Early season testing started for the Santa Cruz Syndicate with mechanics, engineers and riders arriving in the town of Imperia, Italy, for three days of extensive testing aboard the latest Santa Cruz full carbon V-10’s. The bikes were decked out with the Syndicate’s newest sponsor products from Fox and Shimano. The Syndicate’s choice to join forces with Shimano and Fox proved to be a great decision as the test session was incredibly successful.

“Testing was amazing, the most productive test session I have ever been to. Besides good riding and eating killer Italian food, our Syndicate family expanded with Fox and Shimano. I feel this was a great start to the year and I’m looking forward to more positive things to come in 2012,” said Greg Minnaar.

The testing took place on the long downhill racetrack in San Romolo with shuttle assistance from Roberto Vernassa from Argentina Bike. The five-man Fox crew was ready to gather information from suspension testing using their state of the art data acquisition equipment. Spirits were high as everyone got started off on the dark chilly mornings while the mechanics built a bonfire at the bottom of the track to stave off a bit of chill. Riders were warm and tingly inside with big grins after the first run.

“We were getting everyone up to speed on the new full carbon frame, Fox suspension, and Shimano components. With the frame being much lighter than the previous version we had to dial the suspension in because of less un-sprung weight. I’ve also been riding the new XTR brakes for some time now and can’t get over how impressive they are, particularly with modulation. Feedback from all the racers was what I was expecting, a new milestone in performance,” says Rob Roskopp.

Greg Minnaar exclaims, “I was blown away on the first ride down the rugged San Romolo track. The first thought was, this is a winning combo! Fitzy and his crew worked flat out to get us up to speed. Their passion, enthusiasm and suspension knowledge is going to be very positive to the Syndicate. It’s been awhile since I was last on Shimano, 2003…and that was a good year for me. I hope this is the good luck I’ll be needing to win another World Championship.”

Santa Cruz engineer Joe Graney says, “We look forward to a close relationship with the suspension experts at Fox. They arrived in Italy with a team of engineers and technicians – blowing everyone away with how they were able to accurately translate each rider’s input into measured improvements in speed and control. Shimano continues to push the envelope with technologies like Ice Tech brake rotors and the Shadow Plus derailleur, as well as the variety of options that can be configured for different conditions fitting perfectly with Santa Cruz Bicycles’ core values of customer choice, usable performance, durability and long term support.”

Our newest addition to the Syndicate, mechanic Jason Marsh says, “I’m super happy that we are using Fox Racing Shox and Shimano for the 2012 season. The new Fox 40 forks suit the carbon V-10 frame perfectly and the RC4 rear shock really compliments the VPP suspension design. The riders were all impressed on how good the bikes felt, even after the first run. I have worked with the Saint group-set for the last three seasons and I really like how they work. Saint cranks are super strong, brakes are simple to set up and the rear derailleur and shifter are super smooth and a nice set up. Finish and attention to detail can’t be matched. The support offered by the Fox team over the last few days has been superb and their race support is second to none. 2012 will be a great season.”

Steve Peat was surprisingly pleased, “We have had three awesome days testing and training in Italy. It was great to catch up with all my crew after a few down months throughout the winter and I was happy to get out on the Santa Cruz V-10 and trash it in the test situation. Fox is a company that I have watched over the years. They obviously have great product because the fast guys are using it and winning races now and again on it. And Shimano needs no introduction. It’s a no brainer that they have great products and I am looking forward to working with them at the races! We came up with some great set ups and I am now looking forward to the season. Now it’s our turn to give it a thrash on our V-10’s, 2012 should be fun!”

“The test session was a big learning curve for me. Having ridden Boxxer’s since I was about 14, I’m very used to the look and feel of the fork so it was a huge change. I really enjoyed the process of getting my new bike set up and it was interesting getting to know the characteristics of all the new products. The suspension seems almost limitless with it its adjustability and I think our bikes have entered a whole new realm of adaptability. Despite getting my ass kicked in the final race I had a really fun and productive three days,” said Josh Bryceland.

Tradition is that on the last day of testing we always have a race to see who is quickest. Once again, for the second time in a row, Peaty took the win. But unlike the first time when Greg wore the dress to dinner, it was Josh’s turn to wear a skirt. Since there were no women’s clothes handy, Josh had to improvise and craft a fashionable number out of a pair of pants. “His outfit was complete with his ‘special’ tiger underwear, “ chimes in Roskopp.

