Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 156 i Australian Mountain Bike

So here we are – 2016 is marching on towards 2017, and again our pages are full of new products, new bikes, and new places to ride. But you know what I find more exciting? That mountain biking has again been thrust into the faces of the global public, by being part of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. This is the 5th time mountain biking has been in the Olympics after the debut in Atlanta, but it is an excellent example of the growth of mountain biking. Many people, myself included, were a little disappointed when the course for Rio was shown. It used a template that looked much like London, almost completely man-made – some sort of cross between a BMX track, skills park and pump track. With…

Across November 12-13, The Lumberjack stage race is hoping to find the ultimate trail rider. With six stages spread over the weekend, the new event in South East Tasmania will have timed descents, XC stages, sprint stages, night racing, and an adventure stage. All running out of the one venue, there will be a night time BBQ, and you can pitch a tent, bring a camper, or stay nearby in Kellevie. The Lumberjack is brought to you by the same people who run the Hellfire Cup – so that means the event village and atmosphere will be dialled with vendors, wifi, a charging tent and more. If you’re more fist bump than handshake, more flat brim than cycling cap, and more into drifting through corners than doing cornering drills –…

In early August, Advance Traders had their 2017 show, with the latest bikes from Norco, BMC, Lapierre and Merida on show. We’re lucky enough to have seen much of what was new from Merida and Lapierre already, and featured it in Issue #155. Norco have had a few updates so far, and the move to Boost spacing on some of their trail and all-mountain bikes should be no surprise. We’re told to wait for some more news from the Canadian bike brand later this year. It was Merida who had a few bikes that were interesting – including the new Merida One.Sixty. With a redesign to a single pivot with a floating lower shock mount, the 160mm travel frame has a carbon front triangle, and alloy rear, mated with 170mm…

Yet again, riders will amass at Wilpena Pound, South Australia, on October 22nd for the Flinders Ranges Outback Epic. A bike race like no other, the rugged event takes riders deep into the Flinders Ranges on a 205km loop using some of the Mawson Trail. Of course, that isn't for everyone, so you could also do a 64km or 109km version and you can race solo or in a relay team. What is unique is the option to race in a supported or unsupported category. And the categories mean just that. Supported riders can have their crews meet them along the route for food, mechanical assistance and water. Whereas unsupported riders can only accept water at three check points and one specified timing point. Its' an epic day out for…

“MOUNTAIN BIKING ISN’T, IN IT’S ESSENCE, A TEAM SPORT. THERE’S NO POSITIONS OF PLAY ON THE FIELD … AND NO ONE TO PASS THE BALL TO” When someone speaks about team sports, it’s probably not likely that cycling comes to the forefront of one’s mind. Road cycling operates in a team format, albeit in quite subtle ways when compared to ball sports; with riders having jobs within the bunch, often setting up for one general classification rider or sprinter to get over the line first. Mountain biking is even less of a team sport: all of the disciplines within mountain biking are essentially arduous solo time-trials over different distances and terrains. So what if I was going to make the case for mountain biking being a team sport, of a…

Everybody has one inside. Your own map of the world. There are countries we know because we have been there. In some we live or have lived. Some are just around the corner and we visit them for regular short trips. Then there are those we’ve only been told about from friends, via the news or through books. And then there are those that we haven’t heard of yet, ones that we have no connection to, maybe haven’t even heard their names and if so we surely wouldn’t know where to find them. We often call those places white spots on the map. For me one of these spots was Oman until the beginning of this year. I became aware of my ignorance on a flight to southern France in…

Mackay might be known for churning out sugar, minerals, and wealthy miners thanks to the resources boom – and that has often over-shadowed the Mackay region’s sporting prowess and colonial history. Sitting astride the Pioneer river, Mackay’s colonial history harks back to the mid-nineteenth century, although Captain James Cook did pass by in 1770. He named a few areas, like the beautiful Cape Hillsborough. But it was after John Mackay surveyed the area in 1860 that the area was colonised by Europeans, where the Yuibera people had lived for thousands of years. Much of Mackay’s history has been based on sugar cane and the export of sugar. Mining took over, but as that boom winds down, Mackay has had to look at its surroundings in a different way. North of…

