The future of Downhill!

During the recent Queenstown Bike Festival we were lucky enough to help out a local young man by the name of Sam Robbie, who at 11 years old was the youngest competitor in the Dirtmasters DH race. We have seen young Sam thrashing around the trails on his trusty hardtail and when we heard he was racing we thought we have to lend him a DH bike for the occasion.

So we hooked Sam up with a 2012 Giant Glory 1 (in a small obviously) and let him go and terrorize the hill for the weekend of the race with all his mates. The grin on his face getting to ride one of these bikes was great for us to see and made all the better by the fact that after the race weekend he is off to hospital for knee surgery, so it was an extra special little treat for him.

Sam was shredding the race track to bits during practice, putting to shame people twice his age. He was loving riding a proper DH bike and it showed with his awesome 2nd place result in the 12-15 Junior Men category with a time of 4.22 (this placed him 68th overall in the field).

Sam is one a number of young groms that are starting to appear and be nurtured along by the very healthy mountain bike scene we have here in Queenstown. Another one to look out for is young Boaz Hebblethwaite who was also in Sam's category and seen to be ripping the track up over the weekend with his extremely stylish and smooth riding style, unfortunately Boaz took a tumble in his race run, otherwise he would have been right up there! These two are ones to watch out for in the future!

POC in New Zealand for 2012/13

POC, a mutiple award winning company, whose mission is to provide the best protection available on the market, whatever it takes. The have a very scientific approach to all their designs and consult with experts in their fields of relevant scientific and material engineer practices. All this adds up to a product which is going to give you the best fit and best protection compared to anything else on the market.

POC has not seen a NZ distributor for the mountain bike product until now, and the 2012/13 summer will see the POC brand hit the shelves of all the best local bike shops (including Vertigo Bikes).

The guys at POC sent us through some samples to try out throughout the summer so we could get a feel for the product and see what the fuss as all about. In the mix was the POC VPD knee and elbow guards, the HIP VPD Shorts and the Spine VPD tee. We are fortunate enough to be able to test all these items on a daily basis with our guiding and coaching that is held in the Queenstown Bike Park, so if there was going to be any short falls they would soon be apparent.


The most heavily used item over the season were the VPD 2.0 Knee guards. I havent been a fan of wearing knee guards on a daily riding basis and always felt restricted but these ones have changed my mind. The fit is great, you do have to remove your shoes to put them on, but the sock design is a common one amongst this style of knee guard, so not a big deal if your riding all day. The first thing that you notice about them is they feel very light and when you first put them on they feel very rigid. But there in lies the beauty of the VPD technology. Once you have them on, the VPD warms to your body temperature and moulds around your knee and feels very soft and agile almost like you are wearing nothing! There is only one velcro strap to hold them on at the top of the pad, which doesnt seem like it would be enough, but they just don't move once you have them on, no matter how rough the descent.
Pedaling in them is a breeze and since autumn has hit us here in Queenstown I have been enjoying using them to keep my knees warm during XC and trail rides.

What is VPD 2.0?
Visco Elastic Polymer Dough, a material used by POC through out all their body armour range. It is a special impact absorbing material designed by POC designed to take protection, agility and ergonomics to a new level. It is temperature sensitive and the material gets better once you have it on and body temperature starts to heat it up, which doesn't take long.

During the recent Queenstown Bike Festival I got to test out more of the POC goods whilst competing in the Dirtmaster DH event. It gave me the opportunity to try the VPD 2.0 Elbow guards and the Hip VPD 2.0. These are two types of protection I normally wouldn't wear but was keen to try them out and see if it was something I was use on a more regular basis.
The elbows have a very similar feel and look to the knee guards and the fitting system is almost identical. The biggest problem I have found with elbow guards in the past is that they do not stay in place, especially during rough descents. I was skeptical as to whether POC had solved this problem. It seems they have through the same way as the knee guards stay in place, as do the elbows. The VPD moulded perfectly to my elbow shape and they never moved at any point during the weekend. The picture above shows clearly that they are right where they should be and this was at the end of my race run.

The Hip VPD 2.0 was a completely new concept for me, I have never raced DH with anything like this on before even though other companies have offered it in the past. I loved it! It was nice to have something to offer protection for my bum and hip area. I did take a couple of small falls during the race weekend where I slid out onto my hips and the POC hip protectors stopped me from limping away with bruised and scratched up hips. You don't even notice having them on, which was a concern and I felt free to ride as I always do.

Overall I have been really impressed with all the POC gear, it does live up to the hype. The subtle, clean design and logos are a real selling point for me too, it all looks so clean and tidy when you have in on.

We are lucky that we now have the opportunity in NZ to purchase and feel more protected through these great products! I can wait to try the helmets, but that is another story altogether!