Joe Lawwill, Shimano’s MTB marketing manager says, “Shimano is very proud and excited to be working with Santa Cruz Bicycles and the iconic Syndicate race team. We are looking forward to a successful and exciting 2012 season.”

Fox’s Mark Fitzsimmons says, “We are very excited to work with a team at this level. The professionalism of the team has shown in their years of great results and we look forward to bringing our suspension expertise to the program. We here at FOX thrive on the pure honesty racing brings to our development process and look forward to learning from Steve, Greg and Josh to continue to improve our products and aid them in their mission for podiums. Our goal is to provide our athletes with a suspension performance advantage and look forward to continuing this into the 2012 season.”

Syndicate head mechanic Dougie “Fresh” Hatfield says, “The Fox and Shimano Saint equipped bikes ran silky smooth during our test camp in San Romolo. The riders really liked the responsiveness and quality of the product. We are ready to go racing!!”

So Day 3 at the Mondraker setup camp saw actual riding on their World Cup spec’d rigs. Jono did work. According to Patrick, Brook did one run in four hours. They are there to get these bikes dialled and that kind of dedication to tweaking setup is what will hopefully see Brook on a few more podiums.

Spoke‘s longest running senior photographer Simeon Patience got a brand new ride in the mail today. Now it’s been a while since any Spoke staff have been rolling on Rocky Mountains, actually Spoke‘s last editor Eleanor still rides a beautiful steel hardtail from the late 90s. Well while everyone seems to be turfing their hardtails for fun bikes, Sim dawg has gone the other way and bought this 2012 29″ Rocky Mountain Vertex 970 RSL and he thinks he’s gonna race it. I reckon we’re going to have follow his progress. More Simeon race updates to follow…

How dope is that cardy?

So Patrick Fallon just banged through a whopper gallery from today’s session at the Marcocchi/Mondraker setup in Queenstown, looks like Spoke senior photographer Sven Martin got on the tools as well today, either that or Brook isn’t mechanically minded at all. Oh in the photos from yesterday the bike wasn’t rocking the Roco shock out the back, but a friendly courier dropped them off today, and a good part of today was dedicated to setting those bad boys up… Anyway here’s some photos of Brook chilling, Sven wrenching, Cesar looking sharp and Jono “Rainman” Church just being the man.

Sven shows Brook how to install cassette

There’s more pics in the full gallery over here

Back when I worked in a skate shop in Wellington I met Jamie and his brother Ben, who were both shredders. Turns out Jamie and I were also at design school together but those damn industrial designers had a building all to themselves so I didn’t hang with him too much. They thought they were better than the rest of us; well in Jamie’s case it turns out he was. Better at pretty much everything. He rides bikes well, skates well, windsurfs well and most of all he designs stuff well. So well that… just check out his website and you’ll see www.jamiemclellan.com

01. Collate
thisiscollate.com
Along with The Fox Is Black (already featured on a previous Inside Outside), Collate is one of my favourite design blogs. A pared back, thoughtfully edited mix of graphic, photography, architecture, product and furniture. Editor Dave Smith has an impeccable eye.

02. Jjjjound
jjjjound.com
I think this site goes forever, which is lucky because I love it. From motorbikes to gangstas to preppy Americana to bicycles to topless women. I have never managed to scroll to the end of the page, and believe me, I have tried.

03. But Does It Float
butdoesitfloat.com
Strange name, weird titles and mesmerising, beautiful art. Like Jjjjound, this one seems to go till infinity too.

04. Nizoapp
nizoapp.com
One of many beautiful sites built by Tim & Matt at Sons & Co. Just scroll down, and then scroll up, and then scroll down, and then scroll up.. don’t know what it does but I want one.

05. Vice Do’s & Don’ts
vice.com/en_au/dos-and-donts
This one’s a guilty pleasure. So many times I’ve picked up a free copy of Vice, laughed in disbelief at the Do’s and Don’ts only to come to the end feeling like I need more. That was before I found Viceland’s online archive.

I’m told the captions are all written by one guy. I hope I never meet him.

