Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2022 i Mountain Biking UK

Write to: MBUK Send it! Eagle House, Bristol, BS1 4ST Email: mbuk@immediate.co.uk Visit: www.mbuk.com STAR LETTER WINS... Lezyne Tool Insert Kit, Tubeless Insert Kit & Super SV23 multi-tool worth £128 THAT’S GOTTA HURT WINS... SixSixOne Recon V2 knee & elbow pads, size M worth £160 SHOT OF THE MONTH WINS... DMR Vault Mag pedals & Brendog DeathGrips worth £141 INSTA-BANGERS WINS... Lezyne Torque Drive, Grip Drive HV mini pump & Micro Floor Drive HV pump worth £134 STAR LETTER BLAST FROM THE PAST I’m currently building what I’m calling my ‘eBay-sourced Retro-ish Build Downhill Bike’. Many moons ago I crashed hard in Tignes, France. My ride at the time was a Specialized Big Hit and I completely trashed it, so it was literally thrown to the back of the…

OUT FRONT Congratulations to UK rider Phoebe Gale, who’s won two Junior DH World Cups this year and finished second at three more. Can she clinch the series title? Awesome stuff. Well done, too, to our Tech Editor-In-Chief, Rob, who made the podium in his category at the super-tough Stone King Rally alpine enduro, after a long hiatus outside the tape – more on this next issue. MBUK art and tech bods Julia and Tom have been living it up abroad and enjoying some time in the Alps riding bikes and soaking up the sun... ... in between trying to get the latest in a long line of unreliable vans owned by Tom fixed! JCW and Rob, meanwhile, have been battling the dreaded lurgy, while Chris and Jimmer have been…

MONDRAKER RAZE CARBON R £5,499 Demolishing expectations of a short-travel trail bike Its 130mm of rear-wheel travel may be close to ‘downcountry’ territory, but one look at the burly Fox 36 fork tells you the Raze is made for sterner stuff. Mondraker pioneered longer geometry and here you get an aggressively long reach (495mm, large) combined with a slack 65.5-degree head angle. The carbon fibre frame is claimed to weigh not much over 2kg (without shock), yet be tough enough to handle enduro trails, and uses the brand’s trademark Zero twin-link suspension system. This is the cheapest of three builds, with Performance-level Fox suspension and SRAM GX/NX Eagle gears. As a bonus, you get Mondraker’s MIND telemetry system, designed to help you set up the fork and shock, and monitor…

my month HIGHS The low flip-chip setting has transformed the ride – I’m loving the tyres on dry trails, but… LOWS … the rear one has had it and needs to be replaced JIMMER’S SANTA CRUZ TALLBOY C S £5,599 Our art editor’s geometry experiments seem to be unlocking the Tallboy’s potential This month I hit the trails intending to do some back-to-back runs to test the difference between the Tallboy’s two flip-chip positions. I thought I might struggle a bit on the climbs in the ‘low’ setting , but it didn’t make much of a difference. I guess that’s no big surprise, as flipping the chip only slackens the seat tube angle by 0.3 degrees, from 76.6 to 76.3 degrees. I have great local trails, full of roots and…

As bikes become ever more capable, and popular riding spots ever busier, UK MTBers are increasingly seeking out more adventurous riding, well outside of the signposted security of trail centres and bike parks. With mountain rescue teams saying that most of the incidents they were called out to last year (totalling just shy of 152,000 hours) were caused by “human error”, “inexperience” or “bad decision-making”, it’s paramount that you have basic knowledge on how to stay safe before venturing into bigger, more remote areas. We could fill the whole mag with info on this subject, but here are some useful fundamentals. GET CLUED UP This article isn’t a comprehensive guide and is no substitute for a proper training course in mountain safety. Further information can be found at www.mountain.rescue.org.uk PRO-FILE…

VICKY BALFOUR BIKE MECHANIC & MORE The woman-on-the-spanners behind our Grimetime page has just got back from the notorious Megavalanche (p12) – an adventure for every MTBer’s bucket list RACHEL ATHERTON THE REAL G.O.A.T. Five-time DH world champ and six-time World Cup champ Rach tells us what it was like returning to top-flight racing after having her first child – p30 NILS AMELINCKX JACK OF ALL TRADES Nils mixes work for Lyon Equipment (7mesh, Julbo, Ortlieb) with big-mountain epics (p48) and a passion for photography, all while doing his best to #f**kcancer CORY WALLACE 24-HOUR WORLD CHAMP Think the UK lockdowns were hard? Cory was stranded in a Tibetan monastery and then the African desert, taking a spin up Mt Kili to pass the time! He tells all on p57…

OUT FRONT Back in MBUK 406, we revealed that World Cup star Tahnée Seagrave had a secret passion for making her own clothes. Now she’s worked with sponsors Fox to bring out her own ‘capsule collection’ of riding gear. The TS57 range was inspired by a top Tahnée had in her earliest riding days, which sported a fiery take on the Fox logo. She’s put her own stamp on the ‘flame head’ design, adding some trademark pink and tie-dye to the Flexair jersey and Defend pants. We particularly like the matching colour-fade Ranger socks and gloves, and the Vue goggles, too, with their pink-mirror lens and retro flames on the strap. The kit isn’t just for women; there are men’s sizes, too. It’s a limited run, so get them before…

