issue #24 - spring 2016 free magazine
PROEM ISSUE #24 - SPRING 2016
A VIEW FROM WHISTLER, CANADA BY JEAN-PIERRE VAN DEN AKKER
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Being 12 months in Whistler, I can tell you that this is the place where it all happens. The Whistler Bike Park just started its 18th season,. and it keeps getting bigger and better. Like myself, a lot of riders move to Whistler to improve their riding skills, create a name for themselves and make lifetime friends. Or maybe even make a living out of it. Perfect examples are Brandon Semenuk, Kelly McGarry and Rémy Métailler. While seeing this, at the same time a new generation of young riders is out there. 10-year-old kids that don’t grow up with soccer or tennis, but with mountain bikes and snowboards. You know that feeling, you don’t want the summer to end because the days are long, the weather is nice and you can hang out with your friends? I have that with the bike season. Knowing the season is only 144 days long and you want to ride as much as possible. Rolling up to the chairlift with your buddies while it’s 7.30pm and still 25 degrees outside. Smashing out lap after lap, and everybody is stoked on how much dust they got blinded by or how big the whip was from the guy in front of you. And sometimes, you just met them on the chairlift… For me, this never gets old. The Whistler Bike Park counts around 50 trails, from greens for beginners to double black diamonds for the more experienced rider. It’s also known for its famous trails like A-line, Dirt Merchant and Schleyer. The cool thing about these trails is they are so good that they set an example for more and more bike parks around the world. Last year Whistler Blackcomb started the expansion towards
COVER
Photo: Igor Verstegen Rider: Maarten Essers
PROEM
Photo: Tom Richards Text: Jean-Pierre van de Akker Rider: Jean-Pierre van de Akker Burn your visa. . . . . . . . . . . . 06-07 Cranckbrothers Mallet DH . 08 Throwing shit . . . . . . . . . . . . 09 Ion Clothing Scrub . . . . . . . . 10-11 SR Suntour Auron. . . . . . . . . 14-15 PV The Shan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18-19 Useless 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Les 2 Alpes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-36 Polygon Trid . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38-39 True Bikes 36. . . . . . . . . . . . . 40-43 Revolutoin Bikepark. . . . . . . 46-58 Naturns Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . 62-70
COLoFoN General manager Maarten Essers Editors Ilja van Bommel Dennis Leidelmeijer Fabian Kutsch Maarten Essers German Staff Fabian Kutsch Felix Fy Hens Philipp Heise Alex Deych French Staff Xavier Torchon Photography coordinator Ilja van Bommel Graphic designer Dennis Leidelmeijer
Creekside. With a big trail crew that works five days a week on various trails across the mountain, we can only think of one thing, more trails! When you think of Crankworx, you think of Whistler. I know, they created the ‘Crankworx World Tour’, which is awesome! But it all started in Whistler and it’s still the biggest one out of the three. Those nine days a year are always making a big impact on the mountain bike community. New product releases, new records, new tricks and riders you never heard of before that make a name for themselves. For the local riders, the Whistler Bike Park and WORCA organize the ‘Phatwednesdays’ races – offering a good variety of different downhill tracks. Chip in five dollars and you’ve signed yourself in for a downhill race, with a free beer afterwards! With a few of these examples, you can tell that this is the foundation for the mountain bike community. The place where it all happens. Several mountain bike companies test their products here because the bike park offers everything. If the bike park is too rough, some companies head south and test their products on the trails in Squamish - proving once again that this is the area where the mountain biking industry thrives. You see, I don’t want to leave - and I have not even told you everything. The season is still young, and I cannot wait to get out there again. Hope to see you on the trails!
Contributors Jean-Pierre van den Akker Stefan Jansen Jasper de Kinkelder Fabio Schäfer Jannik Hammes Igor Verstegen General contact info@landscape-magazine.com Editor contact maarten@landscape-magazine.com Advertising sales@landscape-magazine.com Digital LS Mag www.landscape-magazine.com Thanks for everything Jonathan (John) Broms & Vincent Rocher, Revolution Bikepark issue #24- 3 /72
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Writer: Web:
Our Mastercards www.landscape-magazine.com
e / Pl acez c lo u i ci / N ag el A n ai l h er bs tu rz
04.
05.
BURN YOUR VISA
Pl a c e
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02.
01. Ergon SMD2 Series www.ergon-bike.com - 02. Hope F20 Flat Pedal www.hopetech.com
07.
01.
06. Spawn Cycles Rokkusuta 20” www.spawncycles.com - 07. Five-Ten Freerider ELC www.fiveten.com
03. Troy Lee Designs Sprint kit www.troyleedesigns.com/bike - 04. Urge Down-o-matic RR www.urgebike.com - 05. Scott Trail Protect FR’ 16 Pack www.scott-sports.com
08.
03.
