Bag denne højtragende overskrift frit tyvstjålet fra eventyreren Troels Kløvedal – der for sin part sikkert har kopiereret den fra en anden klog mand – gemmer sig et kærligt dunk i ryggen til alle os, der så gerne vil (op)leve lidt mere af verdenen på ryggen af vores fine grovknoprede dæk.

For hvordan indløser man de kåde tanker om sætte gummiaftryk på fremmed jord, når hverdagslivet virker til at presse cykeldrømmene op i en krog? Og måske vigtigst – hvordan kommer vi ud over den begrænser, der synes at overbevise de fleste af os om, at vi ikke har fortjent at indløse vores drøm?

Den korte opfordring herfra er: ”Dyrk begejstringen for din drøm – den skal tage dig igennem al modstand. Tal om turen – ikke som fremtid, men som et sted, du befinder dig nu. Løs de sjove problemer først, saml et godt hold og kæmp så for din sag, som gjaldt det din yndlingscykel.

Vi har prøvet det en gang eller to – min hustru og jeg. At få afsat vores fire børn i en længere periode, få overtalt chefen til at give os orlov og forsøge samle penge sammen til eventyret. Senest har vi cyklet fra Lhasa, TIbet over Mount Everest Basecamp til Kahtmandu.   En 1.300 kilometer lang fantastisk rejse gennem højdesyge, kinesisk chikane og dramatiske bjerge, til foden af verdens tag.  

Har du lyst til at høre mere om turen holder vi foredrag i The North Face Store på Fisketorvet, onsdag den 8. maj kl. 18.45. 

Yesterday, team Kingdom Bikes Australia competed in the Hellfire’s Out MTB Fundraiser at Kellevie here in Tasmania. There’s a bit of a backstory to this event so I’ll tell that now.

Most of last year was spent planning for the Hellfire Cup, a 4 day pairs stage race and bike festival. It was to be held over the Australia Day long weekend. Unfortunately on the 5th of January an unattended smouldering fire reignited, and on the 6th as the wind picked up and the temperature soared to over 41 degrees it flared out of control. Over the next few days it would burn over 25000Ha of land, destroy over 60 homes, almost wipe out the small town of Dunalley, and trap people on the Tasman Peninsula for weeks.

Probably the most recognisable image from the fires, some families had to wade out into Frederick Henry Bay to escape the flames.

Fast forward to now, Duncan Giblin, organizer of the Hellfire Cup and Dunalley local decided to hold a 6 hour enduro and donate 100% of the proceeds to charities involved with the rebuilding of the south east. I’ll not bore you with a race report, here are some photo’s of the race.

Welcome to Kellevie. 70% this stuff, it’s the destroyer of bikes and souls alike.

Johnny Dalco decided to forgo the superior ride of his Double9.CRB for something with a little more squish. A wise choice considering the track conditions.

Smoothtrooper approves

Leigh got sick in the lead up to the race and spent 80% suffering major cramps.

Gratuitous product placement.

Team Kingdom Bikes Australia

Sapecial thanks to Duncan Giblin and the Hellfire crew for organising the event. If stage racing is your thing, make sure to check out www.hellfirecup.com to be held on the 21st to 24th of November, it’s going to be awesome!

Well, summers over for another year, and I’ve got to admit I’m starting to feel like a curse.

All three places I’ve ridden this summer have been in serious danger of some pretty big bushfires, rebuilt my fork, blew up my fork (huge downer), blew up my brakes, tore a hole in my favourite riding shorts, and just today snapped a mount and burnt through my second battery in my brand new Gopro. I’m glad we’ve got the Hex done, otherwise I’d have gone insane by now.

Oh well, at least I got out for a ride.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We need YOUR help (please!). We’ve developed our first full suspension All Mountain project, named The Hex. And while we absolutely love it – we never rest on our laurels. We’re constantly striving to improve, progress and make the best products out there. And so with pencils to the ready, we’re already tweaking… and need your help.

