factory action part 1 by factory action

Table Of Contents Pg 3: Inspecting Your First Car

Pg 4: John John Florence Biography Pg 7: The Kooks And The Kings Of The Snowboarding World Pg 9: Downhill Destruction- The Death Of The Northern Beaches Premier Downhill Tracks Pg 11: Getting Sideways Pg 13: Lurking Shadows Pg 16: Who Is Ken Block? Pg 17: The 2010 Giant Faith 0 Pg 18: Mountain Biking Latest News Snapshot Pg 19: BMW 318IS From A Car Guy Perspective Pg 21: An Unusual Day At The Beach Pg 23: WSL’s J- Bay Open 2016 Pg 24: Days Riding Pg 25: Surf Photo Gallery

Advice column - Inspecting a car for the first time So you’ve finally got your money saved up to buy a car and you think that you found the right one, but what do you do now? Well first things first, message the person and start finding out what you need to know. Let’s go through some good first questions to start asking, the first and most important is, does it start? Most of the time the answer to this question will be yes but there is always the chance that it doesn’t and they’ll only bring it up when you ask to start it. Now the big one’s out of the way you need to start asking things like is there any rust? Does it have any leaks? How much tread is left on the tyres? And are there any major mechanical faults? So you’ve done that and you still want this car, well now’s the fun part, send them another message and organise a time to go look at the car, sometime when there is daylight is preferable as you can see everything on and in the car a lot better. Remember to take a torch with you to look into any places that aren’t well lit and a magnet. With the magnet you can run it along different panels and check to see if they’ve been filled with bog or anything else that could have been used to repair rust holes. Now that you’re there start checking that things work, go through all the lights, windows, handles, locks and everything along those lines. Make sure you go around the car a few times so you don’t miss anything. Now that you’ve seen everything works, start looking leaks. Leaks can range from a cheap and easy fix to expensive and not worth it in some cases. If you find a leak then get some of it on your finger and smell to see if it’s water or oil and then do some research into what could cause the leak and how much it costs to fix on average. So now you’ve been to check out the car you’ve gauged the cost of things that need fixing and you’re ready to put in an offer. Remember you shouldn’t start off at what they’re asking because most people will be flexible on price, so you can usually save some money in this part. If they don’t accept your first offer remember to negotiate them with a bit the worst that can happen is you pay what they wanted for the car originally. So you put it in an offer and they accepted, Congratulations you now own your first car, hope to see you out driving soon.

John John Florence The young Hawaiian who took the World by Storm

Growing up on the North Shore of Hawaii, John John Florence was destined for great things. John John Florence was born on the 16th of October 1992. He has two younger brother and still resides with his mother Alexandra when he isn't travelling the world surfing the best waves in the world. Florence was introduced to surfing at the age of 3 through his mother, who was a surfer herself. Growing up on the North Shore of Hawaii, he was surrounded by some of the best waves, and surfers on the planet. John John Florence’s career trajectory was steep. At the age of 13, standing at 4'11" and weighing 85 pounds, Florence became the youngest surfer ever to compete in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, which consists of three big-wave surfing contests in Hawaii. John John became televised around the world. A small blonde kid surfing waves 6 times bigger then him. John John was known round the world as the ‘next big thing’ and he certainly hasn't shied away from that. John John is now 23 years old and known as ‘one of the most dominant surfers of pipeline’. John John has consistently performed at the highest level possibly and has won various competitions that at the age of 23; he has already cemented his place as one of the greatest surfers of his era. John John Florence has surfed some of the biggest waves around the world, and he looks incredibly comfortable and chilled out while surfing these huge waves. But it was at the age of 3 that he was strapped into a life vest and pushed onto his first waves as a toddler. At eight years old, the tiny grommet was riding waves by himself on smaller days out at the Pipeline; four years later he was learning the skills of mastering Waimea Bay.

Come 2016, and John John has been competing on the World Surf League tour for the past 6 years. His highest results have come in 2014 and 2016, where John John finished 3rd in the world. He has been deemed the 23rd greatest surfer of all time by Surf Europe Magazine and has already won multiple awards and competitions during his short career. John John holds the biggest contract in the surfing world, making around 5 million dollars a year just from sponsors. He is sponsored by some of the biggest company’s in the world, including Hurley, Vans, Spy, Pyzel, Monster, Stance, and Future Fins. John John has also made around 1.3 million dollars (USD) through competition money. John John Florence, one of three brothers, had a very typical relationship with his brothers when growing up. John John’s two younger brothers, Ivan and Nathan, recall getting into numerous fistfights. Including punch ups in public. Despite all this though, they still have a extremely tight bond, and still love each other dearly.