Mountain bike shoes have come a long way from looking like football boots. And while performance based shoes for XCO riding are still stripped back with an appearance of something for the football field, the range of shoes has grown as the sport has. And Five Ten, a company with a pedigree in rock climbing, have helped with that progression. They brought their super-tacky Stealth Rubber to shoes for flats, and all-mountain clipless shoes, bringing far better traction for flat pedals, and when off the bike. Beyond the bulky, skate style shoes of earlier years that took way too long to dry in an all-conditions sport, Five Ten like most brands, have released ‘new age’ all-mountain shoes like the Kestrel, and the Kestrel Lace. These shoes combine socially acceptable styling,…

Nukeproof have broken through with something that has existed in BMX and road cycling branding for years, the signature product. Whilst there are plenty of signature products coming through now, Nukeproof were part of the first wave and who else to do it with other than Sam Hill. So first up the Sam Hill signature series handlebar. Made of 7075 aluminium, these oversize 31.8mm bars come in at 760mm wide. Perfect for downhill or modern trail riding. They come in three different of rises: 12mm, 25mm and 38mm with 9 degree backsweep and 6 degrees up sweep. 760mm wide bars are common these days and it is the varying degrees of sweep that truly define a handlebar. The Sam Hill bars target the downhills and out on the trail the…

Magura haven’t had a particularly strong presence in Australia compared to the behemoths SRAM and Shimano. But the German brake and suspension brand have a long history. Magura is a company steeped in over 120 years of German engineering history. Originally finding their calling in the world of motorcycles before coming across to mountain bikes ten years ago. Now, their products are seen on the Cube Downhill teams steeds or more notably Danny MacAskil’s trials machines. We were lucky enough to get a hold of these Special Edition Magura MT7 Racelines. The Magura MT7 Racelines are top of the line. Aesthetically the similarities to their motorcycle range are undeniable and fortunately so too is the performance - at a fraction of the weight. So let’s take a look at them.…

Brake pads can be hard to get excited about if your riding isn't that exciting. Start adding more speed, demanding conditions, longer descents and late braking points, and you might find your stock set up is lacking. SwissStop have long been known for excellent after market brake pads – for road, mountain and cyclocross. When Shimano released their IceTech pads, it brought a new convention on how to manage heat for disc brakes on mountain bikes. The concept of fins that extend from the backing plate on Shimano's pads is carried over here, however the design is different, and a little taller. For the gram counters, the SwissStop 28's are also 3 grams lighter on my scales. The compound is also unique, and SwissStop's own testing shows less wear, and…

Bontrager helmets have been on the market for a few years now but I hadn’t tried one on up until a few weeks ago. Now I am wondering why that was. The sleek looking trail helmet is available in 3 sizes ranging from 51-64cm offering good cross over between the sizes for a proper fit. The medium size for my 59cm head was perfect, the MIPS insert coupled with the “Headmaster” retention system cradling my head snuggly and securely. They’re available in Black, green and blue. The MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) technology is a system developed by neurosurgeons and scientists, the technology was created to reduce rotational forces on the brain caused by angled impacts to the head achieved through the use of their distinctive floating (yellow) liner. Many…

Just like that – they're done. Athletes talk about the 'Olympic cycle' – the four year build where they aim to build their form, to peak for one day. While it's a little different for a mountain biker compared to a track cyclist, the Olympics are a huge event to be part of, with restricted entries, and fierce fighting to get a spot on the start list. Australia's team was named with Dan McConnell, Scott Bowden and Bec Henderson, a mix of experience and talented aspiration. Much was said about the course before the race, but anyone who watched the races would agree that it would only a worthy winner would stand atop the podium. Women raced on Saturday, and eyes were primarily on Jolanda Neff and Annika Langvad. And…

