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New Zealand, September 9, 2021: Crankworx has today announced the addition of a summer series festival in New Zealand. The multi-stop mountain biking festival will see international and local riders explore the varied terrain of Central Otago, Queenstown and Wānaka, known for epic vistas and world-class mountain biking tracks. The Crankworx Summer Series will see Crankworx-calibre racing come to local destinations outside the usual World Tour, giving up-and-coming riders and locals the chance to mix, mingle and drop in with some of the world’s best mountain bikers.

“I’m super stoked to be heading to these unique riding destinations,” said Keegan Wright who’s set to race alongside his international and local peers. “With each spot having totally different terrain to the other it’s gonna make for awesome racing. I’m looking forward to getting to share these times with all of the Crankworx family! Can’t wait to kick the New Zealand summer off in true style. STOKED.”

Riders and spectators alike will see the best of summer in one of the hottest parts of New Zealand this time of year. The Crankworx Summer Series makes for the ultimate roadie: sunshine, scenery, friends, bikes, and real fruit ice cream in the adventure capital of New Zealand. It’s an unfiltered, grassroots festival, with Crankworx-calibre racing, set to bring massive benefit for its destinations.

Crankworx Rotorua’s Event Director Ariki Tibble explains: “Crankworx has played a key role in raising the profile of Rotorua as a destination over the past 6 years. The mountain biking scene has taken off and seen us become a key destination on the list for riders, from families to avid riders and the world’s best. We know how powerful this has been for the region, and this is the first opportunity we’ve had to unlock some of these benefits for other regions in our country. The mountain biking in Central Otago, Queenstown and Wānaka region is out of this world, not to mention its world-renowned scenery and epic summers. It’s inspiring to see young people riding alongside their heroes and appreciating the trails we have in our own backyard. We can’t wait to bring a grassroots version of our Crankworx Festival to the South.”

“We are proud to have been able to support the Crankworx Summer Series, enabling it to take place in 4 locations throughout the region” adds Murray Strong, Southern Lakes Events Investment Panel Chair. “The region’s biking facilities have had significant investment put into them and the Crankworx Summer Series will be a fantastic way to showcase what the region truly has to offer for all levels of biking enthusiasts".

Darren Kinnaird, Managing Director of Crankworx, continues: “I’m thrilled to see how the Summer Series concept has taken flight in New Zealand. This idea of the ultimate mountain bike road trip was born in British Columbia last year. It created such a great opportunity to bring a taste of Crankworx to different locations and get athletes out racing in different places outside the Crankworx World Tour circuit. I can’t wait to hit the road after Rotorua and bring the action to these other iconic riding destinations and take the world along for the ride.”

The Crankworx Summer Series 2021 will kick off on November 27 and run through December 12.

Locations:

· November 27-28: Matangi Station Mountain Bike Park, Alexandra

· December 4: Skyline Queenstown

· December 4-5: Queenstown

· December 9: Cardrona Alpine Resort

· December 11-12: Bike Glendhu, Wānaka

Disciplines/events:

· Alexandra: Super D

· Queenstown: DH and Pump Track

· Cardrona: Air DH

· Wānaka: Dual Slalom

Two events (Queenstown Pump Track and Wānaka Dual Slalom) will be live broadcast on crankworx.com during the series, with photo and video highlights available of the other three events.

The all-stars on deck who’ll be all-in and ready throw down include:

· Georgia Astle (CAN)

· Danielle Beecroft (AUS)

· Casey Brown (CAN)

· Harriet Burbidge-Smith (AUS)

· Robin Goomes (NZL)

· Kialani Hines (USA)

· Bas van Steenbergen (CAN)

· Vaea Verbeeck (CAN)

· Keegan Wright (NZL)

More riders will be added to the roster in the coming weeks.

For those looking to get amongst, there will be race categories for Pros, Amateurs and CWNEXT racers. Details of registration will be released soon! Those keen should keep their eyes locked on @crankworxrotorua on Instagram or Facebook for details.

Prizing will be awarded for each event, with overall titles awarded at the end of the series.

For spectators who want to watch it all go down, the Crankworx Summer Series New Zealand will be free to attend.

Athletes can register from 20 September 2021.

For more information on the Crankworx Summer Series, visit www.crankworx.com.