John John has a passion for photography and videography, and in 2015, John John embarked on a adventure to create a extremely cinematic surf movie, that was shot in 4k and visually appealing for anyone watching the film. He worked with Blake Vincent Kueny and John C. Reilly to create the film ‘View From A Blue Moon’. The film featured Aerial photography which was shot from helicopters using 4k cameras,

not drones. The film was premiered across 7 screenings worldwide, including Collaroy Cinema on our very own Northern Beaches. The film has won various awards for the cinematography and even been dubbed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Best Surf Movie ever Made.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

John John Florence has been known to be one of the best grommets out since the age of 13, and now at the age of 23, he is known as one the best surfers on the planet. John John is not even close to retirement and what he has conquered for his age is unbelievable. John John has the potential to continue and become known as one of the greatest surfers of all time, and by the looks of it, he will definitely be leaving a legacy behind when it comes time for him to retire in the next 10-15 years.

The Kooks and the Kings of the snowboarding world Everyone has the right to snowboard, but it doesn’t mean they should. You may not agree with many comment in this article, but that’s ok... Snowboarding. A sport where you charge down a hill of snow and ice by the pure force of gravity. It’s a great concept and great thrill. Yet snowboarding in NSW, in particular Thredbo and Perisher, NSW Premier snow locations are overcrowded with uncoordinated kooks. It is almost a daily appearance to see an Asian or Westie tourist bet decked while trying to stay on their feet, pretty funny actually. This comes as different things like snowboards and gear are sold commercially and encourage these unwanted kooks to occupy our mountains. Obviously snow trips are rare and need to be well timed, around the best winter months and the least popular times (holidays). Yet, commercial businesses attract all these kooks to Mount Kosciuszko each year who pollute our air space. These companies include Quicksilver, Billabong, Neff, Vans, Nike, Burton, Dragon, Flux and more, most of which stem from skateboarding or surfing. These businesses encourage our unwanted tourist friends to buy their products and make their way to an ice-chill car park with the rest of us. This tell us that it’s not only the tourist, wanna-be, kook boarders that are causing this problem, but also these wanna-be snowboarding companies, influencing these uncoordinated flocks with overpriced and onceuse accessories. Yet if we do a flip of the snowboarding world, other side of the spectrum you could say you will see the Kings, the masters of shredding under gravitational control. These days, snowboarding is an international competitive sport, featuring in the Winter Olympics (held every 4 years) and the X-games (held annually) and having a world championship circuit. The best snowboarders known throughout the world today include the likes of: Travis Rice, (First to pull off many snowboarding tricks, has one lots of stuff and jumps out of helicopters on his snowboard... for fun) Shaun White, (A bunch of Gold Olympic medals, been on the snowboarding scene since he was 17) Terje Håkonsen and (Known as the best ‘freestyle’ snowboarder, created a few tricks and one a few world circuits) Danny Kass (Known for being one of the best halfpipe riders, has 7 X-Games medals and 2 Olympic silver medals). These here, lady and gentleman are your modern day Kings... Kings of the snowboard. Masters of the powder, snow, ice, air, rotation, carve and most importantly the snowboard. These guys have pioneered the sport and allowed it to grow into one of the biggest snow sports known today over a period of almost 70 years.

Snowboarding was a very uncommon sport before the 2000s and is believed to have been popularized within modern culture ‘aka, kook central.’ by the 1985 James Bond movie, ‘A View to a Kill’. In the movie James Bond uses a snowboard to avoid enemies, in what was the first time snowboarding was portrayed to a large public scene. You can’t blame him, who doesn’t like James Bond? Either way the public had got their first taste of snowboarding and couldn’t get enough. These days, snowboarding is a very popular snow sport and sits at the top of the snow sport spectrum along with skiing (yuck). For all you kooks out there, feeling gutted on how people really see you, go to lessons, before anything! Going to a lesson will at least (hopefully) make sure you can move in the right direction and get out of the way if you need it. Once you become to an intermediate riding lesson it will help you to realize the struggling obstacle of kooks that prime snowboarders experience. These guys are the true heroes of our sport. Keep your eyes open for next week's articles, ‘How snowboarding is (gladly) killing skiing’.

