Story: Waitangi Mountain Bike Park
When we think of Waitangi, the birthplace of our nation, we tend to remember the TV broadcasts and headlines reporting the cultural politics that surrounds Waitangi Day each February. For those of us who have visited Waitangi, we also marvel at its stunning beaches and its never-ending farmland. Nowadays, the old lawlessness of the nearby early settler ports has been replaced by a thriving tourist industry. Yet few people know that Waitangi Mountain Bike Park is nestled beneath the tall pines of the Waitangi Endowment Forest, offering riders some 40kms of smooth, feature-filled flowy trails built by Southstar Trails and Ryan Lovett.
In early October I, along with a couple of mates, ventured up to the picturesque Bay of Islands to investigate what this new park has to offer. Although mother nature wasn’t on our side that weekend, the rain didn’t hinder our enthusiasm and eagerness to get out and try riding every trail in the park within the two days we had. Our overall assessment: the little-known Waitangi MTB Park deserves to be on every mountain-biker’s radar.
Location, Location, Location
Waitangi is only a brief three-hour drive north of Auckland. This is pretty much the same amount of time that it takes most Aucklanders to drive to Rotorua, which many mountain-bikers do weekend after weekend. For the same travel time, a trip up to the so-called winterless north is well worth it.
Once we arrived at Paihia we were instantly captured by the slow pace of the place and we quickly adapted to the beach lifestyle. It felt so much like we were on holiday that we almost forgot we had our bikes to ride. Almost.
Me and my mates — John and Amy — are no human compasses as we never have any idea which way is north. If it wasn’t for Johnny, the operator of Paihia Mountain Bike Rentals, we would’ve got completely lost. Johnny was quick to provide the key information we needed, including which were the ‘up’ trails and other important places within the park, as well as recommending which trails were worth riding first.
With Paihia township only ten minutes down the road, we had all the coffee, food and accommodation we needed to get and keep going. The park is well sign posted and easy to find. There is plenty of parking, which is all situated around a highly informative and striking hub / base map station.
The Riding Experience
Although primarily clay-based, the lower parts of the trail network sit on a volcanic shelf, which makes for highly contrasting terrain as we climbed our way through the park. Starting off by meandering through gum trees and rolling over rocks, we then ventured up through young pine and into small pockets of native bush, erupting in bird song.
The park is divided into five zones, each with a different flavour and unique style of trail. Zones 1-3 were the first to be developed and feature 85% of the park’s trails. Luckily for us Zone 5 opened the day we got there: we had the honour of being the first riders to roll tyres over it. Situated at the very back of the park, and within the oldest pines on the property, these trails are built natural, rough and with minimal man-made features. While the trail surface was too soft and young for us to be able to really ride at pace, these mostly Grade 4 trails do have great potential for challenging riders on something other than a ‘bermed’ highway.
Zone 4 is yet to be developed, but is a primarily flat. Sitting on the same volcanic shelf as the lower trails of Zone 1, development will be slow and expensive, as trail building is incredibly laborious through all the rock. Their plans are to focus on building more grade 1-2 family loops and a skills park in due course.
Starting from the feet of the Pouwhenua, we rode through the gentle link trails of zone 1, up into the first trail forks of zone 2. Here, we began to wind our way up via a timid grade 2, 2km climb into the upper areas before dropping down into a section for grade 2 and 3 flow trails, or looping out and around Holland Days, a gentle XC loop than spans the lower, flatter areas of both zone 2 & 3.
Zone 3 is where the serious rider will spend most of their time. Littered with a myriad of fast, flow trails, with native sections and plenty of jumps, it is quite the playground. With all the trails in this zone linking back to the main climb, Te Rangi Hononga, it is easy to crank out laps without getting overly fatigued. Pakonga is the golden child within the park, a grade 4 jump trail that features large table tops and deep berms perched on the edge of a ridgeline. I also recommend riding Hookioi for the best mix of everything.
