CATEGORIES

Diaries Of A Professional Trail Fairy

Well hello, my name is Baxter and welcome to the first edition of my brand- new regular column right here in [R]evo Mag. Each issue I will be aiming to tell stories that give insight into the world of trail building as I see it.

Rocky Mountain Instinct Carbon 70

If you’ve been following the mag over the years you’ll know that rocky mountain’s are a definite favourite amongst our staff here at [r]evo.

8 mins |

PEAK AROUSAL

HERE HAS BEEN ONE KEY QUESTION WHICH ALWAYS INTRIGUES ME ABOUT ATHLETES AND HOW THEY PERFORM AT THEIR VERY BEST WHEN THE PRESSURE IS AT IT’S GREATEST, AND THAT IS, WHAT GETS THEM AMPED UP? WHAT GETS THEM INTO ‘THAT ZONE’ MENTALLY WHERE THEY’RE ABLE TO BE THE BEST VERSION OF THEMSELVES AND NET THE BEST RESULTS?

3 mins |

RAISING CHAMPIONS THE A'HERN

LET’S MEET THE A’HERNS; THERE’S MUM AND DAD, OTHERWISE KNOWNS AS JEN AND NICK (A DUAL COMMONWEALTH GAMES GOLD MEDALIST AND TRIPLE OLYMPIAN IN HIS OWN RIGHT!) AND THEN THERE’S THE KIDS, BROTHER KYE (19) WHO’S A JUNIOR WORLD CHAMP AND MULTI-NATIONAL CHAMP, AND THEN OF COURSE THERE’S SISTER SIAN (22) WHO HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNISABLE FACES IN AUSTRALIA WOMAN’S CYCLING, A MULTIPLE-NATIONAL CHAMP AND OCEANIA CHAMP.

THE BEST BRAKES ON THE MARKET RIGHT NOW? GROUP TEST WITH NO DEFINITIVE CONCLUSION.

ASK ANY RIDER AND THEY’LL ALMOST CERTAINLY TELL YOU OF ALL OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS THAT MAKE UP A BIKE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IS A SET OF BRAKES THAT PERFORM REALLY WELL AND MOST IMPORTANT ‘FEEL’ JUST RIGHT.

10+ mins |

SUPPLY CHAIN PAIN

A KIN TO A LOT OF YOU OUT THERE WE’VE RECENTLY FOUND OURSELVES SWINGING BY OUR LOCAL BIKE STORE TO STOCK UPON A FEW PARTS AHEAD OF OUR PLANNED TRAIL ADVENTURES, ONLY TO FIND, EMPTY RACKS AND SHELVES? IS THIS THE NEW VERSION OF LAST YEAR’S SUPERMARKET TOILET PAPER PANIC BUYING? WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIKES, BRAKE PADS, TIRES AND EVERYTHING ELSE GONE? WITH AROUND A 30% INCREASE IN BIKE SALES ACROSS AUSTRALIA (AND THE WORLD) DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS ALONE, BIKES HAVE BEEN FLYING OUT THE DOOR THE SAME DAY THAT THEY ARRIVE… WANT A NEW BIKE? GET READY TO WAIT. THIS TIME LAST YEAR THE PRE-ORDER WAITING LISTS FROM MOST BRANDS FOR POPULAR BIKES WAS AVERAGING 1-3 MONTHS, NOW, IT’S BLOWING OUT TO ANYWHERE FROM 6 MONTHS TO A FULL YEAR! IT’S CRAZY. IT’S SCARY. IT SUCKS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE BIKE INDUSTRY IS ON OUR SIDE AND BRANDS ARE DOING THEIR VERY BEST RIGHT NOW TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO TURN IT AROUND.

INDUSTRY AU

IN THIS EDITION OF INDUSTRY.AU WE’RE CHECKING IN WITH ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LATEST AND MOST EXCITING COMPONENT FABRICATORS WHO ARE PRODUCING SOME REALLY INTERESTING AND INNOVATIVE GEAR FROM THEIR ADELAIDE WORKSHOP.