Downhill Destruction- The Death Of Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Northern Beaches Premier Downhill Tracks: By Stuart Beyleveldt Tucked away in the north of Sydney lies the pristine Northern Beaches. With some of the best beaches in the east coast it is a popular surf destination. But it is also well known for itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gnarly downhill mountain bike tracks built by riders for riders. With easy access to all of the surrounding bushland it is no wonder that riders travel from all around NSW to ride the trails on the Northern Beaches. Well not for much longer. The trails, which according to bushwalkers pose a threat to aboriginal land and human wellbeing are close to being removed down by the council. Oxford Falls (Oxy) claimed the title of the best downhill and free ride trail network in the North Shore for over 20 years when it was first built by some of the first trail builders in the Northern Beaches. For the past 2 decades the trails at Oxford Falls have continued to grow, with more and more trails being built to accommodate all types of riders of all ages. As the trails continued to expand, and more and more cyclists came to ride, questions were raised as to whether the trails were legal and if the trail builders had permission to build on the land. Many arguments have been made by bushwalkers and other members of the community on whether the trails are damaging Aboriginal land and if the trails are causing damage to the wildlife surrounding. Currently the trails at Oxford Falls are still open to the public although some of the tracks have been blocked by the

council for further investigation. The council is worried that erosion and damage to Aboriginal land is occurring from so called unsanctioned trails and that unless the trails are shut down further erosion and damage may happen which could eventually destroy the bushland at Oxford Falls. The mountain bikers have hit back arguing that mountain biking is proven to not cause land erosion and the only reason that erosion has occurred at Oxford Falls is due to the recent storms and flooding causing the water to erode the ground. Mountain bikers are also arguing that the Oxford Falls trail is not on the sacred “Moon Rock” Aboriginal site and that it is almost 2km away from the site despite what bushwalkers have claimed. Trail builders are in a constant tussle with the council on what the future of the trails will be and the effect of closing the trails for the mountain biking community. Trail builders and mountain bikers in the area say that if the trails are closed the tight knit community of men and women of all ages who come together to ride the trails will be greatly affected. One of the main trail builders quotes “ I don’t know what they will do with their spare time if the trails here at Oxy are shut down.” The riders don’t think of the trails as a track, they think of them as an art form forged by an idea and created with hours of sweat, dirt and hard work.(Great!!!) The sport of mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, yet in the area of Sydney there are only a handful of council approved trails. If the council shut down the trails built by the riders it's only going to make them build new tracks. Sydney’s North Shore needs a new trail network that can cater for all riders male or female from 5 to 55, finally something, Belrose Bike Park. The council has caught on to the fact that destroying nonapproved trails isn’t going to help the problem and has begun working with trail builders to create a new trail network with all types of tracks from dirt jumps to kids tracks to the most difficult downhill tracks. Although the council is on-board with the idea the trail builders need backing from mountain bikers so they can get funding from the council and start to build the future tracks of the North Shore.

Getting sideways Tires screaming, rubber flying, rev limiter bounces screaming through exhausts, sounds like the dream doesn’t it. Well it's easier than you think to get involved in the wonderful sport of drifting and I’m going to share my story of getting started. This article is going to run you through everything that I did in order to start my drifting career. First of all let's start by figuring out what car you should get to start, the basic criteria while looking for a car is that it is rwd (rear wheel drive) and a manual. The car does not need to be registered although it can be but towing your car to and from events can be more useful as you can break your car in an event, a lot of people choose towing as then they can have a missile car or a beater that if it breaks you still have a daily driver. I chose to go for an unregistered “BMW e36 318is” that I managed to pick up for only $1200 bucks. I got it so I can build it and then register it when I’m finished with it as car trailers can be a bit on the pricey side and as I am still young I wouldn't be allowed to tow the car to and from as it would be over tow limits. If you're stuck for ideas on what car to start with, some popular choices throughout the drifting culture are nissan silvia(s12,s13,s14), nissan skyline r31, r32 and r33, nissan 180sx and 240sx, toyota ae86(Hachi-Roku), BMW e36 and the Mazda MX-5 (miata). Once you have acquired a car that meets basic requirements you can go off and drift, but as we know it doesn’t end there, once you’ve started you can’t stop. Let's move onto some of the first modifications, to start off with we’ll give you a free one, who doesn't love free advice right? Weight reduction is a great first mod so get to rippin and pull apart all unnecessary items and toss em’ out, remember you don’t need music in a drift car you’ve got the sweet sound of your exhaust and tires screaming, so rip out the head unit and all those heavy speakers. Now that we’ve lost some of that weight, let’s start with some of the things that will help you get sideways. Suspension mods play a huge roll in drifting as it really affects your car's body roll, meaning that it will seriously impact your control of the car. Some great first things to do with your suspension are fully adjustable coilovers, a strut tower brace, camber kits(can be on the pricey side) and sway bars. Back to my work, so far I’ve only got to upgrade my suspension, I chose to go with the k shock coilovers as they were affordable and still provided an option for stiffening and rebound adjustment, allowing me to have more control over the handling on my car. All of these things play a part in your car's body roll or steering angle, and are worth saving up and putting them onto your car. The more you focus on things like this means the more control you’re going to get out of your car.