CRANKBROTHERS
MALLET DH CLIPLESS PEDALS Writer: Dennis Leidelmeijer
f .
t
e
This time I’m doing this review a bit different … The price of these pedals: …. Euro. Are they any good? Yes if you ask me. Any problems? Well after a full season they have a little bit of play sideways but for a few bucks you can get a revision-kit which make them as new. So should you buy them? Can not give you any reason why not…
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After trying these pedals I’ve bought 2 other pair so I have them on most of my bikes know. They were a game changer for me. Before I received the pedals I already used the older model on my XC bikes and for the other bikes it was flatpadels all the way. Before that I have used a couple of other brands like Time and Shimano. The improved platform and grip; even when not clipped in gave me the confidence to try them on my downhillbike and even on my fourcross/pumptrack bike. In fact the grip is so good that they gave me the confidence to take jumps while not being clipped in. You can easily adjust the grip by turning the gripscrews in or out. So whether you are a rider who’s always clipped in or a more loose and aggressive type of rider these pedals will fit you! Then for the technical part…. You can read that online on the crankbrothers website so I don’t want to bore you with that! Go out and ride your damn bike.
T
T I H S
G N I W T HR O
“ST RAVA SSHOL E� This is the latest gamechanging character in the bike
Nice technical trail sections get a shortcut to ride a
scene, no matter whether it is a mountainbiker or a
better time or, if it is the biggest looser, the full digital
roady. The stavasshole destroys everything we love in
forumstravasshole manipulates the gps source files.
our sport. Community, respect and fun. Cheating him-
This is a cool hobby to mess with other loosers out
self and others to become the digital fastest on a trail
there, but please stop messing around on our trails!
hoping his penis will grow for some digits. How stupid
No publishing! No parking! Use your digital gadget for
can a person be, publishing illegal trails or homespots
training and if you are on training, do it with other
to the whole world, just to distinguish himself?
stravassholes or alone. Get off other peoples dick!
NE W NOOKIE ROGUE SERIES AVAIL ABLE . ORDER YOUR S NOW!
WWW.NOOKIEBIKES.CO.UK Rider: Yannick Romswinckel
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ION CLOHTING
SCRUB Writer & photo: Dennis Leidelmeijer
Ion clothing is still quite one of the new kids on the bikemarket. But they allready have done business on the surf/water-market. So a lot of experience with technical clothing. We did receive a jersey and shorts of the Scrub Series line called the Avic bikeshorts and the Helium LS ž tee. The jersey features 3/4 sleeves, a microfiber patch on the inside for cleaning your glasses or goggles and a small hidden pocket on the side seem for maybe your liftpass or some walkingaround-money. The front of the jersey is made out of hoody like fabric for an casual look and feel. The back is made out of a technical fabric for good ventilation and sweat distribution. The shorts has two front pockets witch can be closed with a zipper and the right pocket has a special internal pocket made out of neoprene for you mobilephone. Which was a bit small for my phone but it keeps the contents dry for quit a long time. The finish and details of the shorts and jersey are very thought out. For example all the seams of the shorts are welded as seen on surf shorts. The complete short has the look and feel of a surfshort but a lot sturdier and with a couple of reenforcements for extra strength and durability. A drawback is the washing prescription in combination with light colours of the set we tested (orange/pink/red). It doesn’t get clean that well following the prescriptions. When washing them a bit warmer there is no problem getting them clean! Overall a great technical clothingset usable for a lot of disciplines like cross country, trail riding and enduro because a the use of a 4-way strech material it fits realy well and light! And even for downhill but not if you would like some crash protection from the clothing.
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REViEWED
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Filthy Trails is a bikepark for DH/FR/DJ/SS/XC/ENDURO mountainbikes, and was founded in November 2006. There are various trails which are built in different levels so beginners can work on their bike skills and pro’s can have a good day of riding and fun.
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WW
E B . S L I A R T Y H T L I W W.F issue #24- 13 /72
SR SUNTOUR
AURON Writer: Stefan Jansen & Dennis Leidelmeijer
When I held the Auron in my hands for the first time, it struck me immediately that it is a tight finished fork with a low weight. The titanium-coloured stanchions with a diameter of 34mm and magnesium lower legs provide a robust appearance that will fit on any bike. The Suntour Auron is a fork that can be used in many segments of mountain biking due to its infinite adjustable travel from 130 to 160mm. Setting up the travel is very easy and can be adjusted by the simple press of a travel adjust button on top of the fork leg. Despite this fork is designed for all-mountain he will not disappoint while riding enduro, XC or a bike park, especially considering the price / quality ratio.
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REViEWED The post mount system allows it to ride this fork without adapter with a 160mm disc. With the 15mm pitch axis and the Q LOC2 system it maintains stiffness of the fork with the convenience nevertheless of the front wheel to be taken out simple and quick. Because Suntour uses a hollow but very narrow bridge, it is possible to drive with tires up to 2.5 inch width. I used the Auron while riding Enduro / XC and in different conditions of snow and mud to very tacky trails with a spring travel of about 140mm. The fork feels very stiff, and handles very well through the short, quick turns and steers smoothly. At root sections and small bumps the Auron did not feel as stiff as I’d have liked. Even a number of changes in setup and the travel brought little improvement.