Thanks to Patrick Fallon Photography for the picture - www.fallon.co.nz

Queenstown Bike Festival

The second Queenstown Bike Festival has just finished after a 10 day long exravaganza of the best cycling has to offer in the Wakatipu. The first year saw the event getting thrown together over a matter of weeks on the lead up, and the organisers Southern Traverse have to be praised for getting the festival off the ground in such short notice and on such a small budget. It was truly visionary of them and something many people have talked about being missing from the Queenstown bike scene since the demise of the "Fat Tyre Festivals " that took place many years ago. Every element of biking was covered during the 10 day long spectacle, with the goal to allow everyone in the community and outwith to be able to attend something for their level and enjoyment. We had kids mini-cross, social coffee rides, night rides, road rides, XC races, DH races, video edit competitions, super D races and slopestyle events to name but a few.

The buzz in town was immense, and this years festival had a more international feel to it, rather than just a local showdown like last year. The imagination of people outwith Queenstown has definitely been captured, and the media attention it has received is going to help cement it as a must do event for any bikers calendar. From personal experience from this festival the more you got involved and participate the more you get out of it and the more enjoyable it became. There was a warm feeling of camaraderie and bonding between the locals, as we all got to ride together more than we would normally during the busy summer in this tourist driven hot spot. Friendships that have fallen by the way side over the months as we have been too wrapped up in work are rekindled and the cranks are turned side by side once more.

What is more we got to share these proud emotions with out of towners and international competitors, many of whom it was their first visit to Queenstown riding our trails. Hopefully we put a good show on for them, they will tell all their friends and they will be back in force next year.

TEVA SLOPESTYLE

Special mention has to go to this event and a big shout out has to go to Teva for making it happen. This was a big risk for all parties involved, and a lot of work from a lot of different people went together to make this happen. The guys at Teva for funding it and marketing it so well; the course builders Tom Hey and Kelly McGarry for building such an amazing course in such a small time frame; the volunteers for picking up a spade and a rake to help Tom and Kelly get it ready in time and most of all to the crowd who turned up in there thousands to support this spectacular event.

Many words have been spoken about this event, most going along the lines of "sensational", "awesome", "mind blowing". Statements such as "best thing I have seen in Queenstown" were not uncommon also.
There are a lot of live down town events such as these throughout the year, but this one stood out for many reasons. The action was non-stop, riders were thrilling the crowd for the entire 3 hours, and the action was world class. The crowd was amazing, sometimes you can have big crowd but they can be lifeless. Not here, the crowd was loving every minute of the action and getting behind the riders making them push themselves and wanting to go higher and pull harder tricks!
Teva were nothing short of generous throughout, with a plethora of Teva branded goodies constantly sailing into the crowd. T-man and JC behind the mike did an amazing job of keeping the crowd pumped throughout and working for their free giveaways.
The event was such a success that Teva have agreed to fund the event for the next 2 years!

THROUGH THE LENS SHORT VIDEO EDIT COMPETITION

This was a new event for this years bike festival, it had a basic layout, you had to create a short movie edit 5-7 mins long that featured a mixture of riding and lifestyle shots filmed in the Wakatipu area and the final videos were all shown at the World bar where people could mark the videos for their creativity and lifestyle vibe.
All in all their were 8 video edits compiled for the final showing at the World Bar. The venue proved to be a great choice, with all us bikers getting the entire outside area which had a big projector screen and wood fires burning with plenty of room for everyone to pack in. The atmosphere was spot on, and pretty much the entire local mountain bike fraternity turned up to see what was on offer and just generally have a good time with mates.
The videos were a real mixed bag, from the super serious JonTv super tweaked pristine edit to just plain fun ones like local legend Pete MacInallys "When Lycra goes Bad" edit.
Plenty of laughs and good times were shared and in the end there was only one man who was going to win with his super polished homage to the Queenstown summer, which was a beautiful compilation of all the best bits that Jon has filmed all summer. Everyone was just silent watching it and you couldn't help but feel proud to be part of this area and it really showed that we have something special here in Queenstown.

DIRTMASTERS DH

Last but not least would describe this event. Held on the last weekend in the bike festival calender. The entry numbers doubled from last year which was great to see, with more people making the journey to Queenstown to participate in this superb event, with the top 5 NZ DH riders racing the event (all top 10 World Cup racers), it really was of truly international standard.

The track was put together by local legend Blair Christmas and it prove to be a popular one with a great mix of all the Queenstown Bike Park has to offer, with a few new sections cut in especially for the race. The finish was in town down the Brecon Street steps, finishing just outside of Vertigo Bikes. The clock stopped at the finish of the tracks in the Bike Park but the organisers wanted to have a ceremonial finish in town to help bring the event to the masses which it did nicely.

Lots of locals made the effort too, young and old, with special mention to a couple of the two young rippers that are the future of the sport being Sam Thomson and Boaz Hebblethwaite, both only 11 years old and putting some pretty hot times down on the demanding track!

