Enjoy reading this?
Get similar articles delivered directly to your inbox
As Disney’s Lion King once observed, ‘it’s the circle of life’. When Be Rude Not To was bulldozed into oblivion back on 2011, it was a heartbreaking moment for thousands of mountain bikers who’d run their tyres over this incredible old trail. A tough pill to swallow perhaps but that’s the reality of building trails […]
Could you name your favourite trail in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Forest? With hundreds of kilometres of the world’s best singletrack to chose from, picking one trail as top dog is a big ask. Gaz Sullivan – the force behind Nzo clothing – has spent more time in the forest than most of the trees have. He […]
*This story was last updated on April 24 Grab some sunscreen and your best party shirt because Crankworx is returning to Cairns May 22-26, 2024. Yes, that means it’s only a few days after the UCI Masters World Championships, which also descends on Cairns from May 16-19. Oh, and did we mention that Crankworx is […]
Crankworx is back babeeee, and the world’s best freeride athletes have set a course for Cairns this May, with the festival running from May 17-21. “Now hang on just one minute,” we can hear you saying. “Wasn’t Crankworx just here?” It sure was, with the festival landing in Aus for the first time back in […]
Holy crap, it’s already mid-December, where has the last year gone? With the silly season looming, Team Flow is all hands on deck to put a bow on 2022. While Santa is packing his sleigh and the reindeer are doing their stretches, the bike industry has kicked into hyperdrive. In the last couple of weeks, […]
It’s been a while since we last embedded with the Polygon crew for shenanigans on two wheels, but this time we’ve traded the high alpine for the tropical rainforest. Crankworx Cairns brought some of the world’s best to Tropical North Queensland, including from team Polygon, who combine forces with the Aussie contingent to put on […]
Hello Flow Frothers, and welcome to a frosty edition of Flow’s Fresh Produce. As the cold well and truly sets in across the country, take a journey with us to the warmer climes of Tropical North Queensland for a look at the Triple R through the ages. The race turns 30 this year, making it […]
We’re back again with another wintery edition of Flow’s Fresh Produce. The snow has been piling up in the alpine areas, and the warm riding clothing has been in heavy rotation at Flow HQ. With the mercury continuing to drop, we’re currently dreaming of the Reef to Reef. Running from August 18-21, the race is […]
Among the crocodiles and the cassowaries, Cairns will play host to a Crankworx World Tour stop from October 5-9, 2022. The idea to bring Crankworx to Australia has been bubbling away in the background since just after the World Championships rolled through Cairns in 2017. Matt Hilton from GTR Events — which ran the Cairns […]
Standing 1,390m above sea level, Mount Canobolas is an extinct volcano near Orange, NSW, with a paved road to the summit and as much a 500m of usable vertical drop — sounds like a no brainer for a mountain bike trail network, right? The potential for something special is precisely why Rodney Farrell has been […]
Last year when we took a deep dive into what native logging means for Blue Derby, we learned that there was a plan in the works to encapsulate the footprint of Blue Derby into a reserve that would protect the trail network from logging. As recently as January 21, 2022, Sustainable Timber Tasmania has confirmed […]
Melrose is one of Australia’s oldest riding destinations. Constructed in 2005, the trails sit at the foot of Mount Remarkable on private land owned by the McCallum family. Restricted by property lines, there hasn’t been room to expand in the nearly two decades these trails have been around — until now. “We always have people […]
Tasmania’s West Coast is rugged and remote. The landscapes are raw, untamed and look more like what you would expect to find in the Rocky Mountains in North America, or even across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Queenstown (not the one in New Zealand) is the biggest population centre in Western Tasmania […]
According to Glen Jacobs from World Trail, “growing up in Northern Queensland, every second uncle and cousin always use to say, ‘ah, Cardwell is going to explode, it’s gonna go off — it’s an amazing place, this beautiful little town on the beach.’ But it never has, and I don’t know why.” Located about equidistant […]
In 2019 most of Australia was on fire, and Fox Creek Bike Park in the Adelaide Hills was at the epicentre of the Cudlee Creek Fire, which would consume nearly 25,000-hectares. The bike park is on Forestry SA land in the midst of a pine plantation, and just as the landscape around it was reduced […]
