Team bikes ridden hard for a year
RACH’S ORBEA OIZ M-TEAM XTR £8,399
The ups and downs of the race circuit have defined our staff writer’s riding this month
It’s been a packed few weeks for the Oiz and me. We’ve tackled challenging mountain routes in the Lake District, sessioned BikePark Wales for an MBUK video and experienced some ups and downs between the tape (check out my race reports at www. mbuk.com). One standout experience was taking part in the Pan Celtic Gravel Rally in North Wales. On the flipside, a low point was retiring from a regional XC round in Basingstoke due to the peanut-butter mud killing all enjoyment – a decision I don’t regret, because racing bikes should be fun!
This past month has been a testament to how incredibly versatile this bike is. It handles various disciplines and terrains with ease, from rough, rocky tracks in the Lakes to bike park laps in Wales, cruising along gravel roads and, of course, stacking up some podiums on the race circuit!
Initially, I had doubts as to whether the Oiz would be too much bike for the Gravel Rally, fearing it might slow me down on climbs and smoother sections. However, to my surprise, I was the fastest female, and ranked third overall in my category, proving that this rig can hold its own with drop-bar bikes.
I also kicked off my National Series campaign, at Margam Park in South Wales. With hot sun beating down and a course full of climbing, it was an exhausting affair. Opting for Vittoria Mezcal tyres front and back in the dry, dusty conditions, I felt confident on the loose descents and their fast-rolling profile allowed me to power through the smoother, faster parts of the course. Orbea had also sent me a 35mm-rise handlebar to try out, because I wanted a smidgen more height for a slightly more upright riding position. Judging by my first couple of rides with it, the bar seems to have improved my comfort, but a few more hours in the saddle will confirm or deny this.
The Orbea needed some deeper maintenance this month. Its DT Swiss 350 hubs developed some play during the gravel rally, so I swapped out all the bearings, and they’re now running like new. I also replaced the lower headset bearing. The upper bearing needs attention, too, but the complex cable routing through the headset makes that a mammoth job, which I just haven’t had time to tackle. I have a quiet week coming up, though, so I’ll get it sorted then.
It’s been a good month on and off the racetrack, and if this weather holds, I can’t wait for more racing. Oh, and I managed to secure second place at my first National, so I’m eager to push on and aim for the win at the next one. Fingers crossed!
www.orbea.com
My month
HIGHS
A trip to the Lakes for some mountain riding
Dabbling in some gravel racing
Getting my British National XC Series campaign underway
LOWS
Several bearings have needed to be replaced
Racking up a DNF at a regional XC round
JULIA’S MERIDA ONE-SIXTY 700 £3,300
A trip to BikePark Wales with Rach to co-present a video about one of their Women’s Social Rides produced a lesson on tyre pressures. The valve on my rear wheel has been clogged up for a while, making it hard to top up the air. With rain crashing the party, I felt a bit lazy and couldn’t be bothered to attach a gauge to check the pressures. Videographer Max gave my tyres a squeeze and me a thumbs-up, so I hit the uplift. The way down was a total drag – the bike just wouldn’t pick up speed. Once I was finished, I attached a pressure gauge and read 16.8psi at the front, 15psi at the back. I’m lucky I didn’t get any punctures! www.merida-bikes.com
ALEX’S MARIN RIFT ZONE 29 XR £3,775
The Rift Zone’s latest upgrade improves practicality and reduces maintenance faff, while adding a bit of upmarket refinement. That may sound like I’ve treated it to the bike equivalent of a spa day, but what I’ve actually done is remove all the cables. I’ve fitted RockShox’s brilliant – and recently five-star-awarded – battery-powered, wirelessly-operated AXS Reverb seatpost, in 30.9mm-diameter, 170mm-drop form. As well as tidying up the handlebar, this has an incredibly smooth action. I’ve also installed a wireless SRAM GX Eagle AXS Transmission (an upgrade made possible by the bike’s Universal Derailleur Hanger). Once again, removing the cables was a cathartic de-cluttering exercise. More on their performance next time. www.marinbikes.com
ROB’S PIVOT FIREBIRD 29 XR £4,200
(frame with Fox Float X2 shock)
Some tweaks to the fork, and the Firebird is flying better than ever
Finally, after what feels like months of going on about getting the travel of my Fox 38 fork reduced, I’ve done it. And by ‘I’, I mean the guys at the Silverfish Service Centre in Risca, South Wales.
