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!

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 Heli Bike trail in new RedBull Video

Vertigo Bikes was again showing the pro's were to go, when Red Bull did some filming with NZ's Brook MacDonald on our Ben Cruachan heli bike trail on the Remarkables mountain range. It is an awesome video, beautifully filmed, so check out the link here to watch the video.

Enjoy!

Vertigo Bikes One Square Meal Zerode DH Bike

Vertigo Boss Tim Ceci showing off the "One Square Meal" ZERODE DH bike, which we finished building up only a few days ago. It has been fully tricked out with Shimano Saint groupset and Rockshox Boxxer WC fork. I think you will agree this is one amazing looking bike.
The One Square Meal bike will be available for demo use to Queenstown Mountain Bike Club members, for a nominal fee of $25 plus purchasing a One Square Meal bar (which are delicious and will keep you riding longer anyway!). But only for use on the Skyline Gondola trails. Contatc Vertigo Bikes for more details.

Zerode Bike at Vertigo Bikes

Vertigo Bikes will have one of the much anticipated NZ designed ZERODE DH Bikes in the shop until the end of the season. Cookie Time have bought the bike and have branded it up as the "ONE SQUARE MEAL" Zerode. The bike is owned by one of the owners of Cookie Time but he is going to be leaving it in charge with us at Vertigo Bikes and locals who are members of the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club will be able to rent the bike to take up the gondola for $25 (and buying a One Square Meal bar) and try the bike out on the Skyline Gondola DH Trails.
The frame has just arrived and the bike is being built and should be ready for use by the 8th May. Come and check out the first Zerode in Queenstown!

Queenstown Mountain Bike School

Queenstown Mountain Bike School is something Vertigo bikes has been thinking about ever since we opened our doors back in 2000. It is exciting that it is finally coming to fruition and that we will be bringing this product to Queenstown and the greater Otago and Southland region for people looking to improve their mountain bike skills to help enjoy the amazing riding we have in the area even more. There will be clinics to suit all abilities to help you increase your confidence and skills sets on your bike.
Vertigo Bikes is using all of its experience, knowledge and passion to deliver this product. We will be basing it in the Queenstown area, with the majority of the clinics being held in the Ben Lomond forest where we can take advantage of the new gondola accessed mountain bike park.
Dates to follow soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

Skyline Gondola Bike Rental Station

Vertigo bikes will have a mountain bike rental station situated at the top of the skyline gondola complex for the initial 4 month trial period of the new mountain bike park. We will have a fleet of DH bikes for rent so people can try out the new Ben Lomond Forest bike park DH trails. Vertigo staff will be fighting for this job as it could possibly be the best and most scenic office in town!
Prices and details still to be confirmed.