In March 2020, MarathonMTB.com Team rider Imogen Smith was making the final preparations to race the Cape Epic with Briony Mattocks. Her Norco Revolver was prepped, she was fit, they were there in Cape Town – and of course the race was cancelled hours before the start. Countless teams were left wondering what to do, […]
Fulcrum Red Zone Carbon bring new tech to mountain bike wheels
Fulcrum have returned to the mountain bike wheel game, coming in with a focus on low weight and strength. So they look perfect for marathon, cross-country and stage race riders who are looking to add a high-end carbon wheel set to their bike. Of course, matching low weight and strength isn’t always easy, and Fulcrum […]
What’s new on the Santa Cruz Blur and Juliana Wilder?
On June 1st, the Santa Cruz Blur and Juliana Wilder appeared across news sites and social feeds around the world. If you pay attention to global cross-country racing, you probably weren’t that surprised. With French star Maxime Marotte joining a new Santa Cruz World Cup team. You don’t roll into the World Cup sphere if […]
Convict 100 Bike Check: Justin Morris’ Norco Revolver FS 100
After a covid induced hiatus from XCM racing, the races are returning in Australia. The longstanding Convict 100 is underway on May 1. We take a look at team rider Justin Morris’ Norco Revolver prepared for race day.
Bike Check: Norco Revolver Hardtail team builds
With two new Norco Revolver hardtails added to the MarathonMTB.com service course, it is worth asking what role does a hardtail play in the mountain bike world? The humble hardtail is often seen as the bike for beginners, for family riders, and for ‘cross-country’. A hardtail can also be seen as a race-only bike, a […]
Maxxis Wide Trail Aspen and Rekon Race
Maxxis has recently announced two new additions to their range of cross-country tyres. Anyone who has kept a close eye on the World Cup circuit (ok, in 2019) won’t be overly surprised that Maxxis has released Wide Trail (WT) versions of the Aspen and Rekon Race, in 2.4″ widths. The WT standard is optimised for […]
The bikes that won XCM World Championships
In September, two new Cross Country Marathon (XCM) World Champions were crowned in Graechen, Switzerland. The demanding routes for men and women saw both riders arrive at the finish line solo – the course was truly decisive. But what bikes were the riders racing on to win the XCM World Championships? With Pauline Ferrand-Prevot racing […]
The new Trek Supercaliber – the Goldilocks bike?
While we took a punt at what was going on with Jolanda Neff’s new Trek XC bike earlier this week, most of what we didn’t know is now revealed through an entertaining but a little weird parody video. It’s really short travel, looks like a hardtail and rides like a full suspensions bike apparently. The […]
CeramicSpeed conquer Driven shifting
About 14 months after CeramicSpeed unveiled their radical drivetrain concept that they said would reduce the large amounts of friction in drivetrains, they have made a rideable version that shifts. And it’s possibly even better than they expected. CeramicSpeed are pretty much the company devoted to marginal gains. Having spent time on their bearings in […]
Jolanda Neff’s all-new Trek XC bike
For anyone following the World Cup cross-country racing this year, you will have seen XCO phenom (and 2016 XCM World Champion) Jolanda Neff racing on a new full-suspension bike. There’s nothing totally crazy about that, but until the racing at the UCI XCO World Championships in Canada on the weekend, the shock and linkage on […]