Zula loves the west coast.

Schwalbe Albert 2.25

I have had a 4 year sabbatical from Schwalbe tyres. I simply had such bad luck with them that I could no longer afford to run them.
Enter the Albert. Now featuring Snake Skin sidewall protection. This is the feature that has lured me back for another try and so far so good...

These tyres grip! The relatively sparse tread pattern coupled with pretty big knobs make the a joy on the ups. This morning on a 15% gradient over some loose rocks I stood up to give a shot of power. I fully expected the rear wheel to untrack from the burst of power. But it never happened. The Zula simply dug in and powered over the climb.

I have no doubt that this kind of traction will come at the price of longevity but at the moment I am more than happy to enjoy the extra grip.

Sabie 2010

Kevin Evans is once again in the national colours for marathon racing. Yolande Speedy won the ladies title. And the average guy finished.

The route was very tough for someone carrying a bit of extra weight, with 1700m climbing. I took it pretty easy and made it to the end feeling comfortable. It has been a few years since I rode Sabie and they have added very cool bits of singletrack. The Zula loved it! I had no problems navigating the steep singletrack. The roots were an issue but the Morewood was built for this kind of thing and I managed to ride everything and stay upright.

Well done to the organisers. The route was awesome and the weather less of a factor than I expected.

Sabie - pre race

My return to Sabie is going to be WET. The race this year is also our national title race.
Looking out the window this morning I get the feeling that the title will come down to equipment choice.
I will be riding the Morewood and just trying to survive.

More updates later.

Riding the Zula

The Zula and I continue to get better acquainted and I am struggling to find any weak points on the bike. It really rides very well. It is possibly not as supple over small stuff like many multi-pivot bikes but this is hardly noticeable when you are travelling the dirt roads of sunny South Africa at warp speed.

I had the chance to take the bike over some more challenging terrain this weekend, at Groenkloof and Fountains and I must say that this is where the bike really comes alive. I had forgotten how much fun a fast, light, manoeuvrable bike is in tight singletrack. My choice of a 120mm Reba XX is paying off, as the bike feels pretty stable and I feel that a 100mm race fork might have made the bike slightly more twitchy.

I also rode a 4,5 hour epic ride and I had no discomfort. The bike is the perfect length for me and my recurring shoulder pain seems to have disappeared aboard this bike.

The set up of the bike is as follows;

Fork: Rock Shox Reba XX 120mm

Shock: Fox RP23 BV shock

Handlebar: Ritchey WCS carbon low rise

Stem: 110mm Ritchey Matrix Carbon/Alloy

Seatpost: Ritchey Superlogic 30.9mm

Saddle: Ritchey WCS Streem Biomax

Wheelset: Ritchey WCS Carbon

Brakes: Shimano XT

Shifters: Shimano XTR

Grips: Ritchey WCS Foam

Front Derailleur: Shimano XTR

Crank: Shimano XTR (featuring crankskins)

Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR Shadow.

 

Zula Pic

New bike

Despite the fact that I have been extremely satisfied with the way my 5 inch experiment has gone, I simply could not resist the chance to ride the new Morewood Zula.

The good people from Morewood were kind enough to send me a frame. I then used every contact I have in the business to build it up with the EXACT spec that I wanted.

I have only done 2 rides with the bike, so you will need to wait a bit longer for a full review. But initial impressions are very good. So much so, that I will be racing the bike next week in Sabie.

It is by far the best single pivot I have had the pleasure of riding and the downhill pedigree of Morewood shines through when this XC racer is pointed downhill.

Thanks to Morewood, Ritchey and Shimano for making this bike happen.

First edition 2010 bike pron

Howzit ladies?

 

Here is the first bike pron for 2010. There is not a lot going on apart from this little 160mm gem... Brian Lopes' input has resulted in this beefed up version of the old beauty.

 

See you on the trails.

 

Chris duP

 

 

Ritchey WCS Carbon Wheels

I had a chance to take my new Ritchey Carbon wheels for a light spin this morning. Initial impressions are that they are super smooth! Even though it is probably not really possible, they seem to really damp trail chatter. The have an extremely quiet ride. I will update with a full review, as soon as I have done some miles on them.