PS here’s a bike joke: http://www.vice.com/en_au/vice/dnd/42461
PPS Here”s a sweet ol’ man one: http://www.vice.com/en_au/vice/dnd/3472

So a couple of days ago we dropped a press release letting you know that MS EVil was gone and MS Mondraker had risen in its place, with Brook MacDonald staying on the team. Anyhow Mondraker designer Cesar Rojo and Marzocchi decided that Queenstown was the perfect place to get the new bikes dialled and do some testing and suspension setup. Instead of sending someone from Marzocchi in Italy or the US they decided that Wide Open’s Rainman of suspension Jono Church was the man for the job. So now he’s got three days of testing ahead of him and plenty of tweaking. Spoke contributing photographer Patrick Fallon has been on hand to capture it all and he should be bringing us a few more sneaky photos over the next couple of days. Oh and there’s a full press released below.

Okay so Jono is the Marzocchi tech but by the looks of Patrick's photos they may have roped him into a bit more than that.

...still bleeding...

...while you're at it can you adjust my lever reach...

...oh and maybe you can even put my back wheel in as well... Thanks Jono

Marzocchi is proud to announce our support of the MS Mondraker team for the 2012 season. The team’s DH athletes have been able to climb to the top of the world ranking list and are no strangers to the podiums of UCI World Cups and UCI World Championships. Team MS Mondraker will be riding our DH flagship, the 888 RC3 EVO TITANIUM and Roco RC World Cup rear suspension.

I just got this email from Brett Frew regarding the Farm Jam, which is just around the corner. If you’re down the bottom of the South Island it’s well worth checking out and there should be some pretty heavy hitters.

“The countdown is on for our biggest day of the year, Unit Farm Jam 2012, Saturday 25th Feb.  We are preparing for another huge day of sheep farming diversity, dirtjumping, 2 wheeled style, flow and big tricks.

Unit clothing has produced a 22 minute look at last year’s amazing day; it’s worth a watch to check out a bit more depth to what goes into making Farm Jam so unique. It is currently airing on Fuel TV, a cable TV channel in AUS and USA and available to view online here

There is a small write-up in The Southland Times today about the Farm Jam, check it out here“

This has been an incredible journey, and the partnership has helped our racers achieve an impressive set of goals and dreams—2 UCI World Cup Downhill overall titles, 10 UCI World Cups wins by Greg Minnaar, 3 World Cup wins and a historic World Championship title by Steve Peat, and a Junior World Championship title by Josh Bryceland. These results were made possible using SRAM, Rockshox, Truvativ and Avid products, along with the world-class technical support of the SRAM team.

Working closely with John Dawson and Jon Cancellier on prototype Black Box projects and receiving their on-site support was a pleasure, and our heartfelt thanks go out to them for their years of dedication to the Syndicate. Thank you also to Dave Zimberoff for making the partnership possible.

Steve Peat says, “Leaving SRAM is a tough one for me. I have been with RockShox for 16 years so you could say the brand is engraved in me. But like most things in life nothing lasts forever and it has been a great time over the last 16 years. I want to thank each and every person at RockShox and SRAM who have helped me achieve my goals in my career. I have made lots of friends and had some fun times. Thanks guys!”

Greg Minnaar says, “Since joining the Syndicate in 2008 your support has been incredible. Thanks to all the crew that work hard behind the scenes making sure our Black Box equipment was keeping us ahead of the rest.”

Josh Bryceland says, “I’ve ridden SRAM since I started mountain biking and I’ve come far using their products. Times change and so do sponsors, thanks for 4 years on the Syndicate without a mechanical in a race run.”

Rob Roskopp says, “Our partnership with SRAM over the years saw many milestones achieved, Steve Peat’s 2009 World Championship in Canberra, Greg Minnaar’s win at Maribor in 2010 aboard the first carbon bike to take a World Cup win, and countless podiums over the last 8 years. I would like to thank the whole crew at SRAM for the great memories and support.”

The Coppermine Epic Entries are closing very soon, in fact in ten days. Enter now and don’t miss out on what looks to be a stunning course this year. I rode it a couple of times over the Christmas break and it’s running amazing. Hell, I might even enter. Enter online here.

The Diaries Downunder boys have just dropped their second episode and this one features ex-World Cup shredder Nathan Rennie and hair farmer Kelly McGarry (who seems to be in EVERYONE’S clips at the moment) and some ginger lad called Si. We pick a perfect morning to take Kelly McGarry, Nathan Rennie and Josh Clark Heli Biking with Vertigo Heli tours, thanks to Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters. A 45minute descent down to the Gibbston Tavern; Ex downhill racer Nathan Rennie also gives us a rundown on his new project; Lower45 Bike Camps. Thanks for watching! diariesdownunder.com for more

Really, I do. I’ve always loved Black Market/Teva rider Adam Hauck; his riding both on dirt and on street is crazy. This little vid of him and and his Thrashbike boys killing time is kinda mental, I mean the guy can bunnyhop tailwhip on a 26″. Anyway it’s only 2 minutes. It won’t change your life but it’s worth a peep.

