New frames, brakes, and forks found in the desert

By James Huang

Over in the pit area of NMBS #1 race series sponsor Bear Naked - Cannondale (Bear Naked makes granola, for those of you who were wondering), the CT-based bike company showcased its newest model, the Taurine. Cannondale's first-ever full-carbon hardtail frame utilizes unidirectional high-modulus carbon fiber construction for a claimed finished frame weight of just 1.25kg.

Cannondale uses a tapered oversized down tube just as it does on its upper-end aluminum models, but the Taurine also incorporates fully integrated headset bearings and uniquely flattened chain stays that supposedly offer a bit of vertical give (not quite as dramatic as on the company's Scalpel, of course, but along the same idea). Naturally, Cannondale includes its proprietary Lefty fork and Si integrated crankset, yielding an astonishingly light 9.4kg (20.74lb) complete bike (actual weight without pedals, but with two bottle cages).

Fox Racing Shox isn't launching its new 2008 lineup until Sea Otter time, but that doesn't mean bits of it weren't out in public for the first major US mountain bike race of the season. We already showed you the new revision to the RP23 rear shock, but a new fork was also found on the Anthem Advanced of Team Giant's Adam Craig on the second day of the race.

To read the complete mountain bike tech coverage from the first NMBS event, click here. James Huang also brings us the latest information on new shocks and tires that were on display on racers' bikes last weekend.