Local trails are where it’s at…

Noosa & the sunshine coast has another string to its tourism bow that has the proven ability to attract visitors & assist in economic benefits to the local area. Surprise, surprise, I’m talking about Mountain biking & also about a great social activity that you can be involved in to help look after our wonderful trails.

Attracting interest is one thing & events like the Noosa Enduro (60 & 100km off-road cycling event), adventure racing, orienteering events & local businesses are instrumental in achieving this here. But looking after what we’ve got is another. On the community front there is a very successful & collaborative effort between the local forest users, bushrangers mtb club & NPWS (National Parks & Wildlife Service), called the Noosa trailcare advocacy group.

With off-road cycling continuing to be a growing market in both sales & participation rates, we all have the potential to make an active contribution to support & manage this growth. Getting out there, getting the hands a bit dirty helping maintain & repair the trails, having a say in introducing interesting & sustainable trail features & getting fed a lovely morning tea for your efforts.

There are 6 mornings throughout the year (every 2nd saturday, every 2nd month) that are open to anyone who wants to be involved in this initiative. All you need is your willingness to get a bit dirty. See you at the next one (Sat dec 8th) to find out for yourself what it’s all about

bearings...

I’ve been fortunate enough to be giving these little guys a tour of the trails up here on the sunshine coast in an attempt to find out how long they last.


These are of course some external ceramic bb bearings that Duncan from DIYMTB has kindly forwarded on to me to ‘thrash test’. To speed up the process, I thought it might be worthwhile to throw them in the deep-end, so to speak, & run them without the external cup seals as well. So I did.

Out in the rain, sand, mud, dust, & some more sand. After months & months of this, & including the wintery (yes qld has a winter!) conditions prior to the 24 hour worlds, I am just now onto my 2nd set. I can safely say that the ceramic option not only free’s up the cranks in terms of resistance but I’d have a stab at saying the off-road longevity of these compared to a standard set is improved by roughly 3 times. And that’s with pure neglect & running them without the seals. A figure confirmed by some bike shops around the area as well. Nothing like a click free bottom bracket for months with the added bonus of increased rotational freedom.

I’ve just received a set of ceramic bearings for my pedals too. I dare say I won’t need to be getting new ones of these for quite some time. Thanks Duncan.
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