Table of contents for No. 85 in Spoke

Rider Nils Heiniger Location: Canterbury, New Zealand. Shutter speed: 1/640 Aperture: f4.0 ISO: 200 Photographer Sam Minnell Nils is one of the most stylish bike riders I know, so I jumped at the chance to join him on a mission to go shoot some sunrise photos. Little did I know that this rad, natural halfpipe, with epic views over Lake Coleridge, was a five-hour hike-a-bike. We made it just in time for the sunset, so we scrambled a quick run. It was horrendously sketchy but Nils sent it with effortless style into some crispy autumn light.…

Rider Charlie Murray Location: Mt White Station, Canterbury. Shutter speed: 1/1000 Aperture: f3.5 ISO: 125 Photographer Henry Jaine Mt White Station, our final stop of the trip. A high country station set in the wilds of the southern alps. The vast mountainous landscape provides a blank canvas for Charlie and the crew to get creative. On return to base camp after a morning shooting a hand built jump line, we spotted a natural dirt half pipe created by a recent landslide. After just a few tweaks with the pick and shovel, it was ready to ride.…

People Supply It was 1968, Mt Tamalpais near Larkspur, California. They were known as the Larkspur Canyon Gang—a group of school friends who assembled Frankencycles out of pre-war Schwinn cruisers so they could bomb down disused fire-roads and single-track. The bikes were an assemblage of BMX, road bike and motorbike parts—the first-ever bikes built exclusively for the purpose of riding mountains. They didn't care that they were misfits or weirdos; all they wanted to do was get up the hill, hang out, and have a laugh. They didn't care about racing, and if they did, it was beating their mates to the pub. 54 years later, and not much has changed. I met Andy Walker and Tom Woods at the suburban garage in Rangiora where the Vibe Bikes frames and handlebars…

I'd managed to score myself a new bike at a good price and I was reasonably stoked on it, but no matter how much I read, nor how many changes I made, I could never quite dial the suspension in. As the suspension wasn't top-of-the-line, I knew I could invest some money replacing the fork's damper and upgrading to a coil shock. Sadly, though, I'm still nursing a financial hangover from years of living abroad and riding more than working, so I settled for tuning the set-up I had. After a solid 100-plus hours of punishment, my fork and shock were overdue for some love, so I paid a visit to suspension guru Paul Jones at ProFlow Suspension. Ideally, I'd eventually upgrade both ends, I explained, but for now I…

“What better way to be youth-focused than to be youth-led with young people at the helm.” It was Wellington on a good day in January 2013: one of those rare summer days when the West Wind turbines could only lilt languidly in the soft breeze, one of those indigo days that faded gradually to a southern horizon interrupted only by the hazy undulations of the South Island, the type of day that you either want to be on your bike or in the sea. Makara Peak was buzzing with the sound of riders swooping through the regenerating native forest, the pioneer plantings now part of a key ecosystem populated by tui, kaka, and kereru after a century's accumulation of gorse, broom, and barberry. It was a perfect day for the…

Rider Robin Goomes Location: Stellenbosch, South Africa. Shutter speed: 1/5000 Aperture: f5.6 ISO: 400 Photographer Sven Martin We've seen women's freeriding grow exponentially in the past couple of years and the Kiwis—Casey Brown, Vinnie, Jess and, of course, Robin Goomes—are at the forefront. But this is not about women's progression, this is about genderneutral mountain bike progression. This line at the Hellsend compound in Stellenbosch, South Africa is massive and only a few riders have been brave enough to tackle the full course. Robin was the standout in my eyes with a big bag of tricks and effortless style and riding.…

Rider Daniel Self Location: Canterbury, New Zealand. Shutter speed: 1/1250 Aperture: f2.8 ISO: 1000 Photographer Findley Watt This image was captured at the end of an afternoon shooting at Mt Cheeseman. Daniel and I were hiking back up the hill after the sun had slipped behind the mountains, taking its golden glow with it. I spotted this narrow avenue among the classic Cragieburn beech forest as blue-hour was beginning to settle in, and I instantly knew the muted greys and greens would work well with Daniel's kit.…

Supply 3Sixty Sports—Bike Boutique + Supply is not your typical bicycle business. Owner Bruce Davey has never liked straight lines—one end is a stranger to the other. Ever since he first began manufacturing and distributing Gloworm lights in 2010, he's preferred to be directly available to riders for a chat and to answer questions. A circular supply chain, he calls it. 3Sixty Sports’ new venture completes the cycle with a service-focused operation that's also committed to helping your local bike shop get those high-end goodies. The result is a hybrid model with a customer service centre that looks after wholesale customers, a workshop that services individual riders, and a showroom that's fitted out to meet the needs of both. It's a solution that's intended to support and complement the service…

We like to think of ourselves as a land of triers, improvisers and number 8 wire savants. We have a strong history of giving it a go, even if we didn't have the technology or the materials, or even much of an idea of what we're doing. We tried to build a tank in the early 1940s. What emerged resembled a squat Dalek that'd crashed into a cowshed. It was slow, unstable, poorly armoured, and had to come to a complete stop to change gears, but cor blimey we had go. But not everything that emerged from our sheds was destined for invention ignominy: In 1904, Richard Pearse achieved powered flight in his bicycle-glider hybrid; Burt Munro set numerous speed records from the 1930s to the 1960s with his modified…