A Special Place
What really makes Waitangi Mountain Bike Park so special is the fact that it has been 100% community funded. Tiff Holland has really managed to rally the troops and unite the community to bring the park to life. The local ITM supplied all the timber for fencing and the hub area. The local jail provided prisoners to help clear trail, develop the grounds and do construction work. Tiff’s good friend provided a large amount of architecture and consulting free of charge. Everything for nothing — and all because they saw the same goal of creating something special for the local community.
It all started with a family trip to Rotorua some four years ago. The experience and epic trails captured Tiff so much (like it has for many of us), that her husband, Robin, exclaimed “How can we get one of these?” That quick remark set in motion the wheels on the Waitangi Mountain Bike Park project. Like anything in life, though, if it’s easy, then it probably isn’t worth the effort. Over the next few years, Tiff, who is the main driving force and front women for the project, set about scouting the perfect block of land, negotiating with several parties, including the land owners, local iwi, Department of Conservation, forestry management and Kiwi conservationists before starting the all-important fundraising efforts.
Final Reflections of a Happy Traveller
The quality of the park impressed me most. From trail design to signage, from drainage to dirt type, the park has been well thought out. We had to be strategic with our timing when venturing out from under tree cover due to the rain, but not once did we find the trails were drastically effected. Slippery in the odd spot, sure, but still plenty of fun with lots of grip and a big clean-up job after the ride - damn clay! The park does lack big elevation, though thanks to smart trail building, even the series rider will want to keep coming back. The trails are perfect for the family too, and even better for a brief holiday, giving yourself time for off the bike activities also.
Finally, I must say a big ‘thank you’ to Sauce Pizza Bar Paihia, The Scenic Hotels, Duke of Marlborough and Focus Paihia, as well as Tiff and Johnny for hosting us with a genuine friendliness which has always been a regional trait encountered by travellers heading North.
Words & Images: Cameron Mackenzie
Tech: Suspension 101
Ahh, suspension. It’s revolutionised our sport and taken us to new heights (literally). With a bit of tuning it can turn an ‘okay’ bike into a rocket-ship, assuming of course you’ve got the skills to keep up. In my eyes, your suspension system is probably the component group most worthy of your extra coin, but it’s probably also the most difficult thing on a mountain bike to wrap your head around and understand. Today I’ll give you a rundown on what does what so the next time you carry out a trail-side suspension tune-up you’re not aimlessly twisting the dials. Bear in mind, this is an introductory piece, so if you’re already a suspension guru you probably won’t take much away from this.
What is a damper and what is a spring?
To keep things simple, the spring is what offers resistance and supports your weight, while the damper controls how the spring acts. Essentially, the spring dictates how much force is required to compress your suspension, while the damper controls how quickly (or slowly) the suspension travels throughout its stroke, via compression and rebound adjustments.
Imagine a compressed spring. If you removed the force keeping it compressed, it would decompress and launch into the air uncontrollably. If that spring had a damper, it would dictate the speed at which the spring could decompress when you removed the compressing force. Finding the right suspension setup is a matter of balancing your spring rate and damper adjustments until everything acts in unison.
Air Springs vs Coil Springs
There are two main types of springs when it comes to mountain bike forks: air springs and coil springs. Air springs are a pressurized chamber within your fork or shock that can be pumped up via a shock pump. The biggest benefit to an air spring is tunability. With a shock pump you can add or remove air pressure in seconds to make the spring harder or softer and, with internal volume spacers, you can adjust your spring curve (we’ll touch on spring curves in a second). Air springs require more seals, and more seals mean more friction, affecting small bump sensitivity. More seals also mean more maintenance.
Coil springs are mechanical springs, the same as you’d expect to see on a car or most downhill bikes. They have a much more linear spring curve. Coil springs are heavier than air, but with less seals there’s less maintenance and they’re a lot more supple over small bumps. Coil springs are simpler to maintain and don’t have the overheating issues that can plague some air shocks on long descents. The biggest downside to coil springs, is that they don’t fit some frames and you’ll probably have to buy an extra spring suited to your weight, versus an air spring which can just be pumped up.