Other great modifications inside your car are things like bucket seats, short throw shifter, aftermarket steering wheel, roll cage, harnesses. Let's start with bucket seats and why you would want them; the main reason to put in bucket seats is to keep your body in position while your cars sliding side to side, if you’re going without them, your control is going to go out the window. Some popular brands in bucket seats are Bride, Recaro, Sparco and NRG, I chose to go with the Sparco evo 2016 race seat for my build in the driver's seat and a less known but still quality brand SAAS bucket seat in the passenger. The sparco seat set me back nearly 1000 bucks! But when it comes to safety it’s worth it, so remember sometimes spending those dollars is a good thing to do. The next thing is the aftermarket steering wheel, as dumb as it sounds an aftermarket wheel can really help the way you handle the car, you can get them in different sizes and different materials. A lot of people that drift with gloves use suede as it gives them a better grip while driving but it’s all up to personal opinion so get driving and see what works for you. In my car I am running an NRG hub and gen 3.0 quick release with a suede Grip Royale 3 inch deep dish 350mm wheel. The next item that is good for your car is the roll cage, time to add back in that weight you saved from weight reduction but it is for safety. A roll cage is there for if you flip your car, it will provide a stronger sub frame keeping you safe if you do happen to roll. Roll bars are on the pricey side but again it’s a major safety item and if you plan on doing tandems a lot of places won’t let you without a roll cage so they are a good investment. Something that is usually connected to your roll cage is a harness bar, you connect your harness to it, to allowing you to be locked into your seat better. Since we’re talking about harnesses what kind should you get? Again, it’s all up to personal preference, there are 4 point, 5 point and 6 point harnesses that usually will have a cam lock but may have a snap on lock. A popular choice and for me personally, a 5 point cam lock harness is the one to go with as it is easy to get in and out of while providing safety and keeping you locked in your seat. The final thing we’ll talk about for inside your car is a short throw shifter. Short throw shifters change the distance between gears allowing you to change gears faster. This means that you will be able to spend less time with the clutch in and more time spinning tyres. These are useful if you don’t have the speed to make it through a long corner or you’ve reached a point where the torque just isn’t enough to push through and need to change gears, a short shifter will help you make those quick adjustments. As, just like you, I’m only just starting my current drift build, this isn’t quite at the top of my list, but it is on there. So now that we’ve got some of the basic things down to help your drift setup, I guess we’ll see you on the pro circuit next season? Remember to pick up next month's issue and check out part 2 of this article, performance mods that’ll help you get even more sideways.

Lurking Shadows As the sun rose for a new day, it looked like it was going to be another great day of surfing on the agenda. J-Bay was pumping and a mouth-watering semi final was about the immense in the South African Waters. Mick Fanning – 3x world champion was about to take on his fellow countryman, Julian Wilson. As the horn rang through the morning sky, the heat started. The heat lived up to its expectations up until one of the most feared creatures of the ocean made an appearance. The thought-to-be Great 3x Surfing World Champion Mick Fanning gets White Shark sneaked up on Mick attacked by a Great White while surfing a heat in Fanning and threw the Australian off his South Africa. board and attempted to take a chunk out of him. Julian Wilson, who was sitting further down the line, raced towards Fanning and attempted to save his fellow collogue and good mate. Fortunately, Fanning was unhurt and managed to escape without injury. The surfing community was shocked and condolences from all around the globe were comforting Mick Fanning and Julian Wilson for there courage and calmness throughout the events. Sharks have been around since the start of time but it seems that only recently that shark attacks have been frequently occurring on the shores of some of the best waves in the world. We saw at the J-Bay Open in 2015, Mick fanning – one of the best surfers on the globe, very nearly had his life taken from him by a great white shark. Surfers have always known the danger of surfing in South Africa, but never before had it occurred on live television in front of millions watching. This attack seemed to be the first of many sharks attacks happening across the map, so the questions is Why are Sharks all of a sudden becoming such a big problem across the surfing world? Are sharks becoming more frequently active, or is it a coincidence? The first question that is asked across the surfing world is are sharks becoming more frequently active, or is it a coincidence? Across the last year or two there have been clusters of attacks that have raised concerns that sharks are on the rise, but is this really the case? If you look at statistics, shark attacks have often occurred in groups, and there hasn’t been a significant rise in attacks. Despite this, there has recently been attacks in certain areas and there is no doubt that sharks have been hanging around some of the most loved The sharky waters at Dungeons have been keeping surfers out of the water. surf spots in the world. We have already seen in 2015, that there were 23 attacks, versus the 14 attacks in 2014. In 2016, there

