Australian Mountain Bike Issue 198

Slowly but surely, life is returning to a new normal after over two years feeling cooped up. If you haven’t noticed, Australian mountain bikers have hit a new level riding on the world stage in 2022. Bec McConnell has lead the XCO and XCC World Cup for the first half of the series, and enters the World Champs as a handful of outright favourites. With Sam Fox edging towards the top 10 in U23 XC and Zoe Cuthbert doing the same in U23 women, the next generation is ready to go. And that says nothing of the other riders like Izzy Flint, Katherine Hosking, Cam Ivory, Holly Lubcke, Dom Paollili and more who have been banging bars in XCO this year. But what about the gravity scene? Both Remy Meier-Smith and…

JOIN US AT THE AMB 100 THIS SEPTEMBER! After a forced sidelining in 2021, the AMB 100 is back in 2022, returning to home turf at Stromlo Forest Park on September 18th. The long-standing marathon lets you choose what distance you want to challenge yourself with, providing something for those looking for a couple of hours on the dirt, through to those chasing an all-day challenge. Rocky Trail Entertainment set the course based on what trails are running the best. It’s usually about 25km or so, taking in a bunch of the favourites at Mt Stromlo, with a start and finish near the main trailhead. Then it’s up to you to choose the 1 lap, 2 lap or 3 lap option. Of course, for those who like a long ride or who…

LAZER CAGE The Lazer Cage is an all-new full-face helmet designed for the demands of modern enduro and downhill riding and racing.While the Lazer Cage will provide thorough protection for gravity racing, it also suits eMTB riding and trail riding. The helmet uses Lazer’s new KinetiCore construction, which uses the EPS foam with crumple zones to create more ventilation and to have rotational impact protection built into the helmet – not added. The Cage is said to offer not just the safety benefits of a 5-star Virginia Tech safety rating, but low weight and great ventilation as well. The helmet weighs 820g and comes in XS-XL sizing. It’s available in four different colours, keep an eye out for a review in our next issue. $459lazersport.com PIRELLI SMARTSEAL SCORPION SEALANT We knew it was coming,…

Pride month and NAIDOC week have come and gone for 2022 along with many other days that give a platform to minority groups, but how can we make sure that inclusion in sport is maintained for all the other months of the year? As riders we can take for granted some of our tail winds that allow us to participate in this sport. It’s quite an expensive and intimidating activity to enter and maintain, and the barriers to entry are invisible to some and very concrete to others. It’s easy to block out the campaigns around Pride and NAIDOC week because if we are not part of those communities, it may be hard to relate to the issues they are highlighting, or it feels too hard to know what the right thing…

Here’s the thing about dust: It does actually exist you know. You may be forgiven for thinking that it doesn’t, and fair play to you given the circumstances we currently find ourselves in. Our normally sun soaked nation feels sunk, both in body and spirit these past months, everyone’s gaze lies across the pond to Europe with its 35 degree summer days. I’m writing this article in stark contrast, across from a boiling hot fireplace deep in the Victorian High Country, while it again snows more than half a meter watching an early morning replay of the Andorran World Cup. Which, I’d like to point out, is still available free on Red Bull TV. So if at any point you feel the nostalgia about dust hanging a little too thick…

Working within the mountain bike trail industry is an awesome job, getting to work with landowners, trail builders, clubs, and riders to create new riding experiences and to provide frameworks to renew existing trail networks is rewarding in many ways. We are in a golden period of trail development, driven largely by federal and state government funding to build trail networks on public lands, or through local governments recognising the social and economic benefits that go hand in hand with mountain biking. In parallel we have also seen growth of privately funded, owned, and operated mountain bike parks across the country. In my opinion, the development of public trails in parallel with private parks is critical to ensuring all types of riding experiences are available. We tend to have too much blue…