shoe comes with an insole exclusively designed for Bontrager by eSoles, and the heal cup is designed to eliminate heel slip.

The Bontrager Race Lite Mountain shoe's upper is made from synthetic leather and nylon with air-mesh tongue pad. Our pair of size 8 shoes weighed about 500 grams without cleats.

Marin has increased its line of 29 inch-wheeled mountain bikes to four for 2010. The Nail Trail 29er is on top of the list just in front of the Marin Pine Mountain 29er single-speed and two lower-priced offerings: the Marin Palisades Trail 29er and Alpine Trail 29er.

The Marin Nail Trail 29er is a hardtail trailbike that uses 29-inch wheels. It is intended for the trail rider who doesn't want rear suspension. This rider is attracted to simple mountain bikes that don't require a lot of setup or maintenance.

The Marin Nail Trail 29er is constructed from 6061 aluminum. The bike uses a proprietary triple-butted, hydro-edge-formed top tube and downtube. The seat stays and chainstays use double-butted aluminum. The stays are optimized for rigidity, with a distinctive bend and shape that isn't easily discerned with the naked eye. These tubes need to be touched to get an idea of how much engineering went into them.