Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 193 i Australian Mountain Bike

Where will your bike take you in Thredbo? The Alpine season is here, and Thredbo will be pumping! With three chairs giving you lift access to the Cannonball Run, the All-Mountain trail, Ricochet (above), the Flow trail and the brand new Sidewinder trail (below) – there’s plenty of gravity fed riding for the summer ahead. After a hiatus since December 2019, the Cannonball Festival party is coming back to Thredbo from 8-12 February, 2022. Take your bike, take your mates and take a fun-filled attitude. Whether you ride, race or just catch up with mates you haven’t seen for ages – this is a date that needs to be on your calendar for the new year.…

It might feel like a world away right now, but normally New Zealand is a short plane trip away for east coast Australians. Whilst Rotorua and Queenstown get most of the attention, there’s plenty of other destinations with lots to offer for riders of all disciplines. In anticipation of that next trip over the ditch when the borders open, I’ve put together a guide on some of the best riding Aotearoa has to offer! SKYLINE QUEENSTOWN Queenstown is often referred to as the Whistler of the Southern Hemisphere, and it’s not hard to see why. With both summer and winter activities covered, a bike park that’s only a couple of minutes from the CBD, and over 1000 metres of descending on offer, it’s a place that doesn’t get boring quickly.…

Stay Pavilions at Lenswood pavilionsatlenswood.com.au Cnr of Swamp & Leslie Roads, Lenswood SA 5240 The Manor Basket Range themanorbr.com.au 762 Lobethal Road, Basket Range, SA 5138 Fox Farm House foxfarm.com.au 11 Prankerd Rd, Lenswood SA, 5450 Cudlee Creek Restaurant Tavern and Caravan Park cudleecreektavern.com.au 2121 Gorge Rd, Cudlee Creek SA 5 Pubs N Grub The Woodside Hotel 34 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Woodside SA 5244 The Stanley Bridge Tavern stanleybridgetavern.com 41 Onkaparinga Valley Rd, Verdun SA 5245 Uraidla Hotel uraidlahotel.com.au 1196 Greenhill Rd Uraidla, SA 5142 Restaurants, Wineries, Breweries and Cellar Doors Anderson Hill Cellar Door Restaurant andersonhill.com.au 407 Croft Rd, Lenswood SA 5240 Pike & Joyce pikeandjoyce.com.au 730 Mawson Road, Lenswood SA 5240 Golding Wines goldingwines.com.au 52 Western Branch Rd, Lobethal SA 5241 Tagai Wines tagai.com.au 128 Leslie Rd, Lenswood SA 5240 Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyard mtloftyrangesvineyard.com.au 166 Harris Rd, Lenswood…

Trek, one of the largest players in the global bicycle market, needs little introduction, but if you want a quick refresher, here are the key points. Started in 1976 in Waterloo, Wisconsin, Trek are a family-owned company. They build a wide range of bikes, road, mountain, kids, tri, commuter and fitness along with components, clothing, and accessories under the Bontrager brand. Finally, and most importantly, they are making a concerted effort to reduce their environmental impact. This one is big. As green as bikes are considered as a means of transport, their production still has an impact. For one of the major players to commission an audit, publish the findings and demonstrate commitment to improving is to be commended. The Fuel EX 8 GX is the most expensive aluminium bike…

Today there’s seldom a trailhead that isn’t dotted with Shingleback Offroad’s vertical bike racks. Here in Northeast Victoria, the home of Shingleback, literal fleets of these iconic racks take over shuttle roads every weekend. Whether they’re on private vehicles or commercial shuttle companies, the Aussie-made product has expanded rapidly over recent years. Until now, Shingleback has o nly had a few models and accessories, such as the unique 2B90 we tested last summer, and the 3-6 bike rack options of the Shingleback Classic. However, it’s latest release is a key development that threatens to change the rack game all over again. The bike rack industry is generally quite stagnant; or at least, its technology doesn’t change and progress at the same rate as bikes themselves. Horizontal roof and hitch racks…

Specialized’s shoe range is a favourite amongst the mountain bike media. Why? Because they’re bloody good. Their comfort, weight, drying capacity, and grip are always done well, and to date each new generation has improved upon the last. I’m still riding around in a set of 2F0 clipless shoes from a three years ago, so they’re durable as well! If you’re new to the sport, you might be wondering why a bike manufacturer makes such good apparel, footwear, and protection. Specialized dived into apparel and footwear earlier than many other brands. They invested heavily in the sector and advancing their ‘Body Geometry’ concept, which is about matching each riders’ goals to their apparel in terms of fit, performance, and comfort. This sounds like marketing waffle, but there’s plenty of science…

