Tabla de contenidos para Aug-Sep-Oct 18 en Mountain Biking Australia

I had a really interesting discussion with one of MBA’s contribs the other day… and it’s a conversation I can’t get out of my head. He was pitching stories at me, and one revolved around the notion that older bikes - we’re talking a decade or more here – can still be relevant and useful. As an ed, I have X amount of money and Y amount of pages per issue… and the two numbers are usually pretty far apart. Hence, really good ideas often have to get parked because… and that’s where Steve’s pitch got stuck. Why AM I parking it? At its most basic, a magazine is a construct that’s supposed to inform, educate and entertain its readers, who buy the magazine because they want to, not have…

ONE-RIDE REVIEW – FOX PROFRAME HELMET Thanks to ever-improving tyre, brake and suspension tech, our bikes are getting faster and faster… and the terrain rushes up to say hello a lot quicker as a result. Helmet technology has, thankfully, come a long way from the recycled roadie lids we used to wear, but even modern trail helmets can leave us exposed. Enter the Fox Proframe helmet (above right), which is modelled on the brand’s Rampage Pro downhill lid (above left). It shares the Rampage’s fixed chinbar and moto-style peak, but loses a lot of material to reduce weight and improve airflow in and around the helmet. Side-by-side, it’s easy to see where the major changes have been wrought; the chinbar is a shadow of the Carbon’s version, while equally large…

Ten, maybe twenty minutes… that’s all I’d planned on for my opening morning walk around the tiny village of Tochni, yet it was to be close to two hours against I finally got back to my room and thought about riding my bike. From my window I could see much of the village, as it lay on the sides of the gorge beneath me. Sure enough, the actual walk time was only 20 minutes all in, but it was the distractions of the personal kind along the way that padded out the rest of the time. I was finding out pretty quickly just how very hospitable Cypriots were, far more so than I’d imagined. By the time I finally returned to my room, I’d spoken to somewhere in the region…

Day One I specialise in backwards climbing. No, I don’t climb on the bike backwards and pedal up hills looking where I’ve been. What I mean is I tend to drop like a stone through the pack at the start of a race that immediately goes uphill. It’s a bit disheartening when we’re talking a few hundred metre and a few riders coming by. But when the first 15km of a race is virtually all uphill, as was the opening stage of the Port to Port at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley, then there’s just no denying reality. All I do is try not to beat myself up too much mentally for being so below average … and lock on to the wheel of someone else who is having an…

RATINGS VALUE 8 FUNCTION 8 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 8 You wouldn’t think about heading into the bush without strapping on a brain bucket and slipping on some gloves… and the knee pad is fast becoming a pre-ride prerequisite, as well. The old arguments that they are too bulky and hot no longer apply, either, thanks to clever use of materials that render them all but invisible. Lusty Industries sent down a pair of Troy Lee Design’s Speed knee pads, which are designed to be used all day, every day when you’re out tackling your regular trails. Based around a seamless elasticated nylon sleeve that feels much like a compression knee brace, the Speed knee pad relies on a 4mm thick pad of material called D3O for its protective qualities. Far…

SRAM has released details about its newest – and most affordable – 12-speed Eagle group to date, the NX. Slotting in underneath the popular GX lineup, the NX series brings similar 12sp tech in at a more affordable price point… and in particular at the business end of the gruppo, the cassette. NX comprises a new chain, 10-50t cassette, crankset, rear derailleur and shifter, which will all be reverse-compatible with other Eagle bits, right up to and including XO1 and XX1. The new NX cranks are made of alloy and use SRAM’s direct mount X-Sync 2 steel rings as standard. It adopts the brand’s new Dub 28.99mm (cue: rolling eyes) axle diameter, which SRAM claims helps with bottom bracket compatibility and improve bearing quality. It'll be offered in 165mm, 170mm…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 6/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7 Standing in the chairlift queue at Thredbo, the conversation began; “Why aren't you riding up? At least you'll be set if the lift breaks down.” I'd only had one quick pedal on the Marin prior to heading to Snowy Mountains – no more than a scoot around the driveway – but it was enough to know that this bike pedalled very efficiently. Perhaps my newfound friend was already aware of its pedalling prowess? Alas, this wasn't the case and he'd simply mistaken the unusually shaped Wolf Ridge for an e-bike! The Wolf Ridge isn't just visually different, but the suspension platform is pretty unique too. Marin is one of only two brands worldwide using the Darrell Voss-designed Naild R3ACT…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 8/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 8/10 Whyte may not be the first brand you think of when jotting down your dream shopping list of bikes. The English brand has been around since 1999 and was born of founder Jon Whyte’s love of engineering, which showed through his involvement in Formula in the mid 1990s. Born and bred in the UK - and made in Taiwan - the Whyte is built for the rough and tumble of all weathers, and the $4650 G-170 S represents the longest travel bike that the company has ever offered. Built in consultation with the brand's enduro racing team, the aim was to improve upon the previous generation G-160 – itself begat from the G-150 – but to add some playfulness…

