I was told they were running steeper than quoted head angles, and those were the figures measured on a 08 bike.  I checked with Michael on Tuesday and he said some of the protoypes may have had different setups for testing but not usually that far out, it can't have been measured properly. 09 bikes are quoted at 67degrees, 66 on the AM.

 Mojo confirmed that a 36 travel adjusted to 130mm will have a crown to axle measurement very close to a Float 140 so you needn't lose climbing ability if you choose to run one..

They are looking into building some lighter 5's as prototypes using thinner sheet metal, then destruction testing them. So there may be a 5 XC or light version by 2010. Current ones are overbuilt to exceed CE testing so it's possible they'll see production.

The Alpine is not replacing the Patriot, it's a refined version of the Alpine 5 that only saw  limited production. Running 66.5 h/a 74 s/a it's looking like a good all day big rig to me.

There's a new version of the Patriot on the way with EVO style dropouts, it keeps the sliding shock mount and may get an adjustable headtube.

And the R8 is being tweaked so they can get it through CE testing, adding a bit of weight, because they have to extend the butting in the downtube.

i thought the patriot was taking a year out.

do you know if they have dropped the subzero for 09 kevin?

They didn't have any subzeros there, and it doesn't appear in the 09 catalogue. So i think it's dropped.

If they're happy with the new Patriot, they'll introduce it earlier. But they've always done that. When they get a design that works, they put it out ASAP.

I forgot to mention there's a new FR upgrade with lots of *bling* Sunline V1 kit too. Currently bar, stem and pedals, but they're looking into a seatpost to complete the set.

Plus XT or X9 swapped at no extra cost to give you your choice of transmission.

Prices haven't been fixed on some of the bikes or upgrades yet because they haven't received the finishing kit, and don't know what the costs are.

Keep an eye on the website for prices and build info it'll be updated shortly.