Photo courtesy of Doug LePage via Revelstoke Times Review.

Mountain biker Sam Brown, who was featured in the New World Disorder 3 film, died in a Spokane, WA jail two weeks ago after being arrested for piloting a helicopter filled with 150 kilos of marijuana across the US/Canadian border. At this point the cause of death is still inconclusive and our prayers go out to Sam’s friends and family during this emotional time.

Sam inspired a ton of mountain bikers and the article I read points to tribute forum threads on some of the Canadian mountain bike websites as evidence of the positive impact he had on so many riders. Sam’s biggest claim to fame is envisioning and riding the “Deconstructed Wheel” pictured above - a hamster-wheel looking contraption that featured prominently in New World Disorder 3.

Brown had been working toward his helicopter pilot’s license but had not yet received his official papers. The helicopter he was flying was reported stolen and supporters say Sam was simply tied up with the wrong people at the wrong time. Whatever the case, the mountain biking world lost an innovative and fearless rider - we’ll miss you Sam.

For those who like to ride fast down a steep downhill or if you live life on the edge waiting to hit your brakes at the last possible minute, Hayes Stroker Ace brakes may be perfect for you. Hayes has upped the ante once again with the Stroker Ace brakes; these babies have a slightly larger and thicker brake lever than the otherwise identical master cylinder of the original Hayes Strokers and an all new mono-bloc forged 4 piston caliper (like a F1 brake caliper). I just finished testing the Hayes Stroker Ace brakes and these new features plus the larger brake pads have delivered an eye popping experience.

The Stroker Aces advertised brake system weights of 440g (6” rotors) and 520g (8″ rotors) are slightly less than my measurements of 452g (for my 6” rear rotor) and 552g (for my 8” front rotor). Installing the new brakes was pretty straight forward and there was even enough hose for long travel bikes. I have tried riding with a 7” rear disc and found the braking was too powerful back there for my riding style. The 6” rear disc works well for me and it even saves some weight!

Now on to how well the Stroker Aces actually performed on the trails. It took a few runs to break in the pads and two caliper adjustments to finally get the Aces set up just right.  During my testing, I evaluated several aspects of the brakes performance including noise level, rotor and pad durability, brake modulation and release, biting force, torque, and fade.  The following chart is a summary of my observations.

I was really impressed with the modulation of these brakes and gave it a high rating of 9 out of 10.  The Stroker Aces really had a lot of control despite the large pad size and four pistons.  There was moderate braking torque when first applying the brakes.  After subsequent applications of the brake, the forces built up and I gradually had to back off the amount of braking required.  Usually when you keep applying brakes they tend to fade or need more force, but these do the opposite.  After changing the brake fluid to DOT 5.1, I found the brake actuation to be a little better.

I rated the silence of these brakes a six out of ten. It was a very wet day when I noticed the rotors and pads generating some noise that was difficult to remove.  The noise was at slow speeds and did not occur at high speed application of the brakes.  Last, the rotors and pads held up well to my testing, there was hardly any sign of wear on either part.  I’ll be keeping the Stroker Aces on my rig to see how they do in the long run though.

Overall, these brakes work extremely well and if you have a long legged all mountain, black diamond or DH mountain bike, get yourself a set of Hayes Stroker Aces and you won’t be disappointed!

Dirt Diggler DH trail in Fernie, British Columbia. Photo posted by birdman.

Ok, so I’m not a freerider - not even close. My riding style is probably best described as cross-country or off-road touring - you know, somewhere below wanna-be freerider and freeride poseur. But I’ve been thinking about freeriding alot lately and I’ve decided that freeriding is pretty much the future of mountain biking. Here’s why.

First of all, freeriding is fun to watch. Sure, it’s also fun to watch a blur of riders race around a cross-country mountain bike course but, like many endurance sports, cross-country mountain biking isn’t very spectator friendly. Freeriding, on the other hand, is full of death-defying moves on artfully crafted trails and stunts. Even non-mountain bikers drool over freeride videos posted on YouTube while the best selling mountain bike DVDs are almost entirely freeride-focused. Freeriding is just the inspiration many need to start mountain biking and today’s new riders are more likely to admire the guys from the Collective Films than Gary Fisher or Joe Breeze.

