Archive for July, 2012

Riding the Kowalski Trails

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

While up in Canberra last week for the launch of the 2013 Trek Mountain Bike range, I managed to squeeze in a ride out at the East Kowen Forest Park with Kowalski head honcho, Alan. Located on the other side of the Kings Highway from Sparrow Hill, Kowen is the playground of the Kowalski Brothers trailbuilding crew who hosted the Mont 24 hour endurance event earlier this year. I was keen to see what the trails had on offer at Kowen, as being an out-of-towner, I hadn’t heard much about the area aside from the preliminary details about the Kowalski Classic race that will be on late September.
Aside from chewing the fat on a beautiful Canberra Winter afternoon, I managed to get a couple of shots of some of the Kowalski’s handiwork as well as his impressive mobile tool shed. Alan also had a couple of Contour cameras strapped to his bike and got some cool footage of us riding the newest trail called ‘Big Wednesday’, which you can check out here on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EnduroMagazine

Taking a breather at the top of the climb before descending the Big Wednesday trail. If you’ve signed up to the Kowalski Classic (50 and 100km options) you’ll likely see this view a few times on the 30th of September.

This photo totally doesn’t do the trail justice, but you may get some idea of how much work goes into each Kowalski-built trail. This shot is taken halfway along the berm – it is massive! Underneath the dirt surface is layer upon layer of hand-moved rock that has been carefully placed in order to support the trail and build camber where required. As the Kowalski ethos states; “It’s all about flow”

And the back of a van that is likely every mountain bikers dream; Bike, Gear, Tools and Shovels.
Make sure you look out for the upcoming issue of Enduro (#22) that will have a feature on the East Kowen Trails as a preview for the Kowalski Classic Race with details about how to get to the trails, what to expect and info on how to get involved with trail building and maintenance.

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Iconic Sydney mountain bike endurance race to host two World Champions

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

The JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour mountain bike race will be run for the third time at the Dargle Farm property near Windsor on 11 August. Organisers Rocky Trail are expecting 400-500 mountain bikers at the start line of the popular Sydney endurance race, including Jason English and Jessica Douglas, the two reigning Australian 24H Solo Elite World Champions.

 

The 2 world champions, enjoyed great results in Italy

It’s a working cattle and turf farm for most of the year, but once a year Rocky Trail Entertainment transforms Dargle Farm into a pumping mountain bike event center, reviving the infamous 10 km tracks near Windsor for a 12 hour endurance race with major sponsor JetBlack Cycling and the hosting Western Sydney MTB Club.

The race will start at 9am and riders will head out onto the infamous 10km Dargle Farm track, just across from the Hawkesbury river. Solo as well as team riders will power through the morning and pedal across the lush meadows and flowy trails in the pristine bushland before throwing themselves onto a thrilling descent into the pumping event centre.  To fight the winter chill organisers have promised to set up a massive bonfire roaring right in the middle of it all and to put on a show with funky DJ tunes so riders can skip to the Euro-style beats while they’re in the transition zone.

Jason English to defend title
Jason English from Port Macquarie will be defending his three-year long standing elite men’s title at the JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour again and at the start line he will be joined by his fellow 24-Hour Solo World Champion, Jessica Douglas from Forrest in Victoria. While Jason won the 24H Solo World Championships for the third time, Jessica claimed elite women’s title for the second time earlier this year in Finale Ligure, Italy.

Jason English has won here before and will be hard to beat on a track that he knows well

English is said to make the event at Dargle Farm part of his preparation for the next 24H World Championships in Canada. “The JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hour is something I wouldn’t want to miss in the world. This has always been a great event put on by the Rocky Trail guys”, he said this week.

Jessica Douglas, one of Australia’s most successful female mountain bike racers said, “I’ve heard so much about this race already, I can’t wait to ride it.”

The race track will close at 9pm with the last finishers expected to cross the finish line around 9.45pm and the ceremony to commence at 10pm.

Partner event of the Crocodile Trophy
It has also been confirmed that the JetBlack WSMTB 12 Hours has once again been awarded event partner status by the International Crocodile Trophy race. Rocky Trail Entertainment have been ambassadors for the 10-day stage race in Far North Queensland and at their own Dargle Farm event, they will be giving away a free entry to the Crocodile Trophy this year.

