So here she is – Wideopen team rider Dave’s Orange Miii! She’s ALIVE!
Dave has got this beast on long term test all season and is going to be hammering her through a full season of NPS4X – Orange reckon this is pretty much the best bike you can get for your dollars and we want to see if it lives up to the hype!
Here’s the first snaps of the new bike fresh home from its first ever ride…
FOX 831’s are taking care of the bumps – the 831 is aimed specifically at DJ and 4X. 100mm travel, air sprung, 3.833lbs and available in the UK from Mojo.
Dave’s testing the Raceface Respond Bars and Stem and will be repo’ing back in Wideopenmag. More details on them here and available from Silverfish-UK.
The Wideopen team is supported by Continental Tyres – The DH guys are running Rain King and Kaisers, the 4X and dirt jump guys will use a combo of Speed King and Air Kings. Dave’s running the Speed King 2.3 on the front for speed and grip and the Air King 2.2 on the back for fast acceleration and a hint of drift!
The team is also supported by Superstar components, the Orange is dripping with SS kit including lock-on grips, carbon head set spacers, Ti bolts, seat clamp and these super bloody nice mag pedals. Check that stuff all out on the Superstar website.
Whilst we’re at it – Dave (and the whole team) will be running Electric’s awesome EG1 goggles, available from mtb-direct. Here’s Dave’s pair…
That’s it - cheers to everyone that has made this bike possible, either through supporting the team or supplying kit for test.
Keep an eye on Wideopen for the full run down on the bike and the rest of the Wideopen team.
The Wideopen 2010 team are supported by the following awesome companies:
After the first round was cancelled due to overnight temperatures of -15 degrees freezing the track solid, the -6 degrees last Saturday night felt positively tropical!
Regardless of the temperature racing went ahead on a track that wasn’t as steep as last time and with the tape nice and wide for when (not if) things did go wrong!
Once again first runs down the hill brought miles of smiles but as the day went on and the track polished up the ice began to shine through and brought down everyone at least once over the course of the weekend. Some found it too much and didn’t come back to race on Sunday but just over 200 riders managed to make it to the top of the track for their race runs.
I was on a blinder of a race run until I caught the guy infront of me and binned it into a tree trying to get round him… and then again on the ice as soon as I got going again. 4miuntes 18s and I’d still done enough to take the Hardtail cat win and 59th overall.
Fastest time of the day went to Lew Buchanan in Juniors with an amazing run at 3:26. While Adam Brayton rolled home to take the Elite win after the others decided serious injury was too much of a lottery on the ice.
Expect to see a full race report in the next issue of the mag, with more snaps from Mr V. of Phunkt.com
The Wideopen 2010 team are supported by the following awesome companies:
The 3rd round of the Irish winter series was held in Moneyscalp forest, Co. Down, hosted by CRC.
The track is always one I struggle on, being pretty flat and very pedaly, not what I enjoy riding. I put my head to it and practised my lines until I was happy. I was feeling pretty good but wasnt sure how well I was going as big Kipper is always pinned in Moneyscalp.
Track headcam below. Following kip dog.
I finished the day of practice with some FMX jumps in the parking field, we pulled the wooden kicker about 20 foot back and sent it. It was the highlight of the day!
Sunday morning went well, got my lines good then spent some time trying to get our youngest team mate a front brake. No luck.
Race runs came around quickly, with my first run going OK except for 1 corner which I clipped out in and couldn’t get back in for a bit, being such a tight track any small mistakes really slowed you down.
I came down in the lead, 10 seconds ahead of 2nd place, knowing I could shave off a few seconds.
Run 2 went even better, nailing the section I messed up in run 1, but having no energy to pedal at the bottom! I managed to go 1 second quicker, keeping me in first place in under 16, 8 seconds ahead of 2nd place.
My time won Juniors by 2 seconds, which I was pleased with considering its not a good track for me, Also put me 6th in Elites.
