Harz 2010 - Trip 4 - part 2/3

Second day went to the Hahnenklee Bikepark, the weather was cloudy, and the trails where a bit muddy and wet, well that just adds to the challenge.

Lars doing the northshore section:

Some local dude posing for the camera:

Bikesetup for these days was a bit different from last time I had my trip to the Harz. Most notably is the FOX DHX coil shock, also installed a new rear wheel tire, the Kenda Excavator to be more specific, it can only be better than that piece of shit performance I got out of the Schwalbe Fat Albert in wet conditions. To top it off I installed Maxxis FR tubes to steer me away from snakebites:

(Click to enlarge)

After beating up the park for the 5.th time, I really started to see its short commings (dont get me wrong, its a blast, particullary if youre a handfull guys dicking around the trails in a cat'n'mouse run), but this place is small, doesnt have any big drops or jumps, lacks a proper amount of features, hosts no rockgardens, pretty much no berms, and is short - but much more obvious, is the lack of flow. Its all a case of: "Lets make X, and Y, and lets connect those two points with... err, something!" no real though has been put into this park. Its a good beginner-bikepark, but not more than that. 

I dicided to reorient and head out to see something else, different and new. I went to Braunlage Bikepark, the newest bikepark in Harz, its just a little more than a year old, and allready strives to be the bikepark to visit when going to Harz - could this bikepark have something Hahnenklee didnt? Stick around for part 3 to find out.

Harz 2010 - Trip 4 - part 1/3

Packed my stuff and headed south to the german mountains in Harz for some bikepark riding, and some AM challenges. We where 9 men strong for 3 entire days, the bike-span was wast, from sub 9 kg hardtails, to post 17kg DH bikes, reflecting different missions. My ambition was to try out some new stuff, and to get some more challenge compared to our last trip. I got my wish fulfilled.

But before that we assembled a small team and went for an AM ride to a place we have been to before, but as a small bonus, we ended this trip with a very cool DH section down a mountain.

Oh, do I enjoy the rockgardens:

Lars:

Kim:

Next up was the bikepark.

Preview: Kenda Excavator 2.35"

So fall is slowly creeping up on us, and I figured Idd do some rear-tire testing for the conditions to come. I got put-off with my Schwalbe Fat Albert tire, so it can only get better from here - I hope.

This is the Kenda Excavator 2.35" one of the newer offerings from the Kenda family. It saw introduction in 2008, and was hailed and promoted as a moddable tire, as well as a (Kenda) Nevegal variant -but with more grip.

Sofar its proven itself to be a great workhorse, the grip is deffinately there on rocks and roots, and on soft soil as well. There is a above avarage rolling resistance, but I hope it pays off on the trail. Braking is good and predictable. The side walls seem a bit thin, that concerns me as ive had my problems with Kenda sidewalls in the past, lets hope these will do the job better.

The plan is to test this tire during the fall, and as much into the winter as possible. And youll get the concluding review right here on All Mountain Next.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

September AM riding

Been on quite a few rides recently, ive had so much fun this month on my favorite trails. It struck me the other day; as a rider progresses, so should the trail. Got a jump thats getting too easy? Tear it down, rebuild it, and make it bigger, more difficult or faster. Innovate, and challenge yourself, do stuff you didnt think about 3 months ago, its amazing how that can evolve your riding skills. Ok, thats just me thinking out load, here are some pics:

To make a true step-up jump is more challenging than we initially visualized. It takes alot of testing, and alot of fine tuning. And there she is, the prototype, behind me:

We realized that alot of speed is needed to make it satifying big, so thats beeing tweeked - in the best way possible. Landing area is seen where the red bike stands on the far right. Christian takes a test-shot:

Got myself on a coil now (FOX DHX 4.0 2010), man its great for aggressive riding! So damn progressive in the end stroke - its like im on a 200mm bike now when doing bigger hits ; ) More on the (TF-Tuned) coil later on:

(click to enlarge)

A bit fun on the coil:

The bigger coil test is right around the corner, stick around.

