It's a dirty job but someone has to do it. Tom Morgan of Ibis Cycles bench tests a Mojo front triangle.
Hyperformance Hardware__________________________________________________________________________hyperformance.hardware@gmail.com
Friday, April 27, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
New Kids on the Block
America's next top models are here in New Zealand.
The all new Santa Cruz Superlight, all new Santa Cruz Heckler and painted Ibis Mojos.....and none of them are mine!
The all new Santa Cruz Superlight, all new Santa Cruz Heckler and painted Ibis Mojos.....and none of them are mine!
The New Heckler looks good in the flesh
Don't these Superlights look good?
Mmm, Painted Mojos.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
RENNIE WINS SEA OTTER DOWNHILL!
This report just in from Santa Cruz.
Steve Peat and Nathan Rennie on their new Santa Cruz V12's
SYNDICATE'S SEA OTTER OUTING NETS FIVE PODIUM'S, RENNIE WINS THE DOWNHILL!
April 15, 2007
Monterey, California
The Santa Cruz Syndicate riders had a terrific outing at the Sea Otter Classic with a podium result for each event they entered. Leading the way was Nathan Rennie smoking the international downhill field by 2 seconds.
He was stoked to win, and credits his Kenda semi-slick Short Tracker rear tire for aiding his victory. Steve Peat had a great run and followed Rennie in with a 3rd place downhill finish, both on their new Santa Cruz V-12's. Rennie says, "I'm happy with my win. It's a great way to start the season. I must say I had a great run."
Jamie Goldman was in fine form flipping his way into a 3rd place run in the dirt jump competition. Goldman was the first to gainer the step down that preceded the gigantic rhythm set. He and Greg Watts were the first two to qualify into the finals. In the final run he did a flip to 360, and on the final hit he double whipped but side-saddled out missing the pedals, but still rode out of it. Goldman on his run, "I'm pretty stoked on it! That was the first time I ever tried a double whip on dirt."
John Waddell was in the Syndicate podium charge, mixing it up with the Expert men in the cross-country race on Sunday. He powered his way through two 20-mile laps, finishing the race in 3rd place.
On Saturday, after getting a super soaker on the Dual Slalom qualifier and waiting through a rain delay, Steve Peat got faster and faster through his rounds.
He made it to the semi-finals matched up against Jared Graves, Graves advanced. In the small final Peaty raced Bryn Atkinson and beat him with two of his best runs of the day, finishing 3rd overall.
Steve Peat says this about the weekend, "It was good to get two thirds. Weather played a major factor this weekend, as usual. The Syndicate pulled through with great performances. I was stoked to be on the podium with Rennie. I look forward to more podiums for the Syndicate this season."
April 15, 2007
Monterey, California
The Santa Cruz Syndicate riders had a terrific outing at the Sea Otter Classic with a podium result for each event they entered. Leading the way was Nathan Rennie smoking the international downhill field by 2 seconds.
He was stoked to win, and credits his Kenda semi-slick Short Tracker rear tire for aiding his victory. Steve Peat had a great run and followed Rennie in with a 3rd place downhill finish, both on their new Santa Cruz V-12's. Rennie says, "I'm happy with my win. It's a great way to start the season. I must say I had a great run."
Jamie Goldman was in fine form flipping his way into a 3rd place run in the dirt jump competition. Goldman was the first to gainer the step down that preceded the gigantic rhythm set. He and Greg Watts were the first two to qualify into the finals. In the final run he did a flip to 360, and on the final hit he double whipped but side-saddled out missing the pedals, but still rode out of it. Goldman on his run, "I'm pretty stoked on it! That was the first time I ever tried a double whip on dirt."
John Waddell was in the Syndicate podium charge, mixing it up with the Expert men in the cross-country race on Sunday. He powered his way through two 20-mile laps, finishing the race in 3rd place.
On Saturday, after getting a super soaker on the Dual Slalom qualifier and waiting through a rain delay, Steve Peat got faster and faster through his rounds.
He made it to the semi-finals matched up against Jared Graves, Graves advanced. In the small final Peaty raced Bryn Atkinson and beat him with two of his best runs of the day, finishing 3rd overall.
