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Holiday Riding
The summer holidays are nearly here, and for many of us this means a week or two off work to enjoy family, friends, and food. There’s also no better time to get outdoors and enjoy the glorious weather, as while we don’t get the snowmen and cosy sweaters at Christmas, we get sunshine and lots of it!
Now is a great time to get active outdoors and make the most of the glorious weather. For many of us taking up a new hobby, or trying sometime new is often on the cards for the New Year. If cycling or mountain biking is something you’ve been thinking about trying, then now is the time as the trails are in perfect condition. As well as being a fun activity, riding is also the perfect way to socialise with friends while you explore new parts of the city…. all while getting that daily dose of exercise! There’s a style of riding to suit everyone, whether you are after an adrenaline filled downhill mountain bike ride, or a slower paced amble along the Cycleway. It’s also a great way to get the kids out of the house, and makes for the perfect family-friendly activity this summer.
Bike Otago have your summer riding sorted, with their current Christmas sale. Get some great deals on a range of mountain bikes, e-bikes, and all your riding equipment. They can also service your bike to ensure it’s in optimum running condition for hitting the trails over summer.
How to Look After Your Riding Gear
You’ve just gone and bought some great new riding clothing, and it’s looking all new and tidy. But how do you keep it looking that way and extend the life of your new pieces?
Riding clothing can get a bit of a hard life. It gets muddy and sweaty and therefore needs to be washed more frequently than other items of clothing. Many technical riding tops and pants are made from a polyester fabric that’s great for breathability and odour management, and the moisture wicking fabric helps to keep you cool. Polyester is a more delicate fabric than your regular denim or cotton, so it’s important to ensure you are looking after your gear correctly. Here’s a few tips on how to look after your riding gear that we at Bike Otago swear by!
Wash it Straight Away
While it can be tempting to get home from a ride, and sit down to relax, it’s important to get your gear in the wash quickly. Dirt and bacteria can build up on the clothing causing those nasty lingering odors. If the clothing sits around at the bottom of the wash basket for too long, not only will it not smell too flash, but the bacteria actually begins to break down the structure of the clothes. Just another reason to wash straight away!
Zip Everything Up
If there are any zips or velcro fastenings on your gear, make sure you do these up before popping them in the wash. This ensures any sharp edges can’t catch, creating pulls in the fabric. If you are washing tops and pants together, it can be a good idea to invest in a wash bag to keep the items separate while they are in the wash.
Wash it Separately and on a Delicate Setting
Separate your riding clothes from your regular gear, and ensure you always wash in cold or cool water. If the water is too hot, it can damage the fibres in the clothing and begin to break down the elasticity in the fabric. If you can, also opt for a delicate setting and make sure you skip any fabric softeners.
Don’t Put Riding Gear in the Dryer
As tempting as it might be to get your gear dry quickly by tossing it in the dryer for a few minutes, this really is a no-no. Too much heat around the delicate fabric of the garments can cause them to break down quicker, shortening the length of their life. It’s best to dry your riding gear outside on the line or indoors on a clothes rack. If you really really must dry it in the drier, make sure you are doing so on the lowest heat possible (or choose the delicates setting), and don’t make a habit of drying your gear this way.
Of course it’s always important to read the tag on each item of clothing, as different fabrics require different wash cycles. Always make sure you never iron or use bleach on any of your gear!
Christmas shopping at Bike Otago
Christmas sale on Giant / Liv Full Suspension bikes
We are super excited to bring you a whooping big pre-xmas sale on Giant and Liv bikes this year!
The Giant trance range are all 25% off RRP right now. That brings the sensational Trance Advanced 1 down to $4999. Or the Trance 2 down to $2999, plus great deals on Anthems, Anthem 29ers, Reign, Pique and Hails!
Limited stock available. If your not showing in stock on our website, we may still be able to get your size in at this price, but no guaranties. Contact us and we will do our best.
Ladies Who Love to Ride - The Signal Hill Sessions
Our very popular Ladies Who Love to Ride Group is a group of women who meet up on a Tuesday evening at 6.30pm to ride the trails around Dunedin. While there is an emphasis on beginners, these rides are perfect for any level of riding experience. Not only is it a great way to experience some of the trails Dunedin has to offer, it’s also a great way to make new friends and meet other like-minded women!
From now until Christmas, we will be holding our Ladies Riding Group at Signal Hill. These Signal Hill Sessions are designed to help our beginners gain confidence in riding down the Big Easy. By experiencing the track over a few weeks, beginners will learn the skills and confidence necessary to move on to other more trickier tracks around Dunedin. Of course, our more experienced riders are still welcome to these sessions, and will be able to venture out to try some different trails like the Mrs. if they wish.
It’s always best to be prepared when riding, so we suggest you bring the following items along to our Ladies Rides each week:
- Water
- Light snacks (eg. bliss balls) to eat beforehand or during the ride
- A wind/waterproof jacket (great for when we are coming down the hills or for any pesky rain!)
- A first aid kit
- A sense of adventure and a positive attitude!
We also recommend you check out these fantastic 101 MTB Skills videos from Liv. Each video is based around a different topic such as cornering or starting again on a steep hill. They are great learning for beginners and also a handy refresher for more experienced riders.
For our last ride of the year, we will be having a special Christmas ride evening where we ride up Signal Hill, then on to Emersons via the Cycleway for some festive fun. This ride will be held on Tuesday the 19th of December, and we will meet at 6.30pm.
If you have any questions about our Ladies Who Love to Ride Group or need assistance with equipment or bikes, then please get in touch with us here at Bike Otago. We are always happy to help!