In the big boys categories, the racing was always going to be hot, as the top 5 men could all win world cups on their day. In the end Sam Blenkinsop took the win

with a ridiculous time of 3.30, closely followed by Justin Leov on 3.31 and Alexandra local Mat Scoles in 3rd on 3.32. It was impressive to see how fast the worlds best could rip down Ben Lomond, and gives something for locals to aspire too.

All in all the 2012 Queenstown Bike Festival was a superb event that was received well both by locals and by the visitors. The only way is up from here and the festival can only gather momentum and get bigger each year. Us Vertigo boys are already counting down the days until next year already, bring it on!

Speights Summit Super D 2012

Vertigo Bikes Team take the win two years on the trot!

The Speights Summit Super D was in the inaugural event for the 2012 Queenstown Bike Festival and took place on Saturday 31st March in the Queenstown Bike Park, utilising the Skyline Gondola. The format was simple, race against the clock for 6 hours, clocking up as many laps as you could in that time. Do it as a team of two or three, or even solo for those man enough.

Super D enduro events are proving more and more popular every year, and the turn out at this one was no different. It was great to see lots of people from out of town making the journey this year and entries were pretty much double that of last year.

The course this year was superb, it had a real mix of technical descents and lung busting climbs. You started off heading down the top of the Vertigo track, and then straight into Thingymajig. Once you hit the mid-way clearing you then faced the first climb back up Fernhill Loop for about 4-5 mins until you met Hammies Track. A flat out blast down Hammies until you reached the One Mile walking track where you had a new section trail to ride with some technical switchback climbs that took you onto Singletrack Sandwich. Down Singletrack Sandwich until you hit Original in the open section, where you then climbed back up to the Step Up/Step Down section. This had a real little short pinch of a climb in it which hsaw a few people getting off and walking and battling cramp! From here you turned back on yourself and it was through an old piece of singletrack that was cut a few years back that weaves it way through an open grassy paddock that connects back to Original a bit further down. Then it was a flat out blast down the rest of Original and along the return trail and back to the pits by the Gondola bottom terminal.
Lap times were around the 24/25 minute mark, with the fastest lap being just under 23 minutes.

The most hotly contested event was the team of two event, with the racing remaining really tight right until the very end. Matt Scholes and Jimmy Pollard of Alexandra took the win over Paul Angus and Blair Christmas by just over one minute over the 6 hours of racing!

The Vertigo Bikes/Giant team won the three man team by over 2 laps after the 6 hours, with Tim Ceci, Simon Smith and Jamie Tilbury showing domination throughout.

Ethan Glover took out the solo win, and also the fastest time to complete 15 laps throughout the 6 hours, very impressive indeed!

Another superb event and a great start to the week long two wheeled festival!

Photos courtesy of Spoke Magazine, cheers Caleb

Teva Makes Great Debut to Mountain Bike Shoe Market

Teva, thats "teh”-vah," not "tee-vah" have been around for 25 years, and have built their reputation on water based sports shoes, stemming from rafting operations in the Grand Canyon! Does this make them a suitable candidate for producing a mountain bike shoe? Well they have all the technology in place, amalgamated with a well chosen collaboration with legendary freerider Jeff Lenosky, they have produced a new purpose built flat soled freeride shoe.

But as a company Teva are not that unfamiliar with the mountain bike scene, supporting mountain biking at the Teva Mountain Games for the past five years and the event is now recognised as one of the premier freeride competitions.

They are a very environmentally aware company, and support many environmental initiatives such as the “Waterkeepers Alliance” and “Conservation Alliance”. They have a great company philosophy stating that-

“In the end, we want to make shoes that help you see the world, but not at the cost of making a world that you don’t want to see.”

Does this philosophy suit mountain bikers, yes I think it does! We are a curious breed who like to see new things, explore new areas and find special moments of solitary in beautiful environments. We love nature and being in the mountains, and if we can support a company who is dedicated to keeping the mountains the way they should be, that has got to be a good thing!

So as for the shoe itself, well we have been lucky to get some samples from Teva NZ to try out over winter, and the model we received to use and abuse is the “Link”. It is a great looking shoe, and the attention to detail is what really impressed me, they have obviously gone all out to produce a real competitor to try and dilute the 510 monopoly that is out there at the moment.

The first thing you notice when you pick them up is how light they are, they have definitely done what they can to keep the wait down without sacrificing performance and protection. The second thing you notice is the sole, which has three distinct sections to it. You have the main grip pad taking up most of the space perfectly where you want to have your foot on the pedal. Then you have a more aggressive tread design at the front and the back of the shoe. The front is to aid traction when walking up a trail, and the back section on the heel (Teva call it their E-Brake) has a reverse lug pattern to help aid traction when walking down the trail, very clever (great for trail building days!) There is also a rigid heel stabiliser to help keep your foot centred in the shoe.