The bike was amazing on the track due to how well it pedaled!
The next and final round will again be held in Moneyscalp, in 1 weeks time.
Thanks to Dan for shooting this one over and freakin good work for destroying the field once again- check out his website here. Thanks also to Uberdog Magazine for the images.
Dan rides for Tomac, Bar8, OC Tuning, Chromag, Novatec, Greenoil, Wideopenmag and Juice Lubes.
The second round of the winter league was on at the weekend in Cloon woods, Wicklow.
The track was real fun – Fast, short and not alot of pedaling! Helmet cam in the post below. I was down the weekend before practising as its pretty local to me and i felt good on the track.
Saturday morning was very cold, with bits of the track frozen over, but was quickly sorted out with a bit of salt. Practise went well and the track was running sweet but started to get a bit muddy when the ice melted. On my last run or the day I binned it after slipping off the wooden wall ride due to the chicken wire falling apart. Massive dead leg!!!
Sunday morning was again strange, With snow falling during the first few hours, It didnt do any harm to the track and it was dryer than saturday. After a few runs and practising some lines I was good to go.
First race run went pretty good, I nailed the top section but made a big mistake before entering the open section, I got to the bottom and went into 1st, 11 seconds ahead of 2nd place, Knowing I could shave a few seconds off.
2nd race run went even better, and thought it would be a few seconds quicker as I was getting pedals in everywere, I got to the bottom only to go 1 second faster, Winning my category by 11 seconds. My time put me 1st in the Junior category and 5th in Elites (5th fastest time of the day!). The bike went sick all weekend!!
It was good again to have the team mate Tarbett on the podium, In 3rd place this time.
The next race is in 2 weeks in Moneyscalp, And the day after that im off to Spain for some riding!
Yep – Wideopen team rider Dan Sheridan just won another round of the Irish Winter Series. That’s 2 races and 2 wins.
He emailed mid-week and said he’d be “first or last” and it looks like he picked the right one getting the top spot in junior and 4th in Elite. Pinned!
The first round of the Alpine Bikes Winter Series at Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders was supposed to take place this weekend however the race had to be called off due to safety concerns.
Photo: Pinched from the faceache page of Mr Valentine of Phunkt.com
With snow still lying on the top fire road and temperatures not getting much above freezing all weekend it’s not too supprising really but this didn’t stop Mike and his team at Borderline Events trying their hardest to get the race running.
Things were already looking bad after just a couple of hours on Saturday morning. As practice went on the track turned into a completely slick ice sheet in a lot of places meaning not one rider was getting down without having an off or lie down at some point. By 10am the decision was made to move the start down to the fire road as the top of the hill had become a bobsleigh run. Come lunchtime the race had been called off and the rest of the day was spent uplifting the other tracks on the hill. Then at the end of the day it was hoped that enough could be done to make the course raceable for Sunday and it was on again.
This morning I was the second man down the hill and there wasn’t a patch of ice to be found but again as more riders came down the track turned back into a death trap. After less than 2 hours the race was called off again.
A massive thanks has to go to the guys who stayed late last night and got up before dawn this morning to clear the track of ice. It’s a real shame the race was cancelled but there’s still another two races to come yet. Lets just hope the weather picks up for round two in 3 weeks time.
So with racing off the agenda, me and the Cumbrian contingent spent the afternoon on the uplift ripping down some of the much less icey tracks Inners had to offer, while others did the same, rode the ice shoot or just went home.
The Alpine felt amazing on the hardpack trails this weekend and thanks to Continental UK helping the team out this year I had a fresh pair of Rain Kings keeping me stuck to the trails. So despite the lack of racing it felt good to be riding DH again and I had an amazing weekend none the less!
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The Wideopen Race Team is supported by the following awesome companies:
Our mate Wayne went along to put together this quick repo of the very first official uplift day at Nant Gwrththeyrn, all photos are by Ann James:
Sunday 17th of January saw the first official uplift day at Simply Downhill’s new venue Nant Gwrtheyrn in North west Wales.
