[R]evolution V18 preview

Contents Regular

Issue 18 Volume 4 October 2009

10 Spoken

Narrowly avoiding disaster.

12 NSW State Titles

Lithgow lights up the BBQ.

30 Style Check

The scrubbin’ dozen!

34 Crankworx ‘09

MTB’s biggest festival.

36 Between the sheets

Boyer debates MTB celibacy.

38 Shuttle & Scabs

The adventures roll on.

38 Life behind spanners

Tales from a full time WC mechanic.

50 Guide to travelling in style

Jill’s hundy-G dream machine.

52 Pro Bike Check

We scored Brian Lopes Ibis for a chec kout.

56 The GudeX files

Nikki speaks the truth.

58 Random Shite

Impossible dreams?

60 Jacob’s ladder

Tales from the four corners.

122 Downtime

DVD’s, CD’s plus a chat with Kid Keno bi.

112 Bike Reviews

Atomlab and Haro have sweet hardt ails....

116 New Prody

Our handpicked selection for 2010

130 Last words

Endtroducing Canada’s Steve Smith .

Features

64 World Championships

Mound Stromlo hands out the rainbows

76 Specialized 2010

The full story behind Sam’s new ride

86 Pump Track World Champs

Smoke, mirrors and controversy…

94 Solid Concrete

The James Patterson story.

100 World Cup Wrap-up

Rando runs us through the final 3 round s.

COVER//Bryn Atkinson scrubbing hard.

Yeeewww.

You can too, just check page 110//T IM BARDSLEY-SMITH CONTENTS//So do you feel like you were there now or what?//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

064

ONE DAY, ONE TRACK, ONE RUN, ALL OR NOTHING. IT’S THE MOST COVETED PRIZE IN MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING, AND RIDERS PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE TO TRY AND WIN IT. INSTEAD OF RACING FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE TEAMS AND SPONSORS, ON THIS DAY IT IS ALL ABOUT RACING FOR YOUR COUNTRY WITH PRIDE. IT’S A WHOLE DIFFERENT KETTLE OF FISH. THE PRESSURE IS MIND BOGGLING AND THE EMOTIONS RUN HIGH. MANY CRACK UNDER THE PRESSURE, WHILST OTHERS MANAGE TO FEED OFF IT AND RISE ABOVE ALL ON THE DAY. STORY BY JT

WORLD CHAM MOUND STROMLO 2009

Sam Hill proving he can pedal once again, even on flats.//STEPHEN HILLENBRAND

A picture tells a thousand words. Minnaar pushing shit uphill!//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

AMPIONSHIPS

Mitch Delfs giving some love to the crowds. All style!//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

076

So my mobile phone rings early one Friday morning with the number showing up on the screen as ‘blocked’. I of course ignored it. 5 minute later, the same thing and again I ignore it. 5 minutes later my phone rings yet again with the same blocked number.

This time however I decided to answer the damn thing and give the person on the other end a piece of my mind! Just as I was about to unleash some of my finest language down the phone line I overheard the international ‘beep’ sound kick in. I paused, and on came the voice of an Englishman introducing himself. As it turned out the guy on the other end was Nick Sims, head of global marketing for Specialized Bicycles, calling from Morgan Hill, California, asking if I would be interested in popping over to check out their ‘long travel bikes’ launch being held in Whistler the very next weekend? “Holy shit are you kidding!”

Six days later and I was on a plane headed for Vancouver watching Days Of Thunder on the in flight entertainment. Man, I’d forgotten how much I used to love that movie. Back in the days that Nicole Kidman was smokin’ hot and Tom Cruise hadn’t yet become a total wanker. By the time my plane had touched down in Canada I was pumped and ready for some high speed action of my own! I fought to hold my excitement as I politely smiled (with a glimmer in my eye) at the lady behind the Avis counter as she handed me the keys to a brand new rent’a car. 3 hours later (approximately 2 hours of which was spent sideways!) I found myself arriving in Whistler.