The good folk at Osiris in New Zealand have given us a few pairs of BMX shredder Ryan Nyquist’s Pro Model shoe to give away. Osiris have gotten on the MTB bandwagon and have put together a pretty banging team of riders, and this is one of their BMX pro models (as yet there are no MTB pro models). To win the shoes you just have to place a comment below with the name of one member of the Osiris MTB team, and don’t forget to leave your shoe size. Sorry people from overseas, this one is only open to New Zealand readers, I’ll draw the winner randomly next Friday.

Oh I was gonna do the comp on Facebook, but those guys have been shutting down company Facebook pages left right and centre. Turns out it’s against Facebook terms and conditions to let users 1) upload photos as a form of comp entry, 2)comment on a photo as a form of comp entry and 3) to like you as a form of comp entry. We like the Spoke Facebook page and we’d like to keep it; maybe if we were a big airline we could say f*** it…

If you were on the fence about buying a copy of The South, well they’ve just gone and made it a bit more enticing by dropping the full clip of Cam Cole’s Vic Park section. Watch. Enjoy. Buy.

Super D and Cross Country Wrap

The RaboDirect NZ Mountain Bike Championships have now run for the first two days of three, with Super D racing completed last night and Cross Country today, at Codgers MTB Park in the Brook Valley, Nelson. Competitors have been wrapped in hot, windy weather, and bone dry trails have been the norm so far, delivering fast and brutal racing.

Last night’s Super D was the first time this event has been held at a national level and was a great success, with a broad range of entrants including World Cup top ten athletes, former World Championship medalists, local trail chargers and international dark horses all part of this inaugural event. Best described as a mongrel mix of the best components of downhill and cross-country race courses, the Super D is a downhill endurance event, designed to bring cross-country and downhill racers onto an even footing. Justin Leov (Dunedin) had the pace right through the evening, and demolished the field with a blistering run of 7 minutes 15 seconds. No one got close, with the gap back to second place Kieran Bennett (Nelson) 13 seconds. Leov was complementary of this style of racing: “This suits my strengths, and I think is more enjoyable for me than downhill racing. I look forward to seeing more of these types of events offered”. Women’s winner Harriet Harper (Nelson) also put daylight between herself and the rest of the women’s field. Harper is racing with solid form despite having training and racing time minimised with work commitments, but blitzed to a time that placed her 21st overall in the 48 strong men’s and women’s entry list.

Cross Country racing took place today and some fantastic racing in the morning age group categories warmed an enthusiastic crowd up for the main event at 2pm – the Elites and U19 Juniors. The contest between Wellington riders Gavin McCarthy and Tony Keith in the Masters 30-39 going right down to the wire. Only a slight slip on the last descent by McCarthy preventing what was sure to be an all out sprint for the line, both riders inseparable for their four laps. Keith eventually took the title by 18 seconds. Other racers that shone and took home championship titles were Garth Weinberg (Rotorua, Masters 40-49), Eden Cruise (Wellington, U15 Men), and Ben Oliver (Christchurch) and Shannon Hope (Dunedin) in the U17 Mens and Womens.

The Elite races provided great excitement and anticipation for the very vocal crowd watching on a race course designed in part to allow fantastic viewing options. Dirk Peters rode like a man possesed today in the six lap Elite Mens race, and led from start to finish to win by over two minutes. Any slight threat of a challenge and Peters had the perfect answer – more pace and aggression which carried him to his first National Championship title as an Elite athlete. Peters couldn’t have been happier, and clearly enjoyed his win against the deepest field of competition seen at a National Championship for many years. In the Womens race, the contest was always going to be between Beijing Olympian Rosara Joseph (Wellington) and in form NZ MTB Cup leader Karen Hanlen (Whakatane). Hanlen sat on Joseph’s wheel for the first two laps, before applying the throttle during lap three to hammer home an unbeatable lead. Hanlen stretched her legs for the remainder of the race to win by a stunning three minutes, and the smiling ex multi-sporter reinforced her form with her first National Championship title. Both Hanlen and Joseph are gunning for the 2012 London Olympics spot, and Hanlen’s early season challenge to what has been Joseph’s domain in recent years is providing a fascinating prelude to the upcoming Olympics selection process.

