Mountain Biking Australia

Hi there, I’ve come on board at a pretty interesting time, I reckon! I’ve been a mountain biker for… wow… nearly 30 years, I guess? I got my first bike in 1988, so there you go. No wonder the beard’s so… distinguished… So I’ve seen a lot come and go

I just invested a Merida E160 -900 e-bike, for many of the same reasons you point out in your recent newsletter. I own a YETI SB66 Carbon that I still ride, and also train on a Colnago road bike when time permits. I will still ride these when I am ri

I recently bought a new dual suspension bike from an online dealer, who delivered the bike to me mostly built in a box. All I had to do was to install the handlebars and pedals, put the front wheel on and it was ready to go. After four or five rides,

SAY HI TO MBA’S NEWEST OFFICE MEMBER One of the truisms about modern mountain biking is that you need to travel to find the best trail – and for the next six months, we’re going to find a LOT of trails aboard our latest acquisition. This is the Skoda

About eighteen months ago (April 2016, to be exact), Rock Shox pulled the covers off a pair of new rear shocks… and took the lead on a whole new way to think about how a rear shock fits inside a frame. It was dubbed Metric, but confusingly has very l

Nestled in a tiny village about an hour and a half from Tasmania’s capital, Hobart, the tiny – and I mean tiny – town of Maydena feels like it’s a million miles and a thousand years away from anywhere. Overlooking the Derwent Valley, it’s impossibly

A STORM surge, whipped up in The Bay of Bengal a week earlier, empties its deadly contents on the Himalayan region in central Nepal. When Cyclone Hudud had done its work, 40 people hiking over Thorung La Pass, one of the world’s highest, will never g

What an interesting time to be a mountain biker… As with all pastimes, it started so simply; old bike, big mountain, people looking for something to do… adults doing just what they did as kids. Fast forward 30 or so years, and look where we’ve gotten

The eerie, mournful wail of bagpipes that wafts over the still dawn of Bundanoon is especially poignant today. For the last 13 years, riders have congregated in this tiny NSW town tucked away in the southern highlands to pit themselves against the Hi

It could be said that Thredbo has taken 20 years to become an overnight success with mountain bikers. The resort with Australia’s highest mountain has been hosting races since the 1990s, but it’s only put the foot down on trail development over the l

When I was a lot younger, I remember seeing a troupe of skaters rampaging down the road outside the bike shop I was working at, leaping curbs and traffic islands like they weren’t there. It was absolutely astonishing, given the equipment and abilitie

VALUE 7 FUNCTION 7 LOOKS 7 OVERALL 7/10 It’s fair to say there are two camps when it comes to the notion of carrying water on a mountain bike; those who backpack it, and those that don’t. While slinging a couple of litres of water, a multi-tool and a

We’re big fans of Scottish rider Danny Macaskill, who spends his life redefining the line between impossible and amazing on both trials and trail bikes. One of the elemental parts of his bike is his flat pedals, and it’s crucial that he not only have

VALUE 6 FUNCTION 8 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 7.3/10 Canadian company OneUp burst onto the component scene about three years ago with its wildly popular 40t and 42t conversion kits for ten-speed drivetrains, and has kicked on since with a variety of innovative,

VALUE 7 FUNCTION 9 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 8/10 One of the things that annoys the living crap out of me on our local trails is the sheer number of discarded water bottles scattered to the four winds. Here’s a tip – you don’t need to buy bottled water in Aust

VALUE 6 FUNCTION 8 LOOKS 8 OVERALL 7.3/10 When your climbing ability on a bike leans well south of where it should be, every advantage helps; a wheelset with six pawls and a mighty 120 engagement points is just what the doctor ordered. Industry 9 (ak

Humbling, perhaps that was the best way to describe the moment, or even more accurately the whole experience of riding in the remote corners of the 'Green Triangle' of Laos - the far-flung top-right hand corner, where the Chinese, Burmese and Laos bo

Mountain biking may be a comparatively new sport, but it’s already had a major impact on the long-established road market. Let’s look at how mountain bike technology is making the modern road bike more versatile and (whisper it) fun! I may be accused

IN THE STAND 7/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7.5/10 IT’S often said that Canadians share a lot of traits with Aussies; they’re humble and laid back, they’re reasonably partial to a beer, and they aren’t afraid of hard work. Maybe that’s why we respond

IN THE STAND 7/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7.5/10 If you’re a relative newcomer to the sport Whyte Bicycles might be a fresh dot on your radar, but the UK-based company has a long history of building durable and fun bikes able to withstand what we w

IN THE STAND 8/10 ON THE TRAIL 7.5/10 OVERALL 7.75/10 FROM relative obscurity a handful of years back, Indonesian-based Polygon has come charging through the pack to become a definite player in the mountain bike scene. Recently I tested the top-spec

Remember those days where you’d run out the door at sunrise on your trusty Repco 15 speed, looking for adventure? You’d roll home at dusk, knees bleeding, eating a bag of mixed lollies, fall asleep and repeat it all in the morning. Young, unbreakable

IN THE STAND 6/10 ON THE TRAIL 8/10 OVERALL 7/10 Designed in Switzerland and with a reputation for producing some of the lightest bikes on the planet, Scott garners a lot of press for its uber-high end carbon fibre creations. They’re certainly cool t

The best time to give your bike a little TLC is probably the time that you least want to do it… but trust us. If you can give your rig just five minutes of your time – okay, maybe ten – after you get back from your ride but before you put it away, it

Riding mountain bikes is great fun – I’m sure we all agree on that – but some of us have almost as much fun in the workshop; tweaking, tuning, modifying and customising our bikes. If that sounds like you, send in some high-resolution digital photos o

“Owwwwwww! Oh %^%$# hell! *&*^%! That hurt! ^%%%!” Suffering a sharp blow to my ‘undercarriage’ when I misjudge an obstacle and assuming I was all alone, I swear very loudly and for quite a while about it. It’s only then I hear a timid voice from beh