These are all great little features that add to the overall package but the bit I like the best and will probably appeal to a lot of riders out there who like to ride a lot in the mud is the special technology that Teva have brought from their years of experience in the water sports industry to make the shoe resistant to absorbing water on a molecular level they say! Sounds very Star Trek, but Teva’s “Ion Mask” technology combined with waterproof materials throughout the rest of the shoe, means that the shoe should keep your feet a bit dryer and will be easier to wash after the end of a muddy ride! Love it!

So the nitty gritty! How do they ride? The sole is made from Teva’s “Spider365 sticky rubber” and to put any rumours to rest straight away, out of the box, the sole is not as glue like sticky as a 510, I would describe it to be more like a semi-worn set of 510’s. Is this a bad thing? For those of you who have been 510 users for a while will know that they are too grippy when new, and don’t start to feel their best until they do wear to a certain point, whereas the Teva Links feel like this straight out of the box. A lot of flat pedal riders use flat pedals because we like the feeling of freedom that being able to move your foot around on the pedal gives. We like the little positional shifts that happen so naturally when you are really flowing with a trail and in the air, and sometimes having a shoe that is too grippy really impinges on this.

On the trail, like any good product, you didn’t even notice them. Blasting down the Vertigo Trail in Queenstown Bike Park (which is rough and fast) I felt completely confident in the shoes from the first straight, jumping into braking bumps, rock gardens, roots and holes, there was no sign of them going anywhere on the pedals. After using 510’s for almost 10 years now, I was blown away that I could even think I could ride another brand of shoe, so well done Teva, you have hit the nail on the head with the Links!

These will be available from all good bike shops soon, including Vertigo Bikes!

Vertigo Bikes in the Hilton!

Vertigo now has a shop situated at the new Hilton Hotel out in Frankton. This now gives Vertigo a year round presence in Queenstown for bike rental and the other services we offer which is something we have been looking for for a few years now.

We will have bike rental available for all the Hilton Hotel customers and people situated in the nearby area also.

There will be a range of kids bikes and adult bikes of all sizes, and this will be expanded come start of the summer to a full range of bikes, with higher performance full suspension bikes and some retail and workshop services offered too.

All bike rentals include a helmet, toolkit, pump and free trail map.

Bikers get bang for bucks on gondola season pass prices

Mountain bike nuts will get more bang for their bucks in the resort this year.

Tourism giant Skyline has set its inaugural eight-month season pass prices for gondola access to its trails at Bob’s Peak – and has landed a national downhill event too.

Riders wanting lifts up to the newly-named Queenstown Bike Park will fork out $599 for the season, Mountain Scene can reveal.

Bikers can access Ben Lomond Reserve trails from September 4 till April 29, weather permitting.

Riders had to stump up $475 for a pass during an initial four-month trial period from January to April this year, so Skyline boss Jeff Staniland expects the new price to be well received.

“Gondola access sort of captured everyone’s imagination and everyone’s been pleasantly surprised with how it has worked,” Staniland says. “At least we don’t have to wait for snow,” he quips.

During the trial run, gondola access pulled a number of high profile riders to town – including the three Atherton siblings, stars on the international circuit, for a two-month training stint.

What your 2011/12 pass will cost
				Adult	Child	Family
Single gondola ride				$30	$15	$75
Half day pass				$45	$25	$115
Day pass				$60	$30	$150
3 day pass				$165	$85	$415
5 day pass				$250	$125	$625
Half Season pass				$475	$225	n.a
Season pass				$599	$299	n.a

Along with biking celebrities, gondola access has also attracted a NZ Mountain Bike Cup national downhill series event on January 7 and 8.

And the second Queenstown Bike Festival is locked in for next Easter from March 31 till April 9, event organiser Geoff Hunt says.

He adds the resort continues to grow as a biking destination, with about 100 riders at a recent night ride at Seven Mile.

“If you did that a year ago, there might have been 25 bikers,” Hunt says.

“What the gondola did was change the dynamics.

“It was busy last season, it’ll be a lot busier this season for sure.”

New Queenstown Mountain Bike Club president Tom Hey also thinks punters will be “pleasantly surprised” with pass prices.

But he warns someone still needs to take control of trails and maintenance patrols.

“It’s a good community asset but it needs to be managed,” Hey says.

Hey predicts more northern hemisphere riders will be pulled to the resort for training, but warns trail development also needs to continue or riders will get bored.

Despite the full-length season, Staniland says Skyline is still perfecting the mountain biking model – and it hasn’t made a decision to provide access in the long-term to the Queenstown Lakes District Council-run reserve.

Staniland adds work on the QBP needs to progress, and he has made a submission to council for funding.