“We find the giveaway is a really nice fit, because we will have almost 10 Crocodile Trophy finishers at the start line at Dargle Farm – including Jessica Douglas who won the Women’s category in 2011. Only a few riders put up their hand for it every year and the fastest rider will get the ticket to race at the hardest mountain bike stage race in the world”, said organizer Martin Wisata, who will participate in the Crocodile Trophy for the third time himself in October this year.

Jess won the womens title at the 2011 Croc Trophy and with a free entry on offer, it is a great opportunity for another rider to step up to the challenge

Race participants can register online at www.rockytrailentertainment.com

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Belgian pro mountain biker Kevin Van Hoovels spits the dummy

Friday, July 27th, 2012

Kevin Van Hoovels has had the race that he’d rather forget, racing in the Belgian national championships, he twice dropped his chain, fought back to catch the leader and then lost in the sprint. All of this was just too much for Kevin and he spat the dummy big time.

Poor Kevin, hopefully he will keep his emotions a little more contained for the Olympic cross country race.

 Kevin’s Oscar winning performance

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Apollo 2013 – Featuring the SRAM XX1 11-Speed Groupset

Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

As hype continues to build for the coming 2013 product year, bike brands are hosting various dealer shows and product launches around Australia and the World to showcase their new range to the public. With an even bigger bang than last year, Aussie brand Apollo decked out the reception rooms at Sandown Racecourse in South East Melbourne to proudly display their 2013 range of Road, Time Trial, Commuter and Mountain Bikes. Over the course of 4 days, dealers, shop employees, journos and spys from all around Australia all cruised along the carpet-lined floor drinking complimentary coffee (it was actually pretty darn good!) while being brainwashed by Apollo reps.
Enduro was invited along to check out the range, and while we’ll be running some more details and specs on the broader range in our upcoming issue, we thought we’d share some photos from the bike that had us drooling the most; the Arctec 29er.

Dressed in a very exclusive SRAM XX1 groupset, the Arctec 29er is Apollos’s flagship XC race bike. By exclusive, we mean this is literally the only XX1 groupset in Australia and one of a handful in the World. Full press release and details are coming in the next fortnight on the latest 1×11 drivetrain, but in the meantime, here’s some pics to whet your appetite.

Single chainring front crankset with revised crankarms. Very neat and also very light.

The Arctec carbon frame features some pretty sweet details, such as the internal cable routing for the derailleurs, as well as a pressfit BB.

Super thin seatstays promise compliance and comfort from the hardtail frame.

Going the whole hog, Apollo have selected the brand new XX Gripshift for switching up that 11 speed cassette. Motorbike throttle noises as standard.

While not as streamlined as the current XX rear derailleur, the XX1 model is unique for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s got an offset upper pulley (hidden in this photo) that allows the chain to follow the different cog sizes evenly. Secondly, the action of the derailleur is literally side to side, no more angular movement like standard rear derailleurs. And lastly, it’s equipped with the clutch mechanism that SRAM have released on the X9 and X0 rear derailleurs, known as ‘Type 2′ – this is key to providing more tension on the chain for less chance of derailment and reduced chain slap.

Very similar construction to the current XX and Red cassettes, the 11 speed unit provides an enormous 10-42t range!

Some intense machining on that 42t cog at the back there. Note the 142x12mm Thru Axle dropouts – Apollo are listening closely.

Racy graphics make the Arctec stand out. A cheaper model uses far more understated graphics if this is too much for you.

While the buzz was around the groupset, we were also surprised to see the Arctec decked out with SRAM Rise 60 Carbon Fiber wheels. The main reason I assume would be for freehub compatibility with the XX1 cassette (proprietary hub driver – currently only SRAM and DT Swiss offer freehubs to work with the cassette), though these are clearly some very nice wheels and certainly suit the Arctec’s aesthetic.

Keep an eye out on the blog and our Facebook/Twitter channels for more info on the XX1 groupset as it comes to hand. We’ll also be running details in our upcoming issue of Enduro Magazine, and possibly a sneaky ride review coming soon…

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Shimano 2013 Roadshow – New SLX, Shadow Plus and Di2

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

As they do at the start of each season, Shimano Australia presented all of their latest componentry as part of a Nation wide roadshow around the states capital cities. Enduro was invited along to the Melbourne edition to check out some of the new groupsets on offer, including the redesigned SLX groupset, all-new Zee lineup and the swanky electronic Di2 Dura-Ace groupset.