Simply Downhill are the guys behind last years race at Wentwood in South Wales, the Wentwood trophy.
Long before downhilling came on the scene, Nant become home to the Welsh Language centre, you go there to learn welsh for a bit of an educational holiday thing. But… sat nicely behind the centre is one big hill! The hill, combined with the centre makes for one great venue!
Sunday’s uplift started bang on 9 o’clock and ran till 3.30, there was plenty of parking for the riders on a tarmac car park, tea and coffee all day at sign on, transport was in the form of two trailers for bikes and a 50 seater coach for riders. The uplift route itself is a smooth tarmac road all way to the top with good turnaround points and plenty of passing places and best of all it’s less than 10 minutes to the top and from drop off it’s 5 minutes to the top of the track with no hard pushes.
The track starts half way up the hill (the top half is SSSI land) but the track is still very long, I’d reckon 2.30 – 3mins. For the first minute the track traverses across the hill with steep corners while maintaining a good flow, then into some slippy rock sections that are really testing and change each run.
The next highlight of the track is “snooker balls” which is roughly a 40ft section of large and small rock which you can hear moving beneath you. Then it’s over a stream crossing and onto a fire road with a brilliant right hander for getting a drift out, foot out moto style! Back on the gas for a sprint then off to a slight uphill into one long rock section, back onto the fire road then off the other side with a choice of two step downs. Then it’s out into the open alongside the uplift road over two rock walls and finish.
For the race to held in August it will be about another 10 seconds further to the finish but due to some building works at the centre this can’t be added to the track at the moment.
Overall the day was a success, brilliant uplift, brilliant track. I have to say the day did bring out a lot of problem areas on the track which weren’t helped by the recent snow melt running off the moorland above the forest, but this is all the maturing of a race track and with a few dig days and plenty of graft it will be sorted. There was a good atmosphere, welcoming hosts, parents walking up and down the track taking photos, this is sure to be a great race venue!
Here’s a bit more info on the venue from SimplyDH’s Si Ward:
Nant Gwrtheyrn Welsh Language and Heritage Centre, is located in a former quarrying village on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, North Wales.
The Centre specialises in Welsh for Adults (as a second language) residential courses. Weddings and conferences are often held at the Centre and visitors are always welcome to come and enjoy the on-site Heritage Centre, shop, restaurant, beautiful surrounding countryside and beach. The centre has a cafe and toilets, a bar and function room aswell as B&B accomadation which are all right by the finish of the track.
We’d like to give Revolution Bikes in Bangor a special mention also for all their help.
The first round of the 2010 Irish winter league was on the 16th/17th of February in Bree, Co. Wexford. It was a 2 day event but with no uplifts.
We arrived saturday morning and despite the flooding near by the track wasnt too bad. I signed on and got the no. 1 number plate! Practise went well and I called it a day.
We arrived early sunday morning and I sectioned a few bits until i felt good, I rested up until my race run then pushed to the top. My first run went OK, but I was dead at the end and had no power to pedal , I came in with a 1.51 and 18 seconds ahead of second place who was the pinner himself adam tarbett so I was happy with that.
2nd run went terrible, I was pushing hard to get under the 1.50s but i pushed her a wee bit to much and blew off my pedals 3 times which was going to be a problem on such a pedaly track, I got to the bottom and knew it wouldnt be faster….But as it turned out I went 3 secs. quicker to put me on a 1.48!!
I was well happy to improve my time and take the win, My time put me 3rd in Juniors only a second off the win.
It was good to have my team mate Adam ‘turtle bert’ tarbett on the podium with me and im sure he will be up there for the rest of the year!
Lee Huskinson, Chris Akrigg & Oscar Golding interviews, Orange Five DIVA test, Ride bikes in Poland, Winter race reports and much more! Click the cover above!
