Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i Mountain Biking UK

“Sure, we get to watch and ride with class acts like Slugger again, but we also really get a sense of how his passion for riding got started” We caught up with an old friend of MBUK recently. Back in the early 2000s Marc ‘Slugger’ Beaumont was just starting to make a name for himself on the downhill scene, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to get him signed up to our MBUK race team. Marc joined us in 2005 and enjoyed a good three years on the team, recording his first ever World Cup win at Vigo in 2007 and taking part in loads of great features for us from around the world. He had a bit of a break from riding recently to…

After taking the DH World Cup scene by storm in 2014 and then consolidating his position with a top-five finish the next year, Josh Bryceland’s 2016 season left people questioning what was going on. Rumours spread like wildfire. Was ‘Ratboy’ going to retire from racing? What was wrong with him? Had he had enough of being at the sharp end? Or did this ‘hippy rat’ (Steve Peat’s words, not ours!) just have environmental concerns about the travelling race circus? He finally spoke out in a candid interview with Josh Lewis, another member of the 50to01 crew, saying: “I’m just stepping away from the World Cup. I’m more motivated than ever to ride and progress… I’m just not that down with racing World Cups any more”. Josh is one of the…

DUBBED ‘THE RED BARON’ because of the scarlet skinsuit he wears for his record attempts, Éric Barone is recognised by Guinness as having achieved the highest downhill speed on a bicycle. Going this fast takes more than just balls of steel – the 57-year-old has been riding mountain bikes for over two decades and is seriously talented on two wheels. “I started mountain biking in 1994 and, after just eight official events, in 1995 I managed to become Masters French, European and world champion, all in the same year,” says the Frenchman. “At the same time, I started trying to ride as fast as possible. I wanted to conquer the fear of speed, and what better way to do this than take to some of the steepest ski slopes around?…

1 Bulldog garden spade (48in) A decent spade is a trail building essential. One like this, with a long handle, will let you dig without nailing your back and be ideal for sculpting jumps. £38.44 www.bulldogtools.co.uk 2 EVOC Trail Builder backpack This heavy-duty pack has storage for nearly every type of tool, including axes and a chainsaw! It’ll hold everything secure as you ride to your dig spot. £229.95 www.silverfish-uk.com 3 Fiskars 21in bow saw Embrace your inner lumberjack – clear undergrowth and tackle fallen trees with this lightweight bow saw. £16.86 www.fiskars.co.uk 4 Fiskars Xtract Garden Saw SW73 The retractable blade and small size of this saw make it perfect for stashing in your rucksack for some mid-ride trail maintenance. £25.84 www.fiskars.co.uk 5 Silverline folding…

WHAT YOU COULD WIN… Tag your Instagram pics with #mbukletters. We’ll pick four each issue and the best one will win a set of CrankBrothers Mallet E LS pedals worth £130, courtesy of www.crankbrothers.com. Usual T&Cs apply. WINNER!…

 s my knife slices through poached egg and sourdough bread, I can’t help but think I’ve landed on my feet with this assignment. Ludlow Food Centre is famous among foodies, and as I eat my breakfast in the cosy cafe, I can see why. Sitting next to me is two-time DH World Cup winner Marc ‘Slugger’ Beaumont. I’m here to find out what’s made him such a dedicated and flat-out rider. Marc’s a regular here, and he curses when he realises he’s left his loyalty card at home and missed out on a free dinner, with the amount we’ve just put away. I WAS NEVER AFRAID TO BUILD STUFF. LIKE, WE HAD A CORKSCREW, AN OVER/UNDER! WE BUILT IT IN THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS, IT TOOK US THREE WEEKS" Making tracks…

ROB WEAVER With over two decades of riding experience, Rob knows what works and what doesn’t GUY KESTEVEN Our Kes’s relentless test schedule quickly exposes kit that doesn’t measure up ALEX EVANS Al’s back in the UK after seven years in the Alps and has a rep for wrecking bikes THOMSETT ED Always on the hunt for new technical challenges, Ed gives his kit some serious abuse JAMES COSTLEY-WHITE JCW casts the same critical eye over the latest kit as he does the articles in the mag MATT ORTON Our in-house weirdy beardy likes long, hard rides and kit that challenges convention…