The launch got underway the very next morning and the format was simple; Specialized were quite excited about having re-designed their entire long travel range and so they invited the cream of the world’s MTB media to come and check the bikes out in the flesh. Also on hand were the main guys responsible for designing and developing the new range, as well as Sam Hill and Brendan Fairclough of the Monster Energy/Specialized Factory Team, (not that those two really need any introduction).

Specialized weren’t interested in launching the bikes in some dreary board room via a Power Point presentation, instead they wanted to give us the chance to ride the bikes in the exact environment they were designed for. Whistler’s amazing trails!

The only sitting around talking about spec’s and theory we did that week was on the chairlift back up to the top of the mountain after bombing yet another run. I quickly discovered that everyone at Specialized rides, and lives for it. Throughout the course of the week I spent a heap of time on a variety of their 2010 bikes, like the SX Trail, the Big Hit and even the S-Works Enduro.

But there was only one bike that I had really gone over to check out and that was the Demo-8 II. The very bike that Sam Hill shocked the MTB world last year by signing to ride, (well technically this bike didn’t exist back then) I wanted to find out for myself

WORDS BY J.T l//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

The name now behind the bike, Sam Hill//SVEN MARTIN

086

NEVER BEFORE HAS THE LEAD UP TO A MOUNTAIN BIKE EVENT BEEN SHROUDED BY SO MUCH MYSTERY. IT WAS FULL ON SMOKE AND MIRRORS TYPE SHIT. SECRET HANDSHAKES IN BACK ALLEYS AND CODED MESSAGES. EVERYONE YOU’D TALK TO KNEW THE PUMP TRACK WORLDS WERE ON, BUT NO ONE QUITE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE OR WHEN. THE WORD ‘EXCLUSIVE’ DOESN’T EVEN BEGIN TO PAINT THE PICTURE. JUST 200 WRIST BANDS IN TOTAL WERE MADE UP FOR ENTRY AND IF YOU COULDN’T GET YOUR HANDS ON ONE, YOUR HANDS SURE AS HELL WEREN’T COMING. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. NUMBERS WERE LOCKED DOWN SO HEAVILY DUE TO THE TIGHT NATURE OF THE BACKYARD SET-UP, PLUS IT KIND OF ADDED TO THE WHOLE INTRIGUE OF THE NIGHT. WORDS BY JT

Start planning the demise of the bird bath and chook shed today....//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

Pulling up at the address just as the sun was falling out of the sky, it was all about good luck trying to find a car park. Gareth’s neighbours must have been stoked. If there were only 200 people inside, I swear each of them must have driven 6 cars there! Eventually we managed to squeeze into a space between some massive gum trees and the Santa Cruz Syndicate van, albeit about 4 blocks walk away. The echoing sounds of the MC’s voice bellowing out of the loud speaker, alongside tunes spinning from the DJ decks and the roar of the cheering crowd, instantly filled our ears as we started our walk. It was on. I could tell it was going to be an epic night and I was eager to get inside, crack a beer and get amongst it. Taking care of front gate entry business was one of the biggest and meanest looking human beings I ever laid eyes on. Lucky for us, a quick flash of our baby blue coloured wrist bands and we were in.

The combination of the epic walk from the car and intimidation from the sheer size of the security guard had left us sweating up a treat and in dire need of a beer.

The main man responsible for the entire night, Gareth, just so happened to be the first person we saw and he quickly informed us that everything was provided and that we should dig straight in! Tables of free food, bottomless ice loaded drums of free beer and as much Rock Star Energy drink as you could fit into one backyard was all at our disposal…

So here’s the deal right. A couple of months ago a bunch of the Canberra boys were sitting around boozing on after an evening pump track session when one of them came up with the idea, “hey World Championships are coming up soon, we should get all the riders in town together and have a pump track World Champs one night during the week!?” What started as a simple idea soon gained momentum and before long sponsors were lining up to throw money at it and get involved.

