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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 […]
6Fattie is here. Specialized embrace the cush new era of semi-fat trail bikes with a dedicated Stumpjumper rolling on 6Fattie (27.5+) wheels. Hold on tight, they look like fun! Click here for our final review of the Stumpjumper FSR 6fattie Comp. The Stumpjumer 6Fattie rolls on 650b tyres that boast a whopping 3″ width. While not […]
The expanding lineup of women’s specific bikes at Specialized is testament to growth in demand, but there are few brands out there that offer women’s bikes and product on such a complete level as the crew from California. For 2016 we will see an entirely new women’s trail bike, with 150mm of generous travel on 650b wheels […]
Old name, new game. The 2016 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR is hotter than the surface of the sun, and boasts some pretty cool features. It is hard to believe that a bike that we’re so fond of could be improved, but here goes. For 2016, the Stumpjumper FSR tightens up its geometry numbers with an even shorter […]
Old name, new game. The 2016 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR is hotter than the surface of the sun, and boasts some pretty cool features. It is hard to believe that a bike that we’re so fond of could be improved, but here goes. For 2016, the Stumpjumper FSR tightens up its geometry numbers with an even shorter […]
It’s time to unbox all the goodies and build up our Yeti 5C test bike with the all-new Shimano XT groupset. Oh dear, this is going to be fun. Take a peek at our first impressions of the whole XT group here: https://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/shimano-xt-11-speed-with-new-11-42-cassette/ The Yeti 5C has been mighty impressive, on a recent trip to Rotorua […]
The best thing to happen to mountain bikes since tubeless tyres is the adjustable seatpost. It’s one part that we can’t do without, and seeing them become a standard part on most dual suspension bikes from 120mm and up is a wonderful thing indeed! We scratch our heads when we’re told by fellow riders that […]
Giant have really stepped it up a notch with the latest Reign, everything about it speaks the right lingo to the booming new-school crew of hard trail riding and enduro racers. From the bike’s geometry, to the choice of the most popular components, confirming to us that the folks at Giant have their ears to […]
When it comes to the business of slowing you down, it has been a great year for SRAM and their new Guide series of brakes. They’ve shrugged off the horrendous 1980s-Alfa Romeo-style consistency issues of the Elixir and delivered a brake with power, feel, great adjustability and, very importantly, reliability. You can read our full review of […]
The day that many were waiting for, the Enduro. In the Crankworx calendar was a particularly large event, the first round of the highly anticipated Enduro World Series. The first round of any series brings a buzz of excitement with everything new again, and this case with the whole EWS show still in its relative infancy […]
First day of Crankworx competition, Whip Offs! And here is our photo gallery from the day on the hill.
GT Factory Racing have unveiled the bikes that they hope will carry them to a clutch of World title victories this season. Both the GT Fury and GT Sanction are housed on 650b wheels and are the result of three seasons close collaboration between the Atherton family and their bike partner GT. Gee and Rachel […]
New year, new challenges, new game-changer for gravity-fed mountain biking In August, Crankworx Events Inc. announced it would add a third location to its global brand, opening the door for the 12-year-old festival to become a three-stop world tour staged in Rotorua, New Zealand, Les Deux Alpes, France and its Canadian hometown of Whistler, B.C. […]
Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Anton Cooper has reclaimed New Zealand Mountain Bike Championship honours after winning the elite men’s cross country race in Rotorua. The championships are a feature event of the first weekend of the annual Rotorua Bike Festival In a repeat of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Cooper held off fellow New Zealand representative Sam Gaze. […]
You won’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that any S-Works is going to an absolute pleasure to ride, Specialized stop at nothing when dressing their flagship model bikes in the most ridiculously fine components money can buy. But when you wave the S-Works wand at a big travel Enduro, we found you end […]
Yet another win for Jason English over the weekend at the 24 hour Nduro over the weekend in Rotorua. A fine achievement by an incredible rider, but the story of the weekend is Rotorua local Lance Tavinor’s amazing effort to raise money for Kidney Health New Zealand. Hero. Legend. Brother. Rotorua mountain biker, Lance Tavinor […]
Holy Guacamole that was fast! As was predicted, it was only a matter of minutes before the four hundred ametuer places for the first round of the EWS sold out- three to be exact. Read below for the official word, and we’ll see you in March. Wondering what trails they’re going to use in the […]
It’s not just the Australian Team DERT joining the EWS ranks this year, a record number of professional teams will be fighting it out for spots on the podium. Read on for the official press release. The countdown to the 2015 Enduro World Series is gathering pace – and this year a record number of […]