CANYON NEURON AL 9.9 SL MBUK VERDICT The Neuron’s cutting-edge spec can’t outshine its old-school handling and suspension feel SPECIALIZED CAMBER COMP CARBON 29 MBUK VERDICT A comfy climber and (after a stem swap) singletrack slayer, but limited on really rough terrain NORCO OPTIC C9.2 MRUK VERDICT Confidence inspiring, forgiving and responsive for a bike of this travel, but it could be better on the climbs TREK FUEL EX 9 29 MBUK VERDICT Not the quickest climber, but clever suspension and geometry provide a fun, fast and capable ride FINAL VERDICT If there’s one thing that this test has really driven home, it’s that you can’t judge a bike by its components. The Canyon Neuron offers an unbelievable spec for the money. So much so, we thought it was a…

FOCUS Concentrate on what you have to do. If you have any negative thoughts in your head or any doubts, then find a way to overcome them and focus on what you need to do before attempting a drop. GET LOW The lower you can get off the edge, the faster you’ll be able to hit the drop, so you won’t have to dab the brakes in fear of flying too far. Leaning the bike over just before the edge can give you extra room to get lower, especially on bigger-wheeled bikes.…

BEST BEFORE DATE Q I’m the proud owner of a Giro Xar helmet, which I bought at the tail end of 2011. Now, I’m quite a careful rider, preferring to log miles on the trail rather than in the air. I also take great care of my kit, so despite its age, it’s got very little damage, aside from some light scuffs. My question is, just how long can a helmet last if it’s not been crashed in? Will the liner deteriorate over time or am I OK to keep wearing my lovely Xar for years to come? Pete Stevens, via email A Good question! While you need to replace your lid after any kind of impact (get in touch with your local bike shop or helmet manufacturer to find…

WHERE ARE WE? CANNOCK CHASE, STAFFORDSHIRE TRAIL STATS Distance XC loops are 6.73 miles (Follow The Dog) and 7.46 miles (The Monkey) long, and can be combined in a 14.19-mile figure of eight. There are lots of mini downhill tracks too Climbing Fairly mellow, on fireroads and surfaced singletrack Time 1hr 30mins to 3hrs (Dog+Monkey) Grading Red (XC trails) up to triple black (Stile Cop DH tracks) WHY RIDE HERE? Mellow, flowing waymarked trails that are perfect for beginner to intermediate riders, plus some short, sharp downhill tracks RAD… Cannock is easily accessible from Birmingham and beyond, making it a great option for a quick blast in the woods … or go for the whole lot – ride Follow the Dog, the Monkey Trail and a few runs at Stile…

This aggressive new 160mm bike is the first of its kind from UK brand Identiti, who are better known for their dirt jump and 4X rigs. It’s been three years in the making, with major input from enduro/4X racer Pat Campbell-Jenner and former Orange Bikes lynchpin Michael Bonney. The name Mettle is apt – it’s a testament to Michael’s resilience (he was paralysed in a road bike accident in 2013) and an indication of what he hopes the bike will inspire people to do. It looks bang up to date, with a long reach, Boost spacing and a metric-length shock. A tried-and-tested four-bar design takes care of the suspension. The top-spec full build shown here comes dressed in high-end kit including a RockShox Lyrik fork and Deluxe shock, 12-speed SRAM…

If you’re reading this and you’re still on top of your new year’s resolutions, then bloody fair play! Mine were to learn some tricks that have never been seen before, which is still a work in progress – but hopefully in a few months I’ll have something fresh to show at slopestyle contests! I’d usually get the hell out of the UK in the long off season and head somewhere warmer and sunnier. But this winter I was stoked to be close to home, with all the digging going on at Woburn. The lads have hand-built the most ridiculous line of jumps, which ends in a monster step-down to trick-booter, all tailored for DH and enduro bikes. There are only a few weeks now until I fly to New Zealand…

