Features

The mountain bike industry is thriving and, thanks to social media, it’s getting easier and easier for those with an idea, to push those ideas to market. At the same time, it almost makes it harder to gain any meaningful traction, because there’s so much more noise to try and cut through to make yourself heard. I love hearing about all the small, passion-driven businesses and I get emails and Instagram DMs all the time, from people telling me about their garden-shed-based-passion-projects. While I’d love to be able to tell all of their stories, it’s a little harsh to say but there’s not a ton of them who are doing anything different. I can’t have stories on small clothing brands filling up each issue! One brand that is doing something different though, is Auckland’s Radic Performance.

One of the things I love about this job is being able to see things before anyone else does and I used this to my full advantage to get in with the boys over at Radic Performance. I wanted to catch up with the Radic team for a couple of reasons. One, because I love new tech and two, because I love hearing about Kiwis doing things differently. There are a few small suspension operations out there now, and companies like Box Components have slowly being vying for some of the drivetrain market that’s been largely sewn up by the two Big S’s for the last forever but the brake market has been pretty much uncontested. You have the likes of Trickstuff, but you’re looking at upwards of $1,400 and a 6-month plus wait for your brakes to be manufactured; a timeframe I could bear for a custom frame, but probably not for a pair of brakes!

Radic Performance was founded by Taylor Grey and Jake Powell, who met as students on the University of Auckland’s Engineering program. Taylor is a long-time mountain biker, having raced downhill and the like over the years. Radic came from nothing more than Taylor wanting to create a set of custom brakes for his mountain bike. Jake, who you could probably describe as a casual mountain biker (for the time being, at least), caught wind of the idea and wanted to be involved -purely because it sounded like an interesting project to be involved with. With Jake’s interest and a few other people commenting on how rad it would be to see someone make mountain bike brakes, Radic Performance was born. Since then, Taylor and Jake have been chipping away, designing, testing and figuring out how to push their brakes to market.

Like so many other Kiwi businesses, Radic started in, and is currently based out of, half of Taylor’s garage (his flatmates would only give up half) – which I’d argue is closer to a shed - and his bedroom. I rolled up to a nice old villa in Mt Eden, Auckland and was met by Taylor and Jake in the driveway before being taken to the Radic shed. The shed is pretty unassuming – nicely painted on the outside but a little dark and weathered inside, it’s definitely seen it’s fair share of projects. On one side a few mountain bikes and commuter bikes are stacked up, on another is a Trek calling out for a new front wheel and on yet another, you’ll find the Radic work bench, covered in prototypes, brakes from other brands and some testing equipment that I probably won’t ever understand. The setup is typically Kiwi and, as we talk, Taylor tells me about his bleed kit consisting of hose from Bunnings and syringes from the local chemist. How good? PSA: If you’re thinking about doing this, please soak your hose in whichever brake fluid you choose to use beforehand, to make sure it doesn’t react. Alternatively, just take the safe option and buy a real bleed kit or get your local bike shop to do it!

After a tour of the shed, Taylor showed me Radic’s office, which serves dual-purpose as his bedroom. His computer sits on a desk in front of a window that overlooks the Radic shed, and it’s from here that the boys work on designs, answer emails and do all the things that come with starting a company. Approaching the house upon arrival, you’d have no idea that inside two fairly fresh university graduates were pioneering an industry-first concept. Humble beginnings, huh. I’d say it’s pretty fair to assume that no one’s played in the market of manufacturing brakes because to manufacture them using any of the traditional methods we’ve seen, you’d be looking at a high cost of entry. Realistically, you’d be better off pursuing a CNC-manufactured product but, unfortunately, CNC machines don’t come cheap, tooling for CNC machining doesn’t come cheap and if you don’t have access to either, paying someone to do it for you also isn’t cheap. That’s before you even take into account all the other jobs your machinist has in their queue before they get onto yours. No matter which route you choose, you’ll be ripping through your capital faster than you can say “I think I want to make a brake!”.

When you’re a small, start-up company operating out of a bedroom and garage with very little capital to rip through, additive manufacturing, or 3D Printing as it’s more commonly known, is your way around this. 3D Printing comes with other benefits, too. Typically, disc brakes are constructed in two halves that are then bolted together to become a complete calliper. As you can imagine, most manufacturers are pretty hush-hush about how they make their brakes, but what I can gather - from hands-on experience and a bit of Googling - is that most are cast or forged into shape before having holes for pistons and fittings machined in, as well as channels for brake fluid to flow through. When manufacturing using the above method, or methods close to the above, you’re limited to what your machinery is capable of. It’s difficult to machine intricate passages and you also have to accommodate additional seals and bolts to join the two halves of the calliper.

