Good bye 2017 // The last spin of the year

What a spot!

Lovin' it

The Cserhát looks great even in these poor conditions

The last spin of the year is always cool

Savage training buddy, thanks for all the hard work in 2017! 

"A miserable bike ride is better than no bike ride at all..."

My Christmas this year

The Shed looks deadly this year

The tree was nice and lovely

My new favourite beer, it's absolutely beautiful

Savage coffee always comes handy

And back to normal: the first spin to wake the system up from the Christmas coma

My winter holiday has kicked off finally!

Yeah baby, holiday time is here! I started my winter holiday a few days back, I'll be off work for 2 weeks. This could mean only one thing: there is plenty of cycling and running coming my way for sure!

The weather is getting nice & wintery also, so yes... it'll be fun folks. My plate is full with a huge amount of preparation for Christmas and the usual family commitments but I will find time time to get a few nice spins done. 

I can also report that I'm making a bit of a progression while wearing the running shoes. I'm getting the hang of it now and there is no turning back there either. So, all I can say: bring on the free time and the winter training!! :)

Just a quick update

It's about time to pop my head up on the web and send a quick update here. Things are fine, training is going alright. Winter spins are going great although we are pretty much forced to stay on the road as the trails are really not good at the moment. 

I recently started running again. I'm out and about 2 times a week and by now I've reached the 10k barrier nicely. Of course the plan is there: keep going like this through the winter months and increase the distance nicely. 

So here we are folks, nothing special to report anyway. Just the usual stuff. My holiday is coming soon, I'll be off work so hopefully I can get some long spins and savage running sessions under way soon. Bring it on! :) 

Bike Mayhem // The proper game for mountain bikers

Ok, I didn't see this coming. There was I, browsing the app store searching for something to kill time with on my mobile. The store suggestion popped up and the name was Bike Mayhem. I didn't get my hopes up as all mountain biker games that I've see before were kinda sh*tty. 

Not in this case though. After a quick download I was already rocking the trails! :) The biggest suprise was the physics of the game. The way the bike reacts to the ground and obsticles is amazing. 

There is a ton of customization in the game. You can pick different helmet, clothing, frame and wheels. Them two actually has an impact on the gameplay! 

Different wheels do have different properties such as better acceleration or top speed. Same with the frames: some of them are for heavy downhill stages, some others are for tricks and jumps. 

There is 100+ trails in the game and they look brilliant. You can fly through forests with roots, deserts with massive rocks and test you dirt jump skills on proper jump tracks also. 

Each and every trail is rated and you gotta achieve 1 star at least to progress and to unlock new trails and locations. 

The control of the game is pretty staright forward: you have a pedal and a brake button on your right thumb, you have a move balance forward, backward and a jump key on your left. The tricks layout is on the right also and all you have to do is to smash the one that you're trying to pull off. Simple as!

So, if you are interested to test this MTB game out waste no time! It'll give you many hous of fun and challenging trails indeed. :) 

#justanotherSaturday

The big e-bike post

Ok. Here we go, I'm writing a post about the "hot topic" that makes a huge diversity between cyclists and creates waves that are fully understandable in my opinion.

Before I get into it I need to make one thing cristal clear. This post is not here to offend anyone or to judge any e-bike users. It's simply my opinion about e-bikes in general and about mountain biking on e-bikes. 

So... e-bikes are here. We all know that. We also know what's the deal with them, how do they work and all that jazz. The thing is that they are here to stay and in particular segments they are good for the users. An e-bike comes handy for city commuting or for recovery after an injury. They are also nice for sightseeing and tourists. This segment is not where the poblem is!


The problem is when e-bikes and their riders are getting into the sport/performance/racing scene of mountain biking...

We are talking about an endurance sport here. I think we can all agree with that. Am I right? You get on your bike, push the pedals and achieve things... simple as that. Climb hard climbs, ride long routes and trails, push against the headwind. And at the end of the day this makes you feel happy, accomplished and from time to time makes you feel proud of your achievements. Achievements that you have been working for. An achievement that can be a short weekend spin with your mates, a long off-road route and also a mountain bike marathon event that you completed for the first time. You did it. You and your bike... that's what I'm talking about.


Getting into cycling with an e-bike is wrong altogether. Well, it is for me anyway. Do you want to get into cycling and ride your bike?! Then freakin' do it!!


It is like getting into running and sign up for a marathon event on a scooter. Or getting into weight lifting and getting some hydraulic assistance to help lifting the bloody thing... not all the way though, just a little bit of assistance will do. What's up with that? 

Event organizers run e-bike category on a well known XC Marathon race? People on e-bikes fly by guys out on training and laugh at them as they pass by? E-bikers taking part in hillclimb events? I mean really? Is this where this whole e-story is heading? This is the point when I max out my threshold with electric assisted bikes and their proud owners...


I picked my side regarding of e-bikes... Sure, they are fun to ride, you can fly around the hills without breaking any sweat and they are certainly "cool" to brag with in front of your non-biker friends. But if all this makes you happy you are missing the whole point...

So, this is the reason why I can't relate to this whole e-bike game and I feel a strong urge to smash the screen in scroll immedietaly down when I see an article about e-bikes...

Yep, it was a nice afternoon

Great spin and the ...

... well deserved reward

Autumn mountain bike happiness is here

Yep, things are going alright lately! My favourite season of the year is closing on us, autumn is here folks. The trails are rolling great, leafs are falling and every minute on the bike is an absolute happiness.  

