The Giant XtC Advanced SL 29er 0 could be the ultimate velocity machine from the world’s leading composite bike builder – and it’s also the Super Bike in MBUK 287.

As usual, there wasn’t enough space in the magazine to fit in all the photos we wanted to, so you can feast your eyes on all the extra details shots below.

Guy Kesteven says: “When a company with the exceptional experience and facilities of Giant stick an ‘Advanced Super Light’ tag on a new race bike, you can be sure it’s something very special.”

Find out if he’s right in MBUK 287, on sale on 8 Feb.

On Monday, we caught up with Nico Vink for bikes, beers and barbecues at the Bensink BBB Jam

On Tuesday, we saw the Athertons and co show off the new ONE Industries MTB kit

Wednesday saw this video emerge of Chris Van Dine’s crazy wallride at Mexico’s Downhill Taxco urban race

Thursday brought with it part three of Weavs’ Mojo Trail Diaries with Fabien Barel and Mark Weir in Morocco

And on Friday, we couldn’t help but be impressed by this super slow-mo goodness from Anthill Films, starring Aaron Gwin, Greg Minaar and Gee Atherton

Don’t forget you can see all the latest MTB videos as they come out on ChopMTB.com.

Kurt Sorge might have stormed to victory at this year’s Red Bull Rampage, but the most viewed run has perhaps been Cam Zink‘s, thanks to his massive bail halfway across the massive Canyon Gap – from 80ft. He was lucky to walk away from that one – respect!

When searching YouTube for ‘Cam Zink Crash’ however, we realised quote how many massive offs he’s had – there were a fair number of videos of his crashes in big comps. So we thought we’d share them.

Where better to start than with the Rampage crash itself? Cam said on Facebook: “I guess I’m doing OK if this 80ft bail to flat only bruised my heels.” That said, the Contour helmet cam footage of the crash is pretty terrifying.

Cam might have won the Rampage in 2010, but that wasn’t before a big crash during his first run of the finals…

And at the Crankworx Red Bull Joyride this year, he sent a backflip just a little too big…

BikeRadar.com launch free online training resourch! Save 40% on premium training plans!

BikeRadar Training is a new, free online resource brought to you by BikeRadar.com. With it, you can record and analyse all aspects of your training, log your training routes, get  tailored training plans, see how you’re doing on the leaderboards, set goals and plan your competitive season with a comprehensive events guide.

All you need to do is register on BikeRadar.com (if you don’t already have an account) and you can get started (if you’re already logged into BikeRadar, you’ll need to log out and log back in via the BikeRadar Training page).

Plus, you can now save 40 per cent on the BikeRadar Training Premium training plans! Just £6 will get you an eight-week plan. The plans have been exclusively designed for BikeRadar by Koolstof Coaching, who have been working with cyclists to help them reach their goals since 2002.

Just head over to training.bikeradar.com and enter the promotion code: promo1 The offer is available until 13 May 2012.

A helpful guide on how to use the BikeRadar Training can be found here:

In this new video by Alex Rankin, Chris Akrigg talks about getting back in the saddle, slowly but surely, and what inspired him to ride bikes in the first place. He also discusses the frustration of his mind being ready to push thngs further when his body isn’t quite there yet…

It’s pretty inspiring viewing and brilliant to see Chris back riding his Mongoose. He has a clear idea of what he needs to do next to really put the crash behind him too.

You can see the whole video below…

Chris Akrigg – Mind Games from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

We know there’s a lot of controversy surrounding 29in wheels at the moment, but really, you can’t knock something until you’ve tried it!

Around the same time as we put that together, our sister website, BikeRadar.com were running a video series on 29er mountain bikes, designed to dispel some of the myths that have been, for want of a better word, pedalled over the years about the bigger wheeled bikes.

The five-part series, presented by Mountain Biking UK and What Mountain Bike gurus Doddy and Justin Loretz, aims to highlight some of the benefits to 29ers over 26in bikes, such as better traction, improved stability and superior handling of rough terrain.