2010 Fox Float RLC 150mm

I have been lucky enough to be riding Fox’s new offering for about a month, and while I am still a hesitant Fox front suspension fan, I am really starting to like my new fork.
The fork works extremely well! So this is not so much a review, as some advice that I have picked up on the set-up of the fork. This is by no means my own discovery, but rather some advice that I read in the MB Action magazine. They had an expert from Fox answer a letter from a reader and he gives some advice on using the RLC forks.
It is at this point that I have to admit that I never really new what the low speed compression was for on the Fox forks. On my previous forks I used to dial in 3 clicks from full minus and then never touch it again. The advice given in the magazine; has changed my life forever.
The best way for me to explain what the compression adjuster does is to say that it is like having a shock pump with you on the trail. You can effectively increase the “pressure” in your fork.
So here is what I tried this weekend, and it worked really well. I have never run the recommended amount of sag on a Fox fork, I have always thought it made the fork feel too soft. So, for starters, I dialled the compression adjuster to full Minus (off) I then, using a shock pump dialled in 20% sag. Yes, the shock felt too soft, but by simply turning the compression adjuster you can make the shock harder.
So while riding, when things got ugly I turned the compression down and had the full advantage of the most plush travel you can imagine. And when I was climbing or on flat sections I turned it up for a pedal platform type feeling.
I hope you find this handy! I sure did!

MTN Blockhouse Marathon

Despite trying to dedicate myself entirely to the freeride movement, I still find myself drawn to racing events. I found myself at the MTN National Marathon race at Blockhouse, south (very south) of Johannesburg this weekend.
After being freaked out by some very strange looking circus people at the start line, we set off with what looked like about 300 000 people! The dust was really something to behold! As I was only in training ride mode, I was happy to start at the back. There was a some really twisty single track to get away from the circus people which was pretty fun.
The course was extremely flat, which in my current form suited me perfectly. There was plenty of single track and even some rocky stuff to keep it exciting. The YETI handled the course brilliantly, as usual. My new 150mm Fox fork did not hold me back at all and I still managed a pretty fast average over the flat course.
Apart from the DUST it was a great race, whether it should be on the National calendar is debatable, but for me it was a great day out.
Thanks again to Regent Lighting Solutions for the support.

Trek Fuel EX - Friday bike pron from Chris

Chris our resident Bike Pron expert is a regular supplier of the latest equipment news on the web. Today the new Trek Fuel for 2010

 

Check out the new Trek bikes. They look very cool. One day when I am all grown up I'll buy myself one of those fuel ex bikes...

 

http://www.mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=A306472B9AFD49EDAA8D4C6A3EA4545E

 

And a budget khs that these reveiwers quite liked. I didn't even know khs still made bikes.

 

http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/uan/7225

 

Later dudes.

IBIS HD

Big Ibis News
Mojo HD Hits the Slopes
It's time to let the "HD" out of the bag.
Over the last couple years, we've been working on a new 160mm travel big brother to the Mojo Carbon and Mojo SL (each with 140mm travel), we're temporarily calling it the "Mojo HD". And now we think it's about time to tell you about it.
Introducing the Ibis Mojo HD
Before we tell you about what nitty gritty details we're willing to divulge, we want to let you know that we've already been putting this bike through the paces, some of them rigorous.
Already a Race Winner
Brian Lopes spent the last week in Vars France, getting ready for and then competing in the Enduro Trophy des Nations. This is an enduro style race, becoming quite popular in Europe these days, where riders compete in a number of stages over a two day period with "beaucoup" downhill. This particular event had 10 stages over two days and featured over 10,000 M of descending. If you're bad at math (or don't like the metric system) that's 32,808.4 feet of descent. Or 6.21 MILES straight down, measured vertically! This race also had a bonus stage at 10PM on saturday night that didn't count for the overall time, but the winner got an extra 500 Euros of party money.Brian teamed up with WTB's Mark Weir and Jason Moescheler to form Team USA 1. Brian notched the first win for his prototype Mojo HD on its first day of racing by winning one of the stages on Saturday, propelling the team to second overall on Saturday night.
Brian is very happy with the bike, and told us a couple things in text messages received over the weekend.
"bike is awesome"
OK, we understand typing is not that easy on a Blackberry.
Brian's Sunday Night ReportSeriously though, here we we have an extra long Blackberry missive from Monsieur Lopes:
"The Enduro race was a lot harder than I expected. The toll it took on everything: wheels, tires, brakes, suspension, the body, and of course the frame were beyond what I imagined. The new "HD" Ibis never missed a beat. For only getting the frame one week ago & with only one ride on it before packing it up for this race, it couldn't have gone through any more of a test than the abusive one I gave it here in France. With 10 demanding races, 3 of which ended with flat tires, the French won all but one race (which I won!). It was hard to beat them on course they knew better than all the rest, basically they were on their home track at times, where knowing the course saved them time. It's hard to believe that this bike isn't much heavier than the standard mojo, as it was eating up courses that were worthy of full-on DH rigs. The added travel, stiffness, clearance for larger tires and a 8" rotor allow you to take on the toughest terrain you can throw at it, but it's still efficient and light enough to pedal up any hill. Another weapon is added to the ibis line up...
Wow, so there you go. The only non-French winner of any stage was Brian, and they ended second overall. We think that's pretty impressive. Without further fluff, here's a bit more about the bike.
Mojo "HD" Prototype Specifications
· Price and delivery date are both to be decided.
· 160mm of rear wheel travel.
· DW Link Suspension.
· 26" Wheels.
· Target weight for the frame and shock: 6.2-6.5 lbs. (we're not there yet but are fine-tuning the layup).
· 67 degree head angle with a 160mm fork (Brian was running a 170mm fork this weekend, you can also run a 180mm).
· Chain stay length: 17.125".
· Top tube lengths are the same as regular Mojos.
· 12 x 135mm Maxle rear axle.
· Post mount magnesium left dropout, carbon right dropout.
· Compatible with the new tapered steerer standard: 1 1/8th hidden upper, 1.5 traditional lower.
· Compatible with both Chris King InSet and Cane Creek Frustum headsets.
· If you want to run your current straight 1 1/8" fork, we've got you covered too. We will have an adapter available, and you will be able to use a King headset top and bottom.
· 2.35"-2.5" rear tire depending on brand and height of cornering knobs.
· Dual row angular contact bearings in the front of the lower link that have less play than standard sealed bearings. Preload adjustment is not necessary. Large 28mm x 15mm x 7mm radial bearings in the rear for stiffness and long wear.
· The leverage ratio, like the Mojo and Mojo SL is designed for air shocks. The Mojo HD comes with a 8.5" x 2.5" Fox RP23. A DHX air will work on all but the small size. A coil shock is not offered because the linkage rates weren't designed for it. We lowered the top tube to get slightly better standover than the regular mojo while having a higher BB because of the longer travel (we managed to retain the DHX air compatibility in 3 of the 4 sizes).
· The Bottom Bracket height is 13.8"-14" depending on tires.
· Chain guide development is well on its way, we'll announce compatible brands soon. The frame will not have ISCG mounts so it will not be Hammerschmidt compatible.
· The HD runs full cable housing. Rear brake and rear deraileur run on the down tube, with hidden swingarm housing for the rear derailleur.
· Front derailleur (if you use one) and adjustible seatpost housing (if you use one) run along the top tube.
· And once again, just to make sure you got it, price and delivery date are both yet to be decided.





