The Shimano MTB GP has come to a close for 2015, but not without a bang! Round six of the four and seven hour endurance mountain bike series was held at Mowbray Park Farm and on their 9km trail through picturesque bush and farm land with stunning views of the Wollondilly Shire. More than 1,200 laps were […]
Long term review: Shimano XC90 SPD MTB shoes
Shimano have been in the mountain bike shoe game a while. In fact, they are celebrating 25 years of the SPD (Shimano Pedaling Dynamics) system this year, which gives you a good understanding of their time in the game – that’s not much less time than production mountain bikes have been around. In late 2013 Shimano […]
Perskindol Swiss Epic Rider Diary – the bike
Related Event: Perskindol Swiss Epic
The Perskindol Swiss Epic Official Race Book recommends that each competitor ride a full-suspension mountain bike with at least 120mm of front and rear travel and a dropper seatpost. I did an extra check and can confirm that this is not just for the Flow category (which is the ‘enduro’-style side of the race). Nope, […]
Shimano XTR M9000: Long Term Test
Shimano’s XTR has had a big 12 months. The introduction of the Di2 version of the group amid (justified) fanfare last year came just after the introduction of the M9000 groupset – Shimano’s first 11-speed mountain bike group. I’ve had the pleasure of living with the latter addition for five of those months. Specifically a 1×11 (32T/11-40T) […]
Nove Mesto world cup – Equipment choice
For the last two years the Nove Mesto World Cup has been voted as riders favourite and with one lap around the course it’s easy to see why. The course is exciting with technical rock gardens and climbs with multiple lines that provide epic wheel-to-wheel battles that are sure to excite the crowd. Speaking of […]
Racers battle with jungle fever at Awaba
Related Event: Shimano MTB GP Round Three
All photos by Outerimage.com.au Round 2 of the Shimano Mountain Bike Grand Prix Series continued its popular new format of general classifications (GC) and a wide range of age categories at Awaba MTB Park near Newcastle on the weekend. Andrew Finlayson from the JetBlack Racing team beat none other than Canberra’s endurance whippet, Ed McDonald, by […]
Shimano XTR Di2 Looking Refined
Earlier this year we saw photos of the new XTR M9000 adorning the BMC of Julien Absalon. The 1×11 setup with close ratios looked sweet, perfect for XCO racing, and Absalon has clearly showed that as he wrapped up yet another World Cup title. At Euro Bike, Shimano had the BMC that Absalon rode at […]
McNamara and Richardson lead Shimano MTB Series
Paris Basson and Brooke Rowlands won the last round of the GP4-hour Shimano Mountain Bike Grand Prix at The Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan. In the GP7-hour competition turned out to be a nail-biter: Canberra’s EdMcDonald persisted on the challenging track and won ahead of Quantum racers Michal Kafka and Ondrej Slezak. But it was Callum McNamara that […]
Shimano Launches XTR Di2 – XTR M9050
After the launch of the new Shimano XTR M9000 groupset, which offers an 11 speed cassette that can be used with a single, double or triple chainring, Shimano have released an electronic version: XTR M9050 – or XTR Di2. Although many pro MTB riders are already using XTR M9000, the XTR Di2 will add a new […]
Shimano XTR M9000 for Julien Absalon
Pictures have emerged of the Shimano XTR M9000, out of France, on multiple Everything champion – Julien Absalon. While in Cairns for the 2nd round of the XCO World Cup, Absalon was running a 1 x 10 setup, using current generation XTR. Clearly, some of the product is making production. The photos do show the […]