‘It’s MTB, but not as you know it!’ shouts the promotional poster for GV Amp’d, touted as Australia’s first ever electric mountain bike race (or technically speaking, a Class 1 pedal-assist e-mtb specific event). Promising the ‘steepest climbs, gnarliest descents and most excitement ever packed into an XC course,’ it’s happening only 20 minutes from MBA’s palatial multi-storey office complex – okay, my spare upstairs hall closet – at the growing Green Valleys Mountain Bike Park, southwest of Wollongong. Let’s get one straight down from the get-go – I am old school when it comes to bikes, but I get the e-mtb thing… I really do. My first electrically-aided ride opened my eyes to possibilities I’d never considered, and subsequent exposure to the notion of a pedal-assisted mountain bike has…

It was 4.30am in the morning and Matt D’Arcy was wide awake. The music producer knew what he had to do. He rolled over in bed and woke up heavily pregnant wife Emma. “We should launch an Australian mountain bike cleaning products brand,” he told her. Later that same day Emma delivered their second daughter, Mia. That makes it easy for Matt and Emma to remember when Krush MTB products officially came into being; July 22, 2015. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I went to bed thinking about it and I woke up thinking ‘yeah we are doing this’,” Matt recalls. OK, so we’re cutting a few steps out of the process. The idea didn’t just hit Matt out of the blue. It had been in his mind, gestating…

RATINGS VALUE 6.5 FUNCTION 8 LOOKS 7 OVERALL 7.5 Late last year SRAM revamped its Code brake, which is a model that's designed for hard-hitting gravity use. Think downhill racing and enduro, and you’re close to the mark. With regular mountain bikes steadily evolving to become bigger, more confident and capable, I decided to try the new Code on my trail bike to see how they fared and whether it would prove to be too much. Prior to the Code relaunch, the four-piston Guide was the go-too model for many SRAM-sponsored gravity riders. With the ability to perform at EWS level, the Guide is no slouch when it comes to stopping, but we were keen to see what the Code has to offer. In many ways the new Code is…

It's been a question on the lips of a lot of mountain bike pundits for some time now; just when will Shimano make the jump to a 12-speed groupset? After all, its archest of arch rivals SRAM has offered its top three groups with 12 gears for more than two years already, and it's claimed a lot of market share in the emerging long-travel trail bike segment as a result. All things come to those who wait, and Shimano has finally pushed the button on its first ever 12-speed set, kicking it off with XTR M9100. It'll come under the one name, but it will now be split into two distinct arms – pure XC and enduro/trail. However, Shimano – long a defender of the front derailleur – hasn't gone…

One of US company Pivot's best known bikes, the 120mm travel 429 dually, has been made over for the new age of trail-munching, all-day 29ers. The all-carbon rig offers 120mm of travel - up 4mm - from its Fox Evol-suspended DW Link rear end, matched to a 130mm travel front fork (in our case, a Fox Performance 34). We grabbed Pivot's international sales manager John Pentecost, who was in Australia for the launch, for a bit of a debrief. MBA: Okay, mate, what’s the deal with the new Trail 429? JP: The idea is basically we updated the geometry, shortened the chain stays. So, this is a 29er bike with 430mm chain stays, which is really short for a 29er. Head angle is 67.25 degrees, seat angle is 74, so…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 8/10 ON THE TRAIL 7/10 OVERALL 7.5 There’s an old saying about horses for courses, and the modern mountain bike excels at offering its owner a great deal of flexibility. Sure, there are bikes that are better for gravity, and bikes that do their best work on flatter, longer hauls, but in the main, your new-school dually has a pretty wide performance envelope. That flexibility has, however, meant that bikes at either end of the travel scale haven’t been as popular, and often haven’t garnered much attention from product planning types at bike companies. This year, though, has been a watershed of sorts for the shorter travel all-day rig, with companies like Yeti and Intense throwing new 100mm rear-travel bikes into the mix. So, too, has…

Most injuries from mountain biking tend to happen when riding… or to be more specific, when crashing! However, there are injuries which can come about from overuse, general tightness and the combination of weekday desk warrior and weekend mtb warrior. This article will address trying to prevent those injuries which can arise from overuse and general bike riding. Most of us these days are sedentary for the bulk of our day, and try to readdress the balance by riding really hard at the weekend. The injuries that happen when you crash… well, I’m sad to say I can’t help you there. Some of the niggles and injuries listed below can also be a direct result of an ill-fitting bike (for example, your saddle is too low or too high, or…

