The Core 26.4 came fitted with 2.2 Mountain Kings, the originals not the much improved Mountain King II. Over ten years the range expanded beyond commuter bikes to include road, mountain, cyclo-cross, gravel, kids and fat bikes. For fun, she’s ridden LEJOG unaided, a lap of Majorca in a day, won a 24-hour mountain bike race and tackled famous mountain passes in the French Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Himalayas. Over this time frame, it’s also likely that it will be exposed to a lot of UV rays, which can weaken the plastic shell of a helmet too, compromising its safety.
On Tuesday, April 30, the Council voted to officially bring the Tassie-based outfit on board for five years. About 12 months later, when it came time to renew the leasing agreement for the bike park, HVP said it would ONLY negotiate with the Alpine Shire Council. The Alpine Community Plantation, which had run the park up to that point brought several governance options to the table, ranging from continuing the current volunteer-run model to bringing on full-time paid staff, among others. One of the most important measurements to consider is the top tube length and reach.
Although we couldn’t test the aerodynamic qualities of this against other helmets, it did feel fast when putting our head down and throughout the test loops we did. Kask designed the Sintesi to be a single, mid-priced helmet that worked as well for recreational road cyclists, commuters and gravel riders. Fit adjustment is via a 360° nylon string retention, operated by a rear dial which is easy to adjust and very effective. To keep the weight to a minimum, there’s only a little adjustment on the straps, with a single slide adjuster on the chin buckle. We did find this a bit restrictive but appreciated that the helmet is offered in two widths, which helped us dial in the fit a little more. Despite its undeniable aero aesthetic, the Ballista can still be used as an everyday road helmet thanks to good ventilation and easy BOA adjustment.
Kask uses its Ergo Fit retention system, which allows wide vertical and circumference adjustment of the rear of the cradle, allowing two sizes to suit most head sizes, and there is a comfortable synthetic leather chin strap. Rather than an additional layer like MIPS, Kask uses the WG11 protocol to test its helmets for rotational impact protection. genesis bike For those going on gravel and long tours on their bike, a chromoly steel frame mountain bike might be something to look into. Being resistant to fatigue and easy to repair, these can handle long-term rides with a fair amount of weight. These bike frames are mainly available from custom frame builders and therefore have a large price tag.
And with the landscape pulverised by the logging, it’s almost a blank slate as far as what they can build. “A lot of that Mystic Bowl area is being harvested at the moment, and further harvesting will happen over the next one or two years — which will actually knock out a lot of the classic Mystic trails, ” he says. “We’re going to use our Maydena management team to help upskill and train a local team over this winter period — because we’re obviously shut over this period anyway (so it’s great timing),” says French. The new electronic health record system finished deployment within the continental U.S. and successfully went live in Europe and the Indo-Pacific regions.
Top tube length is the difference between the head tube and the seat tube, functionally the distance the rider is from the bars when seated. Reach is the distance between the center of the bottom bracket and the head tube, how far the rider is from the bars when standing on the bike. 26 inches used to be the standard size for mountain bike wheels, but now 27.5- and 29-inch sizes have taken over the market. It has a substantial amount of resistance to corrosion and the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all metals. And like chromoly steel frames, titanium frames are primarily available from custom frame builders. As mentioned in the previous section, different suspensions accompany different types of mountain biking.
“Intermediate jump trails are some of the most popular trails no matter where you go, so we really want to grow that out. And then obviously looking at some of that technical classic singletrack that Maydena is known for,” he says. French says they also plan to go in after the trees are harvested to build new trails in the Mystic Bowl area.
The Protone features a reinforced internal plastic sub-structure, which has been certified in passing the Kask Rotational Impact WG11 Test, the brand’s protocol on rotational impact. With its short tail, the MET Codatronca has an advantage which makes it a more versatile time trial helmet for most riders. Riders will still get significant aero gains but without having to worry that they are always in a perfect optimum “turtle” position – this is particularly relevant when faced with sporting courses. On the bike, we were impressed by the airflow as well, which works better than some more obviously vented helmets, despite there only being two front-facing vents. We also rated the ponytail-friendliness, although adjusting the cradle height at the rear is a little fiddly. To keep the weight as low as possible, the helmet doesn’t feature any additional safety features such as MIPS, although other versions of the Ventral do.
While seemingly superficial, anyone who has ridden with an aero lid will know the challenge of trying to stow sunglasses when they’re not on your face. They’re meant to be best compatible with POC’s own brand sunnies, but we teamed the helmet with a whole host of brands and found them to hold tight to every single pair. The semi-aero lid did suffer a little with breathability however, and while the ventilation was very good, on the hottest of riding days it could have done with the ability to suck even more cool air in. That said, on the sweatiest of days in the saddle, we found that the Protone’s water irrigation design is top-notch, managing to avoid channelling sweat down onto sunglasses or into eyes. Our test model in a small weighed in at just 170g (the claimed weight for the medium is 200g). We certainly found that this translated to a featherweight feel on the head, with the ventilation adding to the general comfort.
The Ventral is one of the lightest helmets available, making it ideal for those who measure rides in vertical metres rather than horizontal kilometres. Excellent ventilation helps in the heat but the adjustment mechanism is a bit basic and there is no MIPS to save weight. Specialized Soil Searching is a movement to recognise, celebrate, and support the trail builders who help shape our sport and our stoke. That tender closed in mid-February, and Elevation Parks, Dirt Art’s bike park management and development arm, had won.