The 2015 International Enduro Season will kick off with a bang at the RockShox Enduro Challenge, Powered by SRAM when 2013 Enduro World Champion Jerome Clementz will take on 2014 champion Jared Graves and his Yeti team mate, Richie Rude on the slopes of Mt Buller in Victoria. Clementz, who was forced to sit out […]
This happened to us. The recently opened Australian Alpine Epic Trail is teeming with huge vistas, magical flow, effortless speed, massive trail variety and it’s all in a wide-eyed frothing ride that gives that feeling that only the most epic of epic rides can deliver. It’s a big day out, with plenty of climbing and hard effort […]
The empowerment theme is a big one in women’s cycling at the moment. Done well, the range of women’s riding desires and experiences gain visibility, traction and respect. Done badly, conversations descend into debates about product names, colour choices and whether ‘women’s specific’ products are really necessary. The Specialized Rumor Evo 29 rises above debates […]
We are bloody excited to have taken delivery of the S-Works Enduro 650B, their appropriately named big mountain gravity enduro bike. The Enduro is available in both 29″ and 650B wheel sizes (29″ with slightly less travel) and of course a few models at lower price points, plus there is also an EVO variant (a coil shock […]
Holy wheel of camembert, Mt Buller’s trails aren’t going to know what hit them! Insane-fast Frenchman, 2013 EWS Overall Champ Jerome Clementz, is confirmed to race the opening round of the new RockShox Enduro Challenge at Buller! Come on now, Gravesy, you need to show this man who is boss on home turf. Read on […]
While we mainlanders have been making cruel (and basically untrue, of course) jokes about Tasmanians for years, it’s now their turn to laugh at us. Because when it comes to mountain biking, Tasmania is storming ahead of the rest of Australia in the trails-to-population ratio. The first part of our whirlwind trip to Tassie was […]
Here at Flow, we spend a lot of time exploring trails far away from home as we scour Australasia looking for the best mountain biking the region has to offer. But when we head off on our Flow Nation trips, it’s always a bit of a gamble as to which bike to take with us […]
Here at Flow, we spend a lot of time exploring trails far away from home as we scour Australasia looking for the best mountain biking the region has to offer. But when we head off on our Flow Nation trips, it’s always a bit of a gamble as to which bike to take with us […]
Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) wishes to announce some adjusted dates and details for the 2014-15 Subaru Australian Mountain Bike Series and the 2015 Oceania Mountain Bike Championships. The 2015 Oceania Championships, in conjunction with the final round of the Subaru National Series, has been rescheduled and will now be held from 26 February to 1 […]
Last week, Flow was fortunate enough to spend the day up in the rolling hills of Old Hidden Vale, a serene oasis of singletrack to the west of Brisbane. We were there to take a closer look at the 2015 line up from Advance Traders, the Aussie distributors of Norco, Merida and Lapierre. Old Hidden […]
The Holy Grail of mountain bike ownership is finding the ‘one bike’. We all like to dream that it’s out there – a garage-decluttering, wallet-saving, partner-soothing super bike that can spin out a 50km cross country ride with the same ease as it will demolish your local downhill track. Dream crushing time: it doesn’t exist yet. So what […]
With a passionate club, super active trail builders, all-year riding weather, regular race meets, properly equipped bike shops and a healthy cycling vibe throughout town, it’s got all the foundations to grow into one of the leading regional mountain bike destinations in Australia. Over the years we’ve made many a trip west to spend some […]
Getting your hands on a product with which you’ve had no previous experience is always enjoyable: will it open your eyes to a whole new product line, or it will reaffirm why you’ve generally stuck with an offering from the better known brands? The Formula 35 is definitely one of those products. We didn’t even […]
Norco’s bikes haven’t just come on a little bit in the past four or five years. No, they’ve improved astronomically and the Sight range is really indicative of all that progress. A couple of years ago, Norco launched the Sight in a 26” wheeled variant, but for 2014 it undergoes the shift to 27.5” wheels whilst […]
This week we happily welcome a brand new addition to our long-term test fleet – Giant’s 2014 Trance Advanced SX. So fresh, you can almost still smell Taiwan. We’ve just finished assembling this beast, here are our first impressions. We put the aluminium framed Trance 1 to the test over a week of riding in […]
The Fox Creek trail network is located 45 minutes out of Adelaide SA and it’s a place you want to visit. This fully signposted trail network has something for all mountain bikers. There is even a vineyard at the trailhead with a pizza oven. Great times. Flow caught up with IMBA Australia director and trail […]
Well we’ve finally got the Storck Rebel Seven build completed! We previewed this bike as a frame only a few weeks ago, but put it on the back burner while we headed to New Zealand to shoot the Ride Rotorua Top Ten Trails series. Looking at this beast now, we don’t know why we waited […]
Well we’ve finally got the Storck Rebel Seven build completed! We previewed this bike as a frame only a few weeks ago, but put it on the back burner while we headed to New Zealand to shoot the Ride Rotorua Top Ten Trails series. Looking at this beast now, we don’t know why we waited […]
