Table of contents for No. 84 in Spoke

Rider Robin Goomes Location: Crankworx, Innsbruck, Austria. Shutter speed: 1/3200 Aperture: f3.2 ISO: 200 Photographer Boris Beyer Boris shot this cool image of me at Crankworx, Innsbruck, back in June. Innsbruck was my first international competition, and, after learning the Backflip at home in New Zealand, I’d been planning on attempt one in the Speed and Style contest. I had no expectations on how it would go and just went for it— I just ripped it back and was so stoked to pull it around. It was only afterwards that I found out I was one of the first—if not the first—women to land a Backflip at Crankworx.…

Rider Anka Martin Location: Paparoa Track, West Coast. Shutter speed: 1/4000 Aperture: f5.0 ISO: 500 Photographer Sven Martin We’ve been wanting to do the full Paparoa Track since work began on this huge undertaking a few years ago. We had numerous false starts and last-second cancellations due to weather, slips and Covid closures, but once the trail finally re-opened it seemed near impossible to secure a hut booking. Undeterred, we switched up the plan and elected to do it as a day-ride instead, setting off from Blackball and riding while our car was relocated to Punakaiki, near the trail’s end. It’s a big, but easily doable, day-ride...if you don’t take a camera, that is. Passing through so many different ecosystems (native forest, alpine ridges and old growth coastal rainforest) makes…

Located a stone's throw away from the historic mining town of Reefton, Kirwans Track is a classic backcountry mission that encompasses some of the best technical, native singletrack around. At just 11km each way (to and from Kirwans Hut), the unassuming distance of Kirwans Track can lure you into a false sense of security. The 1,100m climb from the carpark to the hut is at a steady gradient that’s made more difficult by the technical nature of the trail. When combined with the typical wild, West Coast weather that results in regular washouts and fallen trees, you have yourself a strenuous climb that should challenge most riders. Thankfully, the same aspects that make the ride (or push) up so difficult, create an incredible stretch of riding bliss on the return…

Deep in the heart of Otago’s gold-mining country is the hidden riding gem of Alexandra. The locals might say that it’s the most underrated riding town in NZ, but things are changing rapidly. A must-do, multi-stage, three-day mountain bike race has been missing from the New Zealand calendar, but local mountain bike gurus, Phil Oliver and Jimmy Williamson, are on a mission to change that. Having lived and breathed the Alex trails for years, they thought it would be the perfect place to host a multi-day race on the epic Grade 3 and 4 single track network that surrounds the town. With stage-racing events for two-person teams and solos few and far between, Jimmy and Phil knew they were onto a winner. “We just came to the conclusion one day…

The current rate of progression in women’s riding is exponential. 2021 has been a breakthrough year, with the inclusion of women in different platforms, women-specific events and world firsts. The explosion of women in mountain biking, and the ripple effect that follows, has been bubbling at the surface for a long time, but why are we now hitting milestones within the industry, on a global scale, and causing a damn right scene? The move to include women’s categories at the likes of Red Bull Formation, Audi Nines, Proving Grounds and X Games, combined with the passion of the women riders and their willingness to pursue projects like Veronique Sandler’s ‘Vision’, Casey Brown’s ‘Dark Horse Invitational’ and Mons Royale’s Future Ground, are laying a foundation for the future. A few years…

Rider Brooke Thompson Location: Bike Glendhu, Wanaka. Shutter speed: 1/1250 Aperture: f3.2 ISO: 800 Photographer Jay French We found this frame while exploring Bike Glendhu with Brooke Thompson and Conor Macfarlane last summer. We'd shot the sunrise up at the summit and decided to head over to the dark side of the mountain, expecting the light to be a bit difficult. In fact, we were pleasantly surprised by the cinematically backlit dust that Brooke threw up as she led Conor into the chute. The trails over this side of the hill are hand-sculpted, dark and very green, with rocks and leafy tunnels as features. This was all enhanced by a rapid Brooke appearing from the golden dust of a dry summer.…