The single speed beast is always ready to bite, so I'm expecting a huge amount of action filled spins on the local trails and also on undiscovered lands. 

Here we go: going sideways on slimy leafs & hit the climbs hard with one eye on the possibility of getting some sweet KOMs. Come on fall, bring it on! :) 

#Mátra #savagetrails

Just a nice photo from the trails

19T-1 tooth... it's time for a new one!

Here we are, another part of my bike has finished its life. This lovely 19T cog from Niner have seen it all I think. Hundreds of hours, thousends of kilometers and countless hours of fun on the trails. Served me for long and there is nothing left but to fit a new one. 

  

Good bye dude, see you soon!

Yesterday we had another savage XC loop. It was a bit different this time as it was kind of a good bye spin. My good mate and training buddy is travelling back to Ireland and this was the last chance to ride some sweet local trails befor his flight. 

The spin was brilliant: 62 km under 3 hours and 18 minutes with elevation very close to the 1000 m mark. Good speed, good conditions but the most important thing good chat along the way. 

Thanks a lot boss, I'll see you in December. Au revoir, safe home! 

Shimano Alfine chain tensioner on a single speed XC mountain bike // First impressions

I've done a few spins since I got the Shimano Alfine chain tensioner fitted. Done about 90 km and 4,5 hours so I guess it's about time to see my first thoughts. 

Lets have a look at the details here:

• The firts thing that pops in my mind is that the system is super smooth & quiet. Once the chain line is bang on the chain runs real nice. Of course this is how it should be anyway but still, it's lovely!  
• The body of the tensioner is very stiff, there is no flexibility whatsoever.
• The tension of the spring is at another level folks, it keeps the chain über tight!
• Oh, it looks savage! Did I mentioned that? Sure I did!! :) 

I have picked some rough local trails to see how the Alfine performs off-road. The test went well, can't mention a single problem so far. Of course the brutal winter spins are still ahead with all the mud, sleet and snow. But I have a great feeling about this tensoiner and I'm sure it was a good decision to fit the Alfine for single speed mountain biking! 

Fabric cage-less water bottle system

Now, here is something truly special! We are talking about a bottle cage. Is it there? Is it not there? What's happening?! 

It's the revolutionery cage-less bottle from Fabric. The award winning idea that completely rethinks the classic design. And sure, it is there but it does look fairly different compare to normal bottle cages. Lets see the details:

It's a 600 ml BPA free plastic bottle with direct mounted screws and studs. The studs are mounted directly to the bottle bosses and the bottle sits over them. Simple as that. 

The kit contains the bottle itself and 2 sets of mounting kit. This way you can have the studs fitted on both tubes on the frame or just simply have a spare set in case you run only one bottle. 

Extremely light-weight 

Simple as that. No more bottle cages just nice and smooth lines of the frame. I love the idea altogether, finally there's something on the bike market that raised my eyebrows. I'm excited about this cage-less system and I look forward how it will actually perform. Especially in some savage off-road conditions. Let the testing begin! 

Shimano Alfine (CT-S500) chain tensioner

I have been struggling with chain tensoiner problems recently. After a bit of a research I made up my mind and got a new chain tensioner for the single speed beast. I had my eyes on the Shimano Alfine CT-S500 mondel for a while. It looks savage and the spring tension is outstanding for sure. Ah, sure... it's not quite common part on single speed XC bikes but you know me well: I'm not too worried about things like this. :)  

The weight is just over the 200 gramm mark

It's a non-adjustable tensioner with fixed chain line. Runs two pulleys and got kitted out with a mega strong spring to keep the chain nice and tight. Juuuuust what I was after! 

The box contains 3 spacers with the total of 5 mm spacing thickness. They go in between the drop-out and the tensoiner itself. This way there's a slight adjustment to have the chain line bang on. They were handy indeed, I had to use them all to have everything running smooth. 

All set, good to go!

After the short work I had the bike ready to be tried. The tensoiner is on and it looks... well, it looks awesome in my opinion. The Alfine isn't a single speed specific part that's designed for XC machines but I'm sure it'll work well for me! Stay tuned for some first impressions post in the near future! 

The good 'aul horse is back in business

Sometimes the old things are the best in life. You can get coffee machines with all the bells & whistles these days... but I'm tellin' you there's nothing like brew your morning coffee in this old coffee maker that was in my parents kitchen since the 1980's. Absolutely priceless! 

#it'sstillsummer

Mátra Maraton 2017 // From a different perspective

This year's Mátra Maraton was slightly different to me. I wasn't racing, I was a spectator at this year's event. Things didn't come to my way as they were planned but as my dad was racing in Masters 4 category it was pretty obvious to go and cheer him on! :) 

The plan was to travel to the race venue, get on the bike and have a decent bike ride and finds spots on the race course where I can see my 'aul man.

The Dudes :) (photo credit: Mátra Maraton)

The plan was deadly I have to say: had a good spin and managed to catch some proper race action from the strongest & fastest mountain bikers in Hungary. And of course I got to watch my dad racing also!!

He wasn't hanging around! 

Waiting at 1014 meters for the fastest boys to fly by

The best spot to cheers my old mates

Stunning view at some places

This was the first time I was at a marathon race as a spectator and I have to say that I had a great buzz altogether. Watching others to race is a nice thing. But you what's even nicer?! When I'm racing myself, so next year count on me!! :)