The Weight Shaving Game part 1/2

When I came back from my trip to Poland and Slovakia I realized that it was time to shave some weight of the bike, as its gotten fat and heavy ; ) There is always that balance issue, as to keeping the bike strong and reliable, but at the same time trying to reduce some weight. I really dont buy into the hardcore weight weenie obsession - it doesn't spawn good mountain bikers - I do however sometimes see an opportunity to shed some grams. I wont go into ridicules compromises, e.g. im currently using a heavy 930g front tire - and its staying right where it is. So all im going to say is; Im doing this for the fun of it, and I wont castrate my bike for the sake of grams. Allright; lets begin:

This is my bike setup for when I was in Poland and Slovakia. Alot of the stuff on the bike was heavy-duty - for the sake of performance. Here it was specced with a freeride tube from Maxxis (300g) on the rear wheel, the Specialized Chunder SX dual-ply front tire (1050g), and the ISX-6 rear shock (480g) - among other things.

(click to enlarge)

And the weight is 14.03kg (30.87 lb) :
(click to enlarge)

So I swapped out some obvious things to make the bike lighter, but still keeping it strong and reliable. Changed the heavy tube, with a normal one, installed a single-ply Specialized Chunder tire (same size, but at 930g), put on the AFR-shock - its actually a good performing AM/trail shock at 280g, changed the XT cranks to RaceFace SIXC, put on a XT cassette and a Kmc chain. 

Ok, a bit lighter now at 13.36kg (29.26 lb):

(click to enlarge)

There is still alot opportunities to further reduce weight. Ive got some pretty damn heavy wheels (2200g), a heavy stem, bar and rotors. Ill look into these things in part 2 - at some point. For now its all good. 

Review: BBG Bashguard 2010

I previously mentioned that Keith Bontrager once said: Light, Strong, Cheap - pick two. Well now I know that you dont have to settle with the two.

Light - this is one of the lightest bashguards on the market today, very few even comes close.

Strong - Ive been beating this guard all I could, it still holds up. BBG claims its "indestructible", I would perhaps not put all my money on that claim, but it does show and tell that they believe in this product.

Cheap - Yearh, its pretty damn cheap.

So is it all good? Well pretty much, but I do want to mention a single thing. When bashing this guard up, I sometimes broke the bolts holding the bashguard itself. Its as if the bashguard doesnt translates the impact forces away from the impact itself, and therefor absorbs all the power into the bolts, therefor breaking them. this happened 3-4 times, during 7 months of testing.

The good:
-Light
-Strong
-Cheap

The bad:
-Doesn't spread the impact forces out well.

Score: 5/6

Light, very light. This is the 32t version:

(click to enlarge)

Its taken a little beating, but holds up just fine:

(click to enlarge)

The Sand Pics - Now in Hi-Res

Instead of flooding the blog with these pics, I decided to make this small gallery-post. The pics where shot by Thomas, and are just amazing, I tried to crop them to make them a bit more interesting, I hope you enjoy, and remember to enlarge:

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

New Video: Source 2010

Finally got my video done from my trip to Poland and Slovakia. Go ahead and check it out, and leave a comment.
Oh, btw, see it in a better quality on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d18XsHmfFmI

or watch the embedded version:

Review: Kenda Nevegal DTC 2.3"

This is a tire thats got a legendary reputation in the US, or atleast had. Things has changed, and the Nevegal has gotten some potent competition, but some still swear by it. I had a chance to ride this tire for 3 months, and im not swearing by anything.

Well let me start of by saying that this tire did not perform well on my trail conditions (soft soil, loose, loose over hardpack) - and I only had a few hours of testing in rocky conditions. 

The weight is acceptable, so is the rolling resistance, but the Kenda nevegal disappoints by having a mediocre grip as well. It wasnt that this tire had a bad grip, its just that when when things got demanding, the tire went on to underperform, and the tire would in result give up where other good tires would have continued. The braking was also mediocre, but predictable. The knobs where holding up well, but I have to mention that I did end up tearing the sidewall, it didnt decapacitate the tire, but im not a fan of riding with a teared sidewall.

I would recommed this tire for normal trail riding, as long as you stay on the trails, and away from too demanding climbs. If youre riding XC, or AM then stay away, there are so much better alternatives out there. I wouldnt use this tire for winter riding, so I classify this tire as a summer tire. All in all an ok tire, that does its job right to some extend, but too many unimpressive points lands this tire with a medium rating.