Conclusion
The Suntour Auron is a fork with an excellent price-quality ratio and will feel at home in a wide range. The fork offers a number of options, very easy to customize the settings to your liking and you will be able to carry out maintenance of the fork on your own. With the easy and quick setup it is the ideal fork for the “do it all bike” which will provide pleasure for many hours of biking at a very competitive price.
Update
After we have received a new updated cardridge, the fork showed considerably improved performance and absolutely became a favorite! Meanwhile there is a version on the market with a new look to compete directly, in our view, with the RockShox Pike.
Suntour Auron Specs •
Use: all-mountain
•
Wheel size: 27.5 “
•
Stroke: 130 to 160mm (adjustable)
•
Air sprung, cartridge damping
•
Setting options: high and low speed compression, rebound, air pressure and spring travel
•
34mm stanchion tubes
•
Hollow aluminum crown with magnesium lower legs
•
Tapered steerer
•
15mm Q LOC 2 front axle
•
Weight (RC2): 2040 grams
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10 km Strecken f端r Einsteiger & Fortgeschrittene Schneller Auftransport mit 6er-Sesselbahn f端r Biker & Bikes, Schlepplift Verleih von Bikes & Schutzausr端stung Fahrtechnikkurse Jugendcamps Onlineshop T +49 29 81 - 91 99 90 9, www.bikepark-winterberg.de Unterk端nfte: Hostel Erlebnisberg Kappe, T +49 2981-424, www.hostel-winterberg.de Tourist Information, T +49 2981-9250-0, www.winterberg.de
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CUSTOM DOWNHILL TEAM JERSEYS Nightfox. Original jerseys. Original riders. Find more: NIGHTFOXDOWNHILL.COM issue #24- 17 /72
- Production-Privee the Shan 27 Diamond Green Limited-edtion -
n i f l o w A g n i h t o l c goats Writer & photo: Dennis Leidelmeijer
Yeah I know that it isn’t the correct phrase you should normally use but when talking about the Shan I want to use “a wolf in goats-clothing”. I will explain myself later on. Well first things first. What kind of frame or bike is the Shan 27? It is aimed fot the aggressive enduro rider who loves the feel of a cromo hardtail with a sharp and on sturdie feel. The Shan was the first production frame of Production Privee. They have put a lot of time in the development of the Shan and you can definitely notice it out on the trail and especially when pointing it downward. They have made a frameset which can climb quite well. Okay it doesn’t climb like a dedicated cross-country- or trailbike but that isn’t they main purpose of the Shan but it will bring you to the top of the trail. And then...yeah when pointing it down, making some speed. There it comes to live. It feels playfull, it gives you the confidence to go faster, rip the berms, fly over jumps and send it of drops. Well it’s a confidence-booster! But after the landing of the drop it suddenly wakes you up… you are not on a downhillbike… but at first it definitely feeled like it. It has the stability when ripping up the trails and while sending it through the air. I loved it. I didn’t touch my fullsuspension bike for months. Because of the use of steel it does feel really sturdier and snappy but it still has the comfort because of filtering out some vibrations. I used it on my local xc loops, long day enduro trip, flowing down some freeride trails and even on the pumptrack and dirt-jumps! I did fell in love with the Production Privee. I have used the bike for almost a full season without any problems. The frame makes use of a BB92 bottombracket. For me that was the only con. Because it is quite hard to remove it yourself. A threaded BB would be easier. For me it wasn’t a problem but I can imagine for some it will be but the frame doesn’t offer an option for internal cable routing for your dropperpost. You can set up the the Shan with a 150-160mm travel fork with a tapered steered tube. The new Shan is especially developed arround the 27.5inch wheels but of course you can still fit 26inch wheels but you will alter the geometry and handling. For the aggressive trail rider with a love for the feel of a hardtail or a rider who does live like me in an area without that much elevation but still wants to hit a good trail while on a holiday in the mountains the Shan is the bike to go. I have tried several comperable bikes but for so far non of those will defeat the Shan. It climbs like a goat and descents like an aggressive, hungry wolf…. A wolf in goats-clothing!
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REViEWED
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Pierre Ferry 2. Date of Bir th? 04/10/81 3. Profession? Moun tainbiker 4. Sponsors? Co mmen cal, Michelin, AVID, RockShox, Truvativ, Be SRAM, ll, eyewear, Aivee, Asterion, fi Ad idas veten 5. What ma kes you happy? Rid ing my bike 6. What ma kes you not so happy? Comp licated peo ple 7. Favor ite food? Pizza 1.
Na me?
8.
What result are yo
9.
Do you believe in
u most proud of?
6th at Ramp age 2013 toi let paper? No t really 10. What’s your favorite tire pressu re? Fron t: 1,75Ba r, Rear: 1,95Bar 11. What kind of music do you like? 70s Rock 'n' Ro ll, Black Sabba Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden th, the power of moist
12. When was the last tim
e you laughed
your pa nts off ? Last monday, when the ot herwise qu iet guy found th e rig ht two wo rds to own the cas e.
