There wasn’t anything else back then- and because of that I’ve got a lot of bad retro footage engrained on my memory. Anyone else remember the original Kamikaze video? Or Totally Wild? I’ve still got them on VHS tucked away somewhere…

When everyone else was busy enjoying the radical phase making crash compilations from the bomb hole at the Malvern Hills Classic, Bill Snider put together a full length feature film called Tread the Movie, which followed Hans ‘No Way’ Rey and Greg ‘H-Ball’ Herbold across america as they hit up a bunch of races and ride some classic spots whilst trying to define what mountain biking really is. Despite being massively out-dated, there are a lot of comparisons to many modern films- angles and techniques; narrative approach and even a deeper feel. Tread then was a great film, but looking back on it now, I think it’s a fantastic film. A genuinely great feel good film with some unique approaches- like the XC race that builds pace with it’s opera style sound track. Brilliant.

The road trip of all road trips

Now that’s a bike rack. The upright wheel holders were all Rockshox Mag 21 forks- possibly the most expensive bike rack ever!

The film starts with a road trip feel and it continues all the way through.

Now that's a shot! Modern techniques, old film.

As soon as I saw this shot of Greg Herbold riding at Moab, I knew I had to get there. Immediately Moab became a destination I wanted to ride- and only became greater through the film with the Slickrock that followed.

This shot was filmed from a chopper, chasing H-ball down- looks like Poison Spider Mesa or Moab Rim to me- any know where this shot was?

Droppin' in!

Good food or healthy food?

H-Ball and Hans have the post ride buzz going on, and are chatting about those moments that nearly went wrong, and those that felt rad. We’ve all been there.

And the kit doesn’t even look that dated- we’ve nearly come full circle. At least in the colourway stakes…

blond mullets, Troy Lee peaks and paint jobs. Awesome!

H-Ball chases Dave Wiens in an XC race- for champion of the mullets perhaps. XC was rad back then when people like Tomac and Herbold were shredding it up!

Hans up to tricks in Bolivia

Long before Martyn Ashton had mastered the amazing Animal Biketour show, Hans Rey was the originator in taking MTB skills to the people and entertaining them. Here he hops over a Bolivian child in front of a crowd that probably hadn’t seen a mountain bike before.

Zap Espinoza makes a cameo, and plays Hans for a fool

In a comedy scene at a bike race, well known bike journalist Zap Espinoza makes a cameo as a race marshall, giving Hans and Greg spoof directions, leading the pair round in circles.

Double angle face plant from Sara Ballatyne. Ooof!

XC racer Sara Ballatyne was just one of the riders caught out by the double jumps on this XC race track. Tinker Juarez and John Tomac had no such problems though with their BMX back ground.

Moaning about arm pump? Shut up.

Long before the Red Bull Rampage, people have been shredding in Utah...

Long before there were mountain bike freeriders, those that know the outdoors have been exploring incredible terrain- recognise this spot?

1994, on a Mongoose Amplifier full suspension- what a bike, and amazing terrain! For the record, I need one of those bikes in my collection.

Mavic SUPs, Onza Porcupines, Purple Grafton brakes... dribble.

Herbold’s Miyata bikes were always ahead of their time with their experimental full suspension designs and trick componentry.

You could say Greg was the original Freerider- or a proper All Mountain rider. He rode a whole mountain via a heli drop in this film too…

One of the first MTB Heli-drops. Ahead of it's time!

Herbold dropping in from a heli drop

Herbold looking Moto. Check out the MX boots!

Missy styles out a crash

Even Missy Giove makes an appearance- even if it’s a flat out flat spin on the snow. Kind of like a Bambi set up, and just like what we witnessed Pro Ride Guides Alex Rafferty do across a golf course the other day! You can just about see her pet pirhana, Gonzo, hanging from her neck. He jumped out his fish tank and dried out on the table when Missy was out, so she punched a hole through him and hung him round her neck on a necklace. Weird, and very Missy!

Travis Brown on one of those old 2 wheel steering Treks

Long time XC pro and product developer for Trek, Travis Brown makes an appearance slip sliding his way down a ski piste with Herbold, Tomac, Missy Giove and more.

H-Ball down!

Herbold wasn’t afraid to goose around in the snow either, pushing what can be done on a mountain bike…

Now that's a rack...

Insert awesome Tioga disc drive thunder rumble...

Paul Turner of Rock Shox also has a scene in the film, where he’s ripping down a trail on his own, with just the rumble of his Tioga Disc Drive to keep him company.

The scene’s split up between cool rumblings and visual moments of madness- kind of showing what goes on when we hit the afterburner on downhills.

San Francisco made an amzing urban backdrop to prove mountain bikes worth

There’s an amazing scene in San Fransico when the Mongoose riders- including BMX pro Fuzzy Hall hit the steep roads with fly off ramps and catch some serious air- even by todays standards.

The technical riding in this scene was way above anyone’s ability back then!

