6 cool riding spots - I didn't know about..

... in the Harz Mountains. Took a trip to the Harz mountains to seek out some new riding spots. I wanted to find something challenging, fresh, fun, and in the All Mountain category. I bought all the maps I possibly could, and started doing some research. I decided to concentrate my search in the EAST Harz mountains. NO ONE that I know of has been riding there, as its always about  the west-Harz - usually leaving the east-harz out of the radar.

So, took my map, did some study on the topography, located the rock-icons on the map, and just packed my stuff and took off into the mountains. Here comes 6 different spots that I found during my 3 days of trail-spotting(without mentioning the actual trail names)

This spot had a massive potential for AM, hell, even devilish DH. No real lines, but it wasn't hard to visual lines upon lines on this mountain top. Bring the fullface helmet..

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This trail was leading up and down along a 300m deep canyon, some sections where easy, some hard, others just beautiful. Great blend of AM and trail.

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I stumbled upon this spot by pure luck. I bet no bike has ever ridden this place, and what a shame, this ultra lushness coupled with huge rocks reminded me a bit about the Whistler area. Great sessioning spot with FR potential as some of these rocks where as big as a van.

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This rockgarden continued down a mountain for more than 2 km. EVIL!

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Something ive never seen in the Harz mountain; Slick rocks. Somewhat small area, but with lots of potential for some technical sessioning. 

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Unridden equals untamed. Sharp and pointy rocks everywhere on this mountain descend.

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Inside knowledge

Had an electrocardiography done today, and it had interesting diagnose; I had a "Athletic heart syndrome".

What does it do?

"The heart becomes enlarged, or hypertrophic, due to intense cardiovascular workouts, creating an increase in stroke volume, an enlarged left ventricle (and right ventricle), and a decrease in resting pulse along with irregular rhythms. The wall of the left ventricle increases in size by about 15-20% of its normal capacity. There is no decrease of the diastolic function of the left ventricle.^[6] The patient may also experience an irregular heartbeat and a resting pulse rate between 40-70 beats per minute , also known as bradycardia.^[7]"

Read more about it here.


Now what?
Nothing really, Im healthy and happy : ) I will however do a electrocardiography once or twice a year from now on, just to monitor any potential changes.

I will post the actual electrocardiography-print - by popular demand.

Riding "Your Mom"

New section up and running, its called "Your Mom".

Drop-table-drop-stepup-drop-stepdown. Raw edit, 22 sec. 720p available right here.

Preview: Continental Mountain King II 2012 (Racesport)

The Continental Mountain King has been out for quite a few years. A few years ago it got a complete makeover; the Mountain King II was born. Gone where those awkward placed knobs, and a more aggressive sidewall pattern was implemented.

Well after the complete failure of the Schwalbe Nobby Nic tire, I had the Continental Mountain King II next on my try-list. I have been hearing alot of positive hands-on statements about this tire, and I even got more than a few direct encouragements to test this tire - the red line was; the Black Chili compound is above the rest. Black chili is a german-produced tire compound, thats said to improve grip, but also decrease rolling resistance - it sounds a bit contradicting to me, but I will try my best to be open minded about it.

I have been using this tire for a month now, and everything is going as hoped; the tire has a good bite, corners predictably, braking is consistent as well. Its not a tire without some rolling resistance, but its okay. I wonder why Continental didn't optimize the center-knobs to reduce the drag.
I had a shit-load of snakebite punctures on my Nobby Nic, but the Mountain King II hasn't given me a single yet, what a relief!

I actually wanted to try the protection-version of the Mountain King II, but it was sold out, so I settled with the racesport-version. The Mountain King II racesport has a thinner carcass, and no sidewall protection. Is it too light for its own good, or can it actually hold up to AM use? Time will tell. Stay tuned on All Mountain Next as I conclude this test with a review.

Is the Black-Chili compound the holy grail of grip?

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Last time I did a test on a light weight AM tire it failed miserably. Lets hope Continental pulls it off.

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Recent riding

Been doing a ton of riding. My last 5 trips have been of 4 and a half hour duration, and thats excluding transport! Its a privilige. A few recent shots;

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Collateral damage

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Finally used almost all my travel on the Monarch RT3. I overshot a table, and landed 1.7m to flat. It didnt feel that harsh, but I was well aware that I sucked up some travel : ) Dont overshoot tables btw.

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Review: Schwalbe Nobby Nic EVO 2.25" Pacestar 2012

Introduced in 2005 Nobby Nic has since won the heart of many mountainbikers, especially in Europe. Since its introduction its gone through several changes, knobs have gotten longer, and their direction has been altered among other things. In 2010 it got the AM-label as well - it was no longer just a xc tire - and that puts it in the spotlight here on All Mountain Next.

Ive been running this tire for 2 months now, in soft and loose conditions, both dry and wet, and this is actually a decent performing tire, I have a hard time putting my finger on a single bad thing about this tire for these conditions - well besides the medium rolling resistance. The logs does its job in the corners, in off camber situations, and the tire hasn't let me down a single time yet regarding grip, to my surprise, and Ive been trying to push this tire hard. Its not a fast tire on hardpack, so dont expect Maxxis Highroller/Specialized Chunder performance. Do, however, expect mistake swallowing performance. I must note the predictable braking as well.


What I don't like about this tire is, that its prone to punctures, just like the Schwalbe Fat Albert. Ive had more punctures during these months testing time, than I had during an entire year(!). The other thing I disliked, is the fact that this tire fell completely apart - oh just a minor thing, eh? The sidewalls got more and more torn, started to disintegrate, and a few weeks ago I could measure a complete 30cm long hole along the sidewall - that has to be some kind of record. I have no idea why the tire died this fast, my trails are not hard on tires. This makes me think that somethings fishy in the Schwalbe factory. It all ended in a catastrophic failure. Avoid.

Size: 2.25"

Tested on: Rear

Claimed weight: 545 gram

Actual weight: 564 gram

Score: 0/6

Very lightweight, perhaps too lightweight for its own good. 

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Great performance...while it lasts..

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Failure bound to happen. It started with this sidewall tear. It developed into 2 ruptures, then it began on the other side as well. Fabric became more and more thin. Until...

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..Until the tube itself was popping out. I knew then, it was time to retire this tire to the bin. Absolutely not All mountain compatible. Riding forgiving  xc? Well then perhaps yes.

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