Get ready for some high-flying freeride action because the Australian Slopestyle Tour is confirmed for 2022, with four stops across three states. Slopestyle and freeride have lagged behind other disciplines of mountain biking in Australia, due to limited riding venues, and even fewer opportunities to compete. Fortunately that is all changing, with more freeride parks […]
Mountain bikers first took to Falls Creek in 2013, debuting with two XC trails and two descending trails. Three subsequent development stages have seen the network balloon to 40km, all set against an epic alpine background. The team at Falls have just announced a further 11km, set to open for the 2022/2023 riding season, but […]
Greetings fellow Flow Frothers, and welcome to the final edition of Flow’s Fresh Produce of the year! Yes, we’ve now officially entered it’s-nearly-Christmas-and-we’re-starting-to-panic-a-bit mode. But summer holidays are so close that we can almost touch them, and we cannot wait to get out there and get amongst it! For those desperately in need of some […]
Waking up in a hospital outside of Prague, Harriet Burbidge-Smith had crashed at a Red Bull Revelations four-cross event. Layed up and severely injured, she was hungry. “I still have no memory of the crash or about 24-hours before or after, but I lacerated my liver and had a pretty severe concussion. I spent about […]
Scott Thornhill is a 25-year-old slopestyle rider from Calgary Alberta, Canada with epic style on the bike and a big bag of tricks. He visited Australia in January 2020, looking to escape the winter season at home, but would eventually get to know more of Tasmania than he initially expected. Watch Scotty Thornhill ride and […]
Up until recently, there haven’t been many suitable ways to bring your child along with you while mountain biking. Rear-mounted child seats have of course been around forever, but they’re typically designed for commuting, touring or bike-path riding. Most of them attach via a pannier rack system too, which means they’re only compatible with rigid […]
Campsite one – Cowichan was my first glimpse of the tent city that is the BCBR home for the next seven days. I’ll be honest, I don’t like camping (it is too in tents…), and the tent city was a little daunting to see at first. Tent mates were selected, and we all settled in […]
We were in Maydena attending the Mountain Bike Destination Forum, which was brilliant event bringing all kinds of people connected to mountain bike destination development together in one room for two days. But either side of the forum, we managed to cram in a bit of riding. Here’s what we gleaned. More trails. Lots more […]
G’day Samara, tell us a little bit about where you are from, and where you currently call home? I was born in Clyde (Central Otago, NZ) but Windy Wellington is home for me in NZ. After I finished school in Wellington, I joined a sports academy in Rotorua while I completed a Diploma in Communications. […]
WARNING: This edit is more than 3 minutes long – insert shock horror emoji. It contains beaches,Aussie sunshine, talking about the season and riding. If you can hold on to your seat for long enough, we think you’re going to like it. Sydney In the edit Kyle talks about his plans for the season and recaps his week in […]
The Torque is an all-new long travel monster from the fast-moving German brand selling directly to the consumer. Since Canyon came to Australia, we have continuously been impressed by their unique approach to the engineering of their suspension frames, with distinctly high attention to detail. The Torque is a huge bike, what type of rider […]
Kyle Strait partners with mountain bike apparel brand, DHaRCO, for 2018. For a relatively small Aussie brand, partnering with Kyle Strait seems a bit surreal. He’s one of our idols. Getting to know him and what makes him tick has been a great insight into why he’s such an amazing rider. He’s a genuine nice […]
We’re really excited to see Rounds 1 & 2 of the Enduro World Series coming back down under for 2019, making it far more accessible for Australia’s emerging enduro talent to make a strong start in the series. 22–23 March 2019 Round 1 – Rotorua, NZ 29–30 March 2019 Round 2 – Derby, Tasmania 10–11 […]
In 2017, Moir took the 2nd podium spot at the World Cup in Fort William, and kept it close to, or inside, the top 10 in the UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Cup — except for in Andorra. When he’s close enough to a round of the Enduro World Series, and his schedule allows, he’ll […]
Take one World Cup downhiller and one cross-country National Champion, mix them with a little Fox Creek grit, and then stick them in the Adelaide oven for two days… Voila! They emerge as Enduro National Champs! Troy Brosnan and Rowena Fry harken from completely opposite ends of the mountain bike spectrum, and given their niche backgrounds […]