MAGURA MT TRAIL CARBON BRAKES £491.99 (both ends) Maximum braking – and bank-breaking – power With the MT Trail Carbon, Magura reckon they’ve designed the ultimate trail riding brake, combining DH stopping power with XC weight. They’ve done this in quite an unusual way, by using different size front and rear callipers. Four pistons up front give extra anchorage, while only two are used out back to save some grams. Carbon lever blades help contribute to an impressively low weight of 451g for the complete brakeset (both ends but no rotors). At nearly £500, they don’t come cheap, though. We’ve been impressed by the power of Magura’s MT brakes in the past but have had a few niggles with the levers and bleeding, so it’ll be interesting to see how…

ALPINESTARS ARE OBSESSED WITH RACING, AND EVERY BIT OF GEAR IS DESIGNED WITH THE GOAL OF WINNING There are lots of reasons to be jealous of pro riders, but a big one has to be the seemingly endless supply of free bikes and kit that they get. OK, so in return they have to train like machines and put themselves on the line going scary fast, but we’re still a bit envious. None of that kit is any use if it doesn’t perform as it should, though. The last thing you want midway through a race run is to feel like your shorts are restricting you or your knee pads are about to fall down. A stock product is never going to be perfect – after all, something that fits…

Minoura ATL £6.99 (set of 3) SO GOOD… Minoura’s alloy ATLs are a modern take on the traditional metal tyre lever. Despite being the lightest levers on test they feel sturdy, with no noticeable flex when removing tight tyres. NO GOOD… It’s difficult to remove tyres with a single lever because the side of the tip digs into the bead as you slide it round the rim. The tip’s shallow profile can also make it tricky to hook under the bead, and we were worried about it nicking our tubes. The spoke hook wouldn’t fit around our 14g spokes. We’d be cautious about using metal levers on carbon rims too. www.zyrofisher.co.uk Cannondale £2.99 (pair) SO GOOD… These slim plastic levers from Cannondale are among the lightest on test and the…

Suspension fork performance has been getting ever better as more manufacturers make a play for pole position. This year it’s really ramped up, to a point where it’s impossible to feel much difference between brands and price points with superficial car park bouncing. That’s great in terms of more riders getting an acceptable product, but what do you need to look for to get the best possible performance? We’ve pushed 10 of the latest and greatest forks right to the ragged edge over several months to see which are still gripping and ripping. The first thing to consider is which forks will actually fit your bike, which is more complex than ever. Wheel size is the obvious factor – different forks are required for 26in, 650b and 29in bikes. Most…

THE BIKE Before spending your money, you need to know what type of riding you’re going to be doing. CROSS-COUNTRY/TRAIL BIKES Designed for general XC and trail centre riding. Equal emphasis on ups and downs. 90mm to 140mm of suspension travel, weights under 13.5kg (30lb), steepish head/seat angles to help with climbing. For under £1k, a hardtail is your best bet. Above that, full suspension is an option. DOWNHILL/FREERIDE BIKES Great for riding downhill fast, not so much fun to pedal back up. Capable of taking a bashing. 170 to 200mm of travel, weights under 18kg (40lb), slack head angles and long wheelbases for stability at speed. Expect to pay £2k for a bottom-of-the- range model, lots more for a race rig. ENDURO/ALL-MOUNTAIN A middle ground between DH and XC…

1 If your shifting is ropey, the first thing to check is that the bolt securing the rear mech to its hanger is tight. Use a 5mm Allen key (or a T25 Torx for some SRAM mechs) to turn it clockwise until snug. Also check that the mech hanger and mech itself are straight. 2 With the bike in a workstand or upside-down, turn the cranks with one hand and shift into the smallest cassette sprocket. Have a look at the inner gear cable as it enters the mech. If it’s under tension, turn the barrel adjuster on the shifter fully clockwise so it goes slack. 3 The mech’s upper jockey wheel should now sit in-line with the smallest sprocket. If it doesn’t, use a Phillips screwdriver (3mm Allen key…

CWELLYN ARMS AND HEBOG EAT & SLEEP If you want to eat while you’re out, weather permitting you could enjoy a picnic on the side of Snowdon. Otherwise, the Cwellyn Arms (www.snowdon inn.co.uk) isn’t far off the route in Rhyd Ddu and it has good pub grub and real ales for after the ride. Head south into the village of Beddgelert and you must visit the excellent Hebog Eat & Sleep cafe and bistro (www.hebogbeddgelert.co.uk), which offers superb food, such as steaks, pies and burgers. If you want something a little lighter, the cafe serves good coffee and cake, and light bites too.…