With 3D printing, material is added layer by layer, giving the freedom to create things that simply couldn’t be replicated via traditional manufacturing methods. To break it down super simply, a thin layer of powdered metal is laid on a build platform before being scanned with a high-powered laser that fuses the powdered metal into one, solid metal sheet. After that the next layer of dust is laid and fused, with the process repeated until you eventually have a finished product. Like anything, though, 3D printing with metal has its own challenges that need to be addressed in the manufacturing process. Each time another layer of dust is fused, the entire piece heats up, before cooling again while the next layer of dust is deposited. Thermal stress can lead to cracks and warping, so support material needs to be worked into your design to ensure this is minimised.

Certain materials are also harder to work with than others. Radic have opted to use aluminium for their brakes, which is one of the hardest materials to work with when it comes to 3D printing. There was talk of using titanium – which is a much easier material to work with - to manufacture the brakes, but anyone who knows anything about metal will know that titanium is anything but cheap!

As the conversation moved on from manufacturing, we began to talk about the future of Radic. At present, there is one functioning Radic brake that’s getting put through its paces on Taylor’s bike. There’s a few different prototypes scattered around their garage that were all used to help lock in their printing process but now, the big push is on sourcing and designing packaging while they continue to test the brake and manufacture a few more to get other people testing them as well. With any luck, the first batch of brakes will be available in the first few months of 2020. Initially, only a calliper will be available with an option for both DOT and mineral oil. Levers and rotors will follow down the line.

Before Radic fully-fledged takes off, there’s still a couple of things to figure out; namely, how to support customers overseas. The mountain biking market simply isn’t big enough in New Zealand to support niche component manufacturers like Radic, so being available to customers that live overseas is a necessity and that’s where things get difficult. Shipping internationally can be ludicrously expensive (a problem we’re all too aware of!) so Radic are looking to setup a few international service centres, but the problem – again - is that it takes a lot of stock and requires staff to be trained. The great news is that most of you won’t be affected!

We’re made a little differently, down these ways in little ol’ New Zealand. With a special combination of ‘she’ll be right’, ‘how hard can it be?’ and perhaps a touch of naivety, we bite off more than we can chew and lead ourselves down the garden path. Is this uniquely Kiwi? I’d say probably not, but I’d say the whole ‘we’ve come this far, may as well see this out’ mindset once you’ve led yourself astray is - and Radic is a prime example of this. What was originally meant to be a project for some custom brakes to go on Taylor’s bike, quickly spiralled into what is now Radic Performance. It’s been exciting to watch Radic’s journey so far, and I’m excited to watch it continue over the years to come. I’ll have to do a catch up piece with the Radic boys in a year or two but, in the meantime, with any luck some brakes will soon make their way to my desk…

Words & Images: Cam Baker

It’s not often I make the trip down to my local bike shop (LBS) but when I do, I don’t come back empty handed. These days, it’s usually only a spare tube or chain link that I walk away with and, very occasionally, my bike - if I’ve neglected it a little too much and can’t be bothered dealing with it myself but, that doesn’t stop them firing up the coffee machine and filling my cup for a caffeine-charged conversation comprising of bikes, life and general bike shop shit talk.

I feel like no matter how deep your loyalty runs to your LBS of choice, there’s always another shop that entices you, catches your eye and tries to draw you in. They have exotic brands you’ve only ever heard of, they have a beer fridge AND a coffee machine and, in the case of Cyclexpress in Howick, Auckland, they have a HAAS CNC Machine, a laser engraver and just about every other tool/machine you’d expect to find in a small engineering shop. And that’s before you get started on the collection of vintage mountain bike frames and all the little things around the shop that make you stop and stare.

Cyclexpress has been that shop for me for as long as I remember. Right around the time I arrived back in Auckland after a stint down south, I was wrenching in another Auckland store and caught wind of how Cyclexpress had just taken delivery of their new CNC machine. I’d known of Cyclexpress for a while and had always heard about how good their servicing was and that if you wanted suspension serviced locally, they were the ones with the tools and the know-how to get it done. The name Bruno kept popping up and, eventually, I managed to piece together that Bruno was the man behind the shop. This was a few years back now and it brings me a little bit of shame to admit that it wasn’t until this year that I satisfied my curiosity and went in to meet Bruno and lust over his setup.