PIVOT 2021

WHEN IT COMES TO PICKING YOUR NEXT DREAM BIKE IN A PACKAGE THAT PERFECTLY SUITS THE STYLE OF RIDING THAT YOU LOVE MOST, YOU REALLY ARE GOING TO FIND YOURSELF UTTERLY SPOILT FOR CHOICE WITH PIVOT’S LATEST OFFERINGS.

3 mins |

AUS CYCLING 2021 DH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

FOLLOWING THE CRAZY YEAR OR CONFUSION AND CANCELATIONS THAT WAS 2020, THE VIBE FOR THIS YEAR’S AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DOWNHILL MTB CHAMPS WAS ALL ABOUT A ‘NEW YEAR, NEW ME’ ATTITUDE. FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME WE GOT TO SEE THE COUNTRY’S BEST GRAVITY RIDERS BATTLING FOR NATIONAL TITLES AT THE ULTIMATE VENUE FOR SUCH AN EVENT, MAYDENA!

Get Ready To Shredy!

Is it fair to say that being the only high-performance e-mtb trail bike designed specifically for female riders, that then makes the all-new intrigue x e+ pro from liv the best female specific E-MTB? Perhaps so. However, even if this bike wasn’t literally in a league of its own (imagine for a moment that there were some other brands as dedicated to female cycling as liv and as a result there’d be several different bikes competing in this category) we would still be confident that the all-round package and ride performance of the intrigue x e+ would make it hard to beat. Let’s take a closer look at why we think this bike is one of the hottest new e-mtb releases of the current season.

2 mins |

Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Expert

Behind The Scenes Developing The Trance X E+

A conversation with Joost Bakker, Giant’s global category manager for e-bikes, about how he and the team brought the Trance X E+ to life.

10 Most Asked Q's

Having spent the year listening to questions from e-mtb riders from right across the country there’s a handful of questions that keep popping up time and time again. And so in this article we’ll set out to give the answers to the 10 most commonly asked things about e-bikes in year crazy year that was 2020.

8 mins |

ETNIES

Price // $139.95 - $149.95, Browse // etnies.com

4 mins |

Tour TAS IN '21

An updated to touring Tassie’s best riding spots

10+ mins |

YTIZZO Carbon Pro Race

ZIPP 3ZERO MOTO Wheels

WITH ALL THE COMPONENTS ON THE MARKET THESE DAYS THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS WHICH HAVE DIVIDED OPINION, ONE OBVIOUS ONE, IS A CARBON WHEEL BETTER THAN AN ALLOY WHEEL? WELL TO TELL THE TRUTH WE CAN’T REALLY GIVE YOU A DEFINITIVE ANSWER ON THAT. IT IS FAST BECOMING AN AGE-OLD QUESTION LIKE THE QUESTION, IS A 29-INCH WHEEL BETTER THAN A 27.5-INCH WHEEL? A LOT OF THE ANSWERS COME DOWN TO PERSONAL PREFERENCE AND RIDING STYLE. CARBON WHEELS HAVE HAD A HIT AND MISS REPUTATION WITH THE MTB CROWD WITH MIXED OPINIONS IN CONFIDENCE IN RELATION TO THEIR DURABILITY, PERFORMANCE, AND FEEL. WHAT WE MEAN BY THE TERM ‘FEEL’ RELATES TO THE HARSHER OR MORE SENSITIVE SENSATION IN TRAIL FEEDBACK THROUGH THE BARS YOU GET FROM CARBON HOOPS. SOME PEOPLE REALLY LIKE HOW THEY FEEL DUE TO THE PREDICTABLE FEEL OF CARBON HOOPS BUT IN SHORT, SOME RIDERS AREN’T A FAN, I GUESS IT IS FAIR TO SAY OPINIONS ON THOSE SUBTLE DIFFERENCES STILL VARY.

WHAT A YEAR!

2020 WHAT A YEAR, EH! THERE ARE SO MANY WILD STORIES OUT THERE THAT IT IS HARD TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE AND RECOGNIZE THE POSITIVES TO COME OUT OF THE YEAR. I HAVE FOUND MYSELF PUTTING SOME PROPER EFFORT TO FOCUS ON THE POSITIVES RATHER THAN THE NEGATIVES AND TO BE HONEST; THERE ARE SOME MASSIVE POSITIVES FOR ME IN 2020.

