Number 1283. It’s not really all that exciting or memorable. Apparently, it’s a Virgin Australia Flight Number from Sydney to Hamilton Island, and a form you’ll need to submit to the Department of Home Affairs if you’re applying for a Training Visa, or a Temporary Activity Visa. And as Will Levy from goodnessgravel informed me, it’s also the year, “Mongol forces invade(d) the Khmer Empire (modern Cambodia). King Jayavarman VIII decides to pay tribute rather than fight the invasion, buying peace and preserving the empire.” Why are we talking about this seemingly random number? goodnessgravel ..read more

For 2025, RockShox has rebuilt it’s lineup of entry -evel mountain bike forks with a simplified model range, a new damper called Isolator, and an updated Debonair air spring. The gravel crowd hasn’t been forgotten, with and updated Rudy gravel fork and Charger Race Day 2 damper.  Rockshox has previously offered multiple entry-level, trail-focused MTB forks. Riders could choose from the Revelation, 35, Yari, and the bigger hitting Domain. There will now just be two different forks; an updated Domain, and the brand has resurrected the Psylo, covering 130mm travel up to 180mm. But before we ..read more

Krischan from the Aus MTB Museum brings us the highlights of this year’s Show’n Shine. Retro MTB SA, in partnership with the Australian Museum of Mountain Bike, organised their annual Show’n Shine in March. This event marked the third Show’n Shine in South Australia, held at O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park, and did not disappoint! The day was a full immersion into the 1990s mountain biking scene, featuring a barbecue, social gathering, bike trading, discussions, bike games, displays, and riding—exclusively celebrating bikes from the ’90s. Bonus points were awarded to those dressed accordingly ..read more

Having been acquired by Fox Racing Shox back in 2015, Marzocchi made a successful relaunch into the suspension market with its popular and well-priced Z1 fork. That’s since been joined by the shorter travel Z2, a coil-sprung Z1 and the Bomber Air Shock, all of which have benefitted from Fox’s technologies and manufacturing expertise. The latest product to come from Marzocchi is the Super Z; a brand new long-travel single crown fork that’s designed for the rowdiest riders out there. Presumably you can ride like this if you put a Marzocchi Super Z on your bike.An overview of the 2025 Marzocchi S ..read more

The last version of the Giant Trance X was rolled out in 2020 as a longer travel riff on the regular Trance. We tested both the alloy and carbon versions and came away impressed with the floaty suspension performance and well-balanced geometry, which made for a fantastically capable trail bike. Four years on and Giant is ready to launch the next generation Trance X. With a whole raft of updates including in-frame storage and dual wheelsize compatibility, we expect this is going to be a very popular option for 2024 and beyond. The Giant Trance X gets a big overhaul for 2024. Built around an e ..read more

Hailing from the Czech Republic, Superior Bikes isn’t exactly a well-known name in Australia. Or at least, not yet. Bikes Online has just announced it’s the new local distributor for Superior, and as with Marin and Polygon, these bikes will be sold online direct-to-consumer. Of course that means the pricing is comparatively sharp compared to some of the brands that you’ll find in your local bike shop, and it also makes the new Superior range quite accessible to a broad range of riders around the country. As our first introduction, we’ve just gotten our hands on the Superior eXF 9039 to put to ..read more

Feast your eyes on new racing territory for 2024. Australia’s first-ever gravel stage race, The Shimano Gravel Muster, with the red dirt from August 22-25.  Taking the place of The Redback mountain bike stage race, Rapid Ascent’s Shimano Gravel Muster is keeping all of the best features of its predecessor. Competitive spirit, camaraderie between racers, and incredible scenery (and probable leg cramps) will see riders through four-days of pure outback riding.   With stops at secluded cattle stations along the way, the course will make use of 380km of gravel roads around Alice Spr ..read more

Born in the foothills of the Beskydy mountains in the Czech Republic, Superior have been building bicycles since 1993. With options ranging from high-performance roadies and XC bikes to e-MTBs and commuters, the brand hasn’t been seen much outside Europe until now, with BikesOnline bringing them into Australia for the first time.  The brand’s heritage is in XC racing, making its first appearance at the Olympics in 2004. Bart Bretjens — the very same who won the first Olympic XC MTB race and has commentated the World Cup since the Red Bull TV days — and his Milka-Superior team started raci ..read more

Events in New Zealand are always going to be full of crazy new experiences. Being one of the greatest riding destinations in the world, how could they not be? The NZ MTB Rally is one of those kiwi events which keeps New Zealand’s reputation for holding legendary mountain biking events alive. With not just one, but two helicopter rides, a boat cruise and 4×4 shuttle vehicles at the Rally, the riders had an insane mountain biking journey across the 6 days of racing. Located at the top of NZ, the race wrapped in and around Nelson’s mountain bike haven. Despite Nelson’s mountain biking scene being ..read more

With the first UCI Mountain Bike World Series event kicking off with the XC in Mairipora, Brazil, on April 12, there are still plenty of questions about where to watch the World Cup in 2024 following the closure of GCN+ by parent company WB Discovery last year. While the good ol’ days of the Red Bull TV broadcasts are well and truly behind us, GCN+ proved to be the ultimate subscription for cycling fans with basically all of the racing, from road to CX, MTB and even disciplines you’d never hear of. As someone who happily paid for GCN+ it was a great app. Related: Crash & Comeback | W ..read more