Care of the IBIS newsletter.

Lezyne Alloy Drive M and Pen Guage – Review

Over the years I have gone from pumps to bombs and back, probably 1000 times. Each time I see a new pump that looks cool, I buy it and turf the bomb idea, but I always come back again. On our recent trip to Mankele, I was reminded of the value of a good pump. I got a small cut in my tyre and lost a bit of pressure before it sealed up. I had no other choice but to use a bomb. 25 bucks, just to top up the pressure! It was time for a pump.
I have had my eye on the Lezyne pumps for a while, they just simply look cool! And when the colours were launched here I decided that I could wait no longer!
After getting the pump, I actually spend some minutes just looking at it! It is a beautifully constructed piece of equipment! The entire pump is CNC machined. Holding it in your hands you get the feeling that you will have this pump for the rest of your life. It is super solid! The system it uses, takes me back to my school days, when we had racing bikes with the two brackets under the top tube that would hold your long white sks pump. Inside the pump was a little hose that you had to screw onto the pump and onto the valve to inflate your tyre.
The Lezyne Alloy drive works exactly the same. I hit a rock and burped my tyre on my weekend riding and it was my first opportunity to use my new pump on the trail. It takes a few moments to attach the valve hose, but I am sure that once you have this a few times, it will become quick and easy. I bought the pen gauge as an extra to the pump. This features a nifty, integrated pressure gauge. When I screwed the valve onto my presta valve, I realised the advantages of checking your equipment before you attach it to your bike and ride off because the pressure gauge had unscrewed itself and pumping had no effect. 2 seconds later I had tightened everything up, and the pump worked, well like a bomb! It took about 8 strokes to get the tyre to my favourite (secret) pressure. And the visual confirmation from the integrated gauge is a treat!
You may think that attaching the valve hose is a hassle, but to be honest, I have bent and broken so many valves using pumps that attach directly to your valve that I am more than happy to take a second to attach everything. You can pump with all the vigour you need and not risk damaging your valve. One tip I can suggest it first attach the hose to the valve on your bike, then screw the pump on. This way you can’t inadvertently unscrew any of the pump parts when attaching to the valve.
I think this is a great product! And it seems that I will have it for MANY years to come!

Mountainbiking singletrack video at Mankele

Check out this cool mountain bike video we made on the Mankele singletrack.

See the other posts below for the review of the mtb trip or watch the video below