Torture testing SPEX - Real life destruction

Check this out, this is how you test some a tyre sealant!!



OZriders.com.au going beyond the call of duty to ensure that you the public are able to get your hands on the highest quality products available. Screws, awls, and other spiky things are no match for SPEX, so get out there and get your hands on some!

A higher quality video is in the making, but I thought a short teaser would keep you happy!

So check out SPEX at a few select bike shops, and online at www.ozriders.com.au

Ascend Media release re: Cape To Cape

Media Release Ascend Sponsorship - Upload a Document to Scribd

Another one bites the dust..

With the French sneakily developing a test for Gen. 17 EPO called CERA, and finally getting permission to start using it and acting on the results, the names have slowly started to tumble.

First (well not first exactly, but we'll call it that) was Schumacher (check his Wiki, he's been naughty before) and his littly climbing buddy Pieolpoli (sp?) following on from Ricco. This little story is here, and they have been given the ass.

Next comes a climber, more precisely the KOM and 3rd place overall, Bernie Kohl. I'll ask you, is this the lean gaunt face of a 3week tour cyclist??



I'd be more expecting something like this, not that he turned out to be any more reputable...



So the names, they keep a tumbling... Who'll go next??

Ascend gets 'er done for a podium at Scott 24hour

For those with their eyes open, you would have noticed that Bellie (updates available here) was running Ascend bars as his sole food choice for this weekend's Scott 24hour. And those equally keen would have noticed that Bellie just appeared on Sports Tonight beside Jason English, to claim the 2nd spot on the box.



Looks like they go pretty well to me, eh?!

I'm sure the full story will come out during the week, but sounds like there was some carnage out there!! Felt Racings' new hired help Neil VanDerPloeg apparently had an altercation with another rider (a turn of phrase, not violence...) and ended up finishing his lap and heading straight to hospital to get a VERY deep cut attended too, leaving the boys running with 3 for the duration..

More to come as we get it...

Ascendsport pops up again.

Endurance athlete / 24hr Solo guru Andrew Bell tells all about Ascend Recovery bars and his plan to use them in the future. Check here for more info.

Happy customer!!

I just received this email and thought is was worth posting for all to read.

To Felt Epix,

I have been using the Ascend products for the past three months. I have been using the recovery bars during training and the recovery and muscle shakes post training. I have noticed gains in my training and it was now time to test it all in a race. On the 21st September Steve my race team mate and I headed to Lake Maquarie for a 24 hour adventure race. My food plan for the race was based around an Ascend Recovery bar every 2 hours. The race day was 32 deg and after 23.5 hours we crossed the line, not with the result we were after but we finished. I have never felt better at the end of a race. The biggest difference I noticed using the Ascend Recovery Bars was that I did not suffer any flat spots, which is a huge advantage in a long race. I could not have been more impressed how the Recovery Bar worked and will be using them in all my races from now on.

Thanks heaps, Matt

For more details on the Ascend products please check here.

And finally, this weekend see the biggest race of the Australian calendar and possibly in the world (participant wise) with the Scott 24hour race being held. With riders coming from all points of the compass, Ascend will have a box seat towards the front of the race with Bellie on the program and John Claxton also representing. John will have a selection of samples up there as well, I'm led to believe, so be sure to stop by his tent and ask him about the great new product range from Ascend.

Best laid plans of mice and men...

Saturday morning in my life usually revolves around the hectic side of things, down on Beach Road with about 17million of my closest friends.. Departing Black Rock at 7am, the Hell ride is gathering its usual summer crowds and getting more and more manic. The 'new black' is to hit the gas on the way down the coast, smash the hill, and just stay out of trouble as numbers swell before BlackRock. Yesterday morning was a variation on that plan, but not one I expected.



Rolling out from the clock, the line of riders was substantial, but not excessive. I rolled up beside the bunch with John Claxton (fellow Ascend/Nightlightning rider) and decided to up the pace at the front for a while to shell some of the riff raff out the back. Sadly, it seemed nobody else was interested, and I rolled off the front alone. Happily riding tempo, I rode slowly away from the bunch towards Mordy, until just before the roundabout, I was joined by 3 others and we rolled some turns. With all of us expecting to be swallowed at any moment, each time we checked the bunch, they were falling further behind, and so we just kept at it.

Frankston appeared. Still no bunch (and it was hurting...)

Mt Eliza appeared. Still no bunch (hurting lots more...)

Mordialloc appeared once again, still no bunch and we'd found some lacky's to ride the front to give us a break. One of them had been taking style and riding tips from the Wiggles (plain purple top, red arm warmers and couldn't ride straight) so he was christened Jeff the Wiggle, but he had plenty of power, so we all kept rolling turns home until the sprint where I gave the worlds best leadout (read : blew horribly a long way before the end....) and we all rolled in together, making it the first time I've stayed away from the bunch!

