Karapoti Classic

So the Karapoti is right around the corner, and you're thinking "Am I ready?, is my bike ready?"
If you haven't gotten your bike in to be serviced, don't wait till the last minute. Bring that bike into a shop anywhere on the friday before and there's a very good chance you'll get laughed at and told bad luck. Personally I'm the king of doing things at the last minute, but I know not to do that. And remember, theres a sale on at the moment at Muds, you could always rock the race on a new bike. Merida Big Nine XT-D at only $1749 for a full XT drivetrain

Heres some tips to make Karapoti work better for you

* Have your bike serviced. Is your drivetrain worn (karapoti is renowned for chainsuck), I highly recommend new brake pads, or at the very least making sure they have lots of meat left on them.
Get in early, as in now, don't leave it til the last minute, or else I may apply a bourbon penalty for last minute on the Friday Karapoti jobs.

*Tires. Karapoti eats tires, DO NOT assume you will be sweet on your super light weight race tires. Whilst you MAY get away with it it, is it worth the risk? Run a few more psi than normal.
Get some fresh rubber. Mud Cycles carrys a massive range of tires, and standard folding 29er Maxxis Crossmarks, Aspens, and Ardents are HALF price at the moment.

*If you don't like to carry a camelbak, then it is fully acceptable and advised to have a seat bag on your bike. And carry these things

     - Spare Tube, at least one ( and I recommend a glueless patch as well)
     - Pump, or CO2 canisters. (if you have 29er tires then use a 25g canister)
     - Multi tool (Huge range in store including ones with chainbreakers)
     - Quicklink for your chain (make sure you have the right one too be it 9spd or 10spd)
     - Tire Levers. Unless your tires are super easy to remove by hand, take some.
       When you're tired and there's all sorts of crap on your wheel, it will make things easier
     - Lube, you don't normally carry lube in a race, but this is one that you should.
       Years of racing and riding Karapoti has taught many people that this is super important.
       20secs at the top of the Devils Staircase and bottom of the last climb will save you far
       far more in a wet or damp year

*Food and drink. Use what you are used to, and not something new cos someone said it was awesome. Race day is not a time to try something new out. And don't rely on just one bottle. And if you can only fit one on your bike and you don't camelbak up, then bottle in the back pocket is the go. It's what I'll be doing

*And a riding tip also. People seem to struggle with the gravel at Karapoti. Mainly cos thesedays we get to hoon on some fantastic singletrack trails all over the country. But the amount of people I see everyyear tense and worried on the descents is crazy. The long descents are your recovery time, you need to be relaxed as much as possible. Heres my last minute riding tip. Go find a big gravel carpark and practice cornering fast. Wear somejeans so if you do slid out, you won't get rashed up. LEarn to become comfortable turning on gravel, have your tires move under neath you. And relax, or fat old riders like me will beat you up climbs (most likely only the first part of any said climb)

29er air cartidges and other stuff

Are you sick and tired of having to rely upon pumps to air up your 29er tires or large volume 26er's. Well no more will you have to flail away with your mini pumps. Birzman have a 25g co2 cartridges Buy the pack and you get 3 cartridges, the head unit and a nifty neoprene sleeve to stop your fingers from freezing to the cartridge. Spare cartridges will be available also.










A tire lever is a tire lever right? Well as much as a Bentley is just a car. Crank Bros new tire lever, the Speedier Lever, replaces the Speed Lever. From speed to speedier, I see what they did there!
Simply place your hand inside like a set of knuckle dusters, insert the remove end of the lever (handily labeled) into the tire, lever, and then draw around the tire. To refit the tire, place the other end onto the rim (this end is also handily labeled) and draw around the rim. It's so simple that even a BushLove athlete could manage it.
I do have to admit, I did scoff at the concept, but darned if they don't work. And the proof is in the fact that I use one in the workshop now. I'd still recommend super beefy levers for hard to remove DH tires, but for most other tires, damned if they don't work. Come in and have a look at the speedier lever tower on the front counter and decide for yourself.