Put simply, spring curves are the relationship between the amount of force needed to compress your suspension versus the amount of travel used. A linear spring curve, for example, might take 40kg to compress it through half of its travel and 80kg to fully compress it, versus a progressive spring curve which might take 40kg to compress it halfway and 120kg to fully compress it. A linear spring will feel the same regardless of how much travel you’ve used, whereas a progressive spring will feel firmer the further through the travel you get.
The benefits to a linear spring curve are; plenty of traction at lower speeds and suspension that feels the same through the entire stroke, while sacrificing bottom-out resistance without upping spring rates. The benefits to a progressive spring rate are; a supply top stroke with plenty more bottom-out resistance, but too much progression can make it difficult to use all of your travel, particularly if you’re not an aggressive rider. The key thing to consider here, though, is that every full suspension bike’s linkage system will have its own characteristics that lean towards one of the two spring curves.
Rebound and Compression
Your damper controls two things: rebound and compression. Rebound controls how quickly your fork re-extends after being compressed, with compression controlling how quickly your fork compresses under load – go figure. Most forks and shocks feature a rebound adjustment dial and some sort of compression adjustment. Both adjustments have two options: high-speed and low-speed, however, it’s more common to see high-speed and low-speed compression adjustments than high and low speed rebound adjustments on suspension components. Speed is in reference to your shaft speed, as in how quickly your suspension is moving through its travel. A high-speed compression for example, would be when you hit a drop and the rear shock quickly has to absorb the impact. A low speed compression would be when you get on your front brakes and the fork compresses a little, in a relatively controlled manner before supporting your weight. Rebound is much the same, but most external rebound adjustments are for low-speed rebound, as this circuit is responsible for about two thirds of your travel, where your fork should spend most of its time working.
Wrap Up
I’ve just thrown a ton of information your way, so we’ll call it quits for this class. Next time round, we’ll look at how to set up your suspension and how to start diagnosing problems on the trail, to get you one step closer to a suspension system that floats over the rough and still gets your power down when you need.
Words: Cam Baker
Image: Cameron Mackenzie
Arrival: earSHOTS
I was pretty stoked when the postie arrived with these! earSHOTS are a Kiwi company making headphones for use in outdoor sports, specifically mountain biking. After five years of development, they're now available for purchase from their online store.
The earSHOTS are a wireless bluetooth headphone and come with an included charging case. As you'd expect, they're waterproof, and they also feature a magnetic clip that's designed to help them stay on your ears. I don't have a ton to say on them yet, other than the fact that they feel well built, are comfy and sound great, but you can be sure I'll put them through their paces and have a full review soon!
Words and Image: Cam Baker
Arrival: Neutron Components O.S.K
I think it's safe to say that carrying things on, or in your bike, is a way better option than loading up your pockets or a backpack (unless you want extra water or don't have a bottle cage - no judgement here). Neutron Components are a company based out of Taupo, and their Oh Shit Kit (O.S.K for short) aims to give you an easy way to carry all the tools you need.
The O.S.K replaces your bar ends - one end housing your wrench (hex-keys, screwdriver, spoke wrench, tyre lever, valve core tool and bottle opener) and the other stores your chain breaker. The plastic base of the wrench feels durable, and the bits all feel like they'll survive any abuse you'd be able to throw at them when you have those oh-shit moments out in the woods.
Over the coming weeks I'll be putting the O.S.K through the ringer to make sure it stays where it should and does what it should but, as far as first impressions go, I'm impressed.
Words and Image: Cam Baker
Review: Unparallel Dust Up
Five Ten have owned the mountain bike shoe market for years, especially when it comes to flat pedal shoes. Unparallel is a new player to the market, with the aim to take a slice of the pie from Five Ten - and if anyone’s going to do it, they stand the best shot, with their founder being in charge of Five Ten’s production before Adidas took over the company.
