Tabla de contenidos para May-Jun-Jul 18 en Mountain Biking Australia

It’s become a regular thing for a few mates and I to try and find one weekend a year where we can convene to do nothing else but ride bikes, and do all those other cool things that come with riding bikes with mates; dodgy barbeques, abandoning dodgy barbeques to go to the pub, waiting for your buddy to get their respective shizzle together (that would be me, usually), fixing bikes and relaxing post-ride. It stemmed from a few years of chasing our own tails into smokin’ last place in marathon races, when we realised that the most fun part of the event was the practice laps. Why? We were all together, having a ride and a laugh. “Why don’t we just go away for a weekend and ride?” opined…

There were rumoured sightings up in the hills around Wollongong, NSW, of a super fast bloke on a mountain bike… but no one could pin it down. He was dressed in all black, no team logos, said one guy. He saw me coming and literally dove into the bush to get away from me, said another. Could it be… Josh Carlson? “Yeah,” laughs Josh, as we settle into a café near his home trails not far from the centre of the coastal town. “There was quite a bit of secrecy surrounding it (my new 2018 bike), and I just had to disappear. I chose to get away from social media for a little bit just to focus on training, focus on my family, and just have a break, you know?…

It’s become a very old story. Way back in 2014, this writer was fortunate enough to spend a day riding the famous North Shore trails of Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. Even more fortunate was doing so with MTB free-ride legend Wade Simmons and ex-Canadian MTB Olympian Andreas Hestler. And that’s where this story really started; Hestler is actually part of the brains trust behind the creation of the BC Bike Race (BCBR), one of the world’s most famous MTB stage races, now in its eleventh year. I barely survived that 2014 experience – the term ‘way in over your head’ didn’t even come close to covering the first 10 minutes of riding on some of Wade’s ‘special’ trails, much less what followed on that day. Somehow, Andreas got me…

RATINGS VALUE 7 FUNCTION 7 LOOKS 7 OVERALL 7/10 The Hans Dampf has been a staple in the Schwalbe range for quite a few years now; it’s designed as a great all-rounder tyre for when you need to expect the unexpected. Along with all of Schwalbe’s range, it got an update last year with the company’s new Addix rubber compound, as well as the option for a tougher Super Gravity casing in addition to the newer Tubeless Easy (TLE) casing. I’ve been testing both a TLE with the Addix Speedgrip rubber as well as a Super Gravity in Addix Soft rubber to see how they compare, both to the older version, and to each other. Firstly, what hasn’t changed is the tread pattern and casing profile. I’ve long been a…

With his rugged cowboy looks and his trademark handlebar moustache, Tom Ritchey is something of a romantic icon of mountain biking. As he hits 60, he can still smoke most riders half his age, and rides solo into the legendary mountains of California whenever he gets – or rather makes chance, which means most days. Tom and his Ritchey Logic brand have been around longer for than most mountain bike brands – since before mountain biking even existed, in fact. Tom was an original pioneer of off road riding, and his familiar red. white and blue-clad Ritchey Racing team of the 1990s ruled the XC roost for many years. All these years later, he’s still as passionate as ever about building and riding mountain bikes of every genre, and has…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 7/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7.5/10 Intense is not the first name when you think about bikes that are built to go uphill fast. The American brand is most famous for machinery that can bomb down faster than most others, and it's been instrumental in the development of many of the sport's fastest downhill race bikes. Its new Sniper, however, is aimed at the other extreme of mountain biking. At just on 11.1kg fully laden in a large size (with tubes, pedals and a cage!), just 100mm of travel front and rear, and not an upright angle to be seen, the Intense Sniper XC is built to do just one thing. But is it too limited in its appeal? We scored a few days on…

ABSOLUTEBLACK SILICONE GRIPS AbsoluteBlack has come up with an interesting take on the lightweight silicone grip with this dual density number. The company claims that the 70g grips – yep, that’s for a pair – are grooved for extra grip, making it ideal for riders who ride gloveless. At 33mm in diameter and 130mm long, they also offer a good amount of chunk. They even ship with a pair of turned alloy bar end plugs that use rubber o-rings to keep them in place, and they even ship with spare o-rings so you can adjust the fit. Weight 70g Price $50 Website www.absoluteblack.com ONEUP AXLE ‘Lighter’ and ‘stronger’ aren’t often heard in the same sentence when it comes to mountain bike bits, but that’s what OneUp is claiming for its…

Religious fanaticism, sable-rattling Mullahs and a seemingly sealed off society: Iran remains a largely cryptic country. The oriental magic of the past is nowhere to be found. A trip to Tehran and its backcountry has confronted Andrew Neethling and Holger Meyer with reality. Together with locals, the well-travelled pros explored the pearl of Persia’s single trails — and experienced not just the country’s top-notch trail network, but also the warmth of its inhabitants. Their perception of Iran was turned completely upside down. My head pounds as the taxi driver merges into the traffic while honking like a madman. The two bike bags in the back push against me from behind. It’s a miracle that they even made it into the yellow Saipa. We can’t believe Tehran’s rush-hour traffic with its…

RATINGS VALUE 7 FUNCTION 9 LOOKS 7 OVERALL 7.7/10 Shimano’s history of connecting you to your bike via small bits of metal stretches back to the 1990s, and for the most part it’s been the only game in town. A plethora of flat pedals have eroded some of its market share, but in the main, the majority of riders are still on SPDs. Lately, though, other companies like HT, Crank Bros and Funn have been releasing clipless pedals that have attracted a bit of attention. Broader platforms and additional grip in the form of spikes have found favour not just with enduro and downhill types, but with riders looking for a bit more general foot support. It’s taken a little while, but Shimano has finally responded, using its Saint downhill…