The big news with SLX is the addition of a double-specific crankset for use with the Dyna-Sys 10 speed drivetrain. The cranks look the goods, though we’ll be interested to see how the shift quality compares to higher end Shimano groupsets and SRAM’s offerings.

Also new is the trickle-down of the Shadow Plus technology that debuted on last years XTR derailleur. Essentially adding a one-way friction clutch to the pulley cage, it means that the chain bounces around far less than a conventional derailleur and holds the chain tighter on the front chainrings. We’ll be putting the new derailleur through its paces as part of our SLX 2013 groupset test, so look out for the next 2 Issues of Enduro Magazine for our review.

Shimano had the SLX groupset bolted on to a brand new Yeti SB95 29er bike. Absolutely gorgeous in the flesh and dare I say, better looking than the 26″ version??

The Deore XT groupset was redesigned last year, though for 2013 it does get an option for the Shadow Plus rear derailleur, bringing XTR performance to about half the pricepoint.
Expect to see a lot of people upgrading to this new XT derailleur over the coming months.

Check out that brake lineup! Pretty comprehensive, and given our glowing review on the XT brakes in Issue #21 of Enduro, this is going to be a hard to beat range.

Lever ergonomics trickle down from XTR and Deore XT, making the SLX an impressive feeling set of shifters. No side-to-side adjustment ala XT, and SRAM X9, but you can remove the shift indicators if need be. Still loving the shorty lever blade on the brakes too, and the tools-free reach adjuster makes setup a breeze.

SLX brakes remain unchanged from 2012-2013, though there is the introduction of an SLX-level Ice Tech rotor. Using the same hybrid Stainless Steel/Alloy sandwhich construction, the brake track is designed to lower operating temperatures for reduced brake fade. We’ll be putting a set through the ringer with the above drivetrain test to see how hot these are…

Cool cutaway of the new XTR brake lever.

And another one of the calliper. Note the massive oversized Ceramic pistons (white) on either side – these are what help the new range of Shimano brakes boost power considerably.

And while not as bling as the new SLX and XT gear, I was intrigued about the new clip-in pedal system Shimano is marketing towards entry-level mountain bikers and recreational riders. Called  ”CLICK’R”, the pedal is based around the SPD cleat platform but with a different linkage arrangement and corresponding shoe well to provide much easier disengagement. Could potentially be a great option for those riders wanting to go down the clip-in pedal route but are scared of getting stuck in.

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The Desk Files – Gloves, Tyres and Hot Air

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

Another edition of the Desk Files, though this time we’ve been inundated with some fresh apparel as well as a nifty item from Schwalbe.
With Winter kicking into overdrive in Melbourne, things have been cold and mostly wet the past couple of weeks, so it seemed perfectly suitable to find a pair of Windchill Gloves from Scottish brand Endura in a box on our front porch. Matching the Windchill softshell jacket that we currently have on test for review in Issue #22 of Enduro, the bright red gloves are built for cold conditions with a layer of waterproof/windproof material on the back side of the hand.

Stretchy elastic cuff keeps them snug, though the overall cut seems to do that very well, with sizing on the smaller side.

Rubberised grippy bits on the fore and middle fingers for traction on the brake levers and shifters.

Endura Winter Gloves: Protecting the Technical Editor’s hands from hot cups of coffee since 9am this morning.

While we’re on the glove front, we received a bunch of goodies from Trek’s accessory brand, Bontrager. Sitting on the other side of the spectrum to the Endura gloves, the RL Fusion Gelfoam gloves (try saying that 10 times fast!) are a much lighter construction with breathable mesh material aiding ventilation.

Overall construction is very light, so these will be ideal for warmer riding conditions. Note the Velcro wrist closure to keep them in the right spot – on your hands.

As the name indicates, these gloves house a built in Fusion reactor. No? Oh right, I meant that they have gel inserts on the palm.

Obligatory terry towling on the thumb, though I’m not sure how Keith Bontrager feels about you wiping sweat and snot all over his name.

