We’ve decided to re-instate the IDEAS LAB, due to all the development work we’re doing for our full suspension 2014 frames. After being blown away with the suspension platform Dean developed for our first FS frame The Hex, we’re expanding this into the world of cross country and maybe just a bit of down hill. Here’s the first of our re-invented and refreshed Ideas labs…The S57.

I came up with the concept for this bike many years ago while riding one of my favourite trails at the time, a downhill trail called S57. S57 is based in the foothills of Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, and is aptly named after the road marker that sits at the trail head. In it’s many years of existence it’s seen a lot of development, both beneficial and sketchy as hell.

Now I had a dilemma, I was beginning to explore the wide world of cycling outside cross country, and had nothing to do it on except a clapped out dirtjumper with a heavily modified RST fork. It hurt. So, so much. Being the bike nerd that I am i decided the easy solution to this dilemma was to develop my own bike. Buying one, I decided, would be too easy (plus I was broke). Please welcome the S57.

Being in development for a few years this thing has seen quite a few revisions, and a lot of hours. Oh boy has it seen a lot of hours! I’m very pedantic when it comes to suspension so if i can’t get my design to translate into a functioning model to my standards I’ll scrap it, so I scrapped a lot of designs. I always aim for a balance between pedalling efficiency and a linear progression on my downhill bikes, because I feel if you can get a downhill bike that shreds the gnar like a champ but pedals like an XC bike (albeit heavier), then that’s a winner.The S57 uses a linkage driven single pivot layout, and produces 8 inches of travel. I find a linkage such as this is beneficial because it allows you to adjust the squat and progression independently, meaning an all round balanced bike. In theory you could also change the characteristics of the bike by using interchangeable links. It was originally designed to be made out of Aluminium, but the scarcity of Alloy factories that work in our numbers forced it more toward Carbon Fibre. No projected weight figures as it’s only a concept, but I would expect it to be on par with most alloy frames on the market; I’d rather sacrifice a few hundred grams in exchange for extra structural integrity any day.

6061 CNC alloy links, replaceable dropouts and Titanium hardware round out this ensemble.

This frame is ever changing, but I feel I’ve finally got it right. Now it’s your turn to let us know what you think.

Stay classy, knights of the realm.

722km of riding.

Credit: James Gillies

12,400m of climbing.

Credit: Daniel Jessee

4 days 16 hours in the wilderness.

Credit: Greg May

16 hours of sleep.

Credit: Greg May

Bliss.

Credit: Greg May

Umm, I have been terribly late in writing this. I promised Chris a review months ago, and I think I’m going to steadfastly claim that I was wanting to give it a long term review. Yep, that’ll work. Anyway, a bit of background before the review:

I started my racing on a 26 inch wheel. I loved it. Fast, responsive (I was definitely in the Euro head down arse up category) and light. I will willingly admit I’m a weightweenie. When Chris gave me the chance to ride both the original Supreme and the Double9 I was very happy to give it a go. I loved the Supreme – you can find my review here. The Double9, while being a great bike, just didn’t quite give me the buzz I was after (review). I resigned myself somewhat to loving the rolling effect of the larger wheels but just not getting on with the geometry and sluggish accelaration. Please don’t give me hassle about trying different 29ers – I have. None of them lit my fire.

Cue the 650b wheel. A friend had built some up as a laugh and tried them out, bodged into his 26. I took it for a spin and was a convert from the first offroad venture. What a revelation. It had most of the rolling ability of the 29ers I had ridden but still felt like a 26. There was nothing left for me to do except explain to chris what I wanted, and together we drew up a suitable geometry. A long time later (completely due to me, Chris was super quick and helpful!) my frame arrived and I was like a kid at Christmas. I had stockpiled the necessary parts (For F120 fork, Crest 650s on Hope Pro2s, SRAM X.0 1×10 drivetrain) and was soon building the bike up. Once I’ve worked out how to do it I’ll post up a timelapse of the build.