Newly landed - Lapierre Overvolt Carbon AM
This week we landed a few of the new 2018 Lapierre Overvolt AM600 and AM700 e-mountain bikes. With 160mm of front and rear travel this is a beast of a bike! For those seriously interested, we have a demo bike available to try too.
We also recently landed a lot more Smart Motion bikes, including the new Hypersonic full suspension which is a killer deal at $4799. And within the next month we will also have many more bikes too.
If you are after an ebike, check these out here and make sure to come in for a chat and test ride one of these !!!
For more details see the bikes AM600 here, or AM700 here... or better yet, come into the store. We have one available to test ride now !!!
Lapping out Signal
Ready for the third round of the Dunedin Enduro Series we had riders come from all across the region to try their hand at racing some laps of Signal Hill.
The day started with beautiful sunshine, coffee and a catch up with riders from the other rounds. The team from Mountain Biking Otago had the course marked out and ready for three stages of racing. Despite a questionable forecast the riders jumped on their bikes and pedaled on up the hill with the sun warming their backs to the top to start their timed sections. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of last weekends all time racing weather, and it was. The weather held and all the riders completed 3 laps of the hill before the forecast held true and the rain unleashed as the spot prizes were handed out.
After the race there was only smiles to be seen at the bottom as the beats blasted out and the sausages were cooked as the riders came across the finish line of the final stage. This was a social Enduro race at its finest. There was no prize giving as the focus of the day was making new friends and having fun riding bikes with some healthy competition between riding buddies with the print out of how long it took each rider to complete the timed stages.
This was the last Dunedin Enduro event for the year however just around the corner is the famous Emerson’s 3 Peaks Enduro which will be held of the 2nd and the 3rd of December (entries are still available).
Mastering the mount
Riders from all over the south descended to Dunedin again today for the second round of the Dunedin Enduro series, to master the Mount (Cargill).
And it was another #dunnerstunner of a day, perfect sunny skies and 20+ degrees welcomed the crowds as riders rolled in to register. Mountain Biking Otago have these races totally dialled now, partly thanks to a new high tech timing system the club recently purchased. The vibe is super relaxed as people get there bikes ready for action and catch up with friends.
Free Safety Checks for 13-17 year olds
Despite the recent accidents, I still believe mountain biking is not an overly dangerous sport. Sure, there are risks but I truely believe on the whole, the ratio or risk to reward in mountain biking is extremely positive. From what I see, overwhelmingly more people are becoming healthier and happier out there then those that are getting hurt.
None the less.. there are some accidents that are more preventable then others...
The other day Nat, our wonderful new sales manager and Ethan came back from a ride at Signal a bit horrified. They had been helping a young rider after a particularily horrible crash... and noticed that, in their opinion, the crash was probably caused by a loose handlebar. This started a discussion amoung the staff and customers and it seems everyone had a story about riders crashing due to things that could be prevented by a simple safety check.
So we decided we would do a little something to help... We have booked out the workshop next week on Tuesday and we will have three mechanics working the entire day doing safety checks... for free! We are offering these for 13-17 year olds only (any guess'es why?)
And by no means are we saying a safety check will solve all crashes... of course not. Nor will it eliminate gear failures either. When we do a satefy check, simply put, we test the bike to ensure we would also be happy to ride it down Signal Hill at speed... If there are issues we can't quickly fix, we will note them down and make suggestions as to what we recommend is done. Kind of like a warrant of fitness for your bike, you might say.
If you are keen to have your or your kids checked, book it in by calling us on 03 4777396, or come in and put your name on the list in the store tomorrow (Saturday 9.30-4). Bikes will need to be dropped off on Monday...
The other big thing that is just crazy not to do, is wear good protective gear ...
We have a great range of full face helmets, neck braces, knee pads, elbow pads in store (many new items that are not listed on site are in store now...) and we strongly recommend ensuring these fit well and are in good condition.
And finally, don't forget the enduro on this Sunday... it will be a great one!
2017 Dunedin Enduro Series - Round 1 Wrap Up & Results
The opening round of the Dunedin Enduro series kicked off today with over one hundred riders, a new record for the series! The first stage was a shorty in the Wakari Redwood forest, an area more renowned for XC and beginner trails, but was equally fun for advanced riders. It was a lung burning stage, all about finding flow and holding speed through the corners.
This was followed by a long climb/push up the Pinapple track before the now infamously awkward and technical Pepper Tree track. The chat after this stage was all about spills and thrills as most riders had a few off's. But it seems like we are suckers for punishment, because no one was complaining (rather more were shreaking with joy!)
The final stage of the day took riders up the Switchback track before descending down the Nicols Enduro line... which is a fav for most the locals and the word was that it was riding faster then ever.
Riders started cruising back to the Waikari carpark to the smell of sausies on the BBQ and the fun of comparing their times to their mates, thanks to the new flash timing system that Mountain Biking Otago have just perchased. It was the first trail run for the system and Hamish Seaton did a great job with almost no major errors.
The vibe at the finish was fantastic and pretty much everyone had a big smile... and while not the most important thing, it was impressive to see junior pinner Bradley Harris take out the win in the overall mens, and Shannon Hope with the fastest female time. Also really worth a mention is Ben Shayler, 9th overall on a hardtail !?
See below for all results ... and special shout out to the Mountain Biking Otago volunteers Kane, Hamish & Donovan, Woody for photos, the track marking team, Marshalls Sophie, Todd & Ronel & also Josh for taking it on himself for fixing the big hole that appeared at the bottom of Nicols in a recent rain storm. Awesome effort everyone!!!
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