13. Best road tri p eve 14. 15.
r and
who were you with? Costa Rica with Ad idas, Rit Boyco, Alex Reveles and Nik ch ie Sch ley, Ben i Leithner. Any reg rets wh ile on the road? No regrets Do aliens ex ist? Yes , we can not be alone.
16. Do you take the sha
mpoos and condit
ioner bottles from
No?! bees? Th e bees 18. Where would you bury hidden tre asure if you had som e? No, I wo ul d sh 19. DJ or ba nd, at are it! a wedding? Band! At my wedding the singer of the band surprised me perf Led Zeppelin, I was on fire. orming a song of 17. Would you rat her
be attacked by a big
20. Anyth ing yo u wa nt to
sha re with us?
Go ride your bike. Never gi ve Don't th ink you are to go up. od to ride with others, share your ride!
21. And last but not lea
Not anymore.
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st… Do you eat yo
Photo’s: Red Bull & Facebook
a hotel?
bear or a swarm of
ur ow n boogers?
Rider: Phil Atwill Propain Dirt Zelvy WC Team
RAGE - DOWNHILLBIKE IN 650B You ride to race, leaving your buddies in the dust of the track. The Rage is your weapon of choice. Uncompromised performance from your local racetrack all the way to the gnarliest courses of the WC - our Rage features 650B wheels, and 8.6“ travel and will challenge you to give your all on every ride. Rider: Phil Atwill / Propain Dirt Zelvy WC Team www.propain-bikes.com issue #24- 21 /72
The truth
behind Les 2 Alpes..... Text & photo’s: Ilja van Bommel
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That sounds like we’re going to burn Les 2 Alpes down to the ground right? Like there’s a big secret that nobody knows..... Like we’re going to reveal something that those French guys are trying to hide from you.... Well nothing could be more wrong. Last summer we got the chance to see a whole different side of the bike park. That of the guys who build the tracks and keep them running smooth...
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If you’ve ever been to the Les 2 Alpes Bike Park you’ve probably also told all your friends you’re going back someday. It’s not just the impressive size of the park but also the smooth running tracks. These tracks come in all sorts of flavors. From the intimidating track that’s used for the Air Downhill at Crankworx Les 2 Alpes to the amazing flow of the easy freeride tracks. We especially had big fun on these freeride type tracks. They’re pretty easy and can be ridden without pedaling. But the real fun starts when you open up the gas.
Unless you’ve build your share of tracks you probably never took the time to think about the maintenance that goes in these tracks. If you’re a regular bike park visitor you have probably complained about brake bumps and sometimes seen that they were filled in with dirt or gravel. Despite of what you may think this is not the work of Oompaloompas (Charlie and the chocolate factory) but of guys like you and me. Guys who love riding and sharing the love for it. They are already in their trucks and on the tracks while you’re still trying to climb out of bed (because of your aching legs from the full day riding the day before).
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We got to tag along on a damp Wednesday morning. While the rest of the Landscape guys were still asleep we snuck out and headed for the lift station. Typical French guys in typical ski resort outfits and typical unshaved faces were already busy with planning where they were headed that day. The communication was a bit rusty between them and us like it typically is with typical French ski resort guys but it got better when the leader of the pack showed up. We were told to take the lift to the top lift station where they would meet up with us. They went up with their typical ski resort pickup trucks with enormous tires. Once we were up there we only had to wait 10 minutes before the pickups arrived. You only start to realize that these guys do dangerous work when you see the avalanche dog jump out of the car.
We went up and we soon noticed that these guys know the mountain like the back of their typical French ski resort guys hands. Every extremely tight corner was turned through with sniper precision while they were scouting for possible problems. We got to a part of the track from Mountain of Hell and out came the rakes and shovels. Everyone knew what to do. A couple of guys were placing new signs and others were
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removing trail hazards. They all agreed that it was too wet to open this track for that day. The water was literally streaming down the track. But these guys weren’t complaining. All in a day’s work for them.
When the work on the trail was done we went down to the lift station. A call came in through the radio in typical French. A skier went down hard on the glacier and they had to go back up. Again....all in a day’s work for these tough guys. As we went back down with the gondola we looked at the tracks below. Except now we looked at it differently. More thankful maybe.
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So remember next time you’re out there having fun on your bike. Take some time to appreciate not only the work that goes into building the tracks, but also the maintenance. There are guys who are out there every day for our pleasure. And they don’t mind if it rains as long as we are having fun.
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1. 8. – 7. 8. 20 16 PrOgRaMm 1. bis 7. August: Rookie Camp 4. August: Welcome Day 5. bis 7. August: Kona Rookie Games 5. August: Training iXS Rookies Cup, Pumptrack Session 6. August: iXS Rookies Cup 7. August: iXS International Rookies Championships und Family Challenge
11. JUNI BIS 23. OKTOBER 2016 Täglich von 9.00 bis 17.00 Uhr
BIK E PARK- SF L . AT
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POLYGON
TRID
This not a bike you see a lot already but the most of us have seen it between the legs of Sam Reynolds in pictures and video’s slicing through thin air. Besides that you don’t see it that often it is definitely worth looking at!
