Mountain Biking

Interesting Tech Tuesday video posted on Pinkbike this week – Handlebars – How Wide Affects Your Ride. (more…)

Huge thanks to everyone who headed out to Bress Winery for the inaugural running of the BressXpress! The consensus seemed to be that it was a relaxed, enjoyable event, a beautiful setting for a ride and even the track was ok too. (more…)

Headed out to Maldon this afternoon to catch the some of the racing in the final round of the Vic Downhill Series.  Incredible watching the fast guys as they showed absolute commitment at the top of the course, taking the fast line through the air to clear a rocky section followed by a good size drop all in one go, then having to make a turn immediately on landing. No margin for error, just rocks and trees to hit if they messed up. Great crowd and atmosphere up the top too with the intensity of the chants and cheering fluctuating with the fortunes and speed of each rider. (more…)

Thought I’d fixed the disc brake probs (rear stuck piston and front leaking fluid) as everything seemed fine during the 3 hour enduro. Even though the average lap speed at the enduro was relatively high, the max speed each lap was relatively low, with only a few light squeezes on the brake needed to make it around the course. It was a really enjoyable ride but I guess didn’t test the brakes enough provide a definitive verdict on my maintenance efforts the previous day. (more…)

After goofing off yesterday I headed out on a ride with Julien around Ken’s loop. Not long into the ride, just before a fast gully descent, I noticed the rear brake didn’t feel right including a forceful click felt through the brake lever towards the end of the action. It turned out one of the pistons had siezed. The brake still sort of worked ok, the other piston making up most of the difference and flexing the rotor sideways in the process. The Hippie Track rides have worked the brakes hard lately, to the point of chronic  fade — leaving its mark on the brakes, literally, with some rotor burn. Wonder if it’s all related. (more…)

Had another trail building session at the vineyard in Harcourt today with Peter from the Bike Vault. Lots of work still to be done but we both reckon the trail is shaping up well especially the section of bush single track which flows around the dams and includes a fun descent before heading off around the property. The vineyard guys have offered to slash and smooth other sections of trail using machines, which is great as it leaves a few weeks to clean up and ride the trail in before the event mid May. (more…)

Thought it would be fun to do a 20 year MTB showdown – my old 1991 Specialized Stumpjumper vs the circa 2011 Ibis Mojo HD. Over the next month or two the ‘plan’ is to take both bikes out on a few adventures — XC, AM, Downhill etc — and assuming the Stumpy doesn’t kill me, see what differences 20 years of MTB make out on the trail! (more…)

I’ve been using the Specialized Phenom Body Geometry Expert saddle for two months now, time to revisit the all important Junk Joy index. (more…)