One of Australia’s most popular races returns to the Southern Highlands across the weekend of 12-13 November. The Highland Fling is a weekend festival for outdoor adventurers, lead by the popular marathon race . Each year the Highland Fling takes riders on a true mountain bike journey, from narrow country lanes to lush private farmlands. In 2016 the Highland Fling is again offering riders the choice of four event distances – creating a journey for all riders: The Some Fling (approx. 23km), Half Fling (approx. 55km), Full Fling (approx. 110km) and 100Mile Fling (approx. 160km). To find out about the races, and the accompanying festival events, head to the event website. wildhorizons.com.au…

Sometimes it’s a case of waiting for the best to be delivered. Last year, Specialized gave their trail range a thorough overhaul. They made the Camber one of the most efficient yet capable trail bikes on the market, and gave the Stumpjumper some longer legs while also creating a killer women’s range too with the Rhyme. With the Stumpjumper 6Fattie, they then had four bikes which all used the same chassis but had different rides. That was pretty incredible. But the Enduro called for its own treatment, and it has arrived. Coming in 27.5”, 29er and 6Fattie options, the new Enduro is longer and slacker than before, but with custom designed suspension from Ohlins, and a few tweaks like a SWAT box, better internal routing, stiffer frames and even a…

The Snowies MTB Festival is back again for 2016. It was so good in February, this summer it's arriving early, running on 25-27th November. With 5 stages over three days, riders will tackle some of the best trails in the NSW Snowy Mountains. Just head over to our new website and enter the competition – of course there's some Snowy Mountains trivia attached. “What was the name of the stallion that lead the brumbies in The man from Snowy River?” In2Adventure will provide the winner with a free solo or team entry, and a free Snowies Mountain Festival jersye too, so you even look the part. ambmag.com.au…

This journey from disdain to endorsement took a lot of thinking, a bit of time and, most of all, a ride. But given that a rival mag’s recent overview of e-biking in Australia drew passionate responses, many of them angry, I have been a little bit worried at what letters my review will attract, and I’ve also had to ask myself: why are e-bikes so hard to accept? TRAILS, MOTORS, AND BEGINNERS The first argument is always that they wreck our trails, but I wonder what evidence there is for this. Sure, trail bikes might tear up dirt tracks, but e-bikes are not motorbikes, and conflating the two is usually the result of a straw-man argument that an e-bike is a motorbike, because it is a bike with a motor.…

“I wish I’d brought my trail axe,” says Zoran. He has one of those faces that sticks in smile mode even when he summons all his strength to break off a branch that’s blocking our way. We’ve been pushing through an overgrown singletrack for an hour or so. “I do a bit more every time I pass through here,” he explains. Zoran is showing me around the trails above tourist-rich Budva, a historical coastal town (think Kings Landing if you’re a Game of Thrones fan). He multitasks his way through, unfazed by the enormity of the mission; leading me, stopping at points of interest to talk history, fun facts and dig out a troublesome sharp rock here and there. It’s a characteristic that will serve his vision well. “My friends…

2016 is an Olympic year so for many months all our mountain bike eyes were focused on three lucky Australians set to compete in Rio. But, at about the same time as final selections for the Olympic squad were being made, one of the biggest Aussie MTB teams for years quietly travelled over to Laissac, in southern central France, to compete in the UCI Cross Country Marathon (XCM) MTB World Champs. One of the smaller incarnations of our sport, XCM receives little media attention or support. We got in touch with every member of the Aussie team who raced at the World Championships this year to find out more about what drives them and what competition in one of mountain biking’s most gruelling events was like at the pointiest end…