When Teva exited the mountain bike game, Unparallel bought the design and tooling for Teva’s sole, so if you feel like you’ve seen these shoes before, that’s probably why. The key difference here is the rubber. Unparallel have used their own rubber compounds. In the middle of the shoe, a 3.5mm 40-50 durometer rubber has been used, and is actually softer than Stealth rubber. The remainder of the sole is a 4mm 75-80 durometer rubber for more durability. The upper is synthetic, with laces and a Velcro pull-tab. Realistically, the Velcro just keeps the laces tidy, rather than helping cinch the shoe down.
We’ll start with what you care about most: grip. These shoes at least match Five Ten in terms of grip. Controversial statement, but it’s true. There’s not been a single time - wet or dry - that I’ve felt short-sold on grip. I say at least match because they grip differently, too. The UPs aren’t as stiff as Five Tens, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some other shoes I’ve tried feel almost too stiff, in the sense it feels like you’re standing on a board on top of the pedals. With the UPs, you feel more ‘in the bike’ - but that’s not to say it’s for everyone. The sole of the UPs conform to the pedals and offers quite a bit more pedal feedback. The extra suppleness could be interpreted as ‘squirmy’ by some, but the reason I’m loving flats at the moment is for the pedal feedback, versus having the safety buffer of being able to drop a foot; and the UPs satisfy that.
The upper and overall fit, of the shoe is comfy, straight out of the box. I have freakishly high arches and semi-wide feet, so I typically run a size up for most of my riding shoes, however, in the case of the UPs I forgot to clarify whether the sizing was US or UK and ended up ordering a size up in US, which converts to being my true-shoe size in UK (i.e. a size smaller than what I’d usually get). I was pretty surprised at how well they fit and how comfy they were when I tried them on, and even more surprised when I didn’t get any new-shoe-pain on my first ride in them. What I will say, though, is that they’re roomy. Not in length, but in width and height. In my case they fit perfectly, but if you have narrow feet (which most Kiwis don’t - being Hobbits and that) you might find them a touch roomy. They do offer protection, but not quite as much as Five Tens, however, that’s not a bad thing, helping keep weight and overall bulk down.
The UPs have been incredibly impressive, and they’ve replaced my Five Tens as my go-to riding shoes. Their slightly smaller profile and pedal feel have won me over, as well as their straight-up comfort. However, I wouldn’t go as far as saying they’ve replaced them outright; if I was riding shuttles all day, or somewhere loose and rocky, I’d probably reach for the Five Tens simply for the little bit of added protection. What I will say though, is that these shoes are comparable with Five Tens and equally as grippy.
Words: Cam Baker
Image: Cameron Mackenzie
News: My Kona: Nicole Hsu
Nicole Hsu is Kona's production coordinator. Based out of Taiwan, Nicole is our go-to person to ensure our bikes are being manufactured, assembled, and painted to our satisfaction. Outside of work, Nicole loves to ride her Process on her local trails, and the trails of Vancouver's North Shore. She represents a crucial step in the bike-making Process for Kona and we are lucky to have someone as dedicated and awesome as Nicole!
Locking Down Pt. 1: Wide Open
Life, and how we do business, has changed massively over the past couple of months. It's still anyone's guess, as to what the future holds. We've reached out to some of our friends in the industry to find out how COVID-19 has affected their business. First up, we've got Matt Whitaker, of Wide Open, who supply a range of brands including POC, Stans Chris King, Deity and more to the New Zealand market.
Firstly, how’s the past six weeks been?
All things considered not bad, I really enjoyed time with the family and getting out of routine. For the team at Wide Open, it’s been a period of adapting to a new way of working. Like many New Zealanders’, the team has readjusted to the lifestyle of working from home and all that comes with it. From Zoom chats to catching up about work projects, to helping kids out with schoolwork throughout the day, to a bit more time for building projects around the house! It’s been a new lifestyle for us to adjust to. With the transition to alert level 3, we had some of the team working at Wide Open HQ and others that could work from home remained doing so. As we move through alert levels and transition back into the workplace we look forward to having the team back together and riding bikes together again!
As we move through this pandemic, what are dealers telling you?
In general dealers have been reasonably positive. Yes, it’s been a pretty challenging time, but cycling in many ways has been celebrated during lockdown - if not outdoors then indoors. It has given many the time and opportunity to reset – to think about new ways to do things, to learn new things, and to reflect on what they enjoy about cycling and reconnect with that.