With some extras to run some errands about town, I was a pretty smashed unit come the end of the day, with a Tennis round robin thrown in, dinner in the city and more wedding tasks thrown in.

And now, to celebrate the onset of summer and daylight savings, it back out on the road bike to enjoy this we go! | | | |
\/ \/ \/ \ /



Sunny days are back!!

As per usual, I must preclude this post with an apologies of our lax posting... Sorry! Also, given that we both forgot to pick up our cameras as we ran out the door last night, I put that photo up as that is what we saw, at sunset, so I thought it was close... ;)

On the brighter side of that, things are going smoothly at Epix, and preparations for the the Cape To Cape are coming along well. Our Virtue 1's are getting some preparation, with attention being paid to the easily replaceable bearing pivots that keep the suspension working so well.




With the race in Western Australia being a bit of an unknown quantity, Jason and I are taking no chances and preparing for any sort of conditions to come our way. Training is coming along really well also. I've taken a leaf out of John So's book, and stepped down as the Mayor of Struggletown, now I can hold a wheel at full gas, so its all coming together.


Tour De Burbs again last night was huge, many many people making it simply an exercise in staying near the front and out of trouble! There was a huge turnout of mountain bikers, and it was good to see Felt riders mixing it up the front, given that the Scott24 hour race is next weekend (good luck to Felt Racing) Its a good hitout, tour de burbs, with some touch pinch climbs at a hefty speed making it invaluable as a quickfire training tool.

Rolling in the door after every night training, Jason and I are sure to whip up a variation of our Ascend products. I've personally got a couple of recipies, but my standard one involves a bananna, ice, milk, Muscle, colostrum and a whole lot of noise! Perfect on a summers evening, and with a splash of cointreau, HELLO! :) I know from a personal point of view (I won't speak for Jason) that I physically couldn't ramp up my training like this without this supliment. My body begins to consume itself, and I don't have enough energy to build on good work, and lose weight (muscle) like its going out of fashion. Ascend has, and continues to give me the backup that I need to build some form! Even out on the bike, Ascend are in no danger of stopping the rock, with the fantastic bars many of you have tried, and the release of the new Electrolyte drink in the coming months which we are testing with success! The Cape to Cape is to my understanding, the soft launch of these products, so you nice people should be able to get your hands on it sometime shortly following that.

Looks like a hefty weekend on the bike too, with Around the Bay upcoming (Jason might have a story to share about that...?!) and a few other things on the cards, it 10/10ths in the leadup to the Cape to Cape.

SPEX

NO No no silly! You don't drink it, its for your tyres...

Cape To Cape MTB

A few weeks ago, Ascend Sport came to us with an idea to send us to a brand new event in WA. This is the first time that an event such as this has been run, and its attracted some more than considerable backing from various corporates and also Government! Its going to be large, is the message we're getting loud and clear.




Having personally been to a National XC/DH round over in WA, I can't wait to get back there! Its a beautiful place, so diverse and varied, and any time you can get near that amazing water its a good day. And, the sun sets over the water, a nice treat for us living on the eastern sea board!





And so, the crux of the announcement is this: Ascend are graciously offering us the opportunity to go to WA to participate in a 4 day mountain bike event taking in some amazing terrain in the Southwest corner of the state.





"The world-famous tourist destination of the south-west corner of WA is marked by the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse at the southern tip and the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse at the northern tip. The Cape to Cape MTB will run from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste along a network of bush tracks, forest trails, roads and old railway lines. It will be held over four stages with the option to ride all four stages, two stages or one stage." - Cape to Cape MTB




To coincide with this event, Ascend is currently planning to use the opportunity as a 'soft launch' (thats marketing speak for 'without too much fanfare') of their awesome new electrolyte drinks, Muscle bars and Recovery bars. If you are lucky enough to be able to get to the event, and we hope you make the effort, you'll be able to wrap your laughing gear around some of them. Failing that, you'll be finding them online shortly!!




And hopefully we'll get the opportunity to ride some of the areas' notorious pea gravel. Ball bearings in dust, the stuff that Sam Hill eats for breakfast!




Bring it on!!

Hell ride back at full effect

As Jason mentioned, there is something coming up that has us both out on the bikes as much as possible, but I'll post about that shortly. Firstly to hark back to thursday night just gone, with rides growing in numbers as the weather fines up, I found myself at Tour De 'Burbs with a collection of other mountain bikers but specifically fellow Ascend/Nightlighting rider John Claxton. Descending down Foote Street out east, we were bombing down a steep dip in essentially darkness and using the descent to carry our speed up the other side. About halfway down and over 70km/h, John hit a pothole and had both front and rear tyres explode....