Close Encounter My name is Hayden de Courtenay, I’m 14 and I have recently ventured to the Great South West of Australia with my dad. Whilst riding at a trail spot called Secret Whicher, we decided to take a slightly longer loop on a track called Coca Cola and were breathing heavily as we reached the top of a climb out of a valley, only to find a wild boar staring at us, ready to charge! I managed to snap a quick picture and dad whispered “don’t make any sudden movements,” as we crept around it. After nervously moving around while constantly keeping an eye on this boar, I went to give dad the thumbs up when a high pitched squeal erupted from the pig as it begun to charge…

“We’re grateful for what we have here.” Grant Dowell tells me as we survey the softening light playing across the trails ahead of us. “It’s only a small parcel of land, but we make it work for us.” I’m at the base of the Lake Canobolas (pronounced Can-abol-as) Mountain Bike Park, an area to the south of the inland city of Orange, in the NSW Central Tablelands. A short distance away to the south is Mount Canobolas, an extinct volcano that towers up to 1390m above sea level at its highest point, and the one responsible for pushing up the area’s elevation over its millions of years of activity. The Bike Park is situated next to the Lake Canobolas reserve which offers various recreation facilities, and is nestled in between…

RATINGS VALUE 8 FUNCTION 9 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 8.3 Chances are the bike in your garage comes with Rock Shox or Fox forks… and that’s not a bad thing in the least. Both brands are building pretty darn good products that work across a wide gamut of bikes and riders. At the edges, though, there’s a space for products that takes the ‘good’ performance of a stock fork and push it into the ‘great’ category. Sure, there may be a price to pay in both complexity and cost, but if the gains are worthy enough, then it’s a good upgrade. Cane Creek’s Helm forks are the latest to clamber out of the trenches to take on the incumbents, joining companies like DVO in a quest to build a better mousetrap.…

We tested a Race spec rig with SRAM XO1/GX mix with Shimano SLX brakes, Sun Ringle wheels with 30mm wide rims, Maxxis DHR 2.4-inch wide tyres (there's room for bigger again) and Fox Performance suspension front and rear that will cost you $8199. Bikes will be sold as completes at three levels; the entry level Race, middling Pro and top-shelf Team, with an entry level price of $7499. It tops out at an eye-watering $13,499, but every build shares exactly the same frame. I tested a large frame - my usual size - but really could have gone for an XL. The head angle runs 67.25 degrees, while the seat tube angle follows current trends and sits at a very vertical 74 degrees. Over a quick loop of Hornsby's Old…

RATINGS IN THE STAND 8/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 8/10 I had the opportunity to test the then-ground breaking Pivot Switchblade when it was first released in early 2016. The long, low and slack geometry, surprisingly short chainstays and its ability to run multiple wheel sizes was something of a game-changer at the time, and something most other brands have since aimed to replicate. Pivot Cycles has long built a reputation for well engineered, great-riding race and trail machines that have been ahead of their time in one way or another. There is a downside to this industry-leading design philosophy, though; affordability-wise, a lot of people aren’t able to add them in the mix when looking for a new ride. Enter the Switchblade Aluminium. Based on the same geometry…

It was a bittersweet day when the call came through from Skoda HQ that the Octavia RS had to go back. And yes, Tim, we're serious this time. No more stalling. No more excuses about one more photo shoot. The Octavia proved itself a capable bike carrier with a wild side, and it did very little wrong. However, more than half the cars sold in the Aussie market are now SUVs, and Skoda's brand new Kodiaq is a pretty unique vehicle in a very crowded space. Based on the Volkswagen Group's modular MQB chassis, the Kodiaq is the first seven-seater in the Czech brand's range - and it even beat its parent company to the punch when it came to offering a three-row medium-sized SUV in the Australian market! VW's…

It might seem so simple, but it astonishes just how many riders pay little or no attention to how they interact with their bikes via their control levers. We’re talking, of course, about your brake, gear and – if you have one – dropper post levers. While some shops will help new owners set up a lever position to suit their styles, the vast majority of controls are positioned somewhere in the ballpark by the build mechanic – and that’s where they’ll stay for the bike’s life. The thing is, though, that we’re all different, and that includes finger length, wrist inclination, strength and so on, which all has a bearing on how your control surfaces are set. We don’t have enough space today to drill right down to super-fine…

When my partner and I met - in a bike shop, naturally - some 16 years ago, it seemed inevitable (and, if I’m honest, kind of romantic) that we would end up with cute little mountain biking spawn, who would be wearing cute little mountain biking outfits and riding custom-made cute little mountain bikes. We’d all travel to exotic far-flung riding locales together, where the sun is always shining and the Instagram pictures are slathered with #blessed hashtags. Let’s just say it didn’t quite work out like that. Harsh reality has veered us some way south of that slightly nauseating perfect social media ideal, and the vagaries of real life means our rose-tinted visions, painted in those dreamy, love-struck days amongst the chain lubes and tyre racks, are not quite…