Staring down upon an empty field of alpine tussocks, the sheer beauty of what lies in front of you creates a certain amount of pressure to do the landscape justice. Attempting to improve on this already impeccable piece of land can seem daunting, especially because once you start moving dirt, rocks and tussocks, the place will never be the same. There's a strange relationship between trail builders and nature; you're both partners and rivals. I've always believed that if you respect the lay of the land, use the materials provided, and accentuate the natural features, then not only will you create the best trail for that area but, more importantly, something unique. But don't get me wrong: You can follow all these steps, turn vegan, meditate six hours each day…

It seems like outrageously talented young riders are popping up everywhere in Wellington, often several of them, one after the other, off anything that resembles a jump. They're fast, they're fearless, and they're stoked on bikes. And just when you'd thought you'd seen the latest crop of tyre-shredding tyros, another generation comes schralping down the trail. This explosion of young rippers is down to a few factors: the popularity of WORD, easy access to quality trails in the city, a strong mountain biking community, and the support of shops like Get Lost Cycling. Get Lost Cycling is the cheekily-named upstart of the bicycle peddling scene in Wellington. Koen Greven and Stuart Cunningham threw open the doors to their purple shop in October 2019 and were an instant hit among local…

Last Roll Buy a Milazo off Marketplace for $50. Go to Pak'nSave and buy a six pack of Hollandia. That's $60.89. Go to a light industrial area and huck your meat over a few shit obstacles with your mates until some Boomer decides enough is enough and calls the cops. This is the essence of the Shit Rig. Stop taking yourself so seriously, embrace devolution and just ride a bike. These days we're saturated by choice. Mountain bikes have reached the point where it's now pretty hard to miss—they're all totally fine. You probably can't even be a dick about Meridas anymore. Glossy promos pitch the rigs against plain white backgrounds. High-res shots of pros sending it, throwing horns and poking their tongues out promise the same predictable lifestyle dream.…

Rider Sam Evans Location: Skyline, Queenstown. Shutter speed: 1/1000 Aperture: f3.2 ISO: 1000 Photographer Ben Karalus Stuck in the basin for another weekend of bike park laps, Sam and I decided we'd dust off the camera for a change. On the gondola we briefly discussed shooting this shark fin take-off on Lazy Vertigo but dismissed it as overdone. Dropping in for our first lap we stopped and looked back up to convince ourselves we weren't missing out on anything—just in case. Instead, we saw the sun shining straight down the trail, creating this harsh backlight with the reflected sun off the silica rich soil adding just enough fill.…

Rider Emma Olofsson Location: Coronet Peak, Queenstown. Shutter speed: 1/1250 Aperture: f4.0 ISO: 400 Photographer Stefan Haworth It was awesome to be on the mountain top as the sun set on that majestic scenery. With views like this, it's easy to see why this was my most ridden track of summer. We thought we'd be the only ones on the trail at this time of night, but that wasn't the case—the hill was busy with after-work riders hollering their way down. Their dust, combined with golden-hour and Emma's style, made it easy to bag some epic shots.…

RIDE CONCEPTS VICE SHOES Developed with Rampage legend and slopestyle sender Kyle Strait, the Vice shoe is all about pedal feel. Its waffle-style RC Fuzion outsole promises “unrivalled sensitivity” with a dash of D30 and EVA shock absorption, all while looking more like a skate shoe than sci-fi slipper. rideconcepts.com 7IDP P23 GLASS FIBRE HELMET The Project 23 Glass Fibre helmet packs all the features of 7idP's carbon model at a lower price. With 23 vents, it claims to be the breeziest full-face helmet on the market, while still offering 7idP's S.E.R.T slip plane system and energy management smart foam, alta.co.nz BONTRAGER VODA INSULATED WATER BOTTLE Moisture is the essence of wetness, so avoid the dry horrors and keep cool on your next ride with Trek's Voda Ice Insulated Water…

Growing up without television on a Waikato dairy farm, it was inevitable that I'd discover a love for riding early on; years before mountain bikes were even invented, you would've often found me exploring bush tracks on an old three-speed chopper. Putting two wheels on dirt is now secondnature to me, but I'm not one of those naturally-gifted riders who can throw effortless whips or hit blind gaps without a care in the world. Mountain bike skills are something I've got to continuously hone so that the edge doesn't dull, and it can still take me a while—sometimes months—to summon up the courage to hit a new gap, drop or chute. In 2013 my little fella, Zach, arrived on the scene and almost instantly I had dreams of riding bikes…

It's a warm start to Autumn in New Zealand and I'm halfway through a tough Covid-19 isolation stint when an email from Tim White at ilabb pops into my inbox: “We have this epic event going on and would be stoked if you could make it.” I met Tim from ilabb the way a lot of people meet him: over beers at an event, in this case at 440 Mountain Bike Park in Auckland. I was stoked to hear from Tim again, especially in the form of an invitation to an epic event in Queenstown, home of some of the gnarliest mountain biking in New Zealand, and the ilabb Lodge, host to arguably some of the best post-ride beers in the country. The ilabb Women All Time Ride Camp is…

Iley Nunns Age: 14 Years riding: I've ridden mountain bikes for about seven years now. Apparently, I first rode a bicycle when I was about two years old, but I didn't get into mountain biking until I started WORD when I turned seven. Favourite type of riding: Recently I've been really enjoying steep loam that you can go fast and slide round on, but anything that's downhill will do. I also really like jumps and I'll try to turn anything I see into a little bit of airtime. When I'm with friends, we love making edits, eating food and talking nonsense. Squad goals: I want to learn all I can from others in the squad and people who help us out. I'm keen for some filming opportunities and want to…