I got the bike all built up and quickly ridden and fettled in time for the race season. So far it’s piloted me to top 10 results in the Midlands XC Series, National MTB XC races and will be my companion on my goal to getting my MTB Expert licence this season.

Feel free to follow my exploits here.

A slightly different geometry (as this is my first bike with a 120mm fork) meant it has handled a bit differently to my previous race bikes. The bike has pretty short chainstays which makes it very manoeuvrable, very easy to pop, manual and bunnyhop. A low headtube means I can get into my long and low race position and a low BB makes the bike really rail into the corners. I loved the BMX feel of the Double9 and had wanted to carry this across into the Supreme 650.
The bike is ridiculously capable downhill, almost to the point of getting me into very silly situations. However, the bike doesn’t climb quite as well as my old superlight 26. That bike wouldn’t let me descend nearly as quickly as this though! A little trade off is required when climbing as I found when racing some of the more hilly technical courses. The Supreme 650 is stiff enough to really dig in on the climbs but can require some more body input to stop the front wandering on really steep stuff. I found that when it’s steep enough to start wandering you’d be better off out of the saddle anyway.

As the British winters are pretty grim there is also plenty of mud room, even for my favoured 2.25 tyres. Two bottle cage mounts and front mech stop (not that I use it) make it useable for longer marathon type races, but I’m leaving it in more of a short course sprint bike for the time being.

Overall – I’m very pleased. While other friends and racing are chopping in their bikes for plastic 29ers I get the feeling I’ll be keeping this in the same condition while theirs get dull and scratched (God bless titanium!). There are few bikes I’ve been happier to ride and this one is definitely a keeper.

Specs (if you’re actually that dull):
KingdomBike Supreme 650
Fox F120RL (15mm QR)
Hope Pro2 Evo front, WTB Laserdisc rear laced to Stan’s Crest 650b with DT Swiss Revolution spokes
Schwalbe Racing Ralph/Rocket Rons (weather dependent) set up tubeless
Hope Pick and Mix headset
KCNC finishing kit (stem, bars, bar ends, jockey wheels, seatclamp)
Ritchey WCS Carbon seatpost
Fizik Aliante Carbon saddle
ESI Chunky silicon grips (green)
Hope Mini Pro X2 brakes
SRAM X.0 shifter, cassette, chain and rear mech
MRP 1x BB mount chain device
BETD OneKey 34T elliptical chainring
Shimano M970 XTR 172.5mm cranks
Shimano M970 pedals

Det behøver ikke koste en bondegård at få fremmed muld under dækkene. Læs bud på fire destinationer, der kan opleves på mtb for 4.000 kroner for en forlænget weekend.

Dolomitterne – Dramaet

Hvorfor?
På bagsiden af Alperne i Sydtyrol findes Europas måske mest dramatiske mountainbike-landskab – Dolomitterne. Godt afmærkede stier gennem de savtakkede bjergscener og fantastiske sø-landskaber giver dig optimale muligheder for en uforglemmelig mtb-ferie. Læg dertil det norditalienske køkken og fantastisk vin og kultur indenfor bekvemmelig (cykel)afstand. Så har du et oplagt udgangspunkt for en perfekt udflugt med drengene eller fruen. I Dolomitterne, der findes i de italienske regioner Trentino og Veneto, møder du en fed blanding af stier. På et mix af grus, sten og klipper er der et utal af muligheder – de tekniske kørere vil elske de fede trails i områdets naturparker, og de mindre modige kan holde sig til skov- og engområderne på lavere højde (ikke mindre smukke).
Dolomitterne, der i vintersæsonen er et populært skiområde, byder overalt på et utal af pensionater, hytter og hoteller. Byer som Colfosco, Villa (i områdets Alta Badia) og Brixen er gode udgangspunkter for dit aktive ophold. Her findes et utal af gode pensionater og cykelvenlige hoteller.