There’s a pretty big pump track scene happening down in Canberra at the moment, with a handful of sweet backyard set-ups and many a session getting laid down by the boys each week. For an event with the potential size of this though, the location was an obvious choice, Gareth Patterson’s backyard. Gareth and his girl, Cara, originally bought the place with the sole intention of turning the back yard into a killa track and they sure didn’t fail to deliver. Taking up the vast majority of their yard, the perfectly manicured track twists and turns on it’s self, with 2 main line choices mid way through.

094

WE RODE THROUGH THE STREETS OF RINGWOOD ON OUR WAY TO ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS BOWLS IN MELBOURNE. PATTO WAS ALREADY IN THE ZONE, HE’S JUST ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE HARD TO COME BY; HE DIDN’T REALLY SEEM TO CARE ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE WAS CHAINLESS, BRAKELESS AND ‘SEATPOST-LESS’. SO WE END UP AT THE BOWL IN NOTHING MORE THAN 2 MINUTES AND THE 20 YEAR OLD IS 10FT IN THE AIR IN HALF THE TIME IT TOOK US TO GET TO THE SPOT! JAMES ‘PATTO’ PATTERSON HAS BEEN RIDING BIKES FOR A LONG TIME AND HE IS FOREVER CRAFTING HIS STYLE, CONVINCED THAT IT WILL NEVER BE ‘JUST WHAT I WANT’.

I DON’T THINK HE HAS QUITE REALISED THAT HE IS ONE OF THE BEST RIDERS ON THE SCENE AND GIRLS AND BOYS OF ALL AGES LOOK UP TO HIM. DIGGING TRAILS, TAKING PHOTOS AND RIDING DH AND PARK RELENTLESSLY SINCE ’04, HE RECALLS THROWING HIS ROCKY MOUNTAIN AROUND AT THE ‘XAVIER DIRT JUMPS’ IN BALLARAT.

BY SAM BALLANTYNE Patto, you’ve been riding since way back in ‘04. Any inspirations or anything that kept you going?

Yeah, it has been a while, but still, 5 years of riding is nothing compared to a lot of people! I actually started out late with riding, taking it up half way through high school, and only starting to really push things once I left school after YR12.

Inspirations and the motivation that have kept me going through the years of riding and the many months I’ve also spent off the bike due to injury, would have to be just the plain enjoyment riding gives me. I find it an outlet to express yourself as well as a get away from life’s troubles to clear your head. Ever since I started riding, I’ve always wanted to progress my skills and make it overseas to Canada and such places to hopefully compete and experience the life over there that I hear so much about. So that would be my main inspiration to keep me going and progressing.

In the early days, James lived with his parents and sister on a large farm in Western Victoria where they cart water, own a fencing contracting business and run a horse agistment company. That’s a change to where he is now, living under the smog cloud of Melbourne city.

Miss anything about living out on the farm? Trails? Fresh air? Doughy’s in the ute?

I miss the farm a lot. I grew up on the farm, and live there when I’m not at Uni in Melbourne. Melbourne is just so, not Lismore, not country, not so awesome. The city does have its positives, especially for riding and friends, but back home is just such a great place to get back to, whether it’s working out in the paddocks fencing, cutting laps in the tractor or stock work, it is so quiet and relaxing, and I do miss it. Though, in saying that, I don’t think I’ll be permanently living out there anytime soon. Fresh air is ace and doughy’s in the ute is also, though, dad doesn’t take to that too kindly when the paddocks get ripped up by a certain individual...

I’ve never had any trails on my place at all surprisingly, as the dirt is so crap but it’s good though having Lachie 20min away where he has trails at his place, and when he gets back from Canada, they’ll be even more rocking!

//DAN PETERS

100

Shaun O’Connor looking more mot than Chad Reed//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

Greg Minnaar laying it over//SVEN MARTIN

“Canada eh? Almost made it….”. If you have no idea what I’m referring to, then you need to go find a copy of “Super Troopers” and watch it. Best movie ever.