Rocky Mountain focus heavily on the construction of their frames, and the ride they give via their geometry. The RIDE-9 system is a really innovative feature on Thunderbolt to give 9 different geometry, or handling settings. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS Rocky Mountain’s Maiden World Cup downhill bike surpassed my expectations, so being sent an early release of the Thunderbolt was cool. The bike is a full 2017 model and the group set features some key parts that have only recently been released. Parts like the revamped RockShox Reverb (or Refurb as some call it), the Shimano XT 11-46 cassette, Shimano Boost XT hubs and Stan’s NoTubes Crest Mk3 rims. The bike is fitted with parts that you might more commonly see on a burlier 140mm+ travel bike, but then it is also…

As featured in our online gift guide at the end of last year many of you may be familiar with the Cambion, the new shoe to the Bontrager collection. Taking its place just under the top shelf XXX, the Cambion has been endowed with much of the technology of its big brother but without the hefty price tag. The Cambion is a shoe that crosses boundaries, stiff enough for CX and XC racing yet with thoughtful inclusions like the rubberized and reinforced uppers see it applicable to trail riders too. Subtle graphics offered with 2 colour schemes both look super cool in their own right; the electric blue model tested turned a few heads to say the least. The heart of the shoe is the carbon/fibreglass hybrid sole that rates…

Always remember when tackling switchbacks to brake early, look for the highest line possible and roll through the turn for traction. Like with all cornering on a mountain bike, the judge of how well you have executed the turn is how fast you exit the turn – not how fast you enter it. Here’s some tips to get around switchbacks and link them up for maximum fun and minimal effort: STEP 1 – LOOK HIGH, AIM HIGH The key to railing any tight switchback is to make the corner as large as possible and the best way to do this is to get as high on the entry as possible. Don’t expect to be able to do it at the last minute though. The key is to control your speed…

Trek World is a go big or go home sort of affair, over two days the entire fleet of Trek’s range is on display at the Canberra National Convention Centre. On the third day there is a demo fleet to wreck out at Mt Stromlo. It’s an industry affair with the country’s top Trek store employees and the nation’s media invited to attend as well as a key representative from Trek’s home office. This year it was fittingly past Olympian and in-house chief tester Travis Brown. It’s the 40th year of the brand that started in a barn and whilst the ethos and work ethic remain the same, the bikes have not. Not to be left behind, Trek have brought forward new renditions on three of their most stand out…

After an exciting first edition in 2015, the McKayos event is heading back to Falls Creek again on September 24th. Riders are faced with an 18km descent to Bogong, along a mixture of trails, double track, road – and of course the snowy start. It’s not Megavalanche, but it is local, growing and a whole lot of fun. We’ll have a couple of riders down at the event, and it looks set to become an Australian classic. Feel like heading along? Jump online to the event homepage to get the full details. fallscreek.com.au/events/mckayos…

TELEGRAPH STATION, ALICE SPRINGS, NT Alice Springs has to top my list for unique mountain bike photography opportunities. This particular summer had been the wettest in recent memory, and the vegetation had gone nuts. The landscape was littered with white trunked ghost gums and yellow tussock grass contrasting wonderfully against the red dirt of Australia’s centre. The Telegraph Station trails are located to the North East of town, the gateway drug to the addiction that is Alice’s trails. There is really nowhere else like it in Australia, if not the world, for both riding and photography alike. I took this image of Imogen Smith from the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com team during the Easter in the Alice stage race held this year. It was taken in the closing kilometres of the first 90km…

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS Sweeping your eyes across the Fuel EX 9.8 the most obvious observation that can be made is the stealth black colour scheme. No colourful highlights, just gloss on matte and it looks super schmick. Going beyond the cursory glance the 2017 model has seen a number of tweaks from the previous incarnation. The travel has increased to 130mm from 120mm and the geometry has slackened out to make it more stable and capable at high speeds. The bottom bracket and head angle are adjustable with their Mino-Link system, although the bikes are shipped in the high setting as standard for everyday trail riding. With a quick flip of the link you can slacken and lower the bike to tackle the more gnarly descents. It should also be noted…

