New Sponsor/Team for 2012!

This week I got some really exciting news. For the 2012 season I will be riding for the Giant Store Radlett racing team. This means the loan of a brand spanking new XTC composite 29er for the season. The team is also supported with nutrition from Maxim, pedals from Look and helmets from Met. I was already looking forward to getting this season underway but now I actually can't wait! I am really grateful to Dan from Giant Radlett for giving me the opportunity to use some of the best kit available and I'm also looking forward to meeting the rest of the team. The pressure to do well this season is now even greater because I really want to be able to justify having the jersey.

I have had a very short ride on the new XTC 29er and the first thing you notice is the stiffness of the frame. It feels almost as direct as a roadbike and feels seriously light too. The next thing you notice is the size of the tubes. Oversized doesn't do them justice. The down tube is a huge asymectric squared tube that you can hardly get two hands around it. I am really looking forward to getting the chance to have a bit of a longer ride on the bike because I have only had one other experience on a 29er but I was pleasantly surprised with the Giant Anthem X 29er so if that is anything to go by it should be rapid. The XTC also seems to get some good reviews in the press.

The other exciting part of this deal is the opportunity to test other bikes from Giant so that I can review them. The TCR Advanced road bike seems to be very popular with my local roadies at the moment so I am looking forward to having a crack on that too!

PS. for those who arent that up to speed on mtb terminology, a 29er is a bike with 29 inch wheels rather than the more common 26 inch wheels on most bikes. 29ers are definately in vogue this season so i'm glad I will be bang on trend when the new bike arrives!