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New SRAM Eagle 90 – first bike build
Last week the first of the new SRAM Eagle 90 groupsets turned up and I wanted to build a demo bike with it. There’s no better way to learn a new technology and there are plenty of new bikes coming this year that run this system, plus there’s some new features in the mechanical version…
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Tubes vs Tubeless…and more
You’ve heard a lot about tubeless, but is it better? Yes…and no. I think there’s a simple bit of maths that can help you decide which solution is right for you. Here goes: Tubeless is more work on setup and maintenance, but it’s more puncture-resistent. More work at home = less work on the trails.…
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Cessnock Pump Track
In 2024, Cessnock City Council completed the first Pump Track in Cessnock. It’s located in Bellbird at Carmichael Park, with parking on Sparke St and Tennant St. The Bellbird pump track is named for Neville Tomlinson who was for many years the driving force behind the BMX track that used to be on this site.…
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Grease is the word!
Yesterday I had to buy a specialist grease for a workshop job and it made me think about how many different grease products we use in the workshop. Spoiler: the answer is eight! For all our ‘normal’ grease needs like bottom brackets, axles & dropouts and headsets, we use Penrith Marine Grease. It’s a hardy…
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SRAM Transmission – first build and ride
SRAM’s new ‘Transmission’ system broke cover late in 2022, and a year later we’re starting to see it arrive in GX form as both upgrade kits and OEM on high-end bikes. SRAM claims that every part of the Transmission system is new and incompatible with previous generations of 12-speed products. We think there’s a fair…
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Kids bike fitting
With spring and the holiday season approaching, now is a great time to look at bike sizing for kids. All of the sizing we’ll do here is based on the wheel size, because this is how kids bikes are categorised. Also, we’re a bike shop and the bike industry still works in inches. Department stores…
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Ultrasonic cleaning
We’ve used ultrasonics to clean parts for a few years, and with the recent upgrade of our machine, here’s an update of why this is the superior method for cleaning drivetrain parts. Ultrasonic cleaning uses high-frequency, high-intensity sound waves in a liquid to remove foreign contaminants from surfaces submerged in the liquid. It’s unique in its…
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Suspension & Steering modifications
Today’s workshop project is to update the Crown-Steerer Unit (CSU) on the shop demo bike’s forks. We bought these Lyrik Ultimate 35mm forks with a 51mm offset during COVID, we needed a high-spec fork for the demo bike and this was all we could get at the time! The dual-circuit damping action is brilliant but…
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Brake upgrades & changes
Recently we changed our Focus Thron from Shimano to SRAM because the Eagle AXS wireless shifting kit is so unbelievably good. Along with the gruppo change we converted the rear wheel from a Shimano Microspline setup to a SRAM XD driver hub in a tough-as-nails Havacrak complete eMTB wheel. This gave us a small problem…
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The new Bosch Smart System unpacked
With the arrival of the new Focus Bosch-powered models, new owners will get their first taste of the new ‘Smart System’ from Bosch. It’s going to be found on lots of bikes from 23 onwards. We’ve had this system on our demo bike – a Focus Thron – since October ’22, so we’ve had some…
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Please keep me in suspense!
Our shop demo bike is a MY22 Focus Thron2 6.8, it’s a superb eMTB for trail and fast singletrack riding. It’s not light at 28kg but ours is an XL and it has the 750Wh battery for max range. The new Bosch Smart System is more advanced than the old ‘Gen4’ system, with a modular…
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Kids Ride MTB
Crazy, this is our final Kids Ride Mountainbikes ride for 2022! 2023 will be here very soon! At 2 pm on Saturday, 26th November, KRMTB will be held at HPOTS.Come along to our Christmas Ride to have fun, take on challenges, meet new people, and explore our bush trails. Lots of prizes up for grabs!…