The first thing you should know about Bruno is that he’s Swiss. With this in mind, it’s safe to assume you’re in safe hands with anything mechanical and that’s before you take his tool-making heritage into account. Over the past twenty years, he’s built up a reputation as one of Auckland’s best mechanics. Not only is this thanks to his tireless work ethic and constant pursuit of improvement, but also down to his active involvement in, and support for, both the mountain bike and BMX communities on a national level (prime example: he’s supported NZMTBR since Day 1). Over the years he’s evolved from a bike shop with a workshop, into a workshop with a bike shop. Bruno’s passion is working on bikes and problem solving and as he’s built his brand up over the years, he’s been able to put more and more into developing the workshop and rely less and less on the retail side of Cyclexpress. With his knowledge and ability to breakdown products from a manufacturers point of view, Bruno and his staff have been able to educate riders on what brands and products will work best for them. Because of this, Cyclexpress doesn’t hold a huge range of products, but you know that anything they do carry, they carry because it works. With some parts, however, you can’t always find something that works and as a result, Bruno’s been slowly upping his manufacturing capabilities over the past few years…

I’m a self-confessed tool nerd. In my bike shop days, I’d always supply my own tools - not because any of the shops I worked in requested me to, but because I couldn’t stop buying them. If you got ‘em, you may as well make some money off ‘em, right? Considering this, the first time I visited Cyclexpress it was a bit like walking into a dream. As I stepped out from the entrance corridor and into the open-plan space that makes up Cyclexpress, Bruno greeted me at their coffee-bar-come-counter and immediately had the espresso machine fired up to brew me a long black. Good start. We took a seat at their big shop table and the first thing I noticed was how established the rustic space felt. Cyclexpress has only been in their current space for a couple of years, but you wouldn’t know it and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking they’d been there forever. Culture is one of the reasons many of us support our locals and why we’re happy to wait a couple of extra days for servicing, or pay an extra dollar here and there for product. Cyclexpress have nailed the culture aspect, with knowledgeable staff who are always keen to chat, and a low-key atmosphere. Both Bruno and Dan, his mechanic, knew all of the customers who visited during my time there by name, and were more than accommodating.

The first thing I asked about was, of course, the thing that interested me most about Cyclexpress: their HAAS CNC Machine. The only other bike shop I’d ever heard of with a CNC machine is located in Canada and, from what I’ve gathered, they use theirs to manufacture derailleur hangers in a high-volume, busy workshop so, I was interested to find out why one worked its way into a small Auckland bike shop. Cyclexpress manufactures to find solutions, for two main reasons: the first being that we’re located really, really far from most of the rest of the world (something I hope you’d know). Even for big industries, this can make sourcing parts difficult, so for niche industries like mountain biking, it can be even harder to get our hands on products. If you’re cashed up, you can get anything here but even so, there’s nothing rad about spending the same amount on freight as you spent on the product itself, just to get it here. The second reason is to fill holes in the market - which really describes itself. Sometimes Bruno and the team identify ways products could be made better, or come across problems that they could solve by manufacturing a unique part, such as their GT Dogbone Upgrade Kit.

The CNC machine is located in what’s probably best described as a ladder-accessed pit, alongside the workshop. As Bruno set up the machine to CNC one of the faces of a stem he was working on, we got talking about the products he’s manufactured under his CXP Racing brand so far. From BMX crank sets and prototype mountain bike stems, to suspension top-cap tools and narrow-wide chainrings, they are all things that Cyclexpress either had a need for and weren’t able to locally (or easily) source, or thought they could do better. Cyclexpress has the unique advantage of also being a bike shop. Because they service bikes, they not only get to engage with their target consumer face-to-face but also, get to see and track the performance of not only their products but also, other manufacturers products. With this unique insight, Cyclexpress can tweak their products to make up for where other manufacturers products may have let consumers down. This is before you even consider the fact that CXP Racing have the ability to get product tested by real-world riders as well as athletes.

With an instore laser-engraver, Cyclexpress are able to brand all of their products in-house too, meaning the only thing they can’t do is anodize but, there’s plenty of local companies that can handle that part of their process. As Kiwis, we take pride in anything that comes out of New Zealand; be it athletes, products or television stars, so it’s pretty rad to see New Zealand designed and made products coming out of a humble old local bike shop.

