Monday, April 29, 2013

X-Fusion's Slide RL2 29er


Having run an X-Fusion’s 26-27.5” Velvet fork for quite a few years, enjoyed their smooth performance and value for money pricing, it was time to move on. You guessed it, the move was into the world of 29” wheels and we were keen to put X-Fusion's bigger wheel fork to the test.

96ers will never take off ;)
Initially the Slide RL2 29 was run at 80mm travel and hung from a 26” carbon cross-country dually frame, matched with a super wide 29” enduro rim and tyre. During this period the fork worked well, it was pummelled through rough single-track on it was to a enduro podium, a very nice way to introduce the 96 concept.

It was then the rider who was outside his limits when introduced to the 2013 Gravity Enduro Series. The Slide soaked up the big hits of the DH trail and the extra beef of the fork helped with the steering ability, no noodle here.

No where to go but over the back
The travel was extended to 100mm for further testing before the fork finally found its way onto a 29” HT steel frame, where it has matched nicely, compliant, but still lets you know your connected to the trail. This workable connection lead to PBs on one of our favourite trails.

Smooth function sees smooth riding
While there is a bit of extra weight in X-Fusion forks, they shouldn’t be compared to a RockShox SID… And they aren’t as plush and externally adjustable as the best Fox fork… But what we have here is a fork with a simple notched-feel lock-out, that has a nice controlled rate and no harsh bottoming out when adjusted to the appropriate air pressure using the chart on the back of the fork leg.

Not resting on our laurels, the fork as a couple more adjustments we would like to try before we will be satisfied all bases have been covered. So far the fork has worked faultlessly, which brings me back to the second point, they fit the bill for slider value too.

Integrated brake boss, brake hose clip, Lock-out, rebound, internally adjustable travel, choose between QR & X-15, tapered or straight.
X-Fusion forks and their other products, shocks and dropper-posts are distributed by DIY-MTB. Ask at your local bike shop or visit DIY-MTB.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Hornsby MTB Trail Visit

After Turramurra's trails opened in the last couple of years, the suburb on the other side of the rail line has recently opened their own gem, and are looking to extend further with intermediate and experienced level trails.

After a 40 or so k warm up via Galston Gorge there I was at the trail head, just a couple of hundred meters from Hornsby Train Station.

There are quite a few videos of the trail so I just cut together the flow section. It was pretty sweet.

James Estate GP Video

You can visit the Upper Hunter Valley, with wine, cheese and mountain biking! James Estate are keen to build their trail network and host more mountain biking.



You can check out all the single-track action on the James Estate YouTube Channel or just visit the superb Upper Hunter for real. I'm sure Rocky Trail will organise another event at this location in the future.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Five with Sarah

Sarah Booth has returned to the top step in her favourite discipline of mountain biking after recovering from a massive off while racing internationally. Once again racing against the best downhill riders in Australia , Sarah leads the points score in the Victorian downhill series. She hopes to hold off her closest competitor and team mate to take the title, “Hopefully I can hold off Teegs (Tegan Molloy) for the title … without maiming myself!” 

Sarah’s domination of the Elite woman’s field in 2013 comes after an impressive "back in the saddle" win of both the 2012 NSW/ACT Downhill Series and NSW/ACT State Championships. But at Round 1 of the 2013 NSW/ACT Downhill Series in Thredbo, “I came 3rd in the DH even though I had some sketchy moments below Snakes & Ladders... The top section was slippery on the rocks!”

But Sarah is optimistic re her future in Downhill, with All-mountain (Gravity Enduro/Super D) racing growing in popularity, “it might be where my (mountain bike racing) career is heading… there were a few people I beat, that don't normally get beaten by me!” Sarah said after competing in and winning the Elite woman’s category at the recent Gravity Enduro NWS/ACT State Championships.

Photo: theroostmag.com.au

Monday, April 22, 2013

Project 9er Wheel Set


Months in the making Project 9er has now made its début on the dirt. It all opened with a casual 4hr on the people’s favourite trail, just to get a feel for the bike. While the industry as a whole has been mad over 9ers for the last few years, this wheel size is fresh for me and Project 9er needed a fresh distinctive feel.
Turnbull Photos
The basis of the Project 9er build would be around a custom wheel set. Selecting a set of well proven DT Swiss 240 hubs they were laced to wide carbon hoops. Even laced with 24 spokes the 380gm rims aren’t going to win any weight war but at a whooping 30mm outer width they have the potential to host a massive footprint. Wrapped in some standard 2.2 rubber and setup tubeless I weighed them, they came in comparable to a 26” XC wheel set with full UST 2.2 rubber. The same 2.2 tread measures 53mm wide on a XC rim, 55mm on more of a trail/AM rim and 57mm wide on these carbon beauties.