For you Strava geeks, and people who need to have their Iphone readily and handily available at all times, Topeak have a super handy gadget that can help you.
Lets hear from the marketing guys at Topeak -

RideCase

Compatible with iPhone 4/4S

Clip in your iPhone* 4/4S and keep it close at hand for use as a GPS for navigating, for listening to music, and much more while cycling. The RideCase has a separate protective carbon fiber sheet which integrates with the engineering grade plastic exoskeleton to securely hold your iPhone 4/4S while on the go. Its unique, and fully angle adjustable Stem Cap Mount allows viewing in landscape or portrait orientation. The integrated QuickClick™ mounting system lets you mount or remove the RideCase in seconds.

Wow, better than I can say it. It's cool, it's got carbon, it swivels, it tilts, it's attaches to your stem nice and securely, and you can even get a drybag (click here) for it.

Kim Hamer-Hurst

pic by Mel Hamer-Hurst

Mud Cycles is super proud to help sponsor NZ National CX champ Kim Hamer-Hurst.
We'll be helping her out with mechanical support for the coming season. If you haven't heard of Kim before, you will soon. Capable of ripping the legs off most dudes whilst retaining a smile on her face the whole time.
Have a read of her blog post from last weekends CX race out in Upper Hutt. Kims Blog

Tuesday sifty shop night rides

Sifty Tuesday night shop rides.
EVERY tuesday, not rain, nor snow, nor rampaging postmen will stop us.
Sifty pace, talk and banter pace, race pace only allowed on the downs. Bring your trail bikes or your XC bikes. Trails will depend on who shows but will differ every week. Come out and maybe get to ride some trails that you didn't even know existed.
Meeting at the shop at 6:30pm Tuesdays!

Marsh Guards

In stock now!!
Marsh Guards are designed by ex-pat Kiwi Jason Marsh, Jason has been a mechanic on the World Cup DH circuit for the last few years and is currently Greg Minnaars  mechanic.
Designed as a replacement for the ubiquitous piece of tube stretched between crown and fork arch, it's a much more elegant solution to helping keep mud out of your face.
First seen on World Cup riders bikes at the Fort William World Cup race this year, they are quickly becoming the goto option for wet conditions. With riders such as  Greg Minnaar, Aaron Gwin, Brook McDonald, Emmeline Ragot and many many more rolling with them on their bikes.
Not guaranteed to make you as fast as the above riders, but will help you in looking as cool as them. 

Non heavy 24" kids bike

Our Customer wanted a bike that would really jazz his kid into riding. Because if Son wants to go riding, Dad gets to go riding. But he wanted his son to have something capable and well off-road worthy.
As some of you with kids may well know, there is a lack of really nice and light kids bikes out there on the market. Lots of nice ones, lots of mid weight ones, but none really nice and light. Merida bikes do a lovely wee 24" Dakar Lite. Lovely lightweight rims and a nice light weight frame
This was a perfect wee bike to base a build off.
First I stripped the bike down......completely. I dismantled the wheels, leaving me with just the rims. These I built onto some Stans disc hubs, dropping some 300g from the wheels.
I then fitted a lovely FSA Headset, into which I fitted a RST first air fork. This fork is air sprung, has adjustable rebound and weighs only 1650g. It has standard v-brake mounts and also post disc mounts too. AND only cost $300. If you want a fork for your kids 24" bike that actually works well and isn't a boat anchor, we do have a few pairs in store.

I then fitted a Gravity lite stem and some FSA k-force flat bars. On which some ESI grips in Nico's preferred colour (blue) would go on once the shifters and brakes were fitted.

On went the Shimano Deore XT 10spd front and rear derailleurs, the XT shifters, and XT cluster in 11-36

In with some custom shortened Truvativ Isoflow cranks. There are no nice real options for front shifting cranks under 165mm so we shortened these down to 153mm. Perfect for his 7-8 year old legs. XT chainrings and FSA bash-rng were added as well.

