Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2017 - January 2018 i Mountain Biking Australia

Sydney based mountain bikers know that NSW generally suffers when it comes to trail access. Sure, some areas have excellent raw and technical riding on offer, but only if you know exactly where to look. The vast majority of our trails have been scratched out by local riders, most of them jaded and dejected after years spent pushing for legitimate trail access. The constant stonewalling that many clubs and rider groups face becomes all the more demoralising when you see the stark contrast with states such as Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania; states that are pumping funds into MTB tourism. What does a person who lives and breaths mountain biking do when there are no legitimate trails? Covert trails are one answer but these are fraught with challenge.…

In our last issue we spoke to Tristan Thomas, the founder of Wheelworks in Wellington New Zealand. Their focus lies with building high-end custom made wheels and they ship their product right across the globe. Tristan has firm engineering based beliefs on how to create the best wheels and the product is backed by a lifetime warranty on the build; break a spoke and they’ll fix it up. Their carbon wheels are even covered against impact damage—smash a rim into a rock and they’ll replace it, so long as you’re using it for its intended purpose (i.e. don’t use their XC wheels for DH racing). It all sounds pretty impressive so we decided to get some wheels built up and put them to the test. Ordering a wheelset online isn’t…

A number of companies have jumped on the convertiblehelmet bandwagon in recent years; helmets that can either be used as an open face design or fitted with a chinbar when speeds and terrain demand. The Revolution is Lazer’s foray into this word. It’s available in three sizes to give a secure fit on a wide variety of heads, has a standard or MIPS options and comes with a screw-on camera or light mount. It can also be configured in three different ways. Our test helmet in small and without MIPS weighed 416g including the camera mount in open face mode. In full face configuration it rounded out to 706g. The helmet retails for $220, whilst the chinbar will set you back an additional $150. Let’s just talk briefly about aesthetics.…

Action cameras have become ubiquitous for active outdoor participants, a common catch cry is ‘if there’s no footage of (insert amazing stunt/crash/line), it didn’t happen!’ So, if almost everyone has a GoPro or similar, why isn’t my Facebook feed being clogged by hundreds of videos of amazing stuff? Well, it’s mainly because making interesting and engaging content, despite all the software and tech advances that we’ve seen in just the past few years, isn’t particularly easy. A fact that keeps me employed in TV/web video to this very day. The biggest problem with showing a video to your friends and family is that they simply were not there. Even if your video is pretty good, they’re still not experiencing all the things you did; things like smell and 360 degree…

Mid-travel 29ers are coming thick and fast at the moment, understandably so as most of the shortcomings found in early 29ers have now been resolved. Much of this has come about through a better understanding of 29er geometry and the boost wheel standard; a system that was jumped on by many brands to provide better tyre clearance and/or shorter chainstays. Ibis has been making the 120mm travel Ripley for a number of years now and this is the third generation. With it they have made significant changes the geometry and correspondingly added the ‘LS’ (Long/Slack) moniker distinguish it from the earlier models. Being the premium brand that they are, Ibis only offers the Ripley LS with a tip to toe carbon fibre frame; metal heads or the budget conscious need…

Maydena on the Move Previously we've reported on the trail project at Maydena in Tasmania and trail builders Dirt Art have now released details on their park membership packages Trail-wise, Maydena is set to open on January 26th and will kick off with 30km of gravity trails. An additional 90km is in the works, so this project really is huge. From the summit down, Maydena will offer 820m of descending – that's getting on for twice the elevation loss you'll find at Queenstown in New Zealand! To access the summit, you'll need to jump on a shuttle bus. These will run daily from 10am until 4pm through September to the end of May (it may run until 7pm at times for 'extended play' sessions). From June until the end of…

It was one of those skittish white-knuckle moments that makes your heart flutter, and then gives you good reason to grin and raise a glass or three after the fact. Somewhere just before 8pm and completely dark and thanks to the dense tree cover; there was nothing but the occasional flicker of moonlight to silhouette the edge of a high mountain abyss. Plans had gone a little pear shaped – as they all too often do – and this 40km long road descent back down into Chiang Mai had turned into a real moon dappled adventure. A fitting vibe for my introduction into what is now recognised as the adventure capital of Northern Thailand. Adventure Bound This is not the Thailand of idyllic beaches and go-go bars; most of those…

Fox Racing Shox have steadily trickled out information on their 2018 lineup, including the launch of the new DPX2 shock and a range of other refinements. Now they've released details on Fox Factory Tuning; not a product as such but a tuning service that aims to assist riders who are chasing a particular suspension feel or simply want to update their existing Fox suspension with the latest 2018 internals. Fox Factory Tuning or 'FFT' is only available through an official Fox workshop. With this you'll retain the factory warranty after any custom tuning is done, and you also get to communicate directly with the Fox technicians— no need to go via a retail store. Prior to the official FFT launch, I had the opportunity to put some of these suspension…