Coming in at $4,449, the Big.Nine E-Lite sits at the top of Merida’s e-bike hardtail range which, admittedly, otherwise includes a selection of sport and commuting bikes. Many bike brands are launching extensive e-mountain bike ranges for 2017, however, and it’s likely that in the grander scheme of things the Big.Nine E-Lite will actually sit towards the entry-level end of all the e-mountain bikes you have to choose from, some of which will feature carbon frames, concealed batteries, dual suspension, plus wheel sizes, and even Di2 integration. But electric bling comes at a cost. While the E-Lite has some worthy tech features, the fact remains that its simple alloy hardtail frame and modest componentry would, were the e-bits excluded – add up to a $1,500 or so, entry-level mountain bike:…

WOMENS With its roots in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, DHaRCO brings a relaxed, surfer vibe to its trail-shredding collections. The new 2016-2017 range has landed, and the bright blues, oranges, and magentas are out, replaced by a bolder but more restrained palette of reds, aquas, greens and greys. The women’s range, which is notably bigger than the men’s range, retains the tried and tested Gravity Short, a hard-wearing all-purpose short with a pretty decent leg length (I’m a 171cm tall and an XS still sits a few centimetres above my knee), four-way stretch fabric, and top-quality YKK zippered pockets – one on the side and one at the rear. An adjustable Velcro-sided waistband means you can adjust the fit to suit you. New season Gravity Shorts come in Aqua Storm, Chain…

iXS is a big brand in the motorbike world, and has recently been dominating sportswear and protective gear for mountain bikers. Their mountain bike ambassadors includes Gee and Rachael Atherton as well as Tracey Hannah and Andrew Neethling in DH, and Dan Atherton and Cedric Gracia in enduro. The IXS XULT Crossover Full Face implies that it’s the do-it-all gravity helmet, being designed and tested for riding both up and down the hill. At $349 it is at the upper end of the helmet category so I was hoping it ticked most of the boxes. The first thing I noticed is that it looks and feels fast. A medium size fit my head perfectly, and the weight was good at 1090g on my scales. This helmet is light for a…

The Serrata and Gahnia trails are closing in on two years old, hand built by the crafty people at Trailscapes. Both trails are a generous intermediate with a couple of multi line sections, lots of rock and tight cornering. These trails hark back to an age of technical riding that isn’t readily apparent in other modern trail hotspots like Mt Stromlo, Derby or Thredbo. Short in nature, but linked, they offer a morning’s or afternoons’ short ride at a combined length including fireroads of around 6km. They are best added as sections to an over arching ride through Manly Dam. As some of the more technical intermediate trails in the Sydney basin, on first roll through, you will certainly be feathering your brakes. On the flip side if you are…

Races are often not just on your back door step. Travelling to races, or to explore on your bike, are a fantastic way to see the country (or the world!), but how do you know what to eat when you don’t have your favourite haunts around the corner and your kitchen at your convenience? From a performance point of view, where and what you choose to eat can have a huge impact on how you ride or race. Get it wrong and you can be in all sorts of strife. Get it right though, and you’ll have the legs to race at your best or ride the trails you have travelled for. FIRST THINGS FIRST… Whenever possible, try to stick with foods you know and regularly train on at home.…

To a point, nerves are a good thing as increased arousal levels are needed for the best performance. Most readers will be familiar with the ‘Yerkes-Dodson Model of Arousal and Performance’; As this bell-shaped curve illustrates, there is an optimal arousal level where the best performance is achieved. Once emotional arousal levels become too high, performance starts to decrease. This is commonly referred to as performance anxiety. There is nothing more frustrating than to train and prepare for an event to the nth degree, only to come unstuck on race day due to overwhelming anxiety levels. If you are one of the many athletes affected by performance anxiety, it is well worth investing some time in preparing your mind a little more for your upcoming event. I have described some…