Then Shimano M505 brakes in a lovely white colour scheme were added. An adapter was needed for the rear brake as no disc mounts were on the frame. This fitted on with only a few modifications.

Now our customer can take his kid riding, his son won't struggle with an overly heavy bike and the shifting and braking performance will be awesome.And instead of lifting a 30odd+ pound kids bike he'll only have to lift 24.5pounds
If you would like to get your child on something that makes it easier for them to go riding, come and and have a chat. We can make a difference. Remember if you equated most kids bikes to adults, it would be like riding a 50+ pound hardtail with very basic suspension...............

Oh hai Rain, pah! I laugh at you

Yet another damp and soggy day in the murky depths of Winter. But wait, you're sick and tired of being put off by the bad weather. Hanging out to go riding? We have some solutions for you.
A huge range of mudguards, including Crud catchers (the official brand) and coming soon the amazing Marsh Guard (as seen on Greg Minnaar's and many other top DH pro's bikes) 
And Endura Jackets - Ranging from the super lightweight Pakajak to the amazing Stealth Jacket

Pakajak Jacket

 Performance Ultra packable Showerproof Jacket (available in black, red, green, white, yellow, ladies pink, baby blue and black)

• Ultra lightweight and showerproof ripstop fabric
• Bonded and laser cut storm flap with zip guard
• Reflective trims on sleeves, shoulders and rear
• Underarm mesh vents for optimal breathability
• Elasticated cuffs, rear neck and hem

Laser II Jacket

 Laser II Waterproof Jacket (available in Orange and fluro yellow)

• Compact 2-layer waterproof breathable fabric
• Waterproof rear zipped pocket with reflective print
• Folds into rear pocket with Velcro® frame straps
• Single hand cinch drawcord at collar and hem
• Slimline Velcro® cuff adjusters
• Reflective piping and shoulder prints visible through 360
• Waterproofness: 5,000mm
• Breathability: 5,000gms

Luminite Jacket

 Luminite Jacket (available in fluro yellow and black)

2.5L Breathable/Waterproof - fully seam sealed Luminite LED Light Strip fibre optic unit with 50hr flashing run time bonded into rear of jacket providing additional safety light Multiple reflective flashes around whole garment Large rear pocket with storm flap Zipped pit-vents with easy-grab pullers Stormflap on front zipper with reflective piping trim Waterproof Napoleon pocket on chest with media port Cozy-touch lining on handwarmer pockets and inner collar Drawcord adjustment at neck and hem. Velcro® hem adjusters

MT500 Jacket

 MT500 Hooded Jacket (Don rocks one of these)

• 3-layer waterproof/breathable PTFE Protection™ technology plus Cordura® fabric
• Fully seam-sealed
• Grown-on helmet-compatible hood with 3D adjustment, reflective trim and visibility perforations
• Extended waterproof zipper vents which double as cargo pockets
• Discrete Napoleon chest pocket and waterproof zipped wrist pocket
• Detachable internal stretch wrist cuff with mesh venting fore-arm
• Seam-free shoulder panels in Cordura®
• Waterproofness: 12,000mm
• Breathability: 28,000gms

Stealth Jacket

Stealth Jacket (I run one of these and it's outright amazing)

We’ve combined the latest ultrasonic welding construction techniques and external seam-sealing technology to create the first ever and Eurobike award-winning fully waterproof, breathable soft-shell cycling jacket
• Externally seam-sealed waterproof breathable soft-shell fabric with stretch Entrant® fabric front collar, underarms and side panels create a superbly well fitted garment
• Ultrasonically welded seams offer ultimate comfort by creating a smooth internal surface
• Flexible ventilation is provided via side and underarm zip vents (accessible even when wearing a back-pack)
• Waterproof wrist zips ensure a snug-fit and facilitate closure over gloves
• Waterproof zipped rear pocket and welded chest pocket with iPod® port
• Reflective on chest, back, shoulders and sleeves
• Waterproofness: 10,000mm
• Breathability: 5,000gms