Freeriding is also accessible. With the US and Canada seeing increasing urbanization (and suburbanization) it’s becoming more and more difficult to site and build large scale mountain bike trail networks. Freeride courses, on the other hand, can be much more compact since stunts can be combined in different ways each time around the course. Freeride stunts can even be found indoors at places like Rays Indoor MTB Park and kids who live in cities can use urban or trials rides to hone freeriding skills.

Unlike cross-country mountain biking, freeriding also makes for a more social mountain biking experience. Instead of falling into a heads-down paceline on the local MTB trail, freeriders are a bit like snowboarders as riders watch each other attempt stunts and offer encouragement (or derision if merited ). Of course other mountain bikers socialize but it’s usually before or after the ride. Freeriders get to socialize during the ride.

Finally, freeriding just might be the future of mountain biking because it can be a little dangerous and that makes it cool. The stunts and jumps themselves are dangerous but there’s also a sense of anti-establishment running through freeride culture, much like in the sport of skateboarding. In a time when IMBA an others preach sustainable trails and professional stunt construction, freeriding is attractive because it’s so free. Riders are free to ride where they want, however they want, whenever they want - like in the early days of mountain biking. Just think: the opposites of free riding would be called “restrained riding” or “expensive riding” - and neither of those sound like any fun

Yep, I may not be a freerider yet but I’m definitely starting to get the fever. The great thing about freeriding is that it’s all about skills progression and anyone can get started no matter what type of bike you ride. Check out the freeride forums here on singletracks or browse freeride bikes and photos here to get educated!

Over the past three weeks Singletracks members from all over the world have added more than 100 new mountain bike races and events to the mtb race calendar!

Abovetheridge submitted the most new events, including mountain bike races in Virginia and the popular Muddy Buddy rides.  Congrats to abovetheridge who will be receiving a 1-year Singletracks PRO membership and a set of new Kenda mtb tires!

Singletracks frequent contributor, EZ-E, also submitted many new mountain bike events.  Among them, a few challenging 100 mile endurance mtb races like the Cohutta 100 and the Shenandoah Mountain 100.  Since EZ-E came in second place in the contest he’ll be getting hooked up with a Singletracks Training membership (should come in handy for training for a 100-miler!) and a Blackburn mini pump.

Fastedjones, a mountain biker out of Oregon, takes third place in the contest for submiting downhill and dual slalom mountain bike races in The Fluidride Cup series.  Fastedjones will get a Singletracks t-shirt and Niterider tail light for his contributions.

Thanks to everyone that submitted mountain bike races and events to the calendar.  With so many mtb races to choose from, hopefully you’re training and getting ready for your next race now!  Have fun at the races and be sure to come back and share your race photos and reviews!

Having been around mountain biking for sometime I have been blessed and I guess cursed with many products, some good and some… well, let’s just leave it at that. Anyhow, in this review I want to talk about a great mountain bike crank that will not break the bank or just break period. The Race Face Atlas crank is designed for all-mountain and light freeriding plus it’s a solid crank for clydesdale riders.

The Atlas shares the same X-type bottom bracket as both the Deus and Evolve cranks. Installation is a breeze and I recommend adding some loctite to the threads and torque the bolt to the correct value of about 30-50 ft/lbs.

In terms of performance, the first thing you’ll notice about this crank is that it feels very smooth underfoot with a solid feel and no noticeable twisting. You can really put the power down with these cranks and even if you’re a clydesdale you won’t notice any flex while climbing. Shifting is crisp and positive with very little chance of a mis-shift thanks to the Shimano-like stainless steel ramps and pins on the rings.

Despite the great crank arm strength I don’t recommend power shifting with this crank - you could bend a tooth or two. I did a fast power shift with my Race Face Atlas and noticed afterwards when I was cleaning that I did in fact bend a tooth. That being said, I’m sure most riders won’t encounter this through the course of normal use.

There are a few Race Face Atlas options this year with a beefier version called the Atlas Freeride. You can order the Atlas with 22,36, bash or 22, 32, bash or a triple - your choice. The Freeride is available with 4 different options depending on your needs.