Sudden deflation is enough of a fright standing beside the bike, but with a bunch in excess of 100 riders, in the dark, over 70k's on a steep decent, it would be fair to say we all shat! Chaos ensued, John kept it upright and slowed to a safe stop, we all regained our composure whilst people not aware of what happened yelled about riders stopping on a descent, oblivious to one very white Claxton!! Check out his version of events at his blog, tell 'im we sent you!

SCARY!


Anyway, hell ride this morning - its big. And getting bigger... And fast too! 55kph along the flats was the standard there and back, and I'm doing my level best to stay in the mix, but it was all without incident and it was happy days. The above photo was as the bunch rolled out at the start, but they extend about 2/3rds of the way to the corner in the photo - hard to see but it was a large bunch! Average of 37kph for 87km, none to shabby I thought, but cycling is in no danger of dying out! There was SO many riders out on the beach this morning, it was almost enough to send a bloke into the hills!

Grand morning to ride in the Dandys!

With Feltepix heading interstate some time soon it has sparked off some much needed training. So with the AFL grand final on I headed out early into the hills to try and get this task over and done with before the real training/drinking started.
The roads were dead quite for the entire loop.
Barmy weather but there is still fog around, go figure!!
As you can see by the number of pics taken on the ride intensity was no where to be found on my behalf.
If you have been riding in the nongs over winter you will be loving the change in the weather. Hopfully now there will be no need to allow for -2 temps over the back near Emerald at 10am in the morning. But saying that, it is Melbourne so who knows what weather is around the corner??

SPEX has arrived!!

After much testing and development, we finally received the new SPEX line of products from OZRiders.com.au!



Its been about 6 months since the idea was floated by OzRiders.com.au, that a 'better mousetrap' could be invented for tyre sealant. I can say having using other brands for a while, as well as 'homemade' sealant, and the prototype SPEX, I believe that the SPEX is the best one I've used. The reason for that is 2 fold; firstly the granules, or SPEX that are suspended in the SPEX tyre sealant seem to work really well, and reliably. Often, tyre sealants are hit and miss. You might say 'oh, that hole was just too big to seal' but it seems that SPEX worked far more often than not, so I believe it is a better product. Secondly, it seems to last really well. I used another well known brand for a while, and it seemed to ball up quite readily. SPEX lasts a long time in its liquid state!

So, SPEX is now ready for purchase. OzRiders.com.au is currently being updated, and the new site is due to go live next week. On the new site, there will be an online shop, as well as tech info and techniques for the new SPEX, and there will also be a launch of the new colours in the famous OzRiders HighDensity grips so be sure to check that out.

And finally, the bit that everyone wants to know...

A bottle of SPEX which contains 500ml with a screw cap and an induction seal (for safe transport), good for 10 tyres per bottle, will set you back $35. Search around, do the math, and see if you can find a better deal. Chances are, you won't! Absolutely top quality, lab tested (seriously!!)Australian made, developed for the riding conditions YOU ride, immediate shipping (subject to cleared funds) and a local Melbourne rider you all know who is behind it all!

SPEX - get on it now!

And naturally, we'll be letting you know how it goes as time goes by!

Send orders or any queries you might have to this address right here, and Jimmy will get back to you ASAP!

(more news to come for Felt Epix tommorrow.)


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EDIT: Felt 2009!!

They're coming!!

Cycling news has all the latest information, but more specifically you can find it here

DintaBike is showing all the latest models and changes from Felt, and it would appear that they are taking on board our suggestions from our Epix rides! (thats a joke, we don't quite have that much pull..)

Regardless, the list of changes that will offer improvements to our style of adventure include a kinked down tube to run a standard front mech, slightly slacker head angle, increasingly beefed up linkages throughout, and the pivot hardware has been completely redone to minimize the chances of coming loose. So all up, its a more rigid, compact, user friendly setup, heading towards a full trail bike.

PERFECT!! Photos are all at Cycling news, but I can't seem to find a way to borrow them, so the links above will take you there! Remember, you saw it first here kids! (well second really, but hey..)

You Yangs Epix Video

You Yangs Epix 2008

What a cracker of a day! With light breeze, mild temps and a great crew, we hit up the dusty You Yangs MTB park for a wobble around, and to explore all the new trails they have built!

VERY IMPRESSIVE!

Whilst I wait for the video to upload, we ponder where the You Yangs trails are going to sit on our top 10 ultimate singletracks... Its going to be up there, thats for damn sure!!

So, Youtube struggles along uploading the video, and as such, you will be able to see it most likely on Monday morning.

Check it out then, and if anyone has some suggestions for their local trails that they'd like to show us around, post up in the comments section and we'll get in touch with you.