Text & photo’s: Dennis Leidelmeijer
The setup!
For a mrsp price of 1099 dollar (about 999 euro) you get quite a nice package. It has a mix of midrange parts combined with a couple of cheaper parts to keep the price as low as possible Dispitte that you still get a killer bike for the beginner and a good platform to build on for the expert rider.
Crankset: BB:
RPM BB-9915ST/DH
Chain:
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KMC HL-710
Wheels: Tires:
Frame:
SUNRINGLE INFERNO 31 RIMS WITH ALLOY HUB
SCHWALBE TABLE TOP, 26”X2.25”
ALX ADVANCED ALLOY DIRT JUMP
Saddle:
Fork:
ROCKSHOX ARGYLE-R COIL, TRAVEL 100MM, STANDARD STEERER
Seatpost:
Brakes:
TEKTRO AURIGA, HYDRAULIC DISC BRAKE
Pedals:
KORE RIVERA THERMO
Stem: Bars:
FSA CK-720DHT/IS 32T, 170MM
POLYGON PIVOTAL SADDLE ALLOY, PIVOTAL, 30.9X200MM
KORE RIVERA, ALLOY, 42.5MM
KORE RIVERA ECO, ALLOY, 720MM
Headset:
INTERNAL SEALED BEARING ID:44/55MM
REViEWED
The ride ‘n flight.
What does it make stand out?
Looking at the frame there a few details cathing your eyes besides the paintjob and signature of Sam Reynolds. The frame is been build up from several different shaped tubes like the de down tube is shaped polygon..... coincidence? They give the rider a wide variety of options with the frame, so you can run it geared (standard it comes single speed) with the option to bolt on cable guides on the frame with Allen bolts. So when running singlespeed it looks very clean! The bike comes in 2 paintjobs. For those people who are on touch with their feminine side they offer a purple paintjob which really stands out and looks great if you ask me... our frame came with a black and yellow paintjob complete with Sam Reynolds signature. It’s not a replica of Sam’s bike, so it doesn’t have the paint job with the fighter-shark-teeth.
I’m not your hardcore dirtjumper, streeter or skatepark rider but a bit more of an all-round mountainbiker liking all disciplines with a bit of preference for freeriding. That said I like my bikes on the longer side with a low and wide cockpit. The Trid came standard with a high rise handlebar with a width of 720mm so I swapped it with my own handlebars. First thing noticed was the short feeling of the bike (it’s a long sized frame and I’m 183cm long). Especially riding up slopes and tranny’s but that’s probably the effect of the low front end. While riding the pumptrack I really noticed how well it tracked the corners and with a higher speed than I normally could take them. The bike even gave me the confidence of trying to gap some rollers in the pumptrack! As said I’m not your hardcore dirtjumper so I have lent the bike a couple of times to some local dirtjumpers and asked them for their opinion. They were all very enthusiastic about the handling and the stability of the bike in flight.
The bill….
Well lets sum it all up. The bike has a bit shorter feel (of course depending on your personal prevences) than most bikes around. For the price you will get a good bike that is ready to go rip your local dirtjumper or even a Crankworx course of you would like. For the expert ride it offers a good base to build on and will take a good beating. So you will be set for a couple of seasons definitely!
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BIG,
BIGGER,
AWESOME - True Bikes 36 -
I wanted to use the Monty Python quote “and now for something completely different” as title for this review. But after many rides on this ultimate stranger I felt the strong need to use the word ‘awesome’ in the title, because in my professional opinion this bike is nothing less than that.
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REViEWED
Text: Maarten Essers Photo’s: Igor Verstegen
I first saw this bike beginning of 2015 on a Facebook post of one of my many contacts and immediately was drawn to the design. So I contacted him to find out what it was and he got me in contact with Robert Dilik, the designer and builder of this bike (custom frame and fork are hand built). At that time he didn’t have a production version available, but at the end of summer he contacted me to say he had one for us to test. So that’s when this love story started with the delivery of the TrueBike 36” to our office. The looks and design of this bike was love at first sight for me, but I still was skeptical about the ride quality on the MTB trails. I have the luxury of having some awesome XC single trails right in my backyard. And since I’ve been shredding these trails for 25 years now (and on countless different bikes), I know them like the back of my hand. In other words: the
ideal proving grounds for any bike in the XC segment. There are steep technical climbs and descents, a lot of technical single trails and hairpin curves. The first ride took a little getting used to the physics of this bike. One important point is that you can’t drop your ass down behind your seat when you want to ride underneath a fallen tree. You immediately get your ass kicked by the rear tire, it’s that close! One other thing that I noticed on the first ride is that the faster you ride, the more the bike wants to go upright (something to do with physics of turning wheels and stuff, don’t want to get technical here). But it was not something that I experienced as a bad thing, it’s just different than what you are used to. After a short adjustment period you don’t even notice it anymore.
