Yes, its been a bit quiet lately...

I'm busy! : )

Preview: Canfield Brothers Crampon Magnesium Pedal

A new pedal has emerged, so new in fact, that its barely hit the market yet (good luck getting a pair in EU). Its the Canfield Brothers Crampon Magnesium Pedal, building on the successful fundamental of the original Crampon pedal.

106mm x 106mm, chromo axle, DU bushings, laser etched logos.

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Claimed 282 grams, actual weight is 285g, pretty close imo.

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Thin 6-10mm magnesium body. Its just crazy thin.

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Replaceable dual sided pins. Long, but a tiny bit more fat than the ones on my Podiums, and my experience tell me that thin pins are key to grip on FiveTen shoes .

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 Crampon Magnesium VS Point One Racing Podiums. Podiums are noticeably bigger, they feel bigger as well. My Twenty6 Predator are way bigger than both tho'.

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So the big question is; will this ultra thin mag pedal survive rock-impacts? Well time will tell, I have been on mag pedals before, and they have a tendency to partially break away on the body itself after big hits. I wonder how these will fare. I already had the chance to test them out in a bikepark, trouble free, but more testing is needed. Expect a review soon, right here at All Mountain Next.

The discreet smile

Good times in the woods.

47sec. No sound. Raw edit. The discreet smile? Wait for it...

Oldie but Goldie #5

"Oldie but Goldie" series will be my tribute to the "old days". When 640mm bars where considered wide, carbon was fragile, and adjustable seatposts didn't exist. And I'm doing it, for the fun of it.

Crashing is part of the game, we all know that, and I've had my share. I haven't had any life threatening spills, far from it, but some good fuck ups here and there, the standard stuff.

 

This particular crash was; "Man vs Tree". The latter won. My Ex assisted me in the ER, and I guess the face palm was well deserved.

Hangovers in the forest Part 2/2

Hangovers part 2, a bit later than planned, but hey, the bike doesn't ride itself ; )

Optical illusion. I may look like I'm passing a tree in this shot, but in fact, I'm waay up in the air. 

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Mr Madsen and Kim had a spill at the exact same place, a high speed off-camber corner. Whats NOT to like.

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Kim and his Norco.

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We poked at Mr.Madsen for going "spandex" on us. But having balls this big, he might just be legally excused.

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Martin had a good time it seemed, riding pretty much anything we threw at him.
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Going low.
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Hangovers in the forest Part 1/2

Take one hangover, a forest, 5 guys with a bad judgement, some good weather, and almost 6 hours of riding. That equals a whole lot of good times.

Some of these guys have reached their 40's, but that doesn't hold them back. They go outside their comfort zone, and EARN their balls. Props.

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Kim having a good time on his Norco Range. He popped a few spokes this day, but word has it that a Stans Flow wheelset is already on its way..

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Kedde on his rigid 29'er. He pointed out that a 29'er probably wasn't the best weapon of choice for these lines, and who can really argue against that? (well except the purists and the industri) He did look like having a good time  tho'.

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Dont ask..

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Being poisoned by skull crushing hangovers is hard enough, accepting some trail-booze mid-ride, is taking it to a whole new level. I accepted the challenge.

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Most of these pics are shot by Martin, thanks for sharing man.

"Bike Park"

I had a short stroll down the local park with Henning the other day, and we stumbled upon this little drop. We began to session it, and before we knew it, we where getting a whole lot of airtime. I think its safe to say that this is the longest drop I have ever made in an urban environment. Landing is smooth, and there is actually little to it - just go fast.

8 meters (26 feet) out, and about 2 meters (6 feet) down.

Random Stuff Part 2 of 2

Random shots from different rides, continued:

Had a short 3 hour ride with Jan, and he brought along his Canyon Strive. I haven't seen this particular bike in real life before, besides on the internetzz, gotta say, I was positively surprised by the aesthetics. Highlights include; a 36'er up front, a Float out back, and a Reverb post. The heart is a single pivot, and its made out of alu.
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And there he goes. Jan was smiling all day, and he summed it up with a "I never had this much fun on a bike".

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Mr.Madsen having a good time on the Church Line.

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Temporarily back on my Michelin Wild Rock'R for the front. Amazing tire, but, nothing beats the king; Maxxis Highroller - so that's coming back on eventually.

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A new line is slowly taking shape, still a whole lot of rolling resistance tho', but  the jumps are getting dialed in. Good fun.