have already been 9 unprovoked attacks. These statistics show us that there is defiantly a rise in shark activity and in my opinion, all surfers should be extra wary as to where and when they surf. All surfers can use their common sense and do things such as to not go surfing at 4am in the morning when it is pitch black and nobody is out. We know that sharks respond the water temperature and weather. They also are affected by water pressure and tides. So is global warming affecting this? Global warming may be the cause to as why sharks are moving around and all of a sudden popping up in these areas that haven’t been affected in the past. Sharks may be changing their habitats due to the rise in temperature and this is causing them to come closer to shore, and therefore, closer to the action. Global warming could also be affecting fish, causing them to find new areas to live, this means due to the sharks need to survive, sharks might have to relocate so they can survive. What are we doing to prevent shark attacks? No doubt, something needs to be done to try and prevent these issues from reoccurring. The sport of surfing could possibly be taking a downfall if these issues aren’t dealt with correctly. There have been recent designs in wetsuits and surfboards that have special technology to prevent sharks. There has been a wetsuit designed that have a radiator that target sharks weaknesses and it makes them stay away from the person wearing the wetsuit. The wetsuit also contains a camouflage design that makes you very distinct while in the water, so the shark doesn’t get confused. The same technology has also been applied to surfboards, and is being used for the same purpose.

Professional Australia surfer Taj Burrow has helped design special wetsuits that help prevent sharks.

Shark Culling - Is it acceptable? Due to the recent rise of shark attacks, humans made the easy and simple choice to kill any sharks that have attacked humans. In my opinion, this is extremely unnecessary and wrong, as we are in their habitat and it is our choice to go into the water. Most sharks that have attacked humans have attacked because they have gotten mistaken between a human and a seal. I believe we can do other things such as put up shark nets or wear specific wetsuits to avoid sharks. It shouldn’t be the shark’s fault when we are using their territory for our own pleasure. If we want to take the risk, it should be us to come up with the solutions. What can we do for the future? There isn’t much we can do for the future, as sharks will always be in the ocean and it will always be there habitat. My advice would be to use your common sense. Don’t go surfing by yourself at places your know have shark

infested waters, and even though the temptation of surfing awesome waves by yourself is hard to fight, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go surfing at the crack of dawn by yourself! Stay away from shark known territory! We saw Mick Fanning get attacked at the notorious J-Bay in early 2015, but where are the hotspots for sharks to hang around?

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go surfing by yourself at night!

We know that South Africa is known for the vicious great whites that hang around the world-class surf breaks, But Florida in the USA is known as the capital of the shark world, with 717 attacks having occurred on the east coast waters since the 1700s. Following Florida, New South Wales and Queensland are known for their lethal great white sharks and tiger sharks. The two states have had a combined 397 documented shark attacks since the early 1600s.