After a whole season of crossing rivers, logs, dirt, mud, and the occasional squirrel (just kidding), my Atlas shown very little signs of wear on the rings and the bottom bracket bearings are still top notch. Bottom line: The Atlas is a great all-mountain crank that shifts flawlessly and keeps performing. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Race Face Atlas again - though I probably won’t need to since the thing is so darn durable!

Photo courtesy woodwardmtbpark.com.

The Fresno Bee reported on a new freeride area at Woodward Park in the city of Fresno, CA that sounds pretty gnarly, although many area residents don’t even know it exists. The park was designed by Hillride Progression Development Group out of San Francisco and they built the place with everyone from beginners to experts in mind. Skinnies, jumps, and ladders are marked for difficulty making it easy for anyone to build or hone their freeriding skills.

The park even includes a downhill run with 20 continuous jumps plus a freestyle jumping course that will host state and national BMX events. Check out the website, woodwardmtbpark.com for more info including pics, videos, and maps.

Santos in Ocala, FL

Building freeride structures for mountain bikes used to be a trial and error process, and for some mountain bike trail builders it still is. Fortunately the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) has started sharing best practices for building freeride structures (also known as North Shore junk) and the website is a great place to start for aspiring freeride trail builders.

In an article titled “Construction Guidelines for Wooden Technical Trail Features,” the IMBA gurus recommend choosing materials that are resistant to rot and decay for freeride structures and this is definitely a good place to start. There’s really nothing sadder to me than seeing a rotten, broken ladder bridge or jump on the trail - when a freeride structure dies it’s as if a part of me dies too. Seriously, picking the right wood for the conditions is important and IMBA recommends you avoid direct wood contact with the dirt - try to use rocks or concrete footings to elevate your structure off the ground. It’s also a good idea to make your structure extra strong and IMBA has some good tips for that as well. Remember that a clydesdale rider landing a jump onto your structure can exert a force greater than 3-times his weight - better add a few extra supports just in case.

Legend Park in Clayton, NC

IMBA has another great article titled “10 Tips to Build a Ladder Bridge” you’ll want to check out as well. I know, I know, you may be a bit skeptical about IMBA’s “tips” thinking these are all about being safe and sustainable but it turns out IMBA likes to party as well. This article encourages freeride builders to add challenges by varying bridge heights and widths, adding turns and camber, incorporating drop-offs, and changing bridge inclines and declines. With just a little imagination you can take IMBA’s tips and come up with some seriously wacky stuff that would challenge even the Collective film riders. I’m thinking someone should invent a computer game, Sim Freeride Builder, to see what’s possible. Anyone up to the challenge?

Our backyard teeter totter in Durham, NC

You may recall that we built our own freeride furniture a couple years back in the form of a teeter-totter. This was a fun project for me because I’m a big fan of woodworking and building stuff and it’s totally doable even if you have a tiny yard. I think imagining and building freeride structures is almost as fun as riding them - almost.

If this article has got you stoked to go out and build your own freeride structures at the local trail system, slow down just a second. Read about the history of the Hick Hucksters if you haven’t already and recognize that you need permission before you build ANYTHING on land that isn’t your own. If, on the other hand, you already own the acreage, go nuts! And send us the pics and specs, we’d love to share them with everyone else!

P.S. - We just added a Freeride forum here on singletracks and Mongoose is already posting pics of his rig. Drop by and say what up.

Photo from Bike Academy

For some reason this MTB article on ORF.at was titled “The Powder Snow of Summer” even though there was no mention of snow in the article itself. Either way, Christian Cummins writes about his quest to become a free rider or at least a singletrack master in the Kitzbühel Alps. Cummins took a one day class from the Bike Academy, an Austrian mountain bike school that teaches folks to ride some fairly gnarly singletrack trails.

The article has some good tips for riding plus some pretty fresh pics as well. My favorite line from the article: “At the top, we slurped down strengthening dumpling soup in a mountain hut.” Sounds delicious, perhaps Clif or Luna should create their own energy dumpling for mountain bikers

A few weeks back a friend and I were discussing big mountain bike jumps and how people learn to land them. I mean, we’ve all seen skills areas with progressively larger jumps but how do you go from a 4 foot jump to a 50 foot drop like the one at Santos? (pictured below) I think I may have found an answer and it involves gymnastics equipment.