Mountain biking in 2020 certainly looks different to 30 years ago when I first started. What we were doing on our bicycles back then is now called gravel riding. Mountain biking today could be loosely defined more as downhill riding than the cross-country flavour it had when bikes were rigid and as difficult to ride on single-track as the bastard-child gravel bikes of today. Probably harder. No-one would dispute that mountain bikes bear more than a passing resemblance to motocross bikes than a bicycle in its traditional form - even more so now, with the emergence of the electric pedal-assist mountain bike. I can hear you shouting at the page already.

Back in 1990, combustion-powered dirt bikes were my ticket to high-speed, go-anywhere fun. Bicycles were what you rode to the pub, or school, or - if you were “into it” - jumping your BMX down at the local track was probably as far as you'd venture. Our two-wheeled crew were finding it hard to keep up with the increasingly advanced tech and cost of motos, and these mountain bikes were just big BMX bikes... right? That's what we thought - and every one of our moto crew soon realised that the places we rode under power were almost impossible to enjoy on these “all-terrain bicycles”. All but myself promptly moved back to 2-stroke power or gave the riding game away altogether. No-one wanted to pedal for two or three hours in the Aussie sun and not throw a roost or get even a modicum of air, but something about the athletic side struck me and I became an XC guy, aka a mountain biker, like the majority who weren't rich or fast enough to be a downhiller. It would take 15 years for me to even consider that rear suspension might actually make things better; closer to what my original vision of mountain biking was way back when.

As bikes got more suspension, bigger tyres and even more capable at climbing, they seemingly made us not want to actually ride them uphill anymore. After all, it is all about the downs, right? Why ride back up if someone has a bus, Ute or trailer? The bikes most of us ride now are closer to motos than they are to the original 'mountain bikes' from whence they came. But those same riders, most of them over 40 now, who sit in a shuttle bus lamenting to each other that “e-bikes suck” or they'd only consider one when they're “old”, seem to think that it's somehow cheating and/or an affront to their man/womanhood to add 250 watts to their life. For anyone who states they want to ride more often, for longer, on more trails, a staunch rebuttal of anything ‘E’ appears just a tad hypocritical.

Now, here's a big disclaimer: I haven't really ridden an E-MTB properly off-road. A couple of demo days here and there, and a lot of test rides up the street, as I also assemble and sell these (and 'proper' mountain bikes) a couple of days a week. Even with such limited time, actually using an E-MTB how it's intended, I'm convinced that in the not-too-distant future the majority of mountain bikers won't be stuffed into a smelly, dusty bus, but making their own way to the top and actually enjoying it. Heck, they might even look for more difficult and challenging ways to ascend, rather than the easiest - which is closer to the original concept of mountain biking than I think it has been for quite a while. Ride up, ride down.

The age old argument is also an annoyingly moot one, as I see it, although I'm pleased I can easily summon it if under fire when I go electric. Every mountain biker, and especially those at an advanced skill level, wants to ride more - surely? And when they do ride, do they not want to have fun? The whole time? If they have an hour to get a ride in, do they want to spend two-thirds of it grinding or pushing the bike up a hill? Maybe it's just me, but more/faster/longer seems to add up to funner.

And for Pete's sake, these aren't motorcycles! However, despite the motor, they are closer to one than the bicycle which spawned them. Mountain bikes have virtually been engineless motos for years now, and my moto genes are being freshly tickled by the tech side of the new genre, too. Enduro racing now seems like something I might want to do again, with e-bike categories cropping up at many events and a host of legends from all disciplines getting on board for the EWS E-series. It seems just about proven now that E-MTBs don't destroy trails any more than standard bikes, and they're not going to come screaming out of nowhere at 50kmh and wipe you out.

All this gushing praise and apparent attempt at validation may well be baseless without proper time and experience on an E-MTB. But, having witnessed dozens of trends and evolutions in the sport, I'm convinced pedal-assist mountain bikes will become the dominant vehicle of the bicycle industry, just as the human-assist MTB currently is. As with any technology from the last 20+ years, E-MTBs will get lighter, their batteries smaller and more powerful, and motors will shrink in size and grow in torque, until what we ride is even closer to what we're self-pedalling now. Only more often, faster, and for longer. Win/win/win.