How has your warehouse distribution and dispatch been affected and what have you done to cope?
The initial lockdown period saw us halt distribution - so we redirected our focus to projects that we could still work on, such as the new Wide Open website. The team worked hard and put plenty of time into this project. It was great for us to have something to look forward to completing amongst the new routine we were adjusting to at the time. As a few weeks passed, we were able to drop ship essential orders, which ran smoothly - I went into the warehouse and dispatched orders every second day.
We’ve heard of a dealers selling bikes before lockdown and servicing being up post lockdown - is this what your seeing/hearing?
Yes, bikes are getting some much needed treatment after the lockdown period - some workshops opened safely at level 3 and have had high demand and that’s still the case now.
With many people out on bikes do you think there's increased awareness of riding?
For sure, I think there’s an increased focus on health and wellness, which has drove people to pull a bike out of the shed that hadn’t been ridden in a while.
What types of products are selling well during this period and how have eCommerce platforms helped sales?
Service based products like sealant and tubeless products have been by far the biggest category for us. What was interesting was the spike in Feedback Sports work stands and tools, for all the home repairs I presume. The comfort of shopping safely from home has been important to many, so we’ve supported retailers e-commerce platforms with drop shipping orders.
How does level 2 and eventually 1 look for Wide Open?
All the staff will be back at HQ which will be nice, it’s been kind of strange working in an empty office. When the time is right we will get out visiting retailers again. Overall, we look forward to getting things back to normal as soon as possible. and. hopefully go skiing when the mountain opens!
As we move into Level 2, we'll continue to bring you stories of how the cycling industry is adjusting to our 'new normal', so stay tuned!
Images: Cameron Mackenzie
News: YT Announces new Australian Partner
Press Release: YT Industries redefines strategy with new partnerships
"YT Industries is happy to announce a new business partnership in Australia. The German direct brand has agreed to terms with Pushys as they redefine their business strategy to be closer to the Australian market and further strengthen the great relationship with customers Down Under. Day Zero Limited will continue to be a strong ally in New Zealand with both an online and offline presence.
Pushys and Day Zero Limited are YT’s choice partners for the mountain bike market in Oceania. Both partnerships give mountain bikers access to the whole YT product portfolio both online and offline.
YT Family members in Australia and those who wish to become part of ‘the fam’ can get in-depth information about all bikes on YT’s website. After reading up on each of the TUES, CAPRA, JEFFSY, DECOY and brand-new IZZO models and deciding on their bike of choice customers are redirected to Pushys for the final purchase. However, the Australian distributor also offers offline opportunities to service, see, touch and test ride your favorite YT thanks to a demo fleet, which will be available at the Pushys’ Flagship Store in the Aussie Capital, Canberra, from the end of May. Naturally, access to testing and servicing of bikes may be affected by local regulations concerning the Coronavirus pandemic. Customers are therefore recommended to inform themselves about the current situation before making the trip.
New Zealanders looking to get their hands on a new mountain bike can rely on Day Zero Limited for everything YT. Customers can browse through the product portfolio and decide on their dream bike online. Day Zero Limited also offers an offline service thanks to a showroom in Christchurch where riders can see the bikes in the flesh, get their YT bike serviced and even test ride the newest models. Yes, that will include the IZZO too. As is the case in Australia, access to testing and servicing of bikes may be affected by local regulations concerning the Coronavirus, so the YT Family in NZ should check online first, whether these services can be offered in the current situation. For now, the showroom is not open and test rides are not possible, but the servicing of bikes can be arranged.
“We are stoked that we have finalized a partnership with such an experienced company such as Pushys, which is already a successful distributor of mountain bikes in the Australian market. Day Zero Limited will continue to be our business partner for New Zealand. Day Zero Limited has been and will continue to be a highly reliable ally and has played a great role in establishing the YT brand in that market. We value both partnerships highly, look forward to consistently improve brand visibility, and are stoked to be bringing more of our bikes to mountain bikers in Oceania.“ – Markus Flossmann, CEO YT industries GmbH
News: 12-Speed Shimano Deore is Here!