En god mand at kende:
André fra Dolomitebiking. André og holdet af mtb-tossede guider kender Dolomitterne som deres egen baukselomme, og de skræddersyr gerne prisrimelige mtb-ture. Ellers brug din GPS.
www.dolomitebiking.com

Budget:
Fly til Milano t/r med Easyjet: Ca.900 kr.
Udlejningsbil tre dage (Der er ca. 300 km fra Milano til Colfosco): Ca. 1.000 kr.
Overnatning: To nætter på dobbelværelse på Ciasa Parom, Ca. 800 kr.
fint pensionat, ca. 6 km fra Colfosco
Ca. 2.700 kr.

Harzen – klassikeren

Hvorfor?
De dage er talte, hvor danskerne dømte Harzen ude som feriedestination. Harzen er nu igen blevet ”hot spot” – og som legeplads for bakkehungrende danskere har Harzen i mange år været det nemme, fede og billige alternativ tæt på DK. De senere år er der arbejdet indædt på at understrege Harzens status som Nordeuropas mtb-mekka. Og det mærkes. Mere end 1.800 kilometer og 62 markerede mountainbike-spor findes her i det udvidede rute-net, Volksbank-Arena Harz. Naturens diversitet er slående, bakkerne længere og sporene mere spændende end set herhjemme. Den germanske grundighed mærker man tydeligt. I området kan du finde kort med beskrivelser af sværhedsgrader og mountainbike-rutens længde, og på områdets hjemmeside (www.volksbank-arena-harz.de) kan du downloade ruter i GPS-format, så du bliver på sporet. Her findes også detaljerede beskrivelser af sporene med nøje angivelser af de cykelvenlige spisesteder på vejen, krav til rytterens forudsætninger og højdeprofiler. På mange hoteller kan du desuden låne eksemplarer af den handy turbog med oversigtskort over de forskellige turer og deres karakteristika. En uphill-kamp på hullet cement og i tåge op til Harzens højeste spids, Brocken, 1.142 moh. er næsten et must. Et godt udgangspunkt for din Harzen tur kunne være Hahnenklee, 15 km fra den charmerende middelalderby Goslar. Herfra udgår mange fede spor, og i byen findes desuden Hotel Njord – et danskejet, cykelvenligt hotel, der gerne står til rådighed med skøn mad og gode mtb-tips.

Han kan hjælpe dig videre:
Markus Brandenburg fra Hotel Njord sender hvert år flere hundrede danskere ud på mtb-spor i Harzen: www.hotelnjor.com
Se også her for downloading af ture, gode råd og nyttige tips:
www.volksbank-arena-harz.de

Budget:
Mtb-pakke hos Hotel Njord, to overnatninger, Ca. 1.300 kr.
Forplejning, guidet mtb tur
Transport med bil inkl. færge Ca. 1.800 kr.
Ca. 3.100 kr.

Oslo: Klippen

Hvorfor?
Byen er en oplevelse med en helt unik beliggenhed ved fjorden, spændende arkitektur og fine parker. Og ingen anden hovedstad tilbyder så gode mountainbike muligheder lige uden for døren som Oslo. Og I alt 3.000 kilometer spor fordelt på de tre områder Nordmarka, Lillo Marka og Østmarka. Det er oplagt at indkvartere sig på en af byens mange vandrehjem og derfra bevæbne sig med et turkort fra en af byens turistkontorer. Således kan eventyret begynde lige bag Rigshospitalet eller fra metro-stationen (du kan tage cyklen med) Frognerseteren, hvorfra et net af spor gennemskærer klipper, skov og grus. Naturen her er helt speciel. Smuk men besværlig. Du kan holde dig på de brede grusstier og køre fra varme vafler til Kitkat i de hyggelige hytter med servering, der ofte ligger i behagelig turafstand på de brede stier af grus. Du kan også bevæge dig på singletrack sporene – nordmændene kalder dem stier – men dér kan du godt pakke Kitkatten ned i lommen igen og få begge hænder på styret. Det er smalle snirklede (enduro)stier med masser af rødder, klippesten, vandhuller og Svaberg (store glatte klippestykker). Det er vanskelige singletracks, der stiller krav til dig og materiellet. Men det er sjovt også selvom flere passagerer må forceres trækkende. Pisterne, der i vintermånederne, lægger ryg til alpine anstrengelse må også frit benyttes, og i Oslo Sommerpark kan du leje en egnet DH cykel og nødvendigt sikkerhedsudstyr.