Even with the fancy machinery, standard servicing is still a big part of Cyclexpress. A combination of mountain bikes, BMX bikes and even a Cannondale commuter bike, were all in queue to pass through the work stand and, to me, that plays a huge part in making the shop what it is today. Call this ex-mechanic bias, but to me a shop’s culture stems from the workshop and is built upon the unparalleled shit talking that takes place in said workshop. Mechanics dictate a shop’s vibe. If they do a good job, the customer stokes because they know they’re going to be able to ride all weekend, worry free, and that’s exactly what Cyclexpress does; a good job. Not everyone benefits from CXP’s CNC machine, but everyone benefits from a good service - and I think that’s ultimately what Cyclexpress’ success comes down to, they’re simply good people doing good things.

If you’re ever passing through Auckland, make the visit to Cyclexpress and have a look around. Bruno and the team are flat out, but they’ll always take time out for a chat and to show off whatever it is they’re working on at the time. If you’re super nice, they might even offer you a coffee…

Words & Images: Cam Baker

Mountain biking is a lifestyle. There are obvious health benefits that come alongside riding, but to most these are considered added value; with the satisfaction of rhythmically flowing down your favourite trails and the sense of adventure that comes alongside exploring backcountry canyons and dense forests that attracts us long before the thought of getting in a good workout does. Once you’ve had a taste, more often than not you end up hooked and mountain biking is all you think about and all you want to do. The sport is unique and there’s not many others that will take over your life in quite the same way.

Like any pursuit, each come with their risks and for us, crashes are an unfortunate necessity in our pursuit of adventure. If all that’s bad, goes well, a brush of the hands is all it takes to get you back up and pedalling. If all that’s bad, goes bad, it often takes much more than a simple brush of the hands to get back on the bike. We all have that one crash, the one that we think back on when we’re about to push our limits, the one that keeps us humble and asking is the risk worth the reward. That one crash for Liam Keenan, however, left him asking where to next.

I’ve known Liam for a while now and the one thing that’s remained constant throughout our friendship is how stoked he is on bikes. I see him all over mountain biking Facebook groups and naturally, pretty much every time I see him it’s at something bike related. I remember the first time we met, he was down in Queenstown riding and came by the store I was working in looking for a part that he’d just broken on the first or second day of his trip. I, for the life of me, can’t remember what said part was but I do remember that I couldn’t supply one, so I sent him on his way. I’m pretty sure he was also looking for employment – something I also couldn’t offer. We kept in touch over the years and as I was coming back to Auckland, he’d just lined up work in Queenstown and was making his way down the line. Swapsies!

Queenstown life is pretty rad and, almost exactly what you’d imagine – work your nine to five, then take to the hills after work and ride until the sun goes down. If you’re into snow sports, the winter is much the same. There aren’t many better places to be if you’re into both! Liam managed to take things to another level though and had found a job at Cardrona Bike Park taking care of their rental fleet. Lunch time laps? No worries. It’s about now in the story that things take an unfortunate turn. That one crash I was talking about earlier; Liam had it.

For those not familiar with Skyline Queenstown, as you exit the gondola you roll down a shared, fenced gravel path towards the trail head. The path is, as you’d expect, pretty loose and being that it’s a shared area, if you don’t take things slow you can end up hitting walkers or, in Liam’s case, a fence post. As Liam joined the path, his front wheel washed out and sent him over the handlebars and head-first into a fence post. He saw the path was clear and came in a little fast, ignoring the slow down signs. It was a stupid crash that should never have happened, as he puts it. While knowing it’s a stupid crash doesn’t necessarily add to the story, I feel like it’s a good reminder that even the easiest sections of trail can lead to crashes with big consequences so if you see signs telling you to take it slow, do just that. Anyway, trail wisdom aside…

Liam knew immediately that something wasn’t right and, after being assessed by the team at Skyline was evacuated to Queenstown Hospital where it was discovered that he’d fractured two vertebrate and had lost all sensation from the chest down. He’d also done a lot of damage to his shoulder but as you can likely imagine, that was the last of Liam’s concerns. From Queenstown he was transferred to the Burwood Spinal Unit in Christchurch, where Liam was told he would likely never regain sensation from the chest down. His first thoughts were “how can I ride again?” and so, once he began rehab he also began researching adaptive mountain biking, a niche sub-genre of mountain biking where bikes are modified to suit riders disabilities. The obvious option was a bucket bike, as per the bike Martyn Ashton now rides.