Steve Peat says this about the weekend, "It was good to get two thirds. Weather played a major factor this weekend, as usual. The Syndicate pulled through with great performances. I was stoked to be on the podium with Rennie. I look forward to more podiums for the Syndicate this season."
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tim Wilding Wins 2007 NZ Xterra
picture courtesy www.xterranz.com On Saturday I got one of those text messages that changes your day. It said "I just won Xterra!".
I just had to ring Tim and talk about his fantastic result. Tim is actually recovering from a cold and that was obvious from the way he sounded on the phone. Tim had said that John Hulme was his closest competition with both of them coming out of the water at the same time. Tim made some time up on Hulme on the mountain bike stage and the run.
Tim and his new 2007 Superlight gave him the fastest bike split for the day.
Tim also qualified for the World Triathlon Champs in Germany in September by winning his age group category at the National Triathlon Champs a couple of weeks back. Tim also had the fastest bike split. Tim has now qualified to race at the Xterra world champs in Maui in October.
Results and some pictures can be found on http://www.xterranz.com/
Friday, April 13, 2007
New 2008 V10
Littermag.com has a some preview pictures of the new and unreleased V10. Should be ready early next year.
Looks good to me
http://www.littermag.com/techno/v10proto/v10photo
Looks good to me
http://www.littermag.com/techno/v10proto/v10photo
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Anja McDonald covers the Oceania's
My alarm went off at 4 am – I’d only been asleep for 4 hours. Teeth brushed, sleeping bag stuffed away and we’re in the car heading to Christchurch airport. Passports produced, interrogations about dirty tires, flammables, tools that could be used as dangerous weapons and CO² canisters aside, we were free to head through to the departure gate.
Leg one went pretty smoothly for us and we met up with the others who had departed from Wellington and Auckland once we got to Sydney. Our flight to Canberra hit a couple of speed bumps before the aircraft was even able taxi down the runway. A small plane, fully booked and we had more than 30 bikes with. It was never gonna happen. Judging by the angry gesticulating and cussing coming from the baggage handler as he tossed our bike around with reckless abandon, we were making this guy’s day hell.
Thredbo is a scenic ski village nestled at the head of a Gum Tree filled valley. The ground is porous and gritty and there’s plenty of rocks and roots about. It was warm and dry for the first few days of practice, the Dual Slalom and the 4X but, as is so often the way, things were very different for race day. Speaking of 4X and Dual, this was some of the best racing I’ve ever seen! Amy Laird stepped up for the dual as they were one girl short, and put in a solid effort on a borrowed bike. Our team did brilliantly in the heats, but somehow, all of them fell prey to crashes in their finals.
The Under 19 men’s XC race was scheduled for Saturday, and we woke to it absolutely chucking it down. The boys came round – each lap getting filthier. But amazingly, the parched ground was sucking up all the wetness.
Sometime during the night, the rain stopped, the temperature fell and we woke (another painfully early 5am start) to dry roads and a crisp 4 degree air temperature. A quick practice lap confirmed it was going to slower and slipperier, but certainly not mud-tire material. Rosara dominated the girls race coming in a solid 12 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Another star was Samara Sheppard, who dominated the U19 girls race and was pulling faster lap times than even the Aussie U23 champion. It was an awesome race track – with 200m of climbing split into shorter nuggety bursts, technical descents and quite tricky off camber sections, you certainly weren’t going to get bored on it.
The early start for the Girls’ race was a blessing as we could relax and head out (in the still freezing cold temperatures) to support the guys’ race and watch the DH action in the afternoon. Again, the girls’ reigned supreme and Jenna Makgill cleaned up the women’s racing taking 1st place on a furiously peddley, long course.
The trip was awesome, and there was plenty of time for reflection on the bus trip back to Canberra (especially with the extra “convenience” stop in Jindabyne where a number of the team had to relieve themselves of their breakfast ). Extra special thanks to the mechanics - Vince and Chicken Man, the managers – Greg, Mike and Dodsy, our masseuse – Elissa and especially Julie, for holding the whole show together!