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REViEWED
What you do notice is how amazing this bike really is on the trails. Due to the ultra short wheelbase (for a wheel size like this) the bike corners very well, even hairpin turns are no problem at all and that surprised me as I expected otherwise. The grip you get from those massive tires is mind blowing. You can do high speed flat cornering on loose soil without drifting even a bit. I know it’s a bit of a given, but the wheels roll over anything you can find on an average XC trail; bumps, roots, holes, rabbits, rocks, tree branches, squirrels, gravel, sand etc. etc. Of course you notice the big wheels when accelerating, but the up side is that it is really easy to maintain your speed once you are going. And because you have endless amounts of grip you can keep your speed when flying through corners. A bike buddy of mine, let’s call him bald-headed-peanut so he knows I’m talking about him, even broke his personal record on this 36” bike. I don’t use Strava or apps like that
myself, so I don’t really know (or care) if I’m faster or slower on this bike compared to others. All I know is that I’m having a lot of fun on this bike and it has become my favorite XC bike. So if you are into something completely different, aren’t afraid of standing out of the crowd (because believe me, you will! This is a real head-turner) and want to have huge fun on your local trails: get this bike! For details and build options please visit www.truebikes.eu . I rode the 2x10 XC version. And because of the many steep climbs on my local trails I upgraded the cassette from 11-36 to 11-42 with a Funn MTB kit.
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SENDER CF
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CANYON.COM/SENDER issue #24- 45 /72
THE SEARCH FOR DRAGO Text: Dennis Leidelmeijer Photo’s: Doc Ward, Jean-Pierre van den Akker & Dennis Leidelmeijer
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H ONS issue #24- 47 /88 /72
Jean-Pieree van den Akker and myself were talking for over a year about visiting Revolution Bikepark in the UK. Last spring we again were talking about it, but still did not set a date… With the Pentecost weekend ahead, Jean-Pierre decided to go and he had an open invitation for freinds who would want to join him. In the end no one was able to come. I myself sadly didn’t have the time to join that weekend, and Jean-Pierre was aware of that… nevertheless he called me the Tuesday before the weekend asking if I really couldn’t go, because he wasn’t feeling to happy about having to go alone. After much deliberation and shifting a lot in my calendar I managed to tag along. Three long workdays after arranging accommodation we were in our car heading for Duinkerken, FR where we would embark the midnight ferry to Dover. During the two hours on sea we even managed to get some very needed shut-eye after a long days work. Upon arrival in Dover we had a five-hour drive ahead of us before we would arrive in Llangynog. After pulling ourselves through the night, with a two-hour pit stop for a bit more sleep, we arrived at 8 AM local time at Susha and James’ place, the owners of the bikepark, where we would be staying for the weekend. They bought the old house of the Athertons and with that, a part of the hill with the wellknown Quarry-line out of the Atherton’s videos. Llangynog is a very small village in the middle of nowhere where sheep and pheasants roam the streets freely. The old houses, narrow streets and small bridges make you feel like you stepped back in time. Cell phone coverage is little to none here. After a swift breakfast prepared by Susha we started assembling the bikes and gearing up for a trip to the bikepark, all after just 3 hours of sleep last night. Like the weather in Wales dictates, it was raining. This in combination with the skill level of the bikepark promised us our first fight with a “Welsh Dragon”. Many of you are familiar with the line codes in bikeparks going from green to black, here at Revolution Bikepark everything is so steep that they skipped green and blue and start of with red, followed by black, double black (expert) and purple (pro). Before we could get on the pedals a different adventure presented itself: the uplift. There is no lift, so they offer a shuttle service, and wow, what a shuttle that turned out to be. They use three Landrover Defenders with room for ten bikers inside and 10 bikes on the trailer dragging behind. On the way up you create even two more spots, because you all will slide together on the steep uphill.
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tip!
Make a reservation before you go, because they have limited spots per day!
Revolution Bikepark has 5 different lines, but building never stops and new stuff is added regularly. Freeride; red (we only rode this partly due to construction work) and the black tracks are; Main Line (Expert 1), Ghetto Track (Expert 2) and Ll (expert 3). And for the upmost challenge you can try the purple Ffar Side track. Besides the Freeride the general theme of the park is roots and rocks. In combination with rain on the first day this presented us with quite the challenge. We started with the Freeride, of which we could ride the top half. The descent consists of a large number of tables varying from two up to six meters and gaps between two and seven meters wide, huge berms and stepdowns. Due to the hard pack soil and steepness this is really a highspeed track. After this “warm-up” (meanwhile we were soaking wet from the rain) we headed for the other trails. These are all technical downhills with a lot of short switchbacks, steep corners, roots and rocks. The first few descents took some getting used to, but after a few more we could let go of the brakes a bit more and instead of sliding we were hammering over the many roots. At the end of the day we were soaked all the way through, including our underwear, but our speed was getting better and better compared to the locals. We had successfully slain the Welsh Dragon! Or so we thought… Our energy had run out quite fast because of the lack of sleep. James mentioned that he wanted to show us a new trail still hidden and under construction, and maybe also some other local tracks. So we thought it was a wise choice to go back to house for some dry gear and a short nap. When we told Susha and James that we would be heading back to the house, they asked us to pay attention to the dogs and that they would not get the chance to run off. They have three brown Labradors of which one is as big as a (small) pony! The bunch is nicknamed; the “Chocolate Mafia”, because they are pretty wild and mischievous and you could easily find one jumping on your bed. But they do offer a warm welcome. After some dry clothes and a powernap we loaded the bikes on the trailer and drove up to the new line which James was building. Earlier in the afternoon James already told us that it was a real “Loam” track. A lot of loose soil, carving downward and steering with your rear brake. The Chocolate Mafia joined us during the descent. These are real trail-dogs, as soon as your foot touches your pedal they immediately hurtle off and fly past you on the trail.