Whistler Mountain Bike Park has set up the Air Dome for this year’s Crankworx festival (August 9-17) and inside the dome there is a foam pit typically used for gymnastics practice. Riders work their way up to the pit on jumps from 1 to 4 meters (3 to 12 feet) in the enclosed riding area. And I just assumed that Ray’s Indoor MTB Park was the only place to mountain bike indoors…

Photo from Mudbunnie News blog

Learning “air awareness” as this article puts it is definitely important to landing huge mountain bike jumps and the foam pit seems like a good place to hone your skills. Kinda reminds me of a summer trip to the US Olympic training center in Lake Placid, NY where the US ski team was practicing aerial acrobatics in a specialized pool at the end of a ski ramp. These guys also “practiced” ski jumping where the landing area was astroturf instead of snow - a bit less forgiving than a pool. I guess you really gotta work up to that before you give it a try

Ski version of practice jumping (Lake Placid, NY)

Fail to stick this landing and you’ll end up with serious turf burn at a minimum. The landing pad is actually the lower sea green turf patch. To give you an idea of scale, the gray rectangle to the right of the landing area is a grandstand area.

now you’re probably wondering what to do with all this wood. let’s start by building the base. lay the two 4×4x2 pieces side-by-side and nail on a 2×4x7-1/4″ horizontally against the 4×4s at opposite ends (looking at a side view). do this on both sides of the 4×4s.

you will want to place the last 2×4 pieces on the 4×4s at a point where when the side legs (2×4x32″) are attached to the 4×4, the legs can also be nailed to the side of the 2×4. find this point (it is roughly at 12″ from the top of the 4×4 to the center of the 2×4) and nail the 2×4s onto both sides of the 4×4s.

now looking at the connected 4×4s on the side without the 2×4s, position the 2×4x32″ pieces so that their 30Ôø? cuts meet and form a straight vertical line at the center of the 4×4. find the height on the 4×4 (approx. 10″ from the top of the 4×4 to the center of the 2×4 leg) that allows the far ends of the legs are level on the ground. check this on a flat surface (not the ground where you will finally place the base) and nail the legs on. repeat on the other side.

to build the pivot box, attach the 2×6 pieces so that the 11″ pieces are opposite each other and 10″ pieces are opposite each other.

put the pivot box over the base with the 10″ side being on the side with the legs. center (side to side) the box, then drill a hole (it should be slightly bigger than the diameter of your rod) through the box and the 4×4s above the legs where you will be putting the rod through.

now you can put the rod through the box and 4×4s. or you can consider putting pvc pipe through the hole first and then putting the steel rod though, this should prevent the rod from wearing into the wood (make modifications as necessary - drill a bigger hole, etc.). secure the rod on each end with washers and bolts.

with the base and pivot done, you can make the riding surface. simply lay the 2×6x12 pieces together and attach them by nailing the 1×4x11″ pieces along what will be the underside of the riding surface. leave about a 2′ gap in the center and space the three 1×4s evenly on both ends.

the last step is to nail this riding surface to the pivot box. if you just position the riding surface off center of the base & pivot box, the teeter totter will be weighted on the longer side which you can use as the approach side.

* This was originally posted on mudhunny’s blog but has been reprinted here since the old blog was ghetto (jeff’s fault).

yes! another excuse to bust out my favorite stationary - green engineering graph paper. the plan was to build a 12 foot long teeter-totter with an approach angle of 20-22°. the materials needed are as follows…

for the plank (rideable area):

• 2 - 2×6x12
• 6 - 1×4x11″

for the base:

• 2 - 4×4x2
• 6 - 2×4x7-1/4″
• 4 - 2×4x32″ (30¬? cuts on both ends)
• 2 - 2×4x30″
• 2 - 2×4x55.5″ (optional supports)

for the pivot box:

• 2 - 2×6x11″
• 2 - 2×6x11″ (can be slightly shorter in length)

and to hold it all together:

• 1 - 3/4″ steel rod (min length of 14″)