This month we were invited up to North Wales for a sneak peek at the new skills area at Nant yr Arian. Dirt-sculpting maestros Trailcraft have been slaving away through the winter months and we can confirm that their frostbitten toes and days in the pouring rain have been worthwhile – the new trails are rad! The skills area is contained in a hollow adjacent to the visitors’ centre, so it’s ideal for a pre or post-ride rip. Two lines of jumps, big and small, offer plenty of hips, step-ups and rollers. There’s a tarmac pumptrack too, so chuck your jump bike in the car if you’re heading up that way. By the time you read this, the area should be open and the jumps should be in prime condition.…

With UCI points up for grabs – a first for fatbike racing – this year’s Snow Bike Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland, was more competitive than ever. Among those lined up at the start was DH and enduro champ Tracy Moseley. Did she become a fatbike convert? Over to T-Mo… “When a friend mentioned she was doing a four-day snow race, it sounded like a great idea. I’d never ridden a fatbike though, or really ridden on snow, other than the glacier at the Megavalanche, which I’d describe more as ‘controlled sliding with a bike attached to you in some way’! “There was a big field of XC marathon specialists who raced on their normal bikes and were very serious, and then the rest of us, who were there to embrace…

THE £10,000 BIKES 1 Several ‘boutique’ brands have been pushing towards the £10k mark, including Intense (see p42) and Santa Cruz, with their race-winning V10 CC. If you’re dropping a cool £9,949 on a DH bike you can expect it to be adorned with some of the trickest parts going – ENVE carbon wheels, Fox dampers and SRAM X01 DH shifting. You’ll need deep pockets – and still won’t be as quick as Greg Minnaar! THE £1,500 FORKS 2 Gone are the days when you could get a top-spec downhill fork for under a grand. You’re now looking to spend in excess of £1,500 to get a range-topper from any of the top brands, including RockShox, Fox, BOS and DVO. You’ll end up with a fork capable of dominating the…

How does 45km of riding with just a few hundred metres of uphill pedalling sound? Pretty good, eh?! That’s what the Italian resort of Livigno – until now best known for its World Cup DH track – is offering with its new Tutti Frutti Tour. This waymarked, lift-assisted one-day ride takes in a load of the trails in the town’s Carosello 3000 Mountain Park, which are all red or blue-graded and ridable on everything from XC to enduro bikes. It was trials legend Hans Rey, working with trail building guru Diddie Schneider, who devised the masterplan for the Carosello ‘flow trail centre’, which offers less hardcore tracks than the bike park on the other side of the valley. So who better to try out the new loop? And he roped…

WINNER! STARLETTER STOP, DROP AND ROLL My first ever big wipeout happened today, and all I can say is I’m glad it was dark and no one saw! Lately, I’ve been practising various skills on my bike in preparation for some upcoming races (which I’m new to). On this particular ride, I figured I’d head to a small fort near where I live. It’s surrounded by small hills, rocky areas and one steep slope. Perfect for practising on, right? I soon got used to riding up and down the smaller hills, and decided to head over towards the biggest and steepest slope, which I remember wanting to ride as a kid, but didn’t have the guts. The approach was a little tricky, over loose stones, but that wasn’t the problem.…

HOW WE TEST THE KIT Starts with a detailed product check in the workshop. We strip and rebuild, checking for any problems. Next we hit the trails… hard! We test in real riding conditions for the complete picture. And finally we re-test with another tester. WHY OUR TESTS ARE THE BEST! Our test team is made up of the most respected bike and kit testers in the world. We have unrivalled knowledge and experience, and spend a vast amount of time making sure we get it right. We tell you the truth and aren’t influenced by PR or advertisers. ABOUT OUR TEST TEAM Our Technical Editor in Chief, Rob Weaver, gets new products in as soon as they’re available and coordinates all the testing through our vastly experienced band of…