Welcome to The Hex All Mountain Pepsi/Coke challenge. Very simply, tell us which bike your prefer – either the ‘Pepsi’ or the ‘Coca Cola’:

‘Pepsi‘ = Standard/Traditional Top Tube Geometry & the ‘Coca Cola‘ = Sloping/Curved Top Tube…

As always, we really appreciate everyone’s input and time and valued comments. So vote today and help us make a difference!

The Kingdom Crew

Well, it’s been an interesting year here at the Kingdom, we’ve had our ups and downs, especially the downs. Survived the apocalypse (again), watched the death of one era, and the rebirth of another (more on this later). Here’s to hoping the new year runs a bit smoother for all of us.

So from all of us here at the Kingdom, I’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. May you all get plenty of Christmas bike swag to fill the shed.

Today my training plan said I had to do tempo intervals. These are normally not too disgusting – basically a series of 6 minute periods riding at just under my lactic threshold several times with limited recovery time. My coach tells me it’s a great way to turn gym muscle into useable riding muscle, and “I’ll be faster come summer!” However, today it was raining. And there was a headwind. And it was cold. Now I tend to live my life by the motto “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”, alongside copious helpings of Rule V. Inappropriate clothing today would include short sleeve jerseys, bibshorts shorter than ankle length, a lack of overshoes and anything much less than full waterproofs from eyes to toenails.

Today was such a day where despite the weather I would normally shrug a leg over the ‘Winter Bike’ (mudguards, rack, rides like a sick dog) and just get on with it, revelling in the fact that although the weather wasn’t great I was still riding my bike. Today was not a nice day. Today was the day when the weather decided I should be cold, damp and generally miserable.

Photograph: Arthur Meyerson/Corbis

Continue reading…

With an eventful Olympics following the World Cup and then the World Champs I don’t think anyone quite knows where to put a foot down with regards to wheel sizes. All the big brands are winding themselves into a frenzy of vertically compliant and laterally stiff wheels, nonsense involving stiffness and rollability. All because a 29er full sus (the next big thing) won the Olympics, a 650b (the next next big thing) equipped tubular (the next next next big thing…) won the World Cup and World Champs and a Frenchman has been riding extremely well on an apparently outdated 26″, including winning the Olympic test event! Where does it all end?

Possibly in an explosion of marketing spiel, but I’m going to put my foot down now and say 650b.

Continue reading…

I love this time of year. The sun is shining, days are getting longer, and the trails are starting to dry out. I can’t complain, it doesn’t get overly cold here and the trails are open all year round, but still.

Spring also brings with it the anticipation of the start of the racing series, riding with friends, multi day bike fests, building trails, barbecues, the home made hot tub, Australia Day, 40 degree days with golfball raindrops, lazy days rafting, the golden light filtering through the trees in the late afternoon. These are the things that make winter worth it for me.

You guys know what I’m talking about. Those things that make you tingle inside to think about, that give you the same feeling you get when you watch an epic bike video, that get your heart pumping and instantly cheer you up. It’s those days that we will remember fondly for years to come, and will get us through the dark winter months, because you know in a few months time you’re going to do it all again.

It’s been awful quiet here lately at The Kingdom, what with constant delays to the Brigante/Savant and quite the list of personal issues.  Fortunately for me my issues go away when I spend time working on some top quality projects, even if it is only for a few hours.

While working on my latest design, I got to thinking who our target audience is. It takes a certain kind of person to be attracted to small, tight knit companies like us. I’m not talking about your average joe gotta have the next demo and the widest bars around, I’m talking about your sophisticated rider with a keen eye for detail, with specific likes and dislikes.

The kind of rider that doesn’t care for trends, that has at least one bike circa 2011, that doesn’t get caught up in all the bullshit mainstream companies use to say their product works best. Maybe a little bit eccentric too.

So, I propose this question. What do you want? What’s your dream bike?