Weatherboard Photos






While the front wheel did get a look in early on a Yeti ASR-C setup in a 96er configuration this wasn't to be the place or bike for these Project 9er wheels.








Now as the dust has started to settle on this custom wheel set, I'm impressed that these built for purpose wheels are going to live quite well on the fast side of the single-track. On debut and during testing so far they have been light, lively and seem to always want to accelerate. There seems to be sufficient stiffness while under hard cornering and with foot long spokes I'm surprised.

With the big S's bringing carbon rims to the masses it won't be long before this becomes a little more standard. But in the mean time see what your local wheel builder can do for you.

CrummyMTB

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Thredbo PumpTrack Video


Thredbo FLOW Rollercoaster

After all the good practice of the mornings runs down the mountain it was time to get competitive, well at least against myself and the clock. Surrounded by heavy hitting 6" travel bikes, quite a few Downhill rigs and a stack of large knobbly tire, I felt a little under-welmed. The bike that had gotten me this far was sub 4" travel and had an integrated seat post, a XC/marathon machine that had been my chosen steed for countless adventures. Wrapping an old set of racing wheels was the rubber I had been thrashing for the last 3-4 months, fast, hardwearing, UST, brilliant in the dry.

But as the rain fell over the lunch period, I forced myself back on the chairlift, surly these recent intermittent showers would disappear as quickly as they appeared. Ping! Something just bounced off my helmet, strange, as we are above the treetops on the chairlift. The bike is nestled on one pedal between the chair and the safety bar, I look down, don't drop anything, you'll never get it back!

Then suddenly the rice sized hail starts, oh crap this is so very close to snowing. I'm already cold, my feet generally numb, I try to stuff my gloved hands in my pockets and hold my bike at the same time, awkward.  The hail is short lived but as I reach the top of the chairlift the conditions around the mountain don't seem to offer any improvement. There are a few bike and the respective owners taking shelter beneath the Eagles Nest awning, this is a different sort of fun.

Rob snaps me trying to keep warm as we wait for our start gate.
I wander down to watch a few of the initial starters launch themselves from the gate. After the initial gathering of speed all we hear is the squeal of brakes and a battery of curses. This is cause for some jovial conversation which dies quickly from the lips of the rider who next slides up to the gate, his mates keep the banter going.

A quick trail inspection finds the brown loamy dirt moisture laden, the next close thing to mud. I can only imagine the conditions further down the mountain as the trail changes from dirt base to clay, the rocks and the off camber sections. One by one riders pass by me, one foot out, the wet dirt spinning from their wheels. You cant just flick a traction control switch and every rider that passes seems to be right on the edge of out-of-control.

Into the mist.
I'm at the gate now, glasses clean, gloves on, clip in, a couple of deep breaths and I hear the beeps. I'm off. There are many things running through my mind, mostly the lines I want to take through the various sections but pushing to the front just about immediately are the other new issues I'm up against. Traction, I brake and slide before the corner, I go to pedal out of it and the rear wheel just spins on the brown stuff. Gravity, as the trail cuts across the ski fields it still mostly slopes down resulting in a weird fight against gravity, the slippery trail and where you want to go. Muddy dirt, spitting off my tyres and the tyres of any riders you catch, caking everything.

Getting to the bottom of the hill without an off and I'm happy. The time I did doesn't matter, there is still another run and hopefully the conditions will better.

On the edge of in-control.
As we wait at the top it is still cold, it hasn't rained though since lunch and all 150 or so riders have completed their first muddy run. This time as riders set off there is less squealing brakes and by the time I'm at the gate I'm pumped for a faster run. There is more traction, it seems all the riders that had gone over the trail during the first run have pushed much of the muddy dirt off the main line. It is still slippery in sections but the trail has vastly improved. I'm pushing the bike and tyres as hard as they will go and just wishing the XC tread would miraculously become moto for that extra bit of traction. I fly through that final on-camber snaking section, brake slightly for the sweeping flat corner then it is gas gas, the final bermed corner, through the arch and timing beam.

This had to be the most competitive Rollercoaster yet as there were riders from as far away a Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. Thankfully the NSW/ACT crew were able to find their way onto the top step and it was dominated by the experience of our Downhillers, who can now claim state champion status. But there was just about every style of mountain bike being ridden during this event, from hard-tail XC and right through the gamete of trail, all-mountain and free-ride. It isn't down to the bike you ride or where you place, as long as your having fun with mates. Flow Rollercoaster.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Flow Rollercoaster Thredbo

What isn't to love, chairlifts to the top of the hill. There was endless practise runs before the afternoons competition timed runs.
The Flow-down trail winds it way across the slopes, sweet berm followed by another and another. The trail crossed the DH trail just once.