ROB’S MOJO/NICOLAI GEOMETRON G16 £2,600 (frame) Could this be the future of bike geometry? I’ll admit that I was a little worried before heading out on my first ride aboard the G16. OK, I’d done a few runs on one of the earlier versions of the GeoMetron some time ago and got on with it well, but this was to be my bike for an entire year and I really wanted to love it. While it took some time to adapt to, these worries didn’t last long. Thanks to the steep seat angle (mine measures in at 77 degrees), the ‘Long’ size doesn’t actually feel that big when you’re sat down pedalling. In fact, its 622mm effective top tube – a measurement a handful of more mainstream brands can top…

When to grab a gel • Only consume gels after the first hour of exercise – unless it’s very intense! • Always drink water with them, or make sure to buy isotonic gels. • Ensure you have real food, energy bars and/ or an energy drink as well. Gels should form only part of your nutrition strategy. • As a rule of thumb, one gel a ride is enough for an MTBer if you have other food sources. • Read the label and see how much carbohydrate is in each gel. Usually it’s up to 25g. You seldom need more than 90g an hour. • Timing is key. Most gels take 15 minutes to digest, so plan accordingly. • Many gels contain caffeine – great at the end of ride,…

01 BUYING NEW You could buy your next bike online, and you might save some money on the purchase price, but you probably won’t be able to get a test ride and there’s unlikely to be the same level of aftercare that a local bike shop can offer. Build up a good relationship with the staff at your local store and after a while they may offer you a discount anyway. 02 SECOND-HAND You get a lot more for your money buying secondhand – as long as the bike has been treated well. eBay is a good place to start looking. Lots of bike websites have buy/sell sections on their forums too. Check the bike out thoroughly (see above) before handing over any cash. Expect to have to spend a…

1 Alloy Most bike frames are constructed using tubes made from aluminium alloys. These are cheap, corrosion resistant, fairly lightweight and easy to form into frames. Numbers like 6061, 6063 and 7005 are a code for the additives (chiefly silicon and magnesium) that are mixed with the aluminium to form each alloy. Every ‘recipe’ has slightly different properties. 2 Steel Steel is much denser than aluminium and much stronger too. This means frame builders can use smaller-diameter, thinner-walled tubes and maintain the same strength and stiffness. Weight is higher, but the skinny tubes make it easier to design in a little vertical flex for a comfier ride. Steel is harder and more expensive to mass-manufacture than alloy though. 3 Carbon fibre Carbon fibre is a composite of sheets of strong…

ViewRanger is an app that lets outdoor enthusiasts plan, navigate, record and share their adventures. With offline mapping (including OS maps), turn-by-turn navigation, and live trip stats – like ride time, distance, and current, average and maximum speed – it’ll turn your phone into a fully-fledged GPS unit. You can also download detailed route guides, broadcast your location and share your adventures with friends. In 2016 ViewRanger released Skyline, a free augmented reality feature that uses your phone’s camera to label landscape features such as peaks, towns, lakes and cliffs within 20 miles of your location. ViewRanger is also the first app to use the built-in GPS on Apple Watch Series 2, allowing you to follow directions with a quick glance at your wrist. The ViewRanger app is available to…

KATY CURD WORLD CUP D.H. RACER “This was my first time riding at Cannock and I was pleasantly surprised by how good the place was. The XC trails offer a good mixture of fast, flowing riding and there are some optional more technical sections thrown in. The Stile Cop downhill trails are just over the road, and with plenty of jumps and drops, they add a bit more adrenaline to the day than you’d get with just a cross-country ride. There’s something to keep everyone happy – it’s a perfect mix for a fun day of riding.”…

GET THERE From Cannock/A460, go left onto Station Rd, right onto Brindley Heath Rd, then right into Birches Valley Rd. Birches Valley Forest Centre is on the right. Sat-nav: WS15 2UQ. FACILITIES Parking, toilets, cafe, bike wash, bike shop and hire NEARBY BIKE SHOPS Swinnerton Cycles are on site, with a workshop, hire bikes and demo fleet. www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk CONTACT www.chasetrails.co.uk WHAT ELSE IS NEARBY? Kinver Freeride Park, Birmingham Packed with jumps, drops and freeride features to please the airtime crowd. Eastridge Woods, Shropshire An hour away, Eastridge has blue and red-graded trails plus a few DH runs. Ribbesford Bike Park, Worcestershire Graded DH tracks and jumps for all abilities. VERDICT Cannock is a great venue to have so close to a major city. It’s not the kind of place that…