Queensland’s Tracey Hannah is having an all-time World Cup season as well as winning several Crankworx downhill events, but Garbo had been on her list for some time, “It’s kind of a goal of mine, and for the last two years, I’ve been getting closer and closer to the Canadian girls. So to finally take the […]
Cannonball – RAW razz of his home trails James ‘Cannonball’ Hall can move dirt. Building and riding bigger jumps has always been high on his list. But he’s not just brawn, he’s also the brains behind the designs of mountain bike trails, jumps and pump tracks around Australia and North America. His industry experience is […]
After a consistent season of top 5 finishes including a 2nd at Ireland’s Round 4, Australia’s Sam Hill came to Millau just 20 points behind number 1 ranked Greg Callaghan. Hill had yet another strong race, especially on day two. After a 5th place in Stage 6, the three-time downhill world champ was a favourite for the shortest stage of […]
Alloy is so 2016… There has been an explosion of carbon mountain bike wheels (sometimes literally) in the past 18 months. A market that was once cornered by the likes of ENVE has been democratised and now proliferates with carbon hoops of all kinds of origins and qualities. Along with the abundance of options, we […]
If you take a look at the top end of EWS racing, you’ll see more than a few bikes decked out with coil shocks in the rear. Yes, they’re heavier, and they offer less on the fly adjustments than many air shocks on the market, but their predictability makes them a winner for many riders. We recently did […]
Faster than goannas up a tree, Canyon Australia young guns Baxter Maiwald and Kaia Ellis are two names to watch out for in the coming years. We met up with the two young shredders at Thredbo’s Cannonball MTB Festival for a bit of a chat about themselves and the Canyon Australia Downhill team, and some filming […]
We met up with the two young shredders at Thredbo’s Cannonball MTB Festival for a bit of a chat about themselves and the Canyon Australia Downhill team, and some filming on Thredbo’s fast and rocky Cannonball Downhill. As you can see from the video, Kaia and Baxter are real talents, and we wanted to know a […]
The Crankworx World Tour, born out of Whistler’s 10-day celebration of gravity-mountain biking, will grow to add another international location for summer 2017: Innsbruck, Austria. Innsbruck is the only city in the world to have hosted three Olympic Games and have a history with the kind of competition Crankworx does best: defying gravity. Having staged […]
We can scarcely believe we’re typing these words, but it has just been announced that the 2017 Enduro World Series is coming to Derby in Tasmania! Round two of the EWS will take over this little gem of a town on 8-9 April, 2017 for the Shimano Enduro Tasmania. This announcement is truly something special. Just […]
If rain is good luck on your wedding day, what does it mean for relentless storms to hammer a massive mountain bike festival over and over again? Well, arguably while the rain makes for great racing on a downhill bike unfortunately events like the Pump Track Challenge and Slopestyle just can’t go ahead once the […]
When Fabien Barel rocked up to Crankworx Rotorua Downhill with an unrecognisable downhill bike cleverly disguised in contrasting camouflage, the rumours were confirmed – Canyon would soon release a new DH race bike, awesome. The somewhat outdated 26″ wheeled Torque DHX with its aluminium frame and top-heavy four-bar linkage was surely next in line for […]
After a head-to-head battle with Canadian Cory Wallace, Jason English took a narrow win at the WEMBO 24 hour Solo World Championships in Rotorua. At the same time, the Australian created history. His 7th title broke the record of Chris Eatough, another legend of international endurance mountain biking. English felt he just had a bit […]
Manly Dam and the surrounding National Park trails in Sydney’s Northern Beaches was the place for an exciting opportunity for Specialized dealers and staff to meet and shred with Ned, and believe us we took him on the rockiest trails around and he absolutely killed it. Welcome to Sydney, Ned, how is your whirlwind tour […]
In it’s third year, the Enduro World Series continues to progress rapidly. 2015 was a rollercoaster of a journey. Looking back over the season, Richard Cunynghame guides you through the key moments. With injury and illness affecting potential champions and rising stars eager to jump into the limelight, it was clear from the start that […]
Rainbow Mountain, meaning ‘mountain of coloured earth’ is the home of the Te Ranga Mountain Bike Track in Rotorua, New Zealand. A volcanic past and 360 degree picturesque views, it’s also one of the many incredible trails that are managed by the Department of Conservation. In this clip, Brook ‘The Bulldog’ MacDonald and fellow New Zealand downhill […]