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The track was exactly like James had described. In the first part you could distinguish a bit of a line, but after that it was carving freely between the trees at high speed due to the steepness all around. After this run we rode it a couple more times the next day and it has become one of my personal favourites. At the bottom Susha was already waiting to shuttle us up towards the next track: a DH track used in the British Downhill Series. It has been under construction since and now consists of the old part and a new part which come together further down the line. Jean-Pierre chose the new option, which was a bit rougher than the old part according to James. I followed James on the old part and this also was a recipe for roots. The rain had stopped and that resulted in even more slippery conditions because the thickening mud stuck to the tires more and took away that last bit of grip. This turned out to be another awesome track with big jumps, technical root sections, fast passages, forest, open bits and mainly everything you could wish for in a downhill track. Once completed, the waiting shuttle took us up again to the next challenge called: “The Bank”. The bank lies on the other side of the hill from where the bikepark is. Underway a few people left the group, because they didn’t want to ride this track. Because of this I started to have doubts myself, I was getting tired, was this track really suited for me? But my curiosity prevailed and I pushed through. Arriving at the start line we found the entrance blacked by big piles of cut trees. We couldn’t get around it, so we had to go over it. After the climb with our bikes on our shoulders we saw that the track hadn’t been ridden much lately. The track that used to be there had been reduced to a 20cm wide trail and was overgrown with bushes. Was this a good sign or a bad one? Because I was tiered and didn’t want to hold up anyone I decided to start last. Not far down the track I was able to pull the first biker (Jean-Pierre) out off the bushes. He had slipped off due to the many hidden drops, rocks and slippery surface. After we lost the rest of the bikers on a few steep rock-shutes we all of sudden found ourselves facing the Welsh Dragon again: an almost vertical drop of about 12 meters with loose rocks! And don’t forget that the trail was only 20cm narrow. From here on down it was only more steep rock-shutes, slippery root sections and bigger rocks. Quite the battle to get down in one piece… and we lost. But once down back at Susha and the car, we were glad we survived and we both agreed: “we do not have to ride this line again!” That night we enjoyed the culinary delights of fish & chips. And we hit the sack pretty early in order to be fit the next morning.
ALL OF SUDDEN FOUND OURSELVES FACING THE WELSH DRAGON AGAIN! issue #24- 53 /88 /72
Day 2: in the Nog
The next morning we slept in a bit to get that little extra energy for day two. When we woke up Susha and James were about to head out to the park to welcome the first bikers for the day. And yes, the sun was shining! After a home-cooked bacon and egg sandwich including hungry dogs under the table, we packed our bikes and also set course for the bikepark. That day we rode about all lines, except for one on which I bailed out off because of the partialy dried mud, which made some parts even more slippery than the day before. And next to that I already cracked one spoke in my rear wheel and dented my rim pretty good. On the Ffar Side line you can take part in some sort of competition. With a GPS timing system you can compete with Gee Atherton amongst others, and try to clock a fast time. So for freeriders as well as downhill racers the Revolution Bikepark has enough challenges to offer and is a ‘must ride’ on your track list. Luckily the second day was an almost completely dry one and we only had to endure a muddy pants and bike. At the end of the day the bikes were so dirty that there was hardly any paint visible at all.
tip!
Bring mud guards and perhaps a set of mud/spikes tires. Almost all locals ride standard with these.
That evening, after a well deserved shower, we were treated to a delicious BBQ. During food preparation by Susha and James’ mum we were all (Jo and Tim, bikepark staff, Bruce and Quail, friends of Susha and James, and James himself) in the backyard enjoying the sun and a couple of beers. A big part of the backyard is taken up by dirt jumps and a drop built by Dan Atherton. Unfortunately they were pretty overgrown by grass. Quail suggested we should cut some away so we could ride the drop and first table. Putting words into action, an hour later the first line was cleared. Being Quails idea, he got the first run. Unfortunately he found out the hard way that the drop was very slippery resulting in him diving down without a bike. We all had a big laugh. It did hurt him a little, but he walked it off. After this fail only Jo had the balls to try it himself and he managed to show us that it indeed was rideable.