Sådan kommer du videre:
www.terrengsykkel.no: Gode ideer til ruter og planlægning.
www.visitoslo.com: Gode tips til overnatning og links til gode mtb-kort over området.

Bugdet:
Fly Købehavn-Oslo t/r med Norwegian 950 kr.
Overnatning på Harladsheim vandrehjem tre dage 750 kr.
1.700 kr.

Tyrkiet: Outsideren

Hvorfor?
Tyrkiet er andet og mere end all inclusive ressorts og emsige gadehandlere. Tyrkiet tilbyder unikke muligheder for mountainbike. Kan du leve med mangelfuld skiltning og varme sommermåneder, kvitterer flere af landets store turistdestinationer med store cykeloplevelser i ”baghaven”. UCI har de senere år gentagne gange afholdt MTB World Cup løb på maraton-distancen i Manavgat –regionen – tæt på turistbyerne Side og Alanya. Den 92 kilometer lange maraton-rute med start i byen Manavgat er fed. Den tager dig gennem store dele af regionen. Du kører lige igennem de flere tusind år gamle antikke ruiner og kan undervejs gøre holdt ved spektakulære udsigtsposter med view over Manavgat-floden og Taurus bjergene i baggrunden. Ofte er du helt alene på sporet. Stop i en af de små landsbyer på ruten og overgiv dig til de lokales gæstfrihed, der her – bare 20-30 km fra turistfællerne – er ægte og uden kommercielle bagtanker. Du bliver sikkert inviteret indenfor til Kebab eller en sød Baklava – ellers er maden på de små restauranter her uden for turistvejene billig og smager skønt. Flere og flere firmaer i turistbyerne Side og Alanya (og Manavgat) har fået øjnene op for landskabets muligheder. Mange (fædre) stikker af på en dagstur under familieferien, mens ungerne daser ved poolen. Det gunstige alternativ er at tage direkte kontakt til ressort-hotellerne i Side eller Alanya. De har typisk meget gode tilbud uden for højsæsonen, hvor varmen tilmed er tilpas for cykling i bjergene.

En god mand at kende:
Hassan og Ferris hos Side Car rental udlejer mountainbikes, og Ferris er den perfekte guide i Taurus bjergene: www.siderentacar.com

Budget:
Fly København – Atlaya t/r 1.950 kr.
Tre dage på hotel i Side i oktober,
f.eks. Holiday Point Hotel & Spa 1.100 kr.
3.050 kr.

Husk og forhør dig hos flyselskaberne om prisen for transport af cykelkuffert. Flere selskaber har lempelige priser for ”sportsbagage”. Og husk at en hård kuffert giver den bedste beskyttelse til din cykel.

It’s May. More light. More riding. And the circle is complete again.

Last year was a bit of clunky one for us, so 2013 has been a great year of change. And one project in particular has taken to the forefront of our efforts: The Hex AM

So a couple of weeks ago, Chris came to Ireland and we gave it the thorough testing it deserved.

Ireland has a long history with mountain biking. Trails are kept secret with the same Omerta code gangsters use. So you gotta dig. Explore. Ask. Search. Piece together sniffling’s of what looks rideable from the sanctity of the trail you just rode. Since I’ve moved back here, each ride has been part learning – and part Search. There’s also the explosion of designated trails and trail centre’s both in the Republic (or South of Ireland) – and up North – so the sport is gathering ground fast.

Car packed, dieseled to the cap and loaded with enough gear to let us pass as proper Pikeys – we hit the road. We headed to the West of Ireland – to a place called Derroura, in Oughterard (Ooo cchh ter ard). Weather was amazing. Stunning open dramatic skylines, always threatening and then bursting glorious sun. The ju-ju was good.