Press Release: Fourth-tier Shimano MTB groupset brings proven 12-speed drivetrain and braking technology to the masses, with new 11 and 10-speed versions too.
Shimano has just announced their latest iterations of their Deore Groupset, with new 10, 11 and 12-speed versions added to their lineup. As per the usual case, the M6100 12-speed version features trickle-down technology from Shimano's XTR, XT and SLX groupsets and will, of course, will come in cheaper than any of their other 12-speed offerings.
We'll have a groupset to test soon, but in the meantime, keep reading to learn more about their new M6100 12-speed offering.
Crankset: The Deore 12-speed crankset will only come in a single-chainring configuration. Do you really need more than one chainring with 12-speed, anyway? It features the same narrow/wide tooth profile as the XTR, XT and SLX cranksets , so chain retention won't be an issue and the chainrings are direct-mount, so you can swap sizes to your heart's content. Available in 170mm or 175mm, with a 30T or 32T chainring and, in three different Q-Factors.
Rear derailleur:The 12-speed Deore rear derailleur will move your chain across the 10-51T cassette quickly and accurately. As you'd expect, the Shadow RD+ technology will help chain chatter to a minimum, and keep the chances of dropping your chain low.
Shifter:The Deore 12-speed shifter features I-SPEC EV mounting, give you a ton of flexibility to get your shifter in the perfect position, along with Rapid Fire Plus and a 2-Way Release, so you can move through your gears quickly.
Brakes:The Deore M6100 brakes come in a two pistion XC variant, or a four piston trail/enduro version. Both feature a redesigned lever, adding stiffness for better feedback as well as more power and as you'd expect, feature Shimano's Servo Wave tech, meaning the pads engage quicker, more power and a shorter free-stroke.
News: Lezyne Release New GPS Platform
Press Release: LEZYNE ADDS KOMOOT AND RELIVE COMPATIBILITY TO ITS GPS PLATFORM
"San Luis Obispo, CA – Premiere cycling accessories manufacturer Lezyne has yet again updated its advanced collection of GPS devices. This new update partners Lezyne with the innovative adventure-planning brand Komoot, and with the interactive sharing platform of Relive. This further bolsters Lezyne’s third-party compatibility that already features Strava, TrainingPeaks and Today’s Plan.
“We are very excited to team up with Komoot and Relive,” says Dillon Clapp, Lezyne’s worldwide marketing manager. “Both brands offer such a fun, interactive community, and we know our GPS users will be thrilled to have these additional features added to our GPS platform.”
The rapidly growing Komoot boasts over 10 million users and offers one of the best interfaces for planning and navigating routes around the world. When a Lezyne and Komoot account are connected, routes created with Komoot can be wirelessly sent to a Lezyne GPS device through the Lezyne Ally phone app. Once transferred, turn-by-turn directions are available, along wit a navigation trail overlay on the map screen (compatible devices only).
“Komoot is excited to partner with Lezyne to provide world-leading routing and navigation across Lezyne’s range of GPS devices," says Ben Thompson, Komoot’s director of business.
Relive features a community of over five million members, who can share their adventures using story telling, animated 3D videos and more. Now, activities recorded using a Lezyne GPS device and uploaded to Lezyne’s GPS Ally phone app or GPS Root website can be shared seamlessly with Relive, either automatically or manually.
Relive’s co-founder, Joris van Kruijssen, explains, "We are thrilled to welcome Lezyne users to the Relive community with this new partnership, enabling more people around the world to share their outdoor adventures like nothing else!"
Activating these new features with Lezyne’s GPS platform is free, but does require a quick update to the Lezyne GPS device and companion smartphone app (check the app store if automatic updates are not selected). If you do not have a Lezyne GPS computer, you can find more information here: https://ride.lezyne.com/collections/gps-devices.
Additionally, both Komoot and Relive offer a free version of their respective platforms, with upgrade options to unlock further comprehensive and interactive features."