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YOU COME ALL THE WAY UP HERE FOR TWO DAYS OF BIKING AND THEN YOU DRIVE BACK? YOU ARE BARKING MAD! issue #24- 57 /88 /72
THANKS FOR ALL! After this perfect dinner we headed back to the bikepark for a few pumptrack laps and some gunfire. It had been Tim’s birthday and he got a new belt but for his shotgun and of course that needed some testing. From static targets with a machine gun to skeet was a shotgun. Perfect fun to end this weekend with. We would like to thank James, Susha, Tim and Jo a lot for this awesome weekend and we can recommend everyone to travel to Llangynog. It’s a long drive for sure, and with the ferry ride it seems even longer, but it’s doable. Don’t let the miles put you off, they are certainly worth it!
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The Quarry & MegaQuarter Of course we also visited the Quarry line and the MegaQuarter. I know that what already looks huge in videos is even bigger in real life, but these shings are surreal! Jean-Pierre did ride part of it last year, but since it is hardly ever ridden, everything was overgrown and unrideable. Next to the Quarry you will find the MegaQuarter with an even bigger roll-in facing it. Jean-Pierre had the intention to ride it, but the wooden roll-in was way too slippery to ride due to all the rain. So this might be a good reason to come back here sometime soon…
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NATURNS SÜD TIROL ITALY biketrip part 1 of 2 …do I want to make a bike trip? …to Italy and Austria? …riding Enduro trails with great weather? Of course I didn’t have to think very long about this: HELL YEAH! We could hardly wait for the departure. Text: Dennis Leidelmeijer Photo’s: Stefan Jansen & Dennis Leidelmeijer
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Car all packed and heading for beautiful Italy and Austria (more about Austria in issue #25). Our destination is the small town of Naturns in Süd Tirol, with a fantastic view of the Dolomites. Upon arrival in Naturns we checked in at DolceVita hotel “Lindenhof”. Wow, this is something else when you are used to camping in a tent with shared showers. Hotel Lindenhof targets the active hikers and bikers who value the use of one of the swimming pools or saunas after an active day out in the mountains. Before you take a dive there is a late lunch/snack available for those who can’t wait for dinner and need some food. Diner in the evening is very elaborate and suitable for sporters, wellness and health. Delicious and healthy meals were served, where we normally prefer a steak or local schnitzel, but nevertheless we enjoyed it very much. We did make some heads turn when we entered the dining room in shorts and T-shirts and ordered beer, where the majority of the guests wore evening clothes and drank wine. The next day we had our first guided tour planned, organised by Markus from Otzi Nischler Bike Academy. At 10 AM we were all packed and ready to go for a long day on the bike. The town of Naturns is situated in a valley with gorgeous mountains rising up on both sides. Either side is awesome for biking, but we concentrated on the southern face for today. For the first part we enjoyed the use of a gondola who took us, accompanied by many hikers, 900m upwards. Being two Dutchies from the ‘flatlands’ we were very pleased with this way of transport, as we are not used to climbing for hours at a time. After exiting the gondola we started pedalling and our previous joy melted like snow in the summer sun; we just started a 7km climb with 700m positive altitude. That was really a big challenge as I was running on 1x10spd (11-36!) with a 34t chain ring in front, but once we made it all the way up we were treated on a spectacular view over the valley and the Dolomites.
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After a well needed few minutes of resting, a banana which we took from the hotel and a granola bar we got ready for the decent. Markus had multiple descents as an option. The trail started the same for all options and was fairly easy to ride. This way Markus could assess what level of riders he had under his care. The first part consisted of nice curvy single-tracks through Alpine meadows with lots of rocks, beautiful views with a fantastic flow. A lovely local dish was waiting for us on arrival at an ‘Alpenhütte’, sort of a mix between an omelette and a pancake with fruits and powdered sugar accompanied with various sorts of bread, sausage and cheese. After lunch we had to climb again for a little bit to get to the other side of the mountain for the second descent of the day. We noticed quite quickly that Markus chose one of the more difficult options, but man was this a beautiful one! From narrow single-trails to steep root sections and from wide, high-speed stone covered paths to technical switchbacks between huge rocks. A downhill trail with tremendous far sights, steep cliffs and every once in a while a passage that will make your knees wobble. Back at the hotel after this awesome and intense day we hit the pool and sauna to relax our muscles a bit. After dinner we found out there is not much to do in the evening outside of the hotel, so we ended up back at the hotel bar rather quickly. Luckily we could enjoy ourselves there
Luckily we could enjoy ourselves there with some tasty local brews.
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with some tasty local brews. We had the next day to ourselves. Because we flew down the trails the first day we decided to head up there again and ride a part of the same trail again so we could shoot some photos and video footage. At the end of the day we ended up at the local ‘skills park’ where Markus was training a group of beginners. After riding a few laps there we thanked Markus again for the awesome day yesterday and his shared knowledge about the area. Next stop: hotel for a good meal and a good sleep. Tomorrow we will be heading to Feld am See in Austria for two more days of trail riding, but you can read more about that in the next issue.
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Special thanks to: Markus the guide
Bike-holidays www.bike-holidays.com Otzi Nischler Bike Academy www.oetzi-bike-academy.com DolceVita hotel “Lindenhof” www.lindenhof.it
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Joe Barnes (GBR), North Shore Vancouver
from dust till town
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Margus Riga