The Mongolia Bike Challenge gets underway in the nations capital Ulaan Batar this Sunday. This race is a unique affair for most MTB stage racers. Hence, a few modifications to my trusty Norco Revolver FS have been made in preparation for the 6 day, 700km stage race across the tundra of the Mongolian Steppe. Rider: […]
Northwave release the Ghost XC
Northwave launched a major innovation with its Extreme RR road shoes last year, the first display of the revolutionary XFrame® patented technology: it eliminated all pressure points on the upper and gave a super snug fit. Many have wondered when Northwave would extend the innovation to its top-level mountain bike shoes. Northwave will officially present its new […]
UPDATED: What’s the best Maxxis tyre for marathon and cross-country racing?
The age-old question of “what tyres should I run” transcends marathon mountain biking to just about any facet of bicycle riding and racing. And so often, when asked why people choose one model over another, it’s not always based on sound reasoning. If you look into tyre testing, while French and German magazines have often […]
Up close with the Camelbak Sequoia
The Camelbak Sequoia is one of the brand’s largest women’s hydration backpacks available. The 22 litre pack is designed for hiking, so has plenty of technical features to make outdoor adventures easier. As I’m no hiker, I’ve been using it as my main travel hand-luggage, and as a general-use backpack since it arrived at my […]
Shimano XTR mechanical vs XTR Di2 – Part two
I recently built my Norco Revolver FS race bike up with 2×11 Shimano XTR Di2 Synchro Shift. There were a few reasons for this. Shimano came on board as a major sponsor for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team, which meant I could afford this kind of premium gear. Secondly, I was in a big accident four months […]
A closer look at the new Specialized Epic
We’ve just spotted some early release photos of the updated Specialized Epic FSR – and while we don’t have official details, it looks like one of the most successful cross-country full-suspension platforms has had a bit of a makeover. We heard a new one was coming but it looks like a RedBull athlete (note the […]
REVIEWED: Light Bicycle XC923 carbon wheel set
Almost one year ago I placed an order for a carbon mountain bike wheel set from Light Bicycle. I used their online wheel builder and chose the XC923 asymmetric rims, 28 DT spokes per wheel, and the always reliable DT240 hubs. It was less than two weeks until the wheels were built and delivered to […]
Bike Check: Lukas Fluckiger’s BMC Fourstroke and Teamelite
The 2017 World Cup season is about to start, and we caught up with the BMC team in April at a training camp, and looked over the two bikes that Swiss racer Lukas Fluckiger can choose for his races in 2017. BMC have a refined range, with the 100mm travel Fourstroke, and also the […]
Shimano XTR mechanical vs XTR Di2 – Part One
Ever since Shimano XTR M9000 and XTR Di2 were released in 2014, riders, bike mechanics, and tech gurus have been weighing up the benefits and disadvantages of each system. And this has also involved, quite literally, weighing the components of each system as well. I have been a long-time user of Shimano’s XTR components, with […]
REVIEWED: Shimano 11-46 cassette
If I think back, I remember buying an 11-28 7 speed cassette for my rigid chromoly mountain bike. I was pretty happy to stick to that size even when the 11-30 was available as my Sugino cranks had a 20t little ring after all. Times change, and with the advent of 1×11 (and 1×12) gearing […]