Who is Ken Block? Ken Block, the famous American rally car driver. It all started way back in 2008 when he released a video in which he drifted and swerved his rally car around and abandoned airport. He then released a series of videos called Gymkhana which has turned into an 8-part series and counting. In his Gymkhana series he drives his rally car to the best of his ability around different urban streets and cities. From doing burnouts under planes to drifting around jumps, doughnutting trams and more Ken Block has it all. He drives with perfect precision and continues to amaze the internet world with his skill and amazing video parts. Over this time picking up and dropping sponsors like, Subaru, monster energy, ford, DC shoes, Adidas, Hoonigan industries and more. Although the videos brought him global fame he is also a global rally car racer who started out in 2005. His best success includes coming 2nd, three times on the Rally America Championship Circuit and has come 2nd, once on the Global Rally Cross Championship Circuit with quite a few event wins throughout that time as well. This week, the Factory Action team sat down and caught up with Ken and asked him about some of the concepts in his recent Gymkhana parts. Where'd you get the idea to take an AWD Mustang and terrorize the streets of L.A? The Gymkhana videos are a great creative outlet, but it gets more difficult every year to make cool things people want to watch. I had the idea to take a car that's unexpected, and a performance all-wheel-drive Mustang had never been built before. Then I'm from southern California and L.A. is so iconic. Downtown, Chinatown, and the river made a really cool backdrop. What does it take to put a video like this together? Our production company is very good. It's a L.A.-based studio and the scouts work with government to figure out how to do what we want to do. It took about eight months and then we had five full days of shooting. My sponsors make it all possible, it's very expensive.

Any close calls? There are always close calls. When I was doing donuts around Randy's Donuts, I came within inches of the parking blocks. We want those close calls and there's a lot of pressure to get things done fast and in an extreme way. If it's not dramatic, it's not going to look good on camera. Of course, it's a fine balance between what looks good and not destroying anything. What's your advice for guys that want to learn to drive like you? The best way to start is a school. My skills come from stage rallies, but I started at Team O'Neil Rally School in New Hampshire. There's also a good school near Seattle, DirtFish Rally. You learn a lot of basic skills that also improve your own regular driving. What exactly is a Hoonigan? Someone that likes to have fun with a car. The term comes from Australia otherwise called hoon, for someone driving aggressively, doing donuts, burnouts, racing, and sliding, but it's a term of endearment. Why do you believe that the Gymkhana series has been so successful? “Yeah, it’s really kind of funny, I started off doing this (Gymkhana) because I absolutely love doing it and I’m just very lucky that so many people enjoy what I do with the car and not only that, the creativity side of how these come together, so I’m really a lucky bastard and really appreciate where I sit in this world.

The 2010 Giant Faith 0

By Stuart Beyleveldt Recently the team at factory action was invited to ride the Giant Faith 0. This bike is a downhill machine but surprisingly it was very good at pedaling. The team took the bike down to the tracks at Deep Creek to really test the capabilities of the bike. The bike was designed around its bigger brother, the Giant Glory the Glory is the flagship downhill bike for Giant and has been one of the premier bikes for downhill racing in the past few years. The Faith was unveiled as a bike that wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just for Downhill it was stated that the bike was an absolute cannon whilst going down the trail but it was surprisingly good at getting back up as well. The bike has many good features but it does leave a bit to be desired in some areas. When riding the bike I felt completely comfortable with riding anything and everything on the trails knowing the Rockshox Totem front forks and the Monarch rear shock would be more than capable of soaking up all of the rough terrain. The bike felt very easy to handle with the huge 790mm riser bars and tacky Maxxis Minion tires giving you grip and stability on even the slipperiest of trails. Unfortunately though the brakes do not instill the rider with a lot of confidence while tackling fast open straights or tricky rock gardens. The bike comes standard with Avid Elixr Cr brakes and in my personal opinion I do not like them at all. Avid unlike Shimano use Dot25 hydraulic fluid that is known to have had issues with leaking and contracting dirt and air into the brake cables. The brakes often feel like they lose grip and stopping a lot quicker over time compared to other brake brands such as Shimano. The bike

comes with a one by gear system from Shimano. The bike runs a single 38 tooth front cog and 7 rear cogs to help the rider both up and down the mountain. When riding the bike I was really impressed with how the gears performed while riding down the mountain, holding up against all of the huge jumps and jaggered rocks. Unfortunately though I thought that the gears didn’t work well whilst going up hill. The larger cogs aren’t well accommodated for by the chain guide and it rubs terribly, this is mainly because when Shimano partnered with Giant they didn’t change the chain guide for the extra 2 gears that they added onto the rear hub. Personally it wasn’t a big problem for me and seeing as it doesn’t affect the bikes performance I wasn’t too concerned about trying to solve the problem, although if you are particularly concerned about it I would advise that you just take the 2 larger cogs off.

Overall the team had a blast riding this bike down the Mountain and was really pleased with how it handled all types of terrain. Although it still leaves a bit to be desired when riding uphill it makes up for it with great downhill capability. If you are looking for a bike that can handle anything you throw at it with ease and still get you home after the ride, then look no further than the Giant Faith.