Santa Cruz Bikes Solo

Steve Peat takes his new Santa Cruz Solo into the wilds of Scotland.

Solo pushes further into the realms of 27.5" wheel size possibilities. Developed using what we learned from Bronson, it takes the design platform in a different direction.

The low bottom bracket height, shorter chainstays and 125mm of progressive VPP suspension give Solo its snappy, nimble, ride.

A 68 degree head angle adds climbing agility into the equation, whilst a 5lb carbon frame weight define Solo as the tool for that back country mission you’ve always planned.  

Responsibly offered in Mountain Rescue Orange, Solo goes where no bike has gone before.

This film was a collaborative project between Santa Cruz, The Baller Consultancy, CutMedia and Visit Scotland.

PROJEKT ROAM: Simple Session 1

A self shot sunset shred; with one camera, one tripod and one mission....to simply have fun. Colt & Jessee Maule of Projekt Roam keep it simple with their Pivot Point dj's on the PBR trail in Fruita, CO.

sim*ple adj 1: free from dishonesty, vanity, or pretense 2: of humble origin or modest position 3: not complex. 

Sometimes you just get caught up in the complexities and happenings of life. The purity of simplicity at times can often be overlooked. We ourselves are guilty of this crime in our lives, our riding, and our filming. This train of thought prompted us to grab our single speed Pivot Cycles dirt jump bikes and go for a cruise down Pumps, Berms, and Rollers (PBR) at the North Fruita Desert Trail System. It was a primo trail for the two of us to ride together and genuinely have fun. Wheel size, rigid or suspension, old skool or new, novice or expert; it matters not. The trail is there to simply be ridden for the basic beauty of riding and enjoying a fun trail.

On one of these sessions we brought along one camera, one tripod and spent a couple of hours one evening filming ourselves having a great time riding together in hopes of depicting what a good time it is to ride your bike for the 'soul' purpose of enjoying a trail and putting a smile on your face.

Projekt Roamwas founded by husband and wife, Colt and Jessee Maule in 2010. It has been their mission to travel North America and capture places that celebrate the unparalleled beauty and freedom of not only the bike, but the terrain we ride as well.

Neil Donoghue - Bronson Play

World class DH veteren and newly acclaimed enduro champion, Neil Donoghue is frothing at the mouth for this season of racing. Continuing on with the enduro based riding and looking to defend his UK Gravity Enduro title, he sets out to achieve some big personal goals and reach new heights with all new World Enduro Series kicking off shortly! But its not all about racing, winning, and competing for Donny, most of the time he just likes to get out on his bike...and just have a dick around!

Photography & Videography: Laurence Crossman-Emms // www.laurence-ce.com

Nicolas Vouilloz - The Relentless Pursuit Of Balance - SRAM MTB Wheels

After 10 World Champion titles and 5 overall World Cup wins, Nicolas Vouilloz still wants to be and feel fast. A different kind of fast, perhaps. While racing DH, Nico was known for his unconventional and extreme equipment choices. He is now getting ready for the first Enduro World Series season. A riding style that requires a different bike setup, a discipline where racing is spread over an entire day, with many stages and kilometers of riding. Because of these differences, gone are the days of ridiculously low spoke tension, or extreme suspension setups. Nico now makes choices based on a balance of factors such as weight, efficiency and durability. These choices allow Nico to be his fastest and a true pleasure to witness riding.

After being the most successful male mountain biker of all times, and a rally car racing champion, Nico now embarks on the next phase of his competitive life. This time, in the pursuit of balance.

For more information: www.sram.com

Bluegrass Enduro Tour International 2013 // Castelbuono

A wonderful Easter weekend was had by all at the first stage of the Bluegrass International Enduro Tour in Castelbuono, Sicily. The sun was splitting the stones, with a temperature of 22 °C up high at 1000m, with a breathtaking view over the Tyrrenian Sea making it an unforgettable end of March spring weekend of pure mountain biking for all participants.  The Bluegrass Enduro Tour recipe is simple: a high-quality mtb location with great race organisation in a very biker friendly atmosphere. First and foremost the BETi events are mountain bike meet ups where all enduro fans have the opportunity to spend a few days riding first class trails. If you add a chilled-out atmosphere, good food, great wine and live music, then all objectives have been happily reached.  

 The race, which took place on the trails of the Madonie MTB Resort, had three special stages with more than thirty kilometres over different trails. The technical first stage was held on a mix of the Giganti, North Shore and Manna trails, the fast second stage on the Castelbuono DH trail and the third finished up with a long 7km descent (a mixture of the Dei Carbonai and Milocco Trails) which brought the riders into the finish line in the medieval town centre of Castelbuono. The winner was French rider Jerome Clementz (Cannondale) with a time of 26 mins 18 secs in the special stage and he came in before the second French rider Bastien Dieffenthaler and the local Sicilian rider Davide Camedda who came in at a time of 30 mins 09 secs and 30 mins 59 secs respectively.   

 “…five days under the Sicilian sun while the rest of Europe is freezing” said Jerome Celementz. “The trails are fantastic here and it’s not easy to find similar trails in the Alps. It’s a race that has three special stages and a total of half an hour of complete downhill.”  

Special guest Alex Lupato (FRM Factory Team) recorded the second best time in the race despite not being officially classified and although he had some slight brake problems in the special stages.

The women’s race was won by Hannah Barnes (MTB Cut/Orange), from Scotland, who came in ahead of the new Sicilian champion Laura Scorpo (Team Ragusa Bike). The race counted as one of the stages of the Sicilian Enduro Championship and both Scorpo and Camedda will be wearing the Regional Champion jersey in the next round of the Sicilian Enduro Tour.

Bastien Dieffenthaler followed by Davide Camedda and Luca Morana (Team Conca D’Oro) were all classified in the Expert category while in the Master category the following: Irishman Daragh Smith (Team Giant Dublin) followed by Paolo Catania (Team Conca D’Oro) and Sergio Alcamo (Mongibello Team) were classified. In the Junior category Gianluca Talluto (Team Rider) was the winner.

The next stages of the Bluegrass International Enduro tour take place in:

Mollau - Alsace - France on the 8th and 9th of June.

Kinlochleven - Scotland - UK on the 15th and 16th of June.

Ballyhoura - Limerick - Ireland on the 21st and 22nd of September.

Hope to see you there!