Size:2.3"
Tested on: Rear

Claimed weight: 700 (+-35) gram
Actual weight: 699 gram
Score: 3/6

(click to enlarge)

Torn sidewalls:

(click to enlarge)

Preview: Race Face SIXC Crankset

Whats lighter than an XTR crank, 35% stronger in testing, ultra stiff, and has the label: AM. 

Well thats the new Race Face SIXC crank. Race Face has gone all out with their newest SIXC product line, that so far counts a carbon bar, and this carbon crankset. The SIXC ckrankset is the culmination of years of engineering of both carbon and AM products. And Race Face wanted to make the sickest and strongest AM gear, with the lowest weight possible - so far they delivered, and supposedly, this crankset is strong enough for light freeride as well.

I look forward to test this crank, regarding to shifting, strength, durability, and overall mtb-abuse. Ill do my best to beat it up - good. Keep your eyes peeled on the All Mountain Next blog, a review will follow.

I went for the 22-32-Bashguard combination:

(click to enlarge)

There is no alu core inside these arms - its all carbon:

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Optional arm protectors (pedal boots), prevents rocks beating up the arms:
(click to enlarge)

August technical trail riding

Met up with Michael and Thomas to battle the technical stuff. Besides trying to push ourself as hard as possible on the descends, we also tried out some crazy and very demanding technical sections. A few limits got pushed, again.

These guys had a big smile on their face all day long:

(click to enlarge)

Just as I though it couldnt get much more steep, picture does not justify:

(click to enlarge)

and here goes:

Thomas giving it a go, on a bit more forgiving section:

And sharing some tips:

(click to enlarge)

An oopsie; Im going one way, the bike another:

Thanks for a great day.

August AM riding

I had the opportuninty to take Christian on a proper mtb ride last week. It was quite diverse, with jumps, drops some technical stuff, and just a good time on the bike.

Secretly, Christian wants my bike ; )

Christian shows me how to table:

(click to enlarge)

Travel well spent:

The ouch of the day:
(click to enlarge)

Things got interesting today..

During our street session, Morten decided to be the first guy on this huge 3m+ drop. Landed it perfectly, props for that.

Review: Specialized Deviant 2 Carbon 2010

Need a fullface helmet that also keeps your head cool? Sounds impossible, I know, but the Specialized Deviant 2 might just be your best shot. The original Deviant has seen several small changes since its intoduction, but for 2010 it made its biggest change ever. Gone is the ackward internal size-retention system, and the xc-style interior padding, in comes full DH-style padding, a new chin-bar and a bigger mouthpiece. This helmet has regained its authority.

The Deviant 2 feels snug and comfortable, and works very well with the Leatt Brace. The overall quality is high, and its got some pretty sweet lines to it. My goggles fit well, and the helmet is moulded in a way that keeps the goggle straps where they are supposed to be. I went for the carbon version, as I got a great offer, but I dont see why one should shy away from the normal version, its alot cheaper, and from what I learned, the weight is pretty much the same.

So does it really cool your head? Well ive been riding this helmet for 6 months, ive been using it in variuos temperatures, including HOT sommerdays - ive even used it for a bit AM riding as well. And the answer is yes! The huge vents scattered all over the helmet do their job very well, and the vents are plentifull as you can see on the pics below. For DH and FR, where its often a game of putting the helmet on and off alot, the helmet is just amazing. Ive seen my buddies sweating like hell, whereas I still felt pretty cool, and my face and hair was dry. For AM riding, things get a bit more hot, as I was wearing the helmet for longer periods of time - but at no point was it annoying me. Whats worth mentioning is that this helmet got a pretty big mouth port, so breating is easy, even when climbing, I dont get that breath-recycling feel, ive had with other full face helmets. So is this helmet a portable fridge, or does it still get hot? Yes, it can still get hot at times, it is still a fullface helmet, but I bet its alot cooler than pretty much anything else outthere.

The good:

-Keeps your head cool

-Huge mouthpiece

-D-buckle retension didnt annoy me, as I was affraid it would

-Sub 1kg (medium size)

-Comfortable

-Feels and looks quality

-Useable for shorter AM trips.

The bad:

-The carbon version is unnessecary, go for the normal version.

Score 6/6

Vents are plentifull:

(click to enlarge)

And the padding is just right:

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Go ahead, use it for shorter AM trips as well:

(click to enlarge)