GoPro has been a staple in action sports videography and photography for almost 20 years. Since they first came out, GoPros have been at the forefront of enabling everyday people to create high-quality content with very little fuss. The new GoPro Hero10 has taken that history and run with it. While the new Hero10 doesn’t seem to have changed much from its predecessor, the changes are smart and enhance the usability 10 fold. With the old GP1 processor nearly five years old, it was struggling to keep up with the demands of the modern filmmaker. Inside this familiar body is the new GP2 sensor, and along with this processor comes a bunch of new features. The GP2 processor is why the Hero10 can now shoot in 5K/60p, 4K/120p, and 2.7K/240p…

The Occam Apex Frame Strap is a product that’s divided opinions every time I’ve rolled up to the trailhead. The two sides of the spectrum seem to be as follows: 1. ‘That’s the coolest frame strap I’ve seen, where can I get one?’ 2. ‘That’s the silliest use of a BOA Dial I’ve seen, and it costs how much?’ When I first heard about the strap, I thought it was cool. Whilst I’ve used Backcountry Research straps to secure tubes and tyre levers to various frames for the last few years, I could see the appeal of the extra ease of use and compactness a BOA system may provide. On my current personal bike (a Moustache Game 6 eMTB), the bottle cage is mounted to the underside of the top…

For years the Flow trail has been one of the most popular trails to ride in Thredbo, NSW, as the mountain added more options beyond the OG Cannonball run. Then came the All Mountain trail and various other flowing connector tracks, plus Ricochet two years ago. All these trails have brought a slightly different flavour of speed and features to your riding experience. As the new Merritts gondola has been completed, Thredbo now opens its first trail in the new zone, bringing brakeless flow and large supportive berms to carry your speed. Upper Sidewinder passes by the last section of the All Mountain trail so riders have a wide variety of riding in a single run. As Thredbo bike park have opened up new trails of various degrees of difficulty,…

There are pros and cons to riding any type of bike. Sometimes the cons of riding a particular type of bike become part of the fun. A drop bar bike isn’t the ideal tool for tackling my local singletrack, but I still see people having a good time doing it. Often buying an eMTB is put into a single usage category. A classic one for longer travel eMTBs is ‘this is a self-shuttle machine’. Another common situation is that someone in a group of riders buys an eMTB to help them keep up with faster riders in the pack. From my experience, one-by-one the riders in that group end up with an eMTB, and when there’s more eMTBs than ‘regular’ bikes, the reasoning turns to ‘my riding group all have…

Even amid a global pandemic, Australia is experiencing its next boom of bike park creation. Where 10 years ago efforts were focused on alpine regions like Mt Buller, efforts have shifted to the enhancement of long-established riding destinations such as Fox Creek Bike Park, just outside Adelaide on Peramangk Country, South Australia. It’s hard to say if this story would be the same if the site and surrounding region hadn’t been devastated by bushfires in 2019, but as is the resilient nature of Australians, it was a way to build back better, supported by a grant from the Government of South Australia and the Australian Government. Right now, the Adelaide riding scene is privileged enough to see trails old and new literally rise from the ashes. Back in August AMB…

Trek have leading bikes in all corners of the cycling world, and the latest Trek Checkpoint has shown that they have listened to the needs of gravel riders and racers to make their drop-bar gravel bike capable of high performance riding and day-to-day utility. Gravel bikes may not be for everyone, but they serve a purpose for off-road adventures where a mountain bike just may not have the efficiency required. Additionally, they can prove to be a great bike for utilitarian use while still letting you get out into the great outdoors. Trek released three frame variants with the updated Checkpoint, with the SLR using top OCLV 700 carbon, the SL using OCLV 500 and having more frame mounts, while the alloy ALR models give you all the mounts without…

At a glance, carbon fiber seems to be everywhere in the mountain bike world. There are components where some riders will not replace alloy with carbon, and handlebars are one of them. Thanks to the nature of carbon fiber, with strands running length ways, it doesn’t like being clamped. Given all the different items that get clamped onto a mountain bike handlebar, it’s fair that some people would rather avoid any potential failures after over-tightening their stem, brake levers, shifter, dropper lever or even their lock on grips! That’s why every carbon handlebar has torque limits for the stem and controls. Beast Components are based in Germany, and they produce an exquisite range of mountain bike, road and gravel handlebars in carbon fiber, along with stems, bottle cages, rims and…