Les Gets, France brings Crankworx to a legendary Downhill hotspot Dates announced for Crankworx Rotorua, Crankworx Les Gets and Crankworx Whistler The podiums have been put away, but the Champagne keeps popping as the three-stop Crankworx World Tour announces it’s adding Les Gets, France to the family. Nestled in the 12-resort Portes du Soleil circuit, […]
The second annual Australian Mountain Bike Summit will take place at Mount Buller on 7-8 December 2015, and some of the Australian cycling industry’s key figures will be there for two days of presentations, workshops, discussion and a little bit of riding too. It’s all about pooling knowledge and experience to get a clear idea […]
Following a successful inaugural event in 2014, Mt Buller will host the second annual Australian Mountain Bike Summit on 7-8 December, with an impressive line-up of keynote speakers confirmed to deliver invaluable insights vital to the growth of mountain biking in Australia. The two-day Summit program has been designed purely to meet the needs of […]
Happy New Year! The bike industry has done the countdown, popped the cork and, with Rod Stewart’s rendition of Auld Lang Syne on the hi-fi, said goodbye to 2015. With Eurobike done and dusted, just about every bike brand has now shown us their wares for the new season. But before we begin afresh, riding […]
With Eurobike done and dusted, just about every bike brand has now shown us their wares for the new season. But before we begin afresh, riding whatever wheel size it is this year, we thought we’d take a look at our personal five top mountain bike ‘things’ of the past 12 months. These are just […]
Behind every cloud is a silver lining, and despite a one day rain delay which forced the postponement of the most highly anticipated event of the week-long Crankworx Whistler festival, Red Bull Joyride hit the mountain on August 16th showcasing slopestyle mountain biking under near perfect weather conditions. Watch the complete event replay here: REPLAY […]
OFFICIAL WHIP-OFF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY SPANK. The top 20 riders in the finals, down from 120, absolutely threw down on Crabapple Hits early Thursday afternoon. Casey BROWN (CAN) and Andreu LACONDEGUY (ESP) were named the 2015 Official Whip-Off World Champions, making Brown the owner of the women’s division. Judge Duncan Riffle said competitors are […]
The Crankworx Whistler Pump Track saw a serious battle Thursday evening with Adrien LORON (FRA) coming in, game face on, to carve out a name for himself as the first Pump Track Series winner. Loron and Joost WICHMAN (NED), the Pump Track Champion from Crankworx Rotorua, went head to head in the quarter finals, eliminating […]
So I thought, ‘why not get some feedback?’ Maybe it might lead to better events, in whatever format. Or maybe I’ll just be ostracised after publishing what may well be the thoughts of an idiot. Some background: In the past I raced a lot, and I was an event organiser for two events in the […]
After thrilling the Kiwi fans by sharing his victory lap in the Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle with friend Logan Peat, Canadian Brett Rheeder earned himself another celebratory sail through the concourse, taking the second round of the Triple Crown of Slopestyle in style. Rheeder put himself on top in the Crankworx Les 2 Alpes Slopestyle right […]
It was the longest the judges ever deliberated for a Whip-Off, but ultimately one sideways moment of steeze prevailed as Brazilian Bernardo Cruz leapt off the line to a win in the Official European Whip-Off Championships. Hitting the 45-degree mark and swinging back for an arrow-straight run-out, Cruz not only managed to steal victory […]
As a heatwave rolls through Europe, Crankworx Les 2 Alpes is shaping up to be one hot ticket with the biggest downhill race in its four-year history and heady competition among those vying for King or Queen of the World Tour. Current frontrunner in the King of the Crankworx World Tour standings, Martin SÖDERSTRÖM (SWE), […]
The best laid plans of mice and men. Our original plan for this gorgeous Pivot Mach 6 was to race it at the first round of this year’s EWS series in Rotorua; we had the frame kitted out with Shimano’s finest, we’d done the training, we’d colour matched our gloves and helmet… but it wasn’t to […]
Throughout the 2015 Enduro World Series we’ll be bringing you an insider’s perspective of Josh’s performance. For this unique series, we’ve teamed up with Today’s Plan, an Australian training tools provider, who work with Josh to analyse his training and monitor his performance. (Check out our first impressions of Today’s Plan here). Congratulations! You’re racking […]
Throughout the 2015 Enduro World Series we’ll be bringing you an insider’s perspective of Josh’s performance. For this unique series, we’ve teamed up with Today’s Plan, an Australian training tools provider, who work with Josh to analyse his training and monitor his performance. (Check out our first impressions of Today’s Plan here). So Josh, a good […]