“The decision to ride the World Cup at Lenzerheide was so last-minute! I hadn’t done nearly enough training, but the Sunday before the race I was at Dyfi Bike Park with [brothers] Gee and Affy, and Olly [Davey, trail builder and Rach’s partner], just recovering from COVID and feeling pretty rusty, but the itch to race got too strong. I felt the Swiss round would be my last chance this year to race an ‘easier’ World Cup but, of course, when I did the track walk there were loads of new sections and they were pretty hard! The whole time I was so up and down – nervous, excited, scared, relaxed – and so happy to have [daughter] Arna with me at a race. I literally couldn’t have done it…

MEET THE TESTERS ROBIN WEAVER TECH EDITOR IN CHIEF With three decades of MTB experience, Rob can identify the kit that works LUKE MARSHALL TECH WRITER Downhiller Luke is always looking for what saves time between the tape ALEX EVANS BIKERADAR TECH EDITOR Many years of breaking bikes means Al can give reliable buying advice KATHERINE MOORE TESTER A route-maker and guide, Kat is after kit that performs on all-day rides JAMES COSTLEY-WHITE EDITOR JCW has 30 years of riding under his belt and an eye for the key details JAMES BLACKWELL ART EDITOR Jimmer rides as fast as he talks and needs kit that can keep up! WHY OUR TESTS ARE THE BEST! Our technical-editor-in-chief, Rob Weaver, gets new products in as soon as they’re available and coordinates all…

Dropper seatposts feel like they’ve been around forever, but it’s only in the past decade or so that they’ve become widespread and mountain bikers haven’t had to stop, get off and twiddle an Allen key or quick-release lever to descend fast without the saddle getting in their way and seriously cramping their style. The latest posts are even more useful than the primitive ‘up or down’ early models, now incorporating multiple or even ‘infinite’ drop positions and a light-action remote lever on the handlebar so you can maintain the optimum saddle position for all the different types of terrain you’re passing over. Add to that a huge range of travel lengths and much-improved ergonomics and reliability, and it’s now pretty horrible going back to a bike without a dropper. The…

TECH Q&A SHIFTY BUGGER My SRAM GX Eagle gears don’t shift particularly well and make a clicking noise when I’m towards the middle of the cassette – is that normal? I’ve swapped the mech hanger, tightened the rear axle and made sure the mech cage isn’t bent. Have I missed anything? Laura Morris, Worthing If nothing is bent, you’ve likely avoided anything too serious, thankfully. There are a few things to check before deeper investigation is needed. The first is how fresh the gear cable is – a slightly sticky one can wreak havoc with gears of all types. Next, make sure the B-tension screw is set correctly. This is the one near the ‘knuckle’ of the derailleur, which pushes against the mech hanger and dictates how far from…

Gary Fisher has always been what you might call a rebel. From hanging out with the Grateful Dead in the psychedelic Swinging Sixties to being instrumental in the birth of mountain biking (after the road-racing authorities took offence at his long blond hair), and from pioneering longer top tubes and shorter stems in the early ’00s to rocking his ‘dandy’ look, he’s always done things his way. After 40 years of living the high life, you might think you know him. But Gary has a secret – over the past couple of years, this legendary free-thinker has become somewhat of a domestic god! Everything changed a few years ago when he got married and had kids. The enforced isolation of lockdown brought a new purpose in life and, aged 72,…

Odd-looking electric prototypes had been cropping up at the big trade shows for years, but we’d argue it wasn’t until 2010 that the modern e-MTB was born. Among the bikes leading the way was the Haibike eQ Xduro (above). This thing actually looked like a mountain bike and had the features we’ve come to expect – a mid-drive (albeit massive) motor, a down tube-mounted battery (atop it, not inside it) and ‘pedelec’ operation, where you have to be spinning the cranks for the assistance to kick in. The geometry is antiquated now and the 26in wheels small, but the tech was there. With time, geometry modernised, travel increased and batteries began to be integrated into the frame. Next came more torque, higher-capacity batteries and weight savings. Recently, there’s been a…

GOING DEEP FEATURE NAME Just before the great white birds started to go into hibernation and life was suddenly locked down in 2020, I met up with Cory Wallace in the Golden Triangle mountains of Thailand – a typically wild and random place to hook up with the four-time 24-hour solo world champ. He was about to head out to Nepal to train, with no inkling that he’d end up stranded in the Himalayas for 11 months, only to then get stuck again, this time in Africa – where he’d set a new world record with an impromptu ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro! This is his story. Living the dream For the past dozen years, the Kona Endurance Team racer has earned his crust by taking on epic MTB races and…

FOX RANGER £26.99 https://foxracing.co.uk SO GOOD… We like the clean design and simple aesthetics of the Ranger gloves. They’re comfortable and durable, too. The cuff doesn’t extend far down the wrist – a plus in hot weather – and has a small Velcro fastener to keep it tight. Both the index finger and the thumb are smartphone-compatible. The thumb material is soft enough for wiping your nose and good for cleaning lenses. NO GOOD… A thicker back and non-perforated palm make these the warmest gloves on test. The heavier material means it’s harder to forget that you’re wearing them when riding, too. 100% AIRMATIC £29.99 www.silverfish-uk.com SO GOOD… These have a snug fit and are built with sturdy materials that make them the hardest-wearing gloves on test. Light…