Robbie's Blog
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Blogs
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- Wayne Pheiffer Cycles - Knysna Bike Shops - Probike Road Show 5 - 2011 Raleigh on Probike website! More
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- A Gem for the taking
- New Technology - Bicycle memories - Scott Ransom 30 - The early days of mountain biking More |
New TechnologyWritten by Robbie Powell | 26th May, 2010
I count myself lucky that in the 22 years I have been in the cycle industry I have been able to ride, test and own many different types of hard tail and full suspension mountain bikes. A few of the odd ones really stick out for all the wrong reasons, but there have been a couple that are so special I end up comparing everything else I ride against them.
The oddest bike must be the full suspension model that I tested in 1993 in Colorado Springs. The bike was locally made and used giant rubber bands for suspension. By changing the bands out or adding more you could “tune” the suspension. Fortunately some crazy ideas don’t make it to mass production; we can all breath a collective sigh of relief here!
However today was one of those days that I encountered a really special hard tail mountain bike. Today I got to ride a bike that all my future bikes will be judged by! Scott has unveiled one of the most technically advanced hard tail MTB bikes on the market. The full details as still hush-hush and no pictures were allowed but what I can say is that this bike will change the hard tail mountain bike market for racers and recreation riders alike. Riding the bike was fantastic; having committed myself to full suspension bikes some time ago I was really surprised that this hard tail made me want one again. Scott has raised the bar in this category and also unveiled a fantastic line-up across the board with some more exciting surprises but we will have to wait until July for the full reveal. Bicycle memoriesWritten by Robbie Powell | 19th May, 2010
As this is the year that Probike is turning 75 it has made me think about the bikes that Probike have been supplying these last 75 years and how they have changed the lives of those who have been lucky enough to own one. It brought me back to this story from one of our customers, Frank Smith. Frank bought a Humber bike from a cycle shop in Salt River some 55 years ago. The Humber bike came from Probike then and is still available from us today. It humbles me to see that Frank has kept his bike all these years, has ridden it for thousands of kilometers, and was still using it up to the 1970’s.
Herewith the letter from Frank:
“I bought this cycle with the carrier for £8-00-03 on Saturday 20 August 1955 at a dealer in Salt River, Cape Town. The three pence tickles me to this day. I had to cough up £4-00-03 from my savings account with the Post Office while my dad loaned me £4-00-00 to pay for the cycle. I had to repay the loan to my dad at 5/- (fifty cents per month). In those years parents apparently did not believe in spoiling their kids. My dad was certainly one of them. This was on the same day that Tom (Karel) van Vollenhoven scored three tries against the then British Lions Rugby touring side. The Springboks won the test 25-9. Other cycles then on the market were the Raleigh (which we in those years regarded as the Rolls Royce of cycles), Hercules, Philips and BSA. If you were really up market you owned a Raleigh with a Sturmy Archer three speed rear hub. This is a far cry from today’s cycles with their multiple speed drives.
Anyhow, we then stayed in the railway camp at Eerste River in the Stellenbosch district. The cycle was used for rides in the district and for visits to Stellenbosch and to the sea at the Strand. In those years there were no double lane highways, only narrow tar roads sometimes bordered by pine trees. I use to travel by train to school at the Somerset West Primary School and the High School Hottentots Holland, and occasionally on the cycle. Road tax for cycles in the form of license fees to the Divisional Council was 5/- per year.
In 1958 my dad was transferred to Railway Diesel Workshops at Germiston and I used the cycle to ride from Elsburg to the Afrikaans High School Germiston. After I joined the South African Police in 1962 I used it to ride from Elsburg to the Germiston police station. In 1963 I went to the South African Police College in Pretoria and from there on to Johannesburg Central Police station. The cycle was then no longer in use. During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s my brother in law used it to travel to work every day. I was transferred to the Transkei and then the Free State and so the cycle ended up in my parent’s garage”
Frank I salute you for your dedication and love for your bike for all these years. May the memories it gave you last forever. Frank has kindly donated the bike to our museum. Scott Ransom 30Written by Robbie Powell | 15th April, 2010
I recently acquired a Scott Ransom 30 for 6 months of testing. Retailing at R 22500.00 and falling into the “all mountain” category I already had some preconceptions about this bike but boy was I wrong; This bike is a one of a kind!