Anton Cooper (Woodend) is fast becoming a drawcard at these events, and his race craft and domination of his Junior rivals something of a talking point. Starting two minutes behind the Elites, Cooper first paced away from his U19 competition, and steadily clawed back the outright leader on course (Peters), before passing him on the fouth lap. Cooper won comfortably from surprise package Sam Gaze (Cambridge) today claiming back to back National Championship wins in the Juniors. Like Cooper, Mary Gray (Dunedin) also won her second Junior National Championship title today, in a led from the front win.

The National Mountain bike Championship programme concludes tomorrow with the Downhill and Cross Country Eliminator races in Nelson.

Full Results Super D

Full Results Cross Country

NZ Mountainbike Championships Cross Country Eliminator and Downhill Wrap
Waghorn Survives the Eliminator; Leov Doubles Title Haul

The RaboDirect NZ Mountainbike Championships finished today with the Cross Country Eliminator and Downhill events contested on the slopes of Fringed Hill in the Brook Valley, Nelson. The hot, windy weather continued and the sunshine heralded new National Champions in two very tough cycling disciplines – one new and one well established.

The Cross Country Eliminator (XCE) drew 16 competitors for its first showing on the national circuit. A mix of Junior U17, U19 and Elite athletes took the challenge during a midday break in the downhill schedule. Raced on a short 500m long course around and through the event village, the knock-out style competiton, where four man heats delivered first and second placed riders through to the next round (while 3rd and 4th were eliminated) had a huge crowd lining the course and urging riders through their heats. The crucial part of each lap proved to be the short gravel track climb, and in the early heats the only clear favourite seemed to be Anton Cooper (Woodend) with his explosive power off the start line. The final four riders were Cooper, Mathew Waghorn (Palmerston North), Craig Oliver (Christchurch) and Harley Going (Whangarei). Off the line it was an elbow to elbox wrestle between Waghorn and Cooper going into the short climb, with Waghorn able to leverage just enough advantage to turn through the top of the course in the front. Despite a massive sprint from Cooper, Waghorn won the inaugural XCE national championship title by half a wheel. Oliver kept his nerve from a charging Harley Going to win the bronze medal.

The Downhill event drew a huge crowd, with a win on the Fringed Hill course considered one of the ultimate prizes in NZ downhill racing. Right through the lead-up age group categories, the form riders from the early part of the NZ MTB Cup seemed to hold advantages over their chasing rivals. Two Nelson riders who hadn’t yet made NZ Cup appearances upset the form book by winning their categories – Hayden McKay in the 30-39 Master Men, and Tania Carson in the Open Women. McKay’s win giving him back to back championship titles in this very competitive category. Another Nelson rider, Leo Sandler in his first year in the Junior U19′s won the gold, and in a stunning time that placed him within the top ten Elite times.

But it was the Elite contest that captivated the Fringed Hill crowd. Multi-time National Champion Harriet Harper (Nelson) held the fastest seeding time in this category by a mile, but had to settle for second place today after a truly inspired race by Sarah Atkin. Any doubt that the young Lower Hutt downhill exponent could foot it with Harper (the fastest female rider in NZ over recent years) was put to rest with her National Championship title today. The Mens Elite race was incredibly close. Matt Walker (Kawerau) attacked from an early start position to lead for some time before Bryn Dickerson (Wellington) unseated him from the top of the leaderboard. NZ based amateur Dickerson put the bike down on the last corner as well, loosing valuable seconds which he would rue while nervously watching the last starters come to the line one by one. George Brannigan (Havelock North) snuck past Dickerson, but Justin Leov confirmed his liking and success history with Nelson race courses to win by just over a second. The Downhill National Championship win made it two titles for Leov for the weekend, joining his Super D gold from Friday night. Leov and Atkin will now proudly wear their race jerseys this year on the world stage with right sleeves constructed as a NZ flag, the internationally recognised downhill National Champions identification.

The Downhill medallists presentation wrapped up a busy weekend for NZ’s top mountainbikers in Nelson. Quality fields in all categories were an absolute highlight, and all title winners were justly deserved. The NZ MTB Cup resumes for Downhill riders in Rotorua Feb 11/12th, and for Cross Country riders in Wellington Feb 19th.

Full Results Cross Country Eliminator

Full Results Downhill

Issued for MTBNZ Events