Tubeless tyres are now hugely popular with many riders converting to reduce the risk of punctures. So why are we now seeing a rash of products designed to eliminate punctures in tubeless tyres? With wide rims and wide tyres now becoming commonplace, low tyre pressures are totally viable. Where 30- 40psi used to be the norm, riders can now use 20-30psi without experiencing excessive tyre squirm or burping. The catch comes in rocky terrain where a hard-charging rider risks pinching the tyre casing against the rim. When this happens, the end result is not unlike the once common pinch-flat except you puncture the tyre casing instead of the tube. It's far less common but the outcome is more expensive and you may also damage the rim. Products such as Schwalbe…

Adding the latest $12,000 carbon dually to your bicycle quiver is likely to add plenty of enjoyment to your time on the trail. However, building up a single speed mountain bike – often done effectively using a cheap hardtail frame and old components – can bring the same levels of joy and possibly more, for much less outlay. It’s easy to get the impression that single speeding is all about beards, tattoos, craft beer, comedy cross-dressing and being ‘alternative’ en masse. However, simplifying your drivechain is an option for anyone who wants to have a bit of fun and it can also provide a new perspective on your local trails. There are numerous reasons why riders have found that removing gears from their riding can be a plus. Read on…

Within the last 12 months we've seen the introduction of the Switchblade, Firebird Carbon, a revamp of the Mach 4 and now there's the all-new Mach 5.5. In our last issue we reviewed the 170mm travel Firebird. It was a perfect example of Pivot’s new new-generation geometry and suspension, albeit with too much travel for most riders and trail networks. Despite its long legs, the Firebird was a surprisingly efficient bike to pedal and far more 'trail worthy' than the numbers may suggest. With this experience still strong in our memory, we were keen to see how the new Mach 5.5 would perform. The 5.5 offers 140mm of rear wheel travel combined with a beefy 160mm Fox 36 up front. It's built around 27.5 wheels, offering clearance for up to…

Two issues ago we wrapped up a long-term review on SRAM's top-end XX1 Eagle drivetrain. After a year on the trail, we found the new 12-speed parts had more going for them than just an expanded gear range. Eagle is more refined and durable with numerous upgrades throughout—the main catch came with the price, as 1X12 was only released on the two top-end component groups; X01 and XX1. At the time we speculated that within a year or two the same features would appear at a mid-range price point. Six months down the track and GX Eagle has landed— much sooner than anticipated. Affordable but not Cheap By mid-range we don't mean cheap; GX Eagle roughly equates to SLX or XT in the Shimano lineup. It aims to be fluff…

Whistler is on the bucket list of most red blooded mountain bikers. It boasts over 1,500 vertical metres of lift-accessed trails and the overall footprint of the park covers around 30 square kilometres; you could spend a month trying and still not ride the 300 odd kilometres of trails on offer. The area has been an MTB mecca for many years with hotels accommodating skiers in the winter and mountain bikers in the summer. We stayed at the Hotel AAVA and it was clear that the MTB community is very welcome here; they had free fat bikes for guests to take out, as well as bike washing stations, GoPro hire, bike lockers and even bike valet services—it all creates a great atmosphere for riders. I recently spent some time in…

Let’s be frank; Polygon is certainly not the brand that comes first to mind when you think about high-end bikes. The Indonesian company has been on the local scene for about 10 years now, but has previously pitched itself at the budget to mid-end of the spectrum. That’s set to change with the arrival of the XSQUAREONE, a totally new design pitched as a one-bike solution for everyone except hard core DH and competitive XC riders. Designed for 27.5 inch wheels, there are two variants of the XQUAREONE available with prices of $6,999 and $8,499 for the EX8 and EX9 respectively; like I said, these are serious highend propositions. Both use the same full carbon fibre frame and suspension design, with the components being the only distinction between the two.…

The idea of replacing your gear cable mightn't be exciting but it can make a huge performance difference—the improvement will be far greater than upgrading from a Deore derailleur to XTR for example. Worn cables make it harder to push the shift lever and the indexed ‘click’ that accompanies a shift gets lost with the cable added friction. Upshifts will be slower and less precise too, as the derailleur spring struggles to pull the cable back through the outer housing. Of course this wear usually doesn’t happen overnight; it comes on progressively and often goes unnoticed until you get a new cable and realise how much better your shifting should be! While it may save time, don't cut corners by replacing the inner wire alone. The outer housing is lined…

Marcel Wow, the Dolomites—how could we not make this shot the winner! Would love to ride there one day. Thanks for your fantastic photo Marcel! Tim Wesley This shot comes from Falls Creek in the Victorian high country—the sort of place we’d rather be. Peter Wesley took this photo as his brother Tim was about to disappear down High Voltage, one of the many trails in their growing network. Steven Cockayne En-route to a Margaret River gravity enduro in WA and looking up in admiration— nice to have a Santa Cruz 5010 on the roof. Thanks for the shot Steven! Mick Molloy A different angle here from Mick Molloy, taken at Mt Stromlo in the ACT—his local trails. Mick took this shot with a bar mounted GoPro as he set…