Coming from a D/H background I have ridden heaps of 6” + travel bikes and was expecting more of the same but the Ransom 30 rides like a XC bike and descends like a D/H bike. While the bike looks complex it rides really well, I really appreciated the slacker head angle and longer wheel base which made all day riding quite comfortable. I especially liked the way I sat into the travel and not on top of the bike like some 6”+ bikes that I have ridden. Scott fitted the Equalizer TC shock in the back which is what makes this bike so special. Using the bar mounted lever you can switch between 6, 5” travel to 4” travel to full lockout. This means that I could ride the normal XC trails using 4” travel mode and blast down the hills in 6, 5” mode, leaving my buddies choking on the dust. The shock also sports a pro-pedal feature, pull the big rebound knob and the shock adds a bunch of compression damping to eliminate any bob. There is a blow off feature built into the shock just in case you forget to turn it off when descending.
Looking at the bike it’s hard to see that it’s alloy with the big formed and shaped tubes. The bike also has full outer gear cable routing which I love and the finishes are top notch. The bikes comes with mixture of SRAM with Avid Juicy 3,5 brakes, a Truvative Firex crank set and Marzocchi 55R front fork. The bike rolls on an Alex SX44 wheel set and Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires.
 Riding the bike is a blast; the Ransom carved the corners really well, descended like a demon, and even climbed OK considering its travel. Testing the ability of the bike I picked a trail with a 1.5m rock drop to flat and did some runs to see if it could live up to its “all mountain” label! The bike felt stable and predictable over the rocks and in the air, and landed the drop with easy, not even bottoming out.
I still have a lot of testing on this bike and my next test ride will be on the Red Route in Knysna, I love my job! The early days of mountain bikingWritten by Robbie Powell | 23rd February, 2010Last week I was discussing the early days of mountain biking in SA and the bikes we rode. I remember riding a Bridgestone MB4, this was my cross country and downhill bike all rolled into one bumpy,- hard,- teeth rattling, fun machine. Every trail was a new experience with even minor bumps becoming mountains on the rigid bike. Those days we had cantilever brakes that required huge forearms and the length of an airstrip to stop. Thinking back its a miracle that MTB riding caught on as it did and thank goodness it did! Fast forward to 2010 and we see our sport swamped with cutting edge technology and pushing the lightweight barrier daily. Currently I am riding the 2010 Scott Spark 30 full suspension bike sporting the new twin lock shock and fork push-button lockout lever. The bike represents cutting edge carbon technology with the latest parts from Shimano, Rock Shock, Avid, DT Swiss and a huge chunk of World Cup experience curtsey of Nino Schurter.
Riding the bike off-road for the first time was a revelation, the Spark handled really well with precise steering and incredibly stiff response to pedal input. Being able to switch from 110mm travel to 70mm travel and then to lockout is a real bonus and I used the lever multiple times during the ride. I was able to adjust the compression gate on the 120mm travel Rock Shock Reba SL so with the rear suspension locked out I was able to climb on dirt roads with the front fork still offering some suspension without bobbing on standing climbs.
Downhill was a blast, flick the lever to 110mm travel and you can feel the acceleration immediately as the bike starts to soak up the trail. I rode most of the single track and jeep track seated in the 70mm travel mode which allowed the bike to soak up most of the bumps while pedalling. All of this in a package that weighs less than my rigid Bridgestone MB4! Man I love this industry.....
Currently I am testing a Ransom 30 - 6,5" travel "trail bike" and will post my findings on the next blog feature.
The ZambulanceWritten by Robbie Powell | 16th February, 2010I have just returned from a enlightening trip to China visiting our factory's. Connecting with Vaughn from Zambikes we spent 2 days going over his bike range for Zambia. We have been designing and supplying bikes to Vaughn for some time now and he is really making his mark in Southern Africa. Innovating a " Zambulance" (Covered trailer with mattress) that connects via a tow hook to the bikes he sells allows many old and frail as well as sick people in out flung areas access to medical care in the few clinics available. The clinic sends out the bike with "Zambulance" attached to collect the patient that need to visit the clinics but cannot make their own way there, saving lives and undue suffering in the process. The Zambulance has been a huge hit with NGO organisations seeking to alleviate the plight of the poor in these countries with orders flowing in from as far as Uganda. Vaughn at Zambikes is one of the growing band of bicycle industry entrepreneurs creating new innovative ways to bring the bicycle into mainstream life. Hats off to you Vaughn. |
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