H2O audio just announced The Outdoor Sport Integration System for their iPod nano case at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. Apparently these guys make waterproof iPod cases (see photo) but the newest product (not yet released) is a mounting bracket for attaching your iPod to your mountain bike. It seems like the main advantage of this is you can see your iPod while you’re riding so you can easily select tracks, change the volume, etc. I wonder if a video iPod mount is next, wouldn’t it be trippy to watch a mountain biking video while you ride your mountain bike? The case appears to be waterproof like the other H2O Audio products so no worries about riding in the rain or mud.

My concern is that anything you mount to your bike is going to get rattled around worse than a paint can shaker at Home Depot. I’ve certainly had problems with my GPS handlebar mount (broken clips, broken GPS, etc.) and a GPS seems like a far more rugged device than a shiny iPod nano. From what I understand about the nano, it doesn’t have moving parts (i.e. a hard drive) like the video iPod units so maybe this isn’t an issue. Does bombing down a downhill run with an iPod attached to your bike void your iPod warranty? I’m interested to see how this thing works, the lack of photos leaves me skeptical.

In case you missed it over the holidays, Lance Armstrong backed out of the Leadville 100 mountain bike race due to a “scheduling conflict.” Too bad, mountain biking really needs more superstar personalities to generate new interest in the sport. In related news, it is also uncertain whether Floyd Landis will be racing in the Leadville 100 as previously reported since the race is NORBA certified and Landis may be sanctioned for his actions in last year’s Tour.

Despite anecdotal evidence of growing popularity in the sport of mountain biking, sports participation numbers show the number of mountain bikers in the US has been steadily decreasing since the 1990s. The exception was in 2005 when high gas prices influenced many to purchase mountain bikes just to get around. That’s pretty lame if you ask me, what will it take to make mountain biking cool again?

Don’t you wish some days that your job was to ride mountain bikes? You could open a bike shop in your town (though more than likely you’ll lose you ass) or train 8 hours a day to become a pro rider. Maybe you could start a touring company, guiding people on trail rides around Colorado? Too bad those guys usually live in tents and end up begging for cash for a Big Mac.

While the new bike jobs section on Singletracks certainly doesn’t offer the full time mountain bike employment you might be looking for, we do have some stuff you can do for cash and merchandise. Think of it as a way to defray the cost for your epic trip to Moab or beer money for your next post-ride bash.

Bike jobs certainly aren’t for everyone, we all know what happens when a hobby starts to remind you of work (ask a certain person I know who used to love mountain biking before she started working for the bike “man”). But if you are interested in a full-time career in the cycling industry here are some places you might want to look:

• Trek bicycles
• Performance bike (also owns Nashbar)
• Santa Cruz
• REI (not all bikes, but close enough)
• Boutique bike manufacturer (dozens of these all across the country)
• Local bike shops (might be best to do this part-time, that way you can get discounts without working your ass off)
• Bike touring companies and/or ski resorts (these are usually seasonal positions)
• Specialized
• Bicycle courier agencies (dangerous but sexy)

Pro deals and industry discounts are a major perk for industry workers (you’ll also find you suddenly have new friends eager to take advantage of your deals). Don’t expect a big paycheck though; every cycling Joe who wishes he could work for a bike company is willing to take a pay cut just to get in the door. It’s a competitive industry to get into but certainly rewarding for the right person – just don’t be offended when I ask you to hook me up with a deal.

Amazon has a good deal on the Suunto T3 and Mountain Bike Pod Combo Pack. I hadn’t seen this watch before but apparently it not only tracks heart rate, calories burned, and splits but it also tracks your speed and distance via included bicycle pod. I have a Suunto X3 watch and it’s really a high quality watch so I’m guessing this one is pretty dope. Right now it’s $60 off – only $159.99. Looks like it also qualifies for free shipping which is sweet.

The combo pack comes with the watch, a heart rate monitor, and bike pod so you’ll have everything you need. Not sure what makes this a “mountain bike” watch as opposed to just a general cycling watch but, hopefully the bike pod is a bit more rugged than what you’d expect for a road bike.

We’ve been having unseasonably warm temperatures here on the east coast so far this winter (sorry Colorado bikers) and that’s meant a crazy long mountain bike season that still hasn’t ended. Here in North Carolina today it’s supposed to be in the mid-70s and New York City had it’s first November and December without snow since 1877. Not to worry, I’m told this isn’t global warming, just el Nino and an unusual jet stream pattern.

Anyway, it turns out lots of people who had planned on going skiing this winter are opting for mountain bikes instead. Instead of cancelling reservations in ski areas like New Hampshire many riders are hitting the (snowless) cross-country ski trails on bikes instead of skis.

I guess mountain biking is a good substitute for skiing since both involve hurtling yourself down mountains and trails at high speeds. It’s interesting to note, however, that only about 50% of singletracks.com users report downhill skiing/snowboarding as a hobby. Of course this probably depends on where you live; if you live in Florida you don’t have as many opportunities for snow sports and you can ride your bike year round.

So if you’re heading to the mountains for a little winter vacation, consider packing your mountain bike – studded tires optional.

We recently came across a website selling mountain bike lifestyle clothing called Evomo (though we’re not quite sure if the name has any specific meaning). It’s surprising we haven’t seen anything like this before, though the classic “Singletrack Mind” shirt could be considered a trailblazer in this area. There are already lifestyle brands and micro-brands associated with extreme sports like skateboarding (DC shoe, Zoo York, etc.) and surf (OP, Quicksilver, etc.) but few mountain bike brands come to mind (Pearl Izumi?). The mountain bike brands that are around tend to focus on performance gear rather than lifestyle, and that’s a shame.

Seeing the designs over at Evomo inspired us to come up with a few humorous mountain bike t-shirts of our own, though our design skills are little match for even a 13-year old kid on a Tandy. Here are our two favorites:

We would love to hear about any other micro lifestyle brands in the mountain bike world, mountain bikers deserve cool stuff too!

New for 2007: The singletrack* mountain bike blog. The idea is for this to be a daily or semi-daily roundup of interesting news concerning mountain biking, mountain bike trails, GPS biking, singletracks.com, and tangential topics.

Do you know of any good mountain bike blogs? Unforuntately we don’t (unless Marla Streb is keeping hers up over on DateWorld er, DirtWorld), that’s why we felt compelled to start this one. There’s plenty to talk about but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the first REAL post.

* Nope, that ain’t a typo. Yes, we’re on singletracks.com (with an s) but this is the singletrack blog for reasons we may or may not discuss at a later time.