Rider Louise Ferguson Location: Central Otago Shutter speed: 1/2000 Aperture: f3.2 ISO: 100 Photographer Jay French Since arriving on our shores in early 2020, Louise has been making herself known as a force to be reckoned, both nationally and internationally. Her natural ability on a bike and lack of fear are matched by her top-class banter and impressive conversational talent, which makes everyone smile and feel at-ease during a photoshoot. I've had the pleasure of shooting with Louise a handful of times, with each being just as enjoyable as the last. This shoot in the thyme fields down south last year was no exception.…

RIDE CONCEPTS HELLION ELITE SHOES Light, tough, comfortable and most of all, grippy. The Hellion Elite features RC’s softest 4.0 Max Grip rubber sole for sensitivity and connection with your pedal. Durable heel and toe protection and a D3O insole protects your feet from impacts and the bellows tongue keeps sticks and stones out. rideconcepts.com BONTRAGER RSL MTB HANDLEBARS This integrated bar/stem combo in OCLV carbon from Bontrager gives you 4 less bolts to worry about and brings a super sleek look to your cockpit. Available with zero rise in a 750mm width and a choice of a 70, 80 or 90mm stem, or 27.5mm rise, 820mm width and a 35 or 45mm stem. trekbikes.com SIX ONE SIX RESET MIPS HELMET The Reset brings MIPS E2 Technology to a full-face…

If you haven’t already had the pleasure of meeting Perryn Lydford in your mountain bike adventures, it’s probably only a matter of time before you do. Perryn is your quintessential mountain bike frother who holds genuine values, and wants to motivate everyone to get the most from their endeavours, both on and off the bike. Originally from the Hibiscus Coast, Perryn makes a home wherever her bike takes her, from the plains of Africa to her current base in Central Otago. I recently caught up with Perryn over a Crimson Badger in the cosy nooks of Queenstown’s Atlas pub. Just the day prior she’d finished the South Island Tour of Aotearoa from Picton to Bluff, and was hours away from launching into a head paramedic role for the Crankworx Summer…

Fresh-faced 17-year-old Jenna Hastings made her big breakthrough at Crankworx Rotorua, winning the Pro Women’s Downhill race in extraordinary circumstances. For Rotorua locals and those close to the MTB race scene, the top result came as no surprise—it’d only been a matter of time before Jenna cracked the international scene, but it was still a dream come true. Jenna grew up in Rotorua and rode bikes from an early age. She started racing BMX before transitioning to the forest trails. It all came very naturally, especially as her family are heavily involved in the bike scene. Jenna is more than your average teenager; she’s well-spoken, cool, calm, and collected. It was obvious after chatting with her that she’s going places. Tell us about your winning run. Everything kind of went…

However, while things have continued to develop steadily in the Whakarewarewa, the rapid growth of new bike destinations around the country might’ve caused Rotorua to slip off some of our radars. With that in mind, we thought it was about time we headed back to the Bay of Plenty to discover what was new and resample some of the “best dirt on earth”. It was late autumn, and the plan for the trip was to explore as much of the forest and the surrounding areas as we could over three days. Our intel had hinted that autumn could be the prime time to ride in Rotorua: cooler temps and slightly more moisture content would only enhance trail conditions, and being outside of peak season, we would have the place to…

The Top Fuel has been a staple in Trek’s line-up for many years now and its target market has always been those XC racers and enthusiasts wanting a full suspension option. However, the development of the Supercalibre as Trek’s pre-eminent XC race weapon has given the Wisconsin-based brand room to expand the Top Fuel’s horizons and push it into the hotly contested, ‘downcountry’ category. For those of you living under a rock for the past few years, the downcountry moniker has been given to the increasingly popular segment that takes the XC characteristics of a light, short-travel bike and blends them with the aggressive geometry and suspension design of more downhill oriented bikes. The result is a versatile bike capable of riding uphill at near XC pace and descending more…

When I started writing for Spoke, I was told I could cover any topic as long as I didn’t write “how-to” articles. “Our readers don’t like being told how to ride, just give them the facts and show them how epic the people, places and engineering are in mountain biking”. This article is definitely not a “how-to”. I’m not even sure how to categorise it, except to say I want to make you think about your riding and progression. We should all aspire to be better riders and, although a lot of us probably feel like we’ve plateaued, we are always improving. But could we do it better? Most of us don’t have a coach or trainer, so how we progress is up to us. These days, in the interconnected…