You can see all the videos, in the order they were made, below.

And don’t forget to head over to our forum and tell us what you think!

A relatively bike-free video from the Animal Bike Tour boys sees the team head to Stockholm for Sweden’s first ever Scandinavian Fitness Festival.

While there, they tried their hands at all kinds of sports – Blake Samson showed a particular prowess for zumba and power hooping, and even gave pole-dancing a go!

Tour Manager Robin Kitchin also pulled some crazy moves on a segway and Martyn Ashton attempted parkour!

The team also called in on Malmo skate park – one of the best in the world – where MC James Thorne came into his own!

Don’t miss MBUK 275 where Martyn recalls his top three shows from the 2011 Animal Bike Tour, and keep up to date with their 2012 antics at http://biketour.animal.co.uk/.

When I first started riding off road, access wasn’t an issue. Sure, we naively ventured on to footpaths, bridleways and trails without really knowing where we should and shouldn’t go. But being young, the people we’d meet were far more interested in this new sport we were doing, and how impressed they were that we were out enjoying the countryside. A far cry from many other young people in suburbia who bide time smoking and drinking in parks, partaking in urban activities that many deem as vandalism or simply doing nothing.

And so my attitude to the countryside has always been respectful. I choose to enjoy it as I’m interested in the country we live in, and I’m interested in other people that use the country too. I always greet people I come across, be it other riders; dog walkers; walkers or people having a picnic. Some tell stories of amazing views worth discovering and others tip off about great descents to uncover. But some, unfortunately, just don’t get it.

They’re the people that want the countryside to them selves. There aren’t many of them, but there are enough to spoil it for everyone.

A section of woodland I regularly pass through in Bath has a few bridleways and footpaths going through it, but also a lot of steep hillside that’s perfect for riding- and far too steep for walkers to enjoy. I’ve been finding my way through there for over 10 years, and as long as I live here will always pass through. And my nephew’s will too as they’re growing up appreciating the countryside on their bikes- I’m certainly keen to promote outdoor activities as opposed to sticking them in front of the TV or Playstation. But that’s a whole other problem this country needs to address.

Anyhow, someone living on the estate at the bottom of the hill doesn’t like it. They take their dog for a walk every day, and make an effort to block a route used by many riders. And they do it dangerously- only a few steps behind this story. On blind turns this offender has put heavy logs in places you wouldn’t see until you are there, and even gone to the trouble of balancing some at chest height. And this isn’t even on the footpath- we don’t ride on the footpath. Walkers have started using the route we’ve worn in, as it’s nicer than their footpath- and this culprit has decided that the footpath isn’t enough, and he wants this trail too.

Mountain bikers don’t mind sharing the countryside- and bar a few exceptions- will always slow down or stop to give way to others. I know that people don’t ride this section of trail fast as it’s steep and blind. The guy that keeps putting the logs there knows that too. And if I catch him I’m going to find out who he is and report him to the police- it’s a matter of time before someone gets injured. And it’s fairly likely it’ll be an inexperienced kid, which I will simply not stand for.

Being the tolerate kind, I’m not completely fazed by this though- as trail terrorists like my local culprit are a dieing breed, thankfully. Everyday I see more and more older folk out on mountain bikes- and it makes me smile. Not just for the fact that they’re riding mountain bikes, but they’ve realized there’s a better way to see the countryside- and more of it too. Sooner or later, the minority that creates problems will be pushing up daisies whilst the next generation will be out seeing the British countryside in all it’s beauty.

But it doesn’t give you the right to roam where you choose- we haven’t got it as good as Scotland. Yet…

Sam Blenkinsop might not have had the start to the season that he was hoping for, but a podium place at the Worlds was a perfect way for the Lapierre rider to end it.

The video below sees Blenkinsop dissect his year – enjoy!