Leg one went pretty smoothly for us and we met up with the others who had departed from Wellington and Auckland once we got to Sydney. Our flight to Canberra hit a couple of speed bumps before the aircraft was even able taxi down the runway. A small plane, fully booked and we had more than 30 bikes with. It was never gonna happen. Judging by the angry gesticulating and cussing coming from the baggage handler as he tossed our bike around with reckless abandon, we were making this guy’s day hell.
Thredbo is a scenic ski village nestled at the head of a Gum Tree filled valley. The ground is porous and gritty and there’s plenty of rocks and roots about. It was warm and dry for the first few days of practice, the Dual Slalom and the 4X but, as is so often the way, things were very different for race day. Speaking of 4X and Dual, this was some of the best racing I’ve ever seen! Amy Laird stepped up for the dual as they were one girl short, and put in a solid effort on a borrowed bike. Our team did brilliantly in the heats, but somehow, all of them fell prey to crashes in their finals.
The Under 19 men’s XC race was scheduled for Saturday, and we woke to it absolutely chucking it down. The boys came round – each lap getting filthier. But amazingly, the parched ground was sucking up all the wetness.
Sometime during the night, the rain stopped, the temperature fell and we woke (another painfully early 5am start) to dry roads and a crisp 4 degree air temperature. A quick practice lap confirmed it was going to slower and slipperier, but certainly not mud-tire material. Rosara dominated the girls race coming in a solid 12 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Another star was Samara Sheppard, who dominated the U19 girls race and was pulling faster lap times than even the Aussie U23 champion. It was an awesome race track – with 200m of climbing split into shorter nuggety bursts, technical descents and quite tricky off camber sections, you certainly weren’t going to get bored on it.
The early start for the Girls’ race was a blessing as we could relax and head out (in the still freezing cold temperatures) to support the guys’ race and watch the DH action in the afternoon. Again, the girls’ reigned supreme and Jenna Makgill cleaned up the women’s racing taking 1st place on a furiously peddley, long course.
The trip was awesome, and there was plenty of time for reflection on the bus trip back to Canberra (especially with the extra “convenience” stop in Jindabyne where a number of the team had to relieve themselves of their breakfast ). Extra special thanks to the mechanics - Vince and Chicken Man, the managers – Greg, Mike and Dodsy, our masseuse – Elissa and especially Julie, for holding the whole show together!
Oceania Champs
Ok, so I’ve still been a little hard to track down. I do have a reasonably good excuse though, I was lucky enough to be part of the support team for the NZ representative riders going to Thredbo in Ozzie to race at the Oceania Champs. This was a fantastic experience got I got to meet a great bunch of people. The team even came home with a few medals, so those Ozzie’s didn’t have it all their own way on home turf. Thredbo also reminded everyone it was an alpine resort, by raining on the Saturday for the U19 XC race and forcing the cancellation of the DH seeding. Sunday saw the rain stop but it was really, really cold. Supposedly snow flakes at the start of the DH course.
Highlights for me, obviously the NZ team doing so well, talking with Nathan Rennie and getting to know more of the NZ team, like I said a really good bunch of people. I also have many new skills, like helping load 30+ bikes into a bus, into a small storage room and to airports and I learnt not to leave my passport on a domestic plane in Ozzie. Hard to get onto an international flight. Plenty of good stories for me to tell, if you some spare time.
Ok, so I’ve still been a little hard to track down. I do have a reasonably good excuse though, I was lucky enough to be part of the support team for the NZ representative riders going to Thredbo in Ozzie to race at the Oceania Champs. This was a fantastic experience got I got to meet a great bunch of people. The team even came home with a few medals, so those Ozzie’s didn’t have it all their own way on home turf. Thredbo also reminded everyone it was an alpine resort, by raining on the Saturday for the U19 XC race and forcing the cancellation of the DH seeding. Sunday saw the rain stop but it was really, really cold. Supposedly snow flakes at the start of the DH course.
Highlights for me, obviously the NZ team doing so well, talking with Nathan Rennie and getting to know more of the NZ team, like I said a really good bunch of people. I also have many new skills, like helping load 30+ bikes into a bus, into a small storage room and to airports and I learnt not to leave my passport on a domestic plane in Ozzie. Hard to get onto an international flight. Plenty of good stories for me to tell, if you some spare time.