3 mins |

LIV INTRIGUE Advanced Pro 29

FROM THE BRAND THAT CONTINUES TO LEAD THE WAY IN WOMEN’S MOUNTAIN BIKING WE WERE EXCITED TO GET OUR HANDS ON THEIR LATEST MODEL FOR AN EXCLUSIVE IN-DEPTH REVIEW AND IT CERTAINLY HASN’T DISAPPOINTED! THE ALL-NEW INTRIGUE ADVANCED PRO 29 HAS BEEN DESIGNED AS A FAST ROLLING TRAIL BIKE WHICH CAN EAT UP LONG CLIMBS AND STILL DOMINATE ROUGH DESCENTS. IT’S A BIKE WHICH DEBUTS SEVERAL NEW TECH FEATURES FOR LIV, SUCH AS ADJUSTABLE FRAME GEOMETRY VIA A FLIP CHIP AND THE BIKE IS GOING TO BE OFFERED IN A SIZE LARGE FRAME OPTION (IN THE PAST LIV’S FRAME SIZING HAS STOPPED AT MEDIUM). THE INTRIGUE ADVANCED PRO 29 ALSO BOASTS A LOVELY FULL CARBON FRAME AND PACKS 140MM OF FRONT TRAVEL WITH 125MM IN THE REAR. HERE IN AUSTRALIA LIV ARE OFFERING THE NEW INTRIGUE ADVANCED PRO 29 IN A CHOICE OF THREE COMPLETE SPEC LEVELS WITH A STARTING PRICE OF $6599. FOR THIS REVIEW LIV WERE KIND ENOUGH TO SEND US OVER THE ULTRA-TOP-SHELF ‘0’ MODEL WHICH COMES WITH FOX ‘LIVE’ SUSPENSION AND A SLIGHTLY EYE WATERING $11499 PRICE TAG.

9 mins |

A Life Rebuilt

Welcome back – so over the last two editions of this fine mag, I have told the story of how buying a mountain bike literally saved my life. Going, in my 20’s from being a mountain bike rider, obsessed with fitness. To a fat, in debt, middle-aged wreck and back. In the last article I was getting after it. Riding every day, I could and about to enter the trans nz enduro race. Until a review of my finances blew that idea away. I was devastated, but. If I was going to rebuild my life. I had to rebuild all of it. Including my financial situation.

Transition Scout Carbon

Let’s cut straight to the chase, now that you’ve ridden the wheels off of the new scout this past few months in your opinion what sort of rider is the new generation scout going to be perfectly suited to? I would say that the new generation of scout is going to be ideal for a rider whose main focus is having as much fun as possible and want’s their bike to be really playful. For sure one of the key standout features about the new scout is it’s awesomely modern geometry traits; long slack and low with a short offset fork. These are thought to be the be all and end all for going fast and winning races, however, the attitude and feel of the scout is more in the genre of a short travel freeride bike, that is also super capable and comfortable to climb back up the hill thanks to the 77 degree effective seat tube angle on the medium size.

Prioritizing Component Upgrades For Performance

One of my favourite commonly asked questions at the bike shop is; what component upgrades give the most performance gain for my budget? What it all comes down to is prioritizing the order that you make each component upgrade. So, in this article lets go ahead and weigh the importance of each component upgrade and examine how wide the budget options are. For instance, brakes rank high on the list affecting a bike’s personality. Brakes also have a great choice of options at a wide range of prices. Components are listed from most important to performance/ personality. Then overall expensive (meaning getting it wrong will cost $ to fix). Whether you’re working with a full custom or just looking at functional upgrades on your factory complete being able to prioritize performance is going to help you build a better bike. I hope this article provides you some insight to better define and maximize your spending for the most fun on the trail. Okay, so lets run through the list from the top…

Fresh Produce- Sram Eagle GX Groupset

SRAM are coming to the party in 2020 with 3 brand new mechanical 12-speed eagle drivetrains including xx1, x01 and a seriously ‘baller on a budget’ GX entry level offering. Plus there’s even a new chain and cassette colourway option added into the range and stacks more. All up there is a ton of fresh components and tech specs to talk about with today’s new eagle unveiling so let’s not f*k spiders and jump straight into it!