I did make it to Canada though. I ate some poutine (fries and gravy), raced my bike and it was as good as ever. Here’s what went down at two of the best World Cup races on the circuit in 2009. Story by Jared Rando

World Cup DH #6 Mt Saint Anne, Canada Welcome to the Canadian province of Quebec, official land of bike thieves and home to what is perhaps the best downhill World Cup of all time. Mt St. Anne is a classic. I first raced there in 1998 as a junior at the World Championships and have raced there every year since. Every year it is just sick. It’s a big, wide, fast track with very little rest and the track still uses sections which were in the track way back in 1998. It’s a track for the big boys. Not much pedaling and it’s all about letting off the brakes and hanging on. Peaty has always done well here and so has Sam. They have had some good battles in the past and this year was no exception. It rained early on in the week but by the time qualifying was on, the track was absolutely primed for racing. Sam seemed to like it and managed to go seven seconds faster than anyone else without looking like he was trying too hard. The rest of the field was as close as ever, but Sam seemed to have it all figured out. For race day, the conditions had changed. It rained over night, making the track quite unpredictable and well, sketchy at the best. Mt St Anne at its best right there!

Kovarik came down with a fast time and was looking good for a podium but he just missed out in the end. US rider Aaron Gwinn came down with a smoking time and ended up third making him the first US rider on the podium since Colin Bailey way back in 2004. Gee Atherton ended up 4th, Barel 5th and when Peaty came down with the fastest time with only Sam to go, the question wasn’t if Sam would beat his time, but how much would he do it by? In the end it was 3 seconds. By qualifying fastest and winning the race, Sam took the World Cup lead over Peaty by just 4 points. Minnaar crashed in the finals and lost some valuable points and dropped back to third in the standings.

For the Aussies who made the finals, Sick Mick finished a solid 9th, Delfsy was 14th, Josh Button a solid 33rd, I was 40th, Will Reishbeith was 49th and Bryn, Shaun O’Connor and Graves had some problems and didn’t fare so well. It was once again an insane race and with that it was off to Bromont for even more insanity (and poutine).

Monster Energy Specialized boys boardroom meeting//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

It had to be said... Kovariks in the mist.//TIM BARDSLEY-SMITH

116 NEW PRODUCTS All the stuff you need!

POC

Browse www.pocsports.com POC are the slick new European players in the armour/protection market. A quick scout around the pits at the recent World Champs would vouch for how popular they’re helmets, gloves and pads have instantly become amongst racers. Pictured here is their helmet, featuring a fiberglass outer shell, loads of ventilation and large ear chambers to keep it feeling as open as possible. With so many items in their range you should really jump online to eyeball it for yourself.

New Products All photos Tony Nolan

MRP G2 CHAINGUIDE

Browse www.mrpbike.com In addition to looking damn hot, this chain guide does an incredible job of keeping your chain in place and protecting your chain ring from those big hits. It’s design simplicity and function are both above and beyond the standard which you’d expect from the chain device rulers, MRP.

XLC TOOL BOX

Browse www.xlc-parts.com What a great set of bike specific tools for the budding mechanic inside us all. Extensive enough to set out your garage workshop, yet compact enough that you could keep in the car boot for trailside repairs. In addition to this all-in-one kit XLC offer a wide range of single tools for more advanced workings and what’s more they won’t break the bank.

Troy lee dseigns d2

Browse www.troyleedesigns.com While you’ve most probably seen the D3 in all it’s glory, you can’t escape the fact that the D2 has defined the full face helmet for years and by the looks will continue to be a massive player. Aerospace composite fiberglass shell, moisture wicking liner from Cool Max and like anything with the TLD logo on it, unmistakable graphics, especially the Palmer replica D2 shown here.

FOX RC4 REAR SHOCK

Browse www.foxracingshox.com The coil-sprung rear shock market has been pretty quiet this past few years but all that’s gone out the window now with the introduction of this little beauty. Its oversized shaft, multitude of adjustment and gigantic bottom-out bumper has got everyone jumping up and down with excitement.

ENDURA

Browse www.endura.com.au Anyone that’s serious about riding knows the importance of sipping on a good energy drink whilst out in the saddle and then re-fueling when you finally make it back home. Endura is an Aussie company that have an amazing range of sports hydration and recovery products. We can say that honestly as we’ve been using their products and swearing by them for years now ourselves.