We forgot to post these up earlier with the Hope X2 Brakes, as Panaracer is also distributed by Bike Sportz. Being made in Japan, Panaracer is also licensed to manufacture tyres for a number of other brands including 650B specific company; Pacenti. The Driver Pro tyres are built to perform in hardpack and medium loose conditions, with a generous 2.2″ width. We’ve got these wrapped around the wheels on our long termer Santa Cruz Tallboy, and you’ll see full spec details and our thoughts on their performance in the next issue of Enduro (hint: they’re light!)

And last, but certainly not least, is this clever little device from Schwalbe. It’s a tyre pressure gauge that uses a digital display to take the guesswork out of achieving correct tyre setup. Given that we’re regularly hopping on and off demo bikes as well as swapping around tyres for different trail conditions, a gauge like this is invaluable for quick setup as well as experimenting with lower or higher tyre pressures than the old ‘thumb test’. Clever stuff!

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Tupalski wins Elite Solo SHIMANO MTB GP 7-hour race at Awaba MTB Park

Tuesday, July 10th, 2012

Mark Tupalski from Canberra was the strongest solo elite rider at the second round of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix at Awaba MTB Park on the Central Coast. Second-placed Andrew Lloyd keeps his lead in the Rocky Trail 4 and 7 hour mountain bike endurance racing series and fellow local rider Michelle Morris claims the female title of the day.

Mark Tupalski rode strongly for the 7HR. win - Photo: Rocky Trail/Deubel Bicycles

The current U23 Australian National 24-hour Solo Champion, Mark Tupalski, clocked in 11 laps in just over seven hours on the 12 km mountain bike track at the Awaba State Forest on Saturday.

“I haven’t ridden this course for years and was surprised how physical course it was. The conditions were tough with a few muddy sections where I actually had to back it down a couple of gears to find my rhythm”, said the Onyabike Belconnen & Civic racer at the finish line, adding he had pushed hard from the beginning purely by judging his fellow racers’ quick pace from the start.

Second in the Elite Male category with 11 laps in 7:26 hours was series leader and local rider Andrew Lloyd who collected valuable points in the four-race series, which had commenced with round one in April at Stromlo Forest Park. Third was Brad McFayden from Narara with 10 laps.

John Odams, back to back wins in the 4 hr. - Photo: Rocky Trail/Deubel Bicycles

A strong 7 hour female field was decided by local racer Michelle Morris who managed to cross the finish line just before the cut-off and achieved 9 laps in 7:47 ahead of Lana Moy from Collaroy and Catherine Wood from Binnaway who both finished on eight laps.

4 hours most popular category
More than 250 riders had been at the start line on a sunny morning at Awaba State Forest and despite a bleak weather forecast, conditions out on the track improved with every lap ridden, which added up to more than 1,000 on the day.

In addition to the prestigious 7 hour race categories, organisers Rocky Trail also offer 4-hour racing options and the field of more than 60 solo riders proofed the popularity of it.

With seven laps last year’s winner of the GP4 hour Elite Solo Male category claimed the title again – Jon Odams, riding under the banner of his Sans Souci bike store “BikeCulture”, crossed the finish line after 4:12 hours and 10 minutes ahead of Central Coast-endurance race icon James Lamb. Andrew Lumley from East Blaxland was third, also on seven laps. With 33:14 minutes Odams also clocked in the fastest male lap time of the day.

Andrew Lloyd - Photo: Rocky Trail/Deubel Bicycles

Tracey Robinson remembered
In the GP4 hour Elite Female category Blue Mountains-based Wendy Walker not only rode to victory, but with 42:58 minutes one of her 6 laps was also the fastest female lap time of the day. Wendy was thus awarded with the Tracey Robinson Trophy. Race organisers Rocky Trail set up this award in honour of one of their riders, Tracey Robinson, who had inspired so many fellow racers at Rocky Trail events and who had passed away earlier this year.

“I didn’t know Tracey personally, but I am really honoured to get this award. It’s such a nice way of remembering a fellow rider who is being missed at the start lines”, said Walker of the award.