Mtba National Championship Dh 2020 Went Off!

Who said Aussie DH racing was fading away? Even in these trying times, the mtba dh nationals went off with a bang as hundreds of racers lined up to conquer the iconic ‘mystic’ track at bright, victoria.

Inside The Mysterious World Of Training To Be One Of The Fastest Mtb Racers On The Planet

With mountain bike technology across the board having reached such heights by now, bike manufacturers have to look beyond simply putting nice parts on a bike in order for their riders to win races. For the most part nowadays in the elite ranks of mtb racing it really is all about the ‘rider’ versus being all about the bike that the rider is on. The level of training in the elite field has increased over the years, also bringing in speciality coaches dedicated to the demands of mtb. Even looking back 5 years, the understanding of training, both physically and mentally, was much less than it is today. Like technology, this training and race mentality has trickled down into the masses, even the weekend warriors are now training hard for the local series trophy.

Ultimate Enduro Style Knee Pad Shootout

Every legit mountain biker own a good quality set of knee pads. But of course, us riders come in all different shapes and sizes and we ride all different kinds of trails in all different kinds of climates. Therefore, it’s impossible to try and claim that ‘xyz’ is the best knee pad on the market. What we can do though, is try to help you find the type of knee pad that is likely to be perfect for you and where you tend to ride. And that is exactly why we’ve put this article together. In our opinion these are the 5 best enduro knee pads currently on the market in 2020.

Lockdown & Life Lessons

During lockdown the novelty of baking banana bread and sourdough loaves eventually wears off, you can only accept so many bloody push up and Koala bear Instagram challenges that come your way.

NS Bikes DEFINE150 1

TO BEGIN WITH, WAS THERE EVER REALLY A DOUBT THAT FROM THE BRAND THAT ORIGINALLY PUT THEMSELVES ON THE MAP FOR CREATING THE MOST DIALLED DIRT JUMP HARDTAILS OF THEIR LATEST BIG MOUNTAIN ENDURO RIG WASN’T GOING TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PLAYFUL BIKES OF 2020? THAT’S PRETTY MUCH IT IN A ‘NUTSHELL’ REALLY! NS’S RANGE OF LONGER TRAVEL BIKES HAVEN’T BEEN AVAILABLE OVER HERE IN OZ FOR VERY LONG NOW, BUT THEY HAVE BEEN KNOCKING OUT AWESOME BIKES BASED OF OF THEIR DJ/FREERIDE ROOTS FOR MANY YEARS. BECAUSE OF THEIR HERITAGE, THEY HAVE KEY ASPECTS ABSOLUTELY NAILED. FRAME STIFFNESS IN THE RIGHT PLACES, DIALLED GEOMETRY AND DAMN THIS THING IS A LOOKER!

GT FURY PRO

THE FRAME DETAIL OF THE CARBON FURY IS MESMERISING. RUN US THROUGH SOME OF THE STANDOUT FRAME FEATURES IN YOUR MIND? ASIDE FROM THE GLARINGLY OBVIOUS (THE HIGH PIVOT AND IDLER SETUP) THERE ARE A FEW OTHER REALLY NEAT AND UNIQUE FEATURES THAT THE FURY HAS GOING ON. AS SIMPLE AS IT MAY SEEM, I WAS A BIG FAN OF THE SEMI HIDDEN CABLE ROUTING THAT IS RECESSED INTO THE TOP OF THE DOWNTUBE. THEY HAVE WISELY DESIGNED THE FRAME TO BE INTERCHANGEABLE BETWEEN 29 AND 27.5INCH WHEELS. THERE IS AN ADAPTER FOR THE HEADSET TO COMPENSATE IN FRONT END HEIGHT AS WELL AS HIGH AND LOW POSITION SETTINGS AND 2 CHAINSTAY POSITIONS. MOVING FORWARD THIS WILL SURELY BE SOMETHING THAT ALL BIKES HAVE BUT GT HAVE JUMPED IN THE DEEP END WITH IT AND FOR GOOD REASON.