As the World Cup downhill circus (finally!) gets started for the 2018 season, we managed to snag Kona factory rider Connor Fearon’s brand new rig for a quick peek. Connor, from Adelaide in South Australia, is the only pro downhiller on Kona’s roster, and the 24-year-old is knocking on the door of a win, after an amazing second at Leogang in 2015, a seventh overall in 2017 and 12th (including a podium in Lourdes) overall last year, despite injury. His Operator has been updated for the 2018 season, and it looks like a simple, solid rig that's built to work hard. Aside from a carbon mainframe and seatpost, everything else is bombproof alloy, especially the Novatec wheels. "We can't kill these," confesses Connor, who we caught up with at Maydena…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 7/10 ON THE TRAIL 7.5/10 OVERALL 7/10 Norco released the Optic in 2016, and it brought with it a host of new systems and design ideas. These features have since spread right through the Norco line-up, with bikes like the Sight and Range adopting a similar style; the Optic really did herald in the new generation of Norco bikes. For 2017 the Optic line-up remained relatively unchanged; the company added an XX1 Eagle equipped version at the top-end but the rest of the range looked the same. This year Norco has tweaked the platform a little, replacing the alloy seat stay with a carbon fibre unit on the top two models. Of course the specs have also been updated, with SRAM GX Eagle 1X12 drivetrains being…

So Enduro This is Phil Bastow’s new Specialized Enduro Elite Carbon 29er. “Within three days of picking it up, I was atop of Mount Stromlo ready to send it on Vapour,” he told us. It certainly is a clever weapon – with 160mm of travel front and rear, the ability to use either 29-inch or 27.5+-inch tyres and even a threaded bottom bracket, the carbon/alloy Enduro is pretty much ready to roll out of the box. Phil has added a set of Shimano’s good value GR500 flat pedals, installed some tools in the Specialized’s SWAT hollow frame box, put some air to the tyres and he was ready to shred the rocks of Stromlo. Majura Magic Another Specialized, and another Canberra-ite! Nathan Henderson’s 2016 Stumpjumper Carbon Comp runs on 27.5-inch…

As we roll up behind two other riders on the winding dirt trail, my guide Tam slow down noticeably. Isn’t that nice, I think. She’s giving them some room so we can ride faster. Suddenly she slows, veering left onto a barely marked track in the Tasmanian rainforest and motioning for me to follow. “We can’t let anyone see us,” she loud-whispers, as we ride further into the bush. In 20 seconds we emerge into a clearing, where it looks as if a benevolent alien race has beamed down a brace of small, curvaceous dwellings for its exclusive use. We are virtually in the epicentre of a large mountain bike trail network that rivals anything currently in existence in the world… and nobody knows these buildings are even here. Welcome…

MODERN manufacturing is a pretty amazing thing. Modern consumer products are made up of dozens of parts that have to work all the time, every time, no matter the conditions or the end user… and mountain bike shocks have to have one of the hardest lives of all. Repeated cycles under exposed conditions and in all types of weather are hard things to engineer for, and so generally speaking a typical mountain bike suspension piece will be slightly overbuilt in terms of manufacturing tolerances in order to have a better change of survival out in the wild. As well, a shock or fork is designed to work across a wide spectrum of end users. From young kids to old farts, from 55kg XC whippets to 120kg strappers, and from cold…

RATINGS VALUE 7 FUNCTION 8 (for the right candidate) LOOKS N.A (well, you can't see it once fitted) OVERALL – 7.5 Current generation air sprung suspension forks are pretty darn good. If your RockShox Lyrik or Fox 34 isn’t performing well, there’s every chance that you have set it up poorly, or you simply need to give it a service. Even so, this doesn’t stop suspension specialists attempting to improve on the status quo. While the company is relatively small, Vorsprung has made quite a name in the suspension tuning game. They first came to our attention a few years back with the release of the Corset – an aftermarket air sleeve for Fox rear shocks – but Vorsprung’s founder Steve Mathews has been tinkering with mountain bike suspension for…

RATINGS VALUE 7 FUNCTION 7 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 7.5/10 Unlike other bike gear, I've never enjoyed purchasing a new saddle; when my old trusty finally wears out and I need to look for something new, I'm always filled with dread. There's potential for a whole world of pain before finally finding something that fits. However, saddle designs are constantly evolving, and the options in the women’s specific saddle market are expanding. US saddle specialists Fizik released a new range of women's specific saddles in late 2017, and from this we’ve had the off-road specific Luna X5 on test. The Luna X5 is available in two widths; regular (141mm wide) and large (153mm wide), and they are claimed to weigh 255g and 260g respectively. It will set you back around $120,…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 7/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7.5/10 Canadian brand Rocky Mountain is synonymous with free-riding MTB, thanks both to its home base, right next door to the trails of Vancouver’s famous North Shore, and its sponsored athletes, namely a certain Wade Simmons and, more recently Tomas Vanderham. This has seen all Rocky Mountain bikes spiced with vary varying amounts of that North Shore DNA in their geometry and spec over the brand’s 30-plus years. This past two years has seen Rocky Mountain release a flood of heavily revised (read: pretty much all-new) updates across its model range, including the Element, Altitude and – after a few years out of the model lineup – an all-new Slayer. The latest Rocky rig to receive this treatment is its…

IF you want to send your shock away for a service or an update – like we did back on page 44 – then you’ll need to drop it out of your bike first. If you can wield a hex key, you’re most of the way there… but as with everything, there’s always a right way and a better way to do it. Be aware that the air shaft of your shock is a crucial element, and if you mark the surface with an inadvertent hex key move, it’ll score the seals in your shock and shorten its life, so be a bit careful. We also used a handy piece of bike packing Styrofoam that you can get in metric bulk at any bike shop – rags will suffice as…