Not only did they drop the travel down to 170mm, but they fitted the new GRIP X2 damper while they were at it. This thing is intended for enduro and downhill riding, and has been designed from the ground up to offer more control and a better damping range than the GRIP2 it replaces. You still get the same high- and low-speed compression and rebound damping adjusters – although Fox say you’ll need to use their updated setting recommendations to make the most of these. Spring pressure suggestions remain the same.
I ended up sticking with the same spring pressure as before for my body weight, but once I started riding, I found myself adding some low-speed compression damping almost instantly. Sure, it helped that the guys at Silverfish had serviced my fork, which no doubt made it run a little more smoothly, but I also found that I needed some extra support to prevent the front end from diving when I loaded it up. This wasn’t an issue with the previous damper, which felt like it was overdamped, leading me to run all the dials fully open. It’s good to now have the ability to fine-tune the fork to match the super-supple rear end.
Of course, I do need to mention the travel reduction, too. Losing 10mm of suspension squish has dropped the bottom bracket down to a more reasonable 345mm off the ground. Add some sag into the equation, and the Firebird now feels more balanced and stable through the turns. After just one session, I felt like I’d managed to iron out all of my previous issues, and I properly fell in love with this pricey piece.
My month
HIGHS
Getting to ride the Firebird in the dry
A new damper in the fork and the reduced travel make the Pivot feel even better
LOWS
The sun is shining so there’s nothing to moan about!
TOM L’S TRANSITION SMUGGLER CARBON GX £6,499
BikeRadarpresenter and writer Tom hopes his first team bike will pump up his riding
I couldn’t wipe the giant smile off my face when I learned I was getting a longterm bike for MBUK. And my grin widened further still when I was told I’d be aboard Transition’s Smuggler for a year. This is the US brand’s trail bike, sitting above the downcountry Spur and below the hard-hitting, do-it-all Sentinel in the travel stakes. Having owned a Spur for three years, I’m keen to see how the Smuggler stacks up in comparison.
While I’ve got a decent level of fitness, my technical riding skills are a notch or two below the rest of the team. I’m hoping I can build my confidence, hit bigger features and unlearn some of the bad habits I’ve picked up over nearly 20 years of making it up as I go along!
With a 140mm-travel fork, 130mm of rear-wheel travel and slacker geometry than I’m used to, the Smuggler should give me a bit more of a safety net on tough trails. There’s grippy Maxxis rubber and a long-travel dropper post fitted, too. I’m hoping all that doesn’t come at the expense of efficiency on the ‘all day out in the hills’ riding I love.
At 14.1kg without pedals, it’s not a bad weight, but there’s always room to go lighter. It’s already taken a day at BikePark Wales in its stride, but I’m keen to play around with the set-up and stock components to mix things up a bit.
My month
HIGHS
Stunning carbon frame draws plenty of attention
Spec is mostly dialled
In its element on BikePark Wales’ smoother trails
LOWS
Expensive for the parts you get
Not the plushest in the rough stuff
WILL P’S POLYGON COLLOSUS N9 £3,000*
With summer presenting a weak effort in getting started, there’s been a significant amount of sliding about in the muck. The trails get marginally drier, then are immediately soaked again. While this means less predictability, it does make rides even more interesting. That said, it also means there’s loads of cleaning to do when I get home! The Polygon’s six-bar suspension design means there are more bearings than usual to share any abuse dished out, but so far everything’s running smoothly and no play has developed. That’s in spite of various sideways landings, due to my lack of ability and trying to learn how to drift more consistently. I feel quite sorry for the poor thing, but I’m still enjoying the confidence it gives me to try and improve my riding.
JCW’S RAAW JIBB V1 CUSTOM BUILD £4,028.72
We took a comprehensive look at the Jibb’s spec last issue. All I’ve added is a Lezyne Flow Adapter (£53, www.upgradebikes.co.uk), which holds a couple of 16g CO2 canisters, an inflator head, tyre levers and a multi-tool, on an arm under the bottle cage. Oh yeah, I’ve bolted on one of those, too! Now I’m all set, and just in time to catch the tail end of the bluebells and wild garlic. This is my favourite time of year to ride, and it’s nice to be able to skim through the spring growth hearing only birdsong, not the whine and clatter of an e-bike motor. I don’t seem to have lost any leg power after a few years of almost exclusively riding eebs, but my lungs are really struggling on the climbs.