Welcome to the Soapbox – a place where we invite you to express your opinion, no matter how well or ill-informed. A chance to vent your spleen, sing your praise, or chuck a tantie. Got something to blurt about? Send it to crew@flowmountainbike.com, and we might put it online. All Soapbox submission must be […]
Same name, very different game. GT’s 2014 Sensor appears to be a big step into the future, when compared to the 2013 model of the same name. What GT has aimed to do is build upon their Independent Drive system which we’ve known for many years, and improve on it. And with the new bigger […]
Giant’s overhaul of the Trance range this year went the whole nine yards. This was no quick botox and collagen, oh no, Giant booked the Trance in for the works: nip and tuck, implants, hair extensions and more. Diana Ross would be in awe. Design: The question isn’t so much what have Giant changed on […]
Norco are doing great things with their suspension bikes. The last couple years have seen the Canadian mob release many finely balanced dual suspension bikes with unique and cleverly engineered designs. We loved their downhill bike, the Aurum, the first variant of the 26″ wheeled Sight and more recently the first generation of 650B wheel sized […]
Norco are doing great things with their suspension bikes. The last couple years have seen the Canadian mob release many finely balanced dual suspension bikes with unique and cleverly engineered designs. We loved their downhill bike, the Aurum, the first variant of the 26″ wheeled Sight and more recently the first generation of 650B wheel sized […]
With a week on the trails of Rotorua on the horizon, Flow handpicked four of the new breed of 27.5″ trail/all-mountain bikes to put to the test. One of these was Pivot’s mouth watering Mach 6 Carbon, a bike we previewed a couple of weeks ago on our home trails. Design: All carbon and all […]
Giant are back to their butt-kicking ways and the competitively priced Trance 1 ($3399) is tipped to be the biggest mover in the new Giant line up. Flow picked this silver beast as one of the four 27.5″-wheeled test bikes to accompany us to Rotorua for a week of riding and filming.
Giant are back to their butt-kicking ways and the competitively priced Trance 1 ($3399) is tipped to be the biggest mover in the new Giant line up. Flow picked this silver beast as one of the four 27.5″-wheeled test bikes to accompany us to Rotorua for a week of riding and filming.
I’m scratching my way up a trail, about 3000 metres above sea level. Down on the beach the air is richly stuffed with oxygen. Up here the molecules have a lot of room to rattle around in. The climb has rockgardens and roots, and steep pitches of varying length and intensity. The steady uphill […]
“Are you digging the Lapierre, Mick?” “Mate, just stand back and take a look at it, check out the angles on this thing, it’s so slack, long and low. So much faster than your bike.” There are so many elements that come together to make a bike suit a picky rider that knows exactly what […]
We’ve heard how some hate it and some love it but here’s a different and personal story on how it can help. I associate Strava with cancer. Not in the sense of a ‘cancer on the soul of mountain biking’ as some do. And not in a bad way. Strava helped lead me back […]
Enduro racing made its debut in Dunedin, New Zealand, in December when a field of almost 100 riders raced the inaugural Urge 3 Peaks Enduro. [SV_VIMEO id=”56219692″] The event, organised by former XC professional and Olympian Kashi Leuchs and Mountain Biking Otago attracted a field that included competitors from Chile, UK, Germany and the North […]
Patrick Avery was a young man with a huge future. He tragically passed away in early December after suffering a heart failure while racing near his hometown of Rotorua. Paddy, as everybody called him, was a keen mountain biker, and represented New Zealand at the Worlds in Canberra, but he was far too much of […]
Sometimes you just want to ride your mountain bike, but without looking too much like a mountain biker. You know, whack on something a little more ‘basic’ and going for a shred leaving that anti-fungal-sweat-wicking-reflecto-multi-pocketed-silicone-grippered jersey at home and getting back to your roots. This is what drew us to Nzo’s latest merino goodies, the […]
**Join Mike Kennedy each month right here on Flow on his journey to the BC Bike Race We all love to dream of living the life; railing endless berms of hero dirt, smooth flowing lines through lush forests, jumps, transitions, roost coming off the back wheel, bike and body in harmony. But as wise […]
**Join Mike Kennedy each month right here on Flow on his journey to the BC Bike Race We all love to dream of living the life; railing endless berms of hero dirt, smooth flowing lines through lush forests, jumps, transitions, roost coming off the back wheel, bike and body in harmony. But as wise […]
Nzo’s original Scuffers impressed the pants off many a rider. And with extra stretch and an updated look, the latest version Scuffers stick to the body like quality tyres to sweet Rotorua trails. [private] Nzo’s 2012 Scuffers retain many of the original version’s well-loved features. Velco waist tabs offer approximately 8cm of adjustment, to cater for […]
Forget ultra-slow motion and macro magnification. In an industry obsessed with sluggish, 1080p frame-by-frame shots, Trail Notes ventures boldly where no film has gone since the 90s – back to basics. [private] Shot predominantly in Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa Forest, Trail Notes slips free of the current trends of mountain bike film-making to tell the stories of […]