League of Gentlemen series 2010

Well, the worlds greatest social "It's not a race" race series has finished for another year. The final round was held on Thursday 17th March up Skyline Gondola Hill with the infamous "Das Uber D" -the event that started the whole social race movement off in 2008.
The final round also included a fancy dress option, which everyone took part in. There were some great outfits to be seen, most notably Gina in her "Bridezilla" costume! Awesome effort!
The course was the usual affair, taking in all the best bits of the awesome Ben Lomond forest, with a few climbs thrown in the mix. A few of us chose to do an extended version, and use some of the new more recently built trails.
No body really timed this race, it was a purely social occasion marking the end of the summer (almost the end). Some of us did take it a little seriously with a bit of freindly rivalry racing agaisnt each other and pushing each other, but the majority just cruised down in a pack hooping and hollering!
This event just reminded me of why I love living in Queenstown, the people are amazing, the riding is amazing and the scenery is second to none!

Ex-Rental Bikes - Giant Reign 1

The ultimate all mountain weapon, we have used these for our guided heli-bike trips and have been the most reliable bikes we have used to date!
Six inches of Giant Maestro travel using the awesome Fox Shox RP2 rear shock, with the same up front, using a Fox Float 140mm fork, with lockout feature.
We are selling these for $2400, these retailed for $5500 last year, as they are 2009 bikes.

Ex-Rental Bikes - Giant Trance X3

Great all rounder from Giant, if you want a bike that does it all, the Trance X with its Maestro 5" of rear travel is the bike for you. The X3 is the entry level in the Trance X series. We have used these bikes since the end of November and have had no problems what so ever.
We will be selling these for $1600, and have a a few sizes available, from XS to L.
* Front and rear suspension provided by Fox Shox
* Shimano Deore 27 speed gears
* Shimnano Hydraulic disc brakes

Ex-Rental Bikes - Giant Halo 1

Entry level full suspension from Giant, if you are looking for a full suspension bike thats just to iron out the easier trails, and make your ride a bit more comfortable, then this is a great option. We only have a few of these left at time of going to press, but if you can fit either an XL frame or XS frame then come and see us.
We will be selling these for $1200.
* Shimano SLX 27 speed gears
* Shimano hydraulic disc brakes
* RockShox Tora front suspension (w/lockout)
* 100mm of rear travel

Ex-Rental Bikes - Giant Boulder

Nice recreational full suspension bike from Giant, these are our most common bikes used in our rental fleet, we have had them since the end of November, and have been well looked after.
* Shimano mechanical disc brakes
* Shimano 24 speed gears
* Suntour Front suspension fork
* Sizes from XS - XL

Ex-rental bikes for sale

We are now selling all our ex-rental mountain bikes, so if you want to grab an end of season bargain, come and see us. We have got full suspension bikes from $1400 and front suspension bikes from $450. All our bikes have been professionally maintained and well looked after all season.

Wednesday evening Alexandra rides

Another great ride over in Alexandra with the boys from Henderson Cycles. Jimmy and Phil do a great wednesday night shop ride, leaving at 6pm sharp. There has been quite a loyal crew of Queentowners heading over there each week to ride the awesome trails Alex has to offer!
Last night (10/3) about 25 of us rode the infamous "Ghost Rider" trail, I have been looking forward to this trail, as have heard alot about it. It didnt dissapoint, slow, technical, tight, twisty, rocky and very tricky to ride! It was one of the most fun trails that I have ridden in NZ!
Alexandra has a very friendly riding scene, with lots of motivated locals putting together a great network of XC trails. Alot of the riding is in the baron, moon like landscape hills that surround the town. Very rocky, and some very technical tricky lines to be ridden.
Its always nice to ride something different, and this once a week trip over is proving to be quite a popular event for some of Queenstown's mountain bikers! Highly recommended!

League of Gentlemen

League of Gentlemen is in its final stages for the 2010 summer, we have got the "pump track party" happening this Friday 11th March at the gorge road trails. Then on Sunday is the much anticipated "Meagreavalanche" which is going to be starting of from the top of the parapante take off way past the top of the Skyline Gondola! A 3-4 man start at once thrash down the mountain affair! Could be interesting!

So you want to be a mountain bike guide?

Vertigo Bikes guide Dan Thwaite talks about the life of being a mountain bike guide, a nice little interview here

Group ride to the top of Coronet Peak

Although Coronet Peak has now closed its chairlifts for the mountain biking public to use, the tracks are still up there and are in surprisingly good condition! A few of us keen locals headed up there last week and rode up the brakeburner track, all the way to the top of the mountain, to spectacular early evening autumnal views! The ride down was equally as good and was great fun to blast out a lap on the 7km brakeburner track!

Vertigo has a blog!

Welcome to the Vertigo Bikes blog page, hopefully we can get some interesting topics up and running and show everyone how good the mountain biking in Queenstown!