Looking up towards Eagles Nest, Conti racing tread worked well in the dry.
There was minimal technical riding on the Flow-down trail. An added benefit, it was all gravity fed, no peddling needed. 
It was easy to relax and recover on the 12 minute chairlift ride back to the top. The views across the valley are spectacular.  Cheer on your mates as they ride down.
Berms were wide and endless, from one switchback into another.  Ride with your mates or get a section of trail by yourself.
Evidence of a fun filled day, this was from practicing on the renown DH trail of Thredbo.

Road Trip! Rocky Trail's Thredbo Weekend

Leaving Sydney, stop, revive, coffee and snacks. Plug in the ipod for endless tunes.

Zipping down the freeway. Looking out the window imagining single-track winding through the trees along the road.

Follow US, we're racing with Rocky Trail!

Toot toot, the closer we got to Thredbo the more MTBs we came across. Bikes on top of cars, bikes on racks and bike trailers.

Waking up in Thredbo and it was all BIKES. Quick grab your gear, chairlift pass, bike and helmet for fun on the mountain.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Easter, never tasted so sweet

Easter Long Weekend is synonymous for stuff. No doubt you might be stuffed in a car, going somewhere or nowhere depending on traffic. Stuffed with copious amounts of chocolate, after the major supermarkets had isles dedicated to its sugary goodness. And if you are keen on a bit of mountain biking the Easter weekend offers plenty of time to get out and ride (,it also hosts the National Solo 24hr MTB Champs in Canberra). But with the backend of February washing out Round 1 of the Rocky Trail Shimano Grand Prix, race organisers had to slide it right, twice, landing it on the next available free day, Easter Monday. The call was then made, if you did the National Solo 24hr and backed up with a little Grand Prix the next day, you were made of sterner stuff.


A packed start line, host it and the will come.

With a good outing at the Willo Enduro a couple of weeks ago Quantum Racing’s Michal Kafka made the most of the perfect trail conditions to create a sizeable lead, 11 laps in just under the 7hr mark. Grant Webster placed second in the Male Elite Category and Roger Harrison rounded out the podium, both completing 11 laps, 7:23 and 7:30 respectively.

The female categories in the 7hr GP unfortunately didn’t host strong fields. Sarah Neumann put many of male counterparts to shame by completing 10 laps in 7:18. This would place her easily in the top 10 riders across the GP7.

Chris from Pedal 4 Pierce

The 4hr GP was the most popular race out of the two, with over 100 riders lining up at the start and going solo. It was speedster Kyle Ward who out gunned a very fast line-up in the Solo Elite category, albeit on the last lap. Kyle was almost joined at the hip with Dan McDonald for 6 of their 7 laps and would have made for great racing. Left in their wake but rounding out the podium was marathon expert Antony Shippard.

In the Elite female field the top 3 riders finished within 15 minutes of each other with Susanna Fasold’s consistency paying dividends, and in the final laps put close to five minutes between her and second place getter Emily Cunningham. Laura Renshaw completed 5 laps along with Susanna and Emily and placed third in the category.

Flowing singletrack

The story of the day must go to Super Master Peter Selkrig who battled and eventually placed second, in their age group to Garry James, at the National Solo 24hr Champs. All less than 24hrs prior to the start of the GP. Peter then joined the GP7 mid race and completed 6 laps, posted laps time that would have not only won the Super Masters category (again) had he started the event at the advertised time but quite possibly a top 5 in Elite as well. Peter we tip our hat to you, through traffic, sweet delights, a 24hr with a healthy slice of Rocky Trail’s Shimano Grand Prix, made of sterner stuff.



The overnight drizzle had event organiser Martin poking his head out of his tent every few hours to check wether it really "was" raining or just the tent amplifying the conditions. When I arrived in the morning the trail was in perfect nick and sufficiently tacky to grip in all the right places. The people's favourite trail was flickable fast fun. 

I had a great race riding with so many other having just as much fun as I was. Not sure if it was the caffeinated gel, choccie treats or the new zippy carbon wheels but the bike just wanted to accelerate to warp speed under me. Can't wait to put the new wheels and other little bits to further tests. 


The next GP is hosted by James Estate Winery, which should be an interesting combination. Thankfully James Estate has not only lovingly hand picked their finest grapes but hand crafted kilometres of singletrack through the naturally forested sections of the estate. Bring it on.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Feels like forever since my last blog...

But there have been things a-happening. A little All-mountian event was contested on the slopes of Del Rio, fun with a capital F. And now that the enduro series have kicked into gear there will be plenty to blog about.