Words: Brett Kennedy

Image: Cameron Mackenzie

In between guiding and instructing earlier this year I was lucky enough to be a trail builder on a new Grade 5 trail "Butters". This short film "Butters - Skip the gym & go digging" documents the trail crew experiences building this trail, located in the top of the South Island, Nelson, New Zealand. This trail has been named and built-in memory of Bernard “Butters” Simmonds.

The Trail was co-funded by Santa Cruz Bicycles Pay Dirt fund and Nelson City Council. Special thanks goes to Nelson Mountain bike Club and Ngati Koata trust

It was a real privileged to work alongside such experienced trail builders. Easy trail building services, Ian Phillipps, Martin Strelka, Kurt Lancaster, Digby Shaw and Niklas Louis Hueber

Fully connected: The smart system

The interplay of app and eBike components enables an individual eBike experience

• Riding enjoyment through digitalisation on a new level; in everyday life and in leisure time

• Thanks to the eBike Flow app, the smart system connects perfectly coordinated components with the digital world

• The eBike system can also be controlled without an additional display using the LED remote control unit

• Extended range thanks to the PowerTube 750

• In the future, many eBikes with the smart system can be retrofitted with the ConnectModule and will be further protected against theft

The smart system by Bosch eBike Systems - consisting of the new eBike Flow app, control unit, display, battery, and drive unit - ensures an individual eBike experience. The new system generation combines technologically high-quality eBike components with the digital world, taking riding enjoyment in everyday life and in leisure time to the next level. “Digital features and services enrich the pedelec experience and are important enablers for our mobile future in a connected world. With the smart system, we are taking another step towards the eBike mobility of tomorrow,” says Claus Fleischer, CEO of Bosch eBike Systems.

An overview of the smart system:

Smart, forward-looking and customisable: The eBike Flow app

Download to discover a uniquely connected experience. The eBike Flow app is the central connection to the eBike and the key to the connected biking experience. Over-the-air updates always keep the eBike up to date and continuously enhance the eBike experience with new, innovative features. The app lets you customise riding modes, record activities completely automatically, and integrate fitness apps such as Apple Health.

Intuitive, innovative, ergonomic: The LED Remote control unit

A fully connected control centre that’s fun to use. The LED Remote can be operated easily, comfortably and intuitively with the thumb. Using different colours, the LEDs indicate the respective riding mode, which is easy to recognise while riding. Also practical for those who want to be on the road without a display when eBiking: The LED Remote is sufficient to control the eBike system and displays the most important information about the eBike, such as the current charge status and support level. The LED Remote is connected with the eBike Flow app via Bluetooth and thus the Internet.

Stylish, robust, clear: The Kiox 300 display

The robust companion on sporty rides. The Kiox 300 display provides a clean eBike look on the handlebar and is easy to read in any riding situation. With the display, all relevant fitness data can be displayed to optimise your training. Through regular 'over the air' updates, Kiox 300 always stays current and thus promises a lot of fun on sporty rides or on the trail, including in the future. The buttonless colour display is controlled via the LED Remote and is connected to the eBike Flow app. Using the display holder, Kiox 300 can be ideally positioned on the handlebar according to the rider's preference.

Enduring, elegant, reliable: The PowerTube 750 battery

The new flagship rechargeable battery for long and challenging rides. The PowerTube 750 offers the maximum range in the current Bosch eBike battery portfolio and is optimally designed for many metres of climbing and even longer distances. The lithium-ion battery can be integrated into the eBike frame and is characterised by a particularly high energy density at a weight of approx. 4.4 kilograms. The PowerTube 750 can be charged to 50% in just over two hours and fully in about six hours using the 4A Charger.

Powerful, dynamic, individual: The Performance Line CX drive unit

The powerhouse among the drives. The powerful Performance Line CX drive unit provides maximum 85 Nm of torque for a natural, dynamic and unique riding experience. In the eBike Flow app, the strength of the support, dynamics, maximum speed and maximum torque can be individually set for the respective riding modes and thus perfectly adapted to your own riding style.

A glimpse into the future: Future optimisation with the ConnectModule

In the future, eBikers will also be able to benefit from further developments in the area of theft protection. eBike models that are ConnectModule ready can be retrofitted with the ConnectModule in the future. This means, for example, that the eBike can trigger an acoustic alarm to deter thieves and, in the event of theft, be tracked in the eBike Flow app. In addition, further functions will follow that can be used with the ConnectModule.