I hadn’t ridden with Chris since Denmark, on a previous hang-over ride and a whistle-stop visit – so it was great to be back with someone you know so well and not be in a rush to get back. Nothing like it actually. We chatted like two old ladies. Rode the rippers. Then stopped along the way for some photos too. They speak for themselves really…

We finished a full days riding, back into the car and drove East and back to Dublin. Day two was Wicklow bound. We rode a completely different set of trails – more rooty, rocky, loamy and slimy. Gnarly as fuck. Up and down and all about town. Bit of hike-a-bike. Couple of sections of descent/trail-checking first before you commit. The weather was playing hookie as well, so we even though we rode all day – it was completely different country. And the Hex performed again.

Day 3 dawned bright and sunny and so we stayed around Dublin and those infamous secret trails. Pictures were order of the day, and we were cursed. There as a mox on us and you what we did? We dropped the camera off, rode over the ‘hill’, met a mate and had a good catch up. Boom. Curse broken, ju-ju was back on and we had a ripper. Sometimes it just takes the ride to sort your shit out.

The Hex turned out the true gem it was designed to be. But we’ll have a much more in-depth review later on in the year. And we had a ball and got some great riding in. Happy days! So keep it simple, do what you know you love and will re-charge the soul and keep getting out there.

Here’s to a great Summer and keep checking back for more Kingdom updates!

Nick

Melting my brain to get all this packed down, lighter if possible, and onto a bike I have to ride for 700km at the Highland Trail Race.

From this:

Fun times pile of angst:

It all fits down into this:

The kit on the floor I wear until it gets too stinky. Then I switch it out.

Live tracking is here: Come Watch Me Suffer.

The Highland Trail Race starts this weekend in Scotland (http://highlandtrail.net/). 425 miles, 685km,  of non-stop racing. Unless you want to sleep, which most of us will. I’ll be piloting my new Kingdom Bike Tech9 around the course, hopefully smashing myself – not the bike – to pieces.

Tech9 on nontech trail to munch some miles.

Tracking of the race will be in quasi real time, 10minute lag on position, and data from our positions will be provided via Track leaders at http://trackleaders.com/highland13.Tracking is being done through SPOT satellite trackers.

The winner is expected to get around the course in just under 3 days. He’ll probably sleep for about 6hours in total. I am aiming for about 5 days.

This race was to be the main aim for me this summer, but after my fathers death has become a memorial ride of sorts for me. Any thoughts of a podium are gone, now I am just racing for ‘fun’.

Another set of SPOT data will also be located on my personal page athttp://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0F9Si75bOHu1UysYQsZyjrCHLOn6GBpu0 , this will update when data is being collected.

Hopefully this can provide you some entertainment as you see how we progress. I’ll try and post the odd update to Twitter (@greg_may_) but I cannot be guaranteed coverage.

Huge thanks to the folks at Kingdom for supporting me on this race. All leading towards bigger goals next year. The Tour Divide calls. I’ll be posting a review of the Tech9 before I go, some info on what I am carrying, then slating my own choices when I return.

Now, where did I leave the lube for my shorts….

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!

After all the excitement of testing our new full susser The Hex in Ireland, we almost forgot about it’s little rigid brother The Brigante.

The Brigante is a long travel hard tail built to take on anything and designed around 140 to 160mm forks. As the sun was out in force today we decided to do a bit of XC trail ragging so we built up a Brigante Lite with some X-Fusion velvet forks 140mm and as the X-Fusion has a lower axle to crown we threw on an Cane Creek angleset on as well to slacken the head angle back to around 67.5 degrees.

Lightweight Kingdom Celstre carbon wheelset, XX1 and some of our favourite e-Thirteen pedals and we had a 26.5lb (12kg) trail killer on the loose, for a great afternoon in the sun.

My wish for 2013 is for Schwalbe to make Hans Dampf tyres better at shedding mud.