I first slipped into a pair of Specialized 2FO Cliplites in winter 2015, when Specialized released the footwear that was essentially a cross between their recently released 2FO flat pedal shoe, and a cross-country shoe. And sure, maybe with a little bit of spin bike shoe aesthetic, depending who you you asked. I loved the shoes, given they had great stiffness for pedaling, without giving up all day comfort. And unlike other trail shoes I’d been using, water freely poured out of them, and they dried quickly as well. Specialized have had a couple of iterations since then, and a pair of 2FO Cliplites has always been one of my go-to shoes for trail rides given they are tough, pretty light, and have a great balance of stiffness and comfort.…

Green Oil are a British company founded in 2007. They’re focussed on making high quality lubricant and cleaning products that are also kind to the planet. Many brands claim they’re working hard to reduce their environmental impact, but ensuring their products are eco-friendly truly is Green Oil’s number one priority. Their website is well worth a look, as the unrefined layout and to the point copy is very different to the polished websites you usually see from brands in the cycling industry. Another area that Green Oil keep simple is their product application instructions. Green Oil’s video demonstrating their lube application is a far cry from the clinical instructions given by brands like Squirt, Smoove, or Silca. Simply clean your chain, apply the lube, rotate the cranks a few times,…

Thule make premium racks. After their fist ski rack in 1962, Thule made their first tow ball mounted bike rack in 1992 and today they have a reputation for well-designed black and silver racks, luggage, bike bags and more. We were given the VeloSpace XT 3 to test for the duration of the AMB Places That Rock WA Road Trip V2.0 – you can catch all that in our next issue! The VeloSpace XT 3 is a tow ball mounted rack that can hold 3 bikes as standard, and 4 with an adaptor. The bikes sit on trays and are held in place with two ratcheting wheel straps and an arm that clamps onto the frame. The arms are capable of being locked to the bikes, and the rack can…

It’s summer and the festive season is here so, it is the perfect time to prepare some chocolatey treats that also provide substantial nutritional benefits. These choc-nutty logs have a mix of three amazing nuts (well, one is actually a legume and the other two are seeds, but anyway…) – brazil nuts, peanuts and cashew nuts. Brazil nuts (seeds) are well known to be high in Selenium – an essential mineral involved in metabolism and immune function. There are very few natural sources as high in Selenium as the humble brazil nut. Generally, an individual brazil nut will contain on average 80µgs of Selenium and since each of these choc-nutty logs contain approximately two brazil nuts, one log will provide almost half of the daily recommended. Peanuts (legumes) are a…

AusCycling released the majority of event dates for the 2022 National Championships across all mountain bike disciplines in early November. For 2022, Observed Trials will have a standalone National Championships, and a Gravel National Championships will also be held. • Observed Trials (OT): Stromlo Forest Park, ACT - 29 January • DHI, eMTB, XCO, XCC and Pump Track: Maydena Bike Park, TAS - 14-20 February • Fat Bike: Broome WA -, 13 May • Gravel: Noosa, QLD - 31 July • Gravity Enduro: Red Hill, VIC – 22-23 October • 24 Hour: Rydal, NSW – 3-4 December • Marathon (XCM): TBC With some national titles being missed in the past two years, or being run at reduced capacity due to travel or venue restrictions, having seven different events covering a range of Australian states and territories will…

SHINGLEBACK SPORT RACK Shingleback have reconfigured their popular Classic vertical rack, with the new Sport and Boost racks launched in November. The Sport is not only modular, but versatile as well. It can accommodate bikes with longer wheelbases, recline for easier loading, and it accepts inserts so the wheel cradles can carry gravel bikes, road bikes and BMX bikes. It can even fit skis and snow or wake boards! There are 4, 5 and 6 bike options available – and they’re still made right here in Australia. We’ll have a review in our next issue, but the top-spec Boost model is reviewed on p82-83 in this issue. From $1990 (4-bike) shinglebackoffroad.com.au RUBBER SIDE DOWN CLOTHING An Australian brand delivering Australian-made clothing at sharp prices? You bet! Rubber Side Down have…

As we roll into summer 2021 it is great to see that a large part of the country is not a tinderbox ready to ignite, or already being impacted by fires. Given we live in Australia we cannot be too complacent about our ever-changing weather though. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) have recently released their Severe Weather Outlook which predicts above average rainfall, particularly over the eastern two-thirds of the country. Most well-designed trails love a bit of rain and the riding experience on damp and grippy trails is an awesome reprieve from sliding around on sketchy dry trails. It’s called hero dirt for a reason, and the riding experience on prime trail conditions gives you enough grip and confidence that you may well feel like a hero! But some…