Bucket bikes, as you can imagine, aren’t terribly common so Liam had a lot of work in front of him to get a bike together. He started with a Pivot Phoenix – a 200mm travel downhill bike. The first, and most obvious, problem to address was having no use of his legs. With the rise of eBikes, Liam opted to run the bike with a Paradox Kinetics electric motor that can be controlled via a thumb throttle. All in all, a relatively easy process. The rest of the bike, however, was, and still is, a constant work in progress.

As able-bodied mountain bikers, we’re able to control our weight distribution and let the bike move around underneath us. If you watch a side-on video of someone riding over rough ground whilst out of the saddle, for example, you’ll notice that their chin and hips stay at a fairly constant height from the ground as they can allow the bike to move up and down underneath their body. Liam on the other hand, is strapped into a seat, meaning his weight moves with the bike and that the suspension system is constantly loaded supporting not only Liam’s full weight, but also the weight of Liam’s adaptive chair and the battery for his drive system, making for an absolute nightmare as far as suspension setup is concerned. Mountain bike suspension is typically setup with a dynamic load in mind, as your average mountain biker will work in conjunction with the suspension system to absorb impacts. Liam’s weight is more or less static once it’s on the bike and as a result, it’s been difficult to dial in settings that suit. Because of the extra weight of the seat and battery, Liam needs to run a higher spring rate but because he can’t absorb impacts with his body, he also needs a really slow rebound rate to control the bucking he’d otherwise face with more typical rebound settings. The problem with this though, is that the rear shock packs out because it can’t rebound fast enough on repeated impacts, like braking bumps. He has similar issues with the fork, but they’re far less exaggerated than the problems he has with the rear.

The seat is another component that’s given Liam issues. Liam’s adaptive seat does more than just give him somewhere to sit. It also holds him upright as he no longer has use of his core. As a result, it’s a lot bigger than your typical mountain bike seat. This is where adaptive bikes really start to get tricky. Because you’re adapting a standard mountain bike frame to work with someone who, ultimately, wasn’t even considered a user in the design process, there’s certain elements that are trickier to work with than others and the mounting of an adaptive seat is the prime example for this. Liam’s adaptive seat has to mount to a standard seatpost which to be frank, is simply not up to the task. This has resulted in multiple re-designs of the mount, with some iterations lasting a mere day.

While the bucket bike is about as close as Liam can currently get to replicating riding a mountain bike, the other big issue is that he can’t ride by himself. His feet are clipped in with standard SPD pedals and because it’s a two wheeled bike, Liam needs people to send him off, catch him and pick him up if he falls. Many of us have the luxury of throwing the bike on the car and going, but unfortunately Liam needs to convince at least two people to go with him.

Well, needed to, I should say…

Liam’s recently picked up one of the raddest things I’ve ever seen: a Bowhead Reach Adventure Cycle. The Bowhead is basically an all-out off-road trike designed to get people adventuring outdoors again. Using mostly mountain bike components and being designed to fit down mountain bike trails, it was the obvious choice for Liam. Being a trike, he can set off by himself and stop mid-ride without having to worry about having someone on hand to catch him. He can also load, and unload it, from his car without assistance, giving him back the option to go ride by himself. As Liam put it: “it doesn’t give me the sensation of two wheels that the bucket bike gives me, but it gives me the freedom to ride whenever I want and to go so many more places.” And, he plans on going to plenty of places. There’s already talks of an Old Ghost Road trip, with Liam even offering to tow my gear aboard a trailer that attaches to the Bowhead. Sign me up! With the Bowhead completing Liam’s fleet of adaptive bikes, he can experience the flow that comes with riding two wheels aboard the bucket bike, with the freedom of exploration aboard the Bowhead – the two main aspects of mountain biking we all chase.

When one of the things that you love most, takes away something massively from important to you it’s easy to see why you’d give up. Especially when, there’s no conventional method to carry on doing that thing you love – such as mountain biking. Liam’s attitude, though, has been nothing but inspiring and it’s humbling to watch him continue to chase the lifestyle mountain biking brings us. Having found ways to feel the flow, explore beyond where anyone else would reach and to ultimately, have a rad time enjoying trails with his buddies.

Words: Cam Baker

Images: Todd Wallace