Downhill Results
Jenna Makgill with her trusty Santa Cruz V10 came home with two medals, gold in Open DH (by more than 8 seconds!) and silver in the mountain cross. Fantastic result!
Scarlett Hagen brought home the bronze and Amy Laird came in 4th.
Sam Hill, current world champ, took the gold for Ozzie and Syndicate rider Nathan Rennie got the silver. Eddie Masters’s big brother Wyn was 9th and the fastest NZ rider.
XC Results
Rosara Joseph easily won the women’s open XC race with a 12 minute lead. She is a world class performer. The Ozzies slipped Tory Thomas into 2nd place with kiwi girls Kaytee Boyd and Anja MacDonald (Blur XC) following very closely behind.
Samara Sheppard will be a name you will be hearing more of, I’m sure. Samara is U19 XC racer that made the very small U19 and U23 field look very slow. Convincingly beat her competition and got the gold medal to prove it.
More results can be found on the BikeNZ website.
While some of us try to decide between a naked carbon frame or one of the new paint options for the Ibis Mojo, Chris Auld has decided that yellow is the colour for him. I think Chris has a thing for yellow and is a true individual. There are only half a dozen Mojo’s in NZ and he probably has the only yellow Mojo in the world. Easy to spot though.
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (Superlight)
Scarlett Hagen brought home the bronze and Amy Laird came in 4th.
Sam Hill, current world champ, took the gold for Ozzie and Syndicate rider Nathan Rennie got the silver. Eddie Masters’s big brother Wyn was 9th and the fastest NZ rider.
XC Results
Rosara Joseph easily won the women’s open XC race with a 12 minute lead. She is a world class performer. The Ozzies slipped Tory Thomas into 2nd place with kiwi girls Kaytee Boyd and Anja MacDonald (Blur XC) following very closely behind.
Samara Sheppard will be a name you will be hearing more of, I’m sure. Samara is U19 XC racer that made the very small U19 and U23 field look very slow. Convincingly beat her competition and got the gold medal to prove it.
More results can be found on the BikeNZ website.
Waiting, Waiting, Waiting
Ok, I know. We’re all waiting for new bikes to arrive, but remember good things come to those who wait. Ok, that’s the philosophy lesson over and done with. I’m working my butt off to get everyone their new bikes. It’s just that non-mass producing bike companies make fewer bikes than everyone else. I promise you’re new, Ibis Mojo, Santa Cruz Superlight, Heckler, Bullit, Ano black Blur XC, etc. will turn up. Just a little latter than first anticipated.
YELLOW Mojo
While some of us try to decide between a naked carbon frame or one of the new paint options for the Ibis Mojo, Chris Auld has decided that yellow is the colour for him. I think Chris has a thing for yellow and is a true individual. There are only half a dozen Mojo’s in NZ and he probably has the only yellow Mojo in the world. Easy to spot though.Superleggera
Ever notice that anything in Italian sounds cool. For example any decent petrol head out there should have heard of Lamborghini. They make high performance cars, a bit like Santa Cruz making high performance mountain bikes. This year Lamborghini have updated their Gallardo, by making it stiffer, lighter and more powerful, so it’s now called the Gallardo Superleggera. Superleggera translates to Superlight. So for those of you who are anxiously waiting for your new Superlight to arrive, I suggest you start calling it a Superleggera (pronounced super-leg-era), since it’s the updated version of the original Superlight. The new Superlight is stiffer, lighter and naturally goes faster. So there you go, the new Santa Cruz Superleggera, doesn’t that sound fast!
Ever notice that anything in Italian sounds cool. For example any decent petrol head out there should have heard of Lamborghini. They make high performance cars, a bit like Santa Cruz making high performance mountain bikes. This year Lamborghini have updated their Gallardo, by making it stiffer, lighter and more powerful, so it’s now called the Gallardo Superleggera. Superleggera translates to Superlight. So for those of you who are anxiously waiting for your new Superlight to arrive, I suggest you start calling it a Superleggera (pronounced super-leg-era), since it’s the updated version of the original Superlight. The new Superlight is stiffer, lighter and naturally goes faster. So there you go, the new Santa Cruz Superleggera, doesn’t that sound fast!
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera (Superlight)
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