With the warmer months approaching, all of us are planning for a semi-normal holiday season. COVID restrictions have confined many riders to their local dirt jumps and neighborhood loops over the last year. And while these offer their own benefits, I doubt many will cling to the suburbs this summer. With borders re-opening, it’s time to explore the country again, and what better way than from the top of it. Victoria's High Country is a sacred place for cyclists of all disciplines. Its natural vert has produced some of the most recognised mountain bike parks in the country, not to mention its endless network of scenic fire roads. The Alpine resorts are particularly unique in their metamorphic nature, as the melting blankets of snow reveal old and new trails each…

The Norco Torrent range is part of a wider trend of aggressive hardtails (‘hardcore’ hardtails if you’re from the UK) making a comeback. Bikes like the Canyon Stoic, Specialized Fuse, Trek Roscoe, and Marin El Roy are all new to the market or have received a complete longer, lower, slacker overhaul in the last couple of years. Whilst a hardtail is never going to descend as well as a dual suspension bike with a comparable amount of rear travel, there’s something so exciting about hammering down descents on a capable hardtail. The Norco Torrent A1 I’m testing here is one of four models in the Torrent range. The A1 is the top alloy model, and it retails for $2799. The A2 model retails for $2399. There are also two steel…

Much like the ‘Enduro’ craze a few years ago, there’s more products every year adopting the ‘eMTB’ title. The Fi’z:k Aidon X3 145mm eMTB Saddle is one of these products, although there is some merit to an eMTB saddle having slightly different features to a traditional saddle. Much like the popular Specialized Power Saddle range, the Aidon range from Fi’zi:k is based around a shorter length, with a wider rear. The saddle comes in 145mm and 160mm widths, and Australian distributors Advance Traders are bringing in two models. The model I have on test here is the X3, which features K:ium rails and retails for $249.95. The X5 model retails for $189.95 and uses alloy rails. The Aidon X3 weighs in at 249 grams, so it’s no featherweight (Fi’zi:k’s Tundra…

When Fox debuted the Speedframe it was seen as the best thing since sliced bread. Riders loved the fit, the protection, the style and the airflow. Fast forward to late 2021 and the latest offering from Fox is the Mainframe, This value-packed lid brings some high end trail helmet features to a broader audience. For $139.99, you get a fast-looking, MIPS equipped trail helmet, something that would have been nearly unheard of even a few of years ago. So let’s check it out. The Mainframe features include extended coverage in the rear and around the temples, a MIPS slip liner, moisture wicking helmet pads, a dial retention system with height adjustment and solid ventilation with a healthy count of 13 vents. The aesthetic is very much in line with most…

Frame protection is a pretty big deal in mountain biking, with boutique frames costing more than some whole bikes it isn’t surprising. Our playing field is full of rocks, dirt, water and generally abrasive materials, so trying to look after the light weight alloys and carbon fiber that most bikes are built from is just common sense! While frame wrap protection is justifiably popular, some riders use frame polishes to add a bit of sheen to their bike, while also helping shed mud and water. Proteam Bicycle Care produce their Hydrocoating Set, and it takes that polishing idea to another level. I frequently use Ride Mechanic Zalish, Krush Illuminate or Krush After Wash when cleaning my bikes, as they do slowly build up a nice glossy layer on the bike…

Stop pedalling to go faster? It seems like a counterproductive idea but in reality practicing downhill sections of trails or entire trails without putting in a single pedal stroke is one of the best techniques you can use to work on your d ownhill speed. Why? Well, by not pedalling, you’ll need to focus on every other element of descending in order to maximise your speed down the trail. Everything from line choice to tucking has an impact on your speed and most of the time any loss of speed can be rectified by a couple of quick pedal strokes. Take pedalling out of the equation and you’ll quickly learn the impacts of the mistakes you are making and the advantages of changing your techniques. In my 15 years I…

We all know that riding bikes will make us better at riding bikes. But sometimes the weather may be a little grim, the whole of Australia is locked down or we find ourselves in the midst of some unprecedented bushfire conditions. Whatever the reason, training OFF the bike can have great transfer into on the bike form. The world’s best XCO, Enduro and DH riders all hit the gym regularly, and there are a few useful adjuncts that you can find in any gym, fitness shop, or purchase online, that can really push your performance to the next level without even touching the bike. I have asked Cameron Schembri, Director and Physiotherapist at AllSports Jindalee and elite cyclist, to weigh in on the most effective way to incorporate these into…