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Random Stuff Part 1 of 2

A good collection of recent shots. Completely random, for your viewing pleasure.

Still working on that table. Still a long way to go. I need to angle my legs some more, and be more aggressive with the handlebar. Man, its hard to dial it in.

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Mr. Madsen dropping in.

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My CCDB actually died this day...mmhmm...for the second time. Got it back from repairs at TF Tuned, everything should be sorted out. To say that I'm disappointed in reliability of the CCDB would be an understatement. Its supposed to be pretty much the best money can buy, did a friggin monkey build mine up? What the deal man? The performance itself is amazing tho' - when it works.

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Kim on his Norco

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Like a BOS

The power of this blog...

...or just common sense.

I just recently cried about this double drop, that I couldn't figure out how to ride. After re-visiting Malente a few days ago...it was no more. The trailbuilders killed it.

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It looked something like this, a few weeks ago. (yes, those red stripes are supposed to look  like the former drop, fear my paint skillzz, just sayin')

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Oh, and thanks to those who contributed with ideas as to how I was supposed to ride this feature, some of the comments are gold, check them out here.

I welcome spring

Yes, I had beers when I made this edit.

Watch in HD HERE

or suck down the embedded version:

Inverted roadgap.......and a dog.

 This is a small spot we rode on our third day, of our recent roadtrip.

 Inverted roadgap.......and a dog.

Why inverted-roadgap? Well, you gap the entire road, and you start a foot below the actual road, where a small improvised kicker launches you into the air. Take a look:


Why "...and a dog". Well, this is my actual run-in to the video above. Watch closely:



A WTF moment for me there.

2 crashes in Malente

2 low-speed crashes in Malente. Though i'd share them with you.

First one is your standard stuff, I stray a bit too far to the left, hit a log, and do a tumble.

Second crash is more interesting. I have no idea how to ride this double drop. Let me explain how its constructed:

This is the point of view you see in the vid:

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This is the setup of the double drop. You drop 1,2m (4 feet)  into plane "A", and just 2m (6.5feet) further ahead is the second drop of 60-70cm(2 feet) into plane "B". So here is my dilemma:

If you ride it too slow, you nose dive as I do in the vid. And crash.
If you ride it too fast (or any other speed than slow) you will scissor the second drop - and crash.

There is no way that you can drop all the way to plane "B", an awkward and short run-in makes sure of that. I...just don't get it. I haven't seen anyone else tackle this drop.

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In the video you clearly see me be undetermined as to how fast to go on the double drop.

HD version HERE

Embedded version:

Spring Roadtrip Day 3/3

Day 3 was riding in 3 interconnected forests; Kollund, Wassersleben and Flensburg. Its mostly xc, but there are more than one opportunity to get a bit technical. What this place lacks in technical flavor, it makes up for it in scenery, this place is beautiful. 

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The forest in Wassersleben had an unfortunate surprise. Some of the drops, and lines where blocked by trees. We did find interesting stuff however, something I will return to, in a separate blog post...

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Kollund forrest is more XC than anything else, there are however a possibility to play around here and there tho' 

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You ain't posting that nekkid' pic on ya blog, you hear me!!

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The end... Or is it? Stick around for the encore; Crashes, an inverted roadgap, and.... a dog.

Spring Roadtrip. Day 2/3

Second day of our roadtrip went to Malente, a small peacefull town in northern Germany. What makes Malente interesting from a mountain bike perspective, is the work put into the FR and DH lines here. There has clearly been a passion behind the work.

There are 3 "official" lines, and probably more if you invest some time into seeking them out. The lines had drops, jumps, tables, a roadgap, wall rides, and berms. Enough for an entire day : )

So..

We met this girl from Hamburg, Alena, on a Propain DH bike. And even tho' it was her first time here as well, she didn't hold back, and blasted through the lines. What appealed to me was her sessioning-mentality, something I can relate to; She found a tricky spot, and just rode the shit out of it, over and over again. I salute the commitment to a challenge.

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Bermsss, I like berms.

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Poor trail bike. Hennning told me, that at one point, he felt the entire frame flex in differnt directions, at some of the landings.

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Malente is a beautiful place bla bla bla, no it actually is.

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Lots of jumps, often to flat, but lots of good berms as well (note some of them behind me in this pic)

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Good times down the lines.

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Another jump to flat, expect to use some travel here. They where oddly enjoyable however!

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I enjoyed this view, while drinking a big german beer and eating a huge Schnitzel...bring it!

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Day 3 comming up shortly.