Rider Jess Blewitt Location: Leogang, Austria. Shutter speed: 1/3200 Aperture: f3.2 ISO: 320 Photographer Sven Martin 2021 has been a massive year for Jess Blewitt. A rookie World Cup season is always the hardest, as you’re thrown into the deep end and have to come to terms with a steep learning curve. There are the new tracks, the weather, the food, the culture, bike set-up and body prep, not to mention the high level of international competition. Despite ending the season on a low note with a huge injury, Jess can hold her head high; she beat some top teams on the hardest downhill tracks in the World Cups, then featured on the podium at the EWS and Crankworx series. And this is just the beginning. She’s turned heads, has…

Rider Rae Morrison Location: Canazei, Dolomites, Italy. Shutter speed: 1/2000 Aperture: f5.0 ISO: 200 Photographer Sven Martin While the Dolomites’ awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping backdrops look like a dreamy destination to ride and race, its beauty belies the ruggedness and difficulty often found on trails in high alpine environments. What might look sculpted is often weathered and beaten down by snowpack every winter and snow-melt every spring. Rae Morrison is no stranger to these irregularities: with a couple of EWS seasons under her belt, and hailing from tech-gnar-natural Nelson, she takes it all in her stride, and with style, too.…

For over 25 years the hills behind Alexandra’s infamous clock-on-the-hill have housed some of the country’s most exhilarating, unique and underground mountain bike trails. They were built, maintained and ridden in relatively secrecy by a handful of dedicated locals; there were no trail signs, no maps and no easy way to learn your way around. Even if you knew the trails existed it was a struggle to link them together or not get lost without a local guide. The rocky, monochrome terrain all blends together into a mirage of unnavigable, beige, moonscape. This all changed recently when the landowners, the Sanders family, decided to make mountain biking official and create Matangi Station MTB Park. But why now, after all these years, have things changed? Helen Sanders from Matangi explained that…

When I was 4-years-old, my favourite TV show was The Greatest American Hero. Aired in New Zealand in the early 80s, it was the story of a mild-mannered school teacher who was abducted by aliens and given a special suit that gave him superpowers. I was a super fan. My mum put together a costume for me – a red jumpsuit with a cape. Wearing it, I thought I could fly if I just tried hard enough. I gave it a go one day. Launching myself out of a small tree I caught my suit on a branch and tore the bum out of my costume. I was devastated but not deterred. I had to wait a few years until I got my first bike to get that feeling. Riding…

Confidence is a fickle friend for many. A few days out from dipping my toe in at the third annual Richmond Roulette and I was feeling nervous and riding as rigid as a breadstick. Or was that my suspension? What’s the forecast? Rain. I needed to get a grip and get some grip. I needed to get my suspension serviced. Suspension Works is the progeny of Wheel Works, the micron obsessed modern-day wheelwrights that have established themselves as a byword for precision over 16-odd years of slinging spokes, rims and hubs in Wellington. The suspension side of the business is not yet two years old, but the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Jake Hood has been the suspension tech there from the start. Hailing from Peebles, in the…

Clair Coker, 33, will tell you she’s unremarkable, yet she’s one of the most remarkable women I know. She’ll say she’s not sporty, yet she’ll tackle some of the hardest endurance challenges around. The best advice she’s ever received was to ‘kill them with kindness’, yet she’s genuinely one of the kindest people on the planet. Clair is the first woman president of the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club. In just a year since taking over the reins, the membership has soared from 600 to 1600 and climbing. She’s helped fundraise more than $140,000 for the First Response Unit, she’s commissioned an epic art fundraiser, generated a huge amount of PR, built a new website and she’s about to tackle some of the nation’s favourite events. In her day job, she’s…

I feel this review needs to start off with three small confessions—Firstly until I sat down to write this piece I did not know any of the measurements or geometry numbers of the Forbidden Dreadnought. Secondly, I have never pedalled the Dreadnought up a hill—Not ever, Zero climbs to date. Lastly—The Forbidden dreadnought came to party. Now before any of the highly informed, over researched amongst you start to froth at the mouth. Let me explain myself here. If you want to read six pages of suspension and geometry analysis about the Forbidden Dreadnought you will have no issue finding it. This bike has received more publicity and analysis than the average new car release. And for good reason, the Dreadnought is at the cutting edge of what the Mountain…