From Bike Shop Trophy to Croc Trophy
One of the biggest teams of the day proofed to be the Bernard Riders. With seven teams on the start line they took out four of the 22 available top podium positions and also claimed line honours as the fastest overall team of the day with Ondrej Slezak and Michael Kafka racing in and winning the GP7 hour Elite Male Pairs category.

Ondrej Slezak, team manager and one of the main supporters of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix with his importing business of Bernard Beer from the Czech Republic was content with his riders’ results.

“We didn’t have a complicated strategy for the day… just to ride onto as many podiums as possible”, the avid endurance racer said with a cheeky smile of the outstanding efforts of the Bernard Riders. “Most of us are in training for the Crocodile Trophy in October this year and the crew from our new team bike shop Ashfield Cycles have been a great support.”

With at least 12 riders the plan was to form a Bernard Riders Rocky Trail Racing “super-team”, the biggest ever to start at the 10-day stage race in Far North Queensland, Slezak added.

The Bernard Riders team cooperation and their own store team’s many podium positions, including Female Pairs in the GP7 hour race, will give Ashfield Cycles a boost in their lead of JetBlack NSW/ACT Bike Shop Trophy, which has been an initiative by Rocky Trail to promote local bike shops. By riding for their nominated bike shop at the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix races, store customers as well as crew members can put it in the lime light.

Awarding the Tracey Robinson Trophy - Photo: Rocky Trail/Deubel Bicycles

Round 3 of the SHIMANO MTB Grand Prix will be held at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan on 25 August and the final series race will be hosted at Appin on 29 September.

For further race info and results

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Sydney Bike Show August 4

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

Cycling Sports Group are putting on a huge Bike Show at the start of August to showcase all of the cycling products that they distribute in the Australian market.

It’s a great opportunity to check out many of the leading brands, including: Cannondale, GT, Schwinn, Mongoose and Sugoi clothing.

There’s also going to be a Sugoi clothing clearance sale, which is a great opportunity to get kitted our with new riding gear.

Register early to be entered into the prize draw – CSGA

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Shaun Lewis wins in Real Insurance XCM, Stevens Bikes Husky 100′ker at Callala Beach

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Shaun Lewis reclaimed the lead in the Series by taking his 3rd win in 4 events at this past weekends Stevens Bikes Husky 100′ker.

Lewis took the win over a hard charging Andy Blair and Jason English

The 4th leg of the 6 event Real Insurance XCM Series visited the beautiful town of Callala Beach. The riders were greeted by the most perfect day the Husky 100′ker has ever seen in its 3 year existence.

Trenton Day with Adrian Jackson hot on his heels, cresting the KOM climb

The Elite field was once again stacked to the brim with newly crowned Australian XCM Champion and Real Insurance XCM Series leader Andy Blair, World 24 Hour Champion Jason English, KOM leader Adrian Jackson and Shaun Lewis along with most of the usual suspects. A noteworthy new face to the Series Cam Peterson, a highly revered road cyclist, joining the lineup.

The race started fast and it was Trenton Day who looked the most dangerous as he crested the KOM climb at the 30km mark ahead of Adrian Jackson and Kyle Ward. They were closely followed by a pack of 10 riders including roadie Cam Peterson, but not including Jason English who had to stop to fix a mechanical problem. English impressively caught the leaders later on.

The lead group dwindled down to Lewis, Blair, English, Shippard, Peterson, Jackson, Day, Jackson and Hall with about 15km to go. Peterson put in a big attack which only Lewis were able to follow. It looked like the winning move but Blair, Shippard, English and Hall managed to bridge in the final couple of kilometres and it was down to yet another sprint.

Jenny Fay consolidated her hold on the series, with the win at the Husky

Lewis timed it perfectly and took his 3rd win out of 4 events so far in the Series.

The mud took it's toll on competitors equipment

The women’s event was once again dominated by defending XCM Series champion Jenny Fay, who is still yet to meet her match.

The riders needed a good hosing at the finish

The next event in the Series is the Wollombi Wild Ride on the 1st of September. The Wollombi Wild Ride is one of the least technical difficult courses in the Series making it perfect for anyone to come and try their hand at mountain biking. The Briars Highland Fling in Bundanoon is the last and biggest event in the Series with over 2,000 riders expected.

Shaun Lewis with a well deserved win, with Andy blair in 2nd and Jason English in 3rd

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