Nasty winter weather doesn't put off hard core New York couriers

A really interesting scene with a couple of New York couriers tells tales of their 100mile days and even a armed robbery in a lift. It’s got a great documentry feel to it, and jumps to a motorbike scene in the UK with more couriers weaving in and out of traffic showing the similarities.

The Tomac Attack, Earthquake Jake Watson, Dave Cullinan, JMC and Jurgen Beneke

Downhill raing back then was about power- and these riders were amongst the strongest out there. Tomac was always riding at 100% output, and looked great with it. The late Earthquake Jake Watson who’s sadly no longer with us was just a massive guy that used to mash the pedals round whereas the burly German Jurgen Beneke was a monster of a man when it came to pedalling. Flat out, the whole way.

Cully never wore armour, and in this video is riding a Diamond Back Dual Response- which isn’t a million miles different from the Verlicchi frame he won the World Champs two years previously.

Jason McRoy came screaming in to view too- when he was still riding for Hardisty Cycles on a GT RTS…

The differing looks of DH protection back then...

Check out  the face masks! They were pretty in back then- the Oakley one was the only nice on, but the UK’s Simon Kipling made the Scott one seem quite cool when he used to race along side Jason Shackleton on Scott bikes. He used to use the pink mask!

Tomac just ran a custom sprayed Bell helmet with a Troy Lee Peak, which always featured an American Eagle and the classic stars and bars logo. Herbold did the same, but ran goggles over his prescription Oakleys. Herbold always had rad paintjobs- I’d love that one now!

Poison Spider Mesa at Moab. Wish I was there now!

Tread closed with a great scene of Hans and Herbold shredding the Poison Spider Mesa slick rock area at Moab. It’s an incredible place to go and ride- if you ever get the chance- you gotta go there!

The Shinobi in it's prefered environment...

I’ve swapped the Rockshox Reverb post from another bike on to the Shinobi, and fitted some flat pedals for a bit of a session this weekend, and got to work having a blast- rather than my usual saturday grind out in the hills until there’s nothing left in me. It was nice, and a welcome shelter from the gusty wind.

It made me appreciate some of the riding kit I’ve been taking for granted too.

Like the Five Ten Baron shoe, which is styled in a similar vien to the Freeriders, but with a more technical upper using concealed lace loops. It’s a bloody good shoe with enough support for knocking around in the woods. They aren’t quite as sturdy, or grippy as the heavy duty Impact, or Sam Hill models, but don’t suffer the support shoe looks either. The Baron is great- although some aren’t keen on the Dennis the Menace colourway.

Five Ten Baron- grips like turd on carpet

Altura are a UK spawned brand making some great kit, but seem to slip under the radar considering what they make. These Apex trail shorts are great- long enough not to leave a gap between knee and knee pad, loose enough to be comfortable and cool yet cut excellently. A triple popper and zippered fly work well with the cinch adjustable waistband. The liner is great too- having a lycra base they are extremely comfortable and the padding is amongst the best I’ve tried in a liner.

Altura Apex- a great short

Oakley Factory Pilot gloves are nice and thin, and don’t use a cuff strap- they just slip on. I tend to prefer the security of a snug cuff, but these are great, simple gloves and look trick too. The padding in the knuckles is just enough to ward off thorny undergrowth, but don’t get too hot, or restrict movement in any way.

Old school looks, great feel

grippy braking fingers and thin palm

Here’s a few grabs from the trail I’ve built. Doesn’t give a lot away- I’ll get up there with a photographer when we hit spring as the amount of dense green foilage is amazing- almost jurassic in appearance.

Droppin' in!

About to hit the section padded with rocks...

A little rock section makes perma-gloop rideable

The start of the trail- nice and swoopy

About to make the 90deg left drop in to the steep bank

Steeper than it looks!

fast and sideways further down the trail

That’s enough waffling for now- we’ve got a mag to get out the door today…

I’ll be putting a few videos up over the winter giving you guys an idea of what I get up to as a freelance tester for the mag. My job’s not all riding, but if we filmed hours of being sat in front of the computer it wouldn’t be too interesting – so we’ve tried to keep to the more exciting stuff – a bit of riding and probably a good few fall-offs over the winter.

Anyway, you’ll get the gist of things when you give it a watch. And watch out for Episode 2 soon….

As part of product testing, we do come up against bad products here and there, and other products which work well, but could be better.

two tents of tech...

Some manufacturers can be tricky to work with, but we always try as what we want is for you guys to be getting your hands on the best kit you can- whatever your budget.

SRAM are one of the big companies out there that really understand how to get to the goal of the consumer being able to get the best possible experience from their bikes and kit.

SRAM sent two vans over, packed with SRAM wizardry, and complete with wizards to do the tweaking.

This time round we were working on shocks, and tried several different tuning options on a days riding in South Wales.

November. South Wales. EH?

Weaver took his trusty La Pierre with him, whereas I took a test bike I’ve been riding for the last couple of months- an Ibis Mojo HD.

Where Rob found he needed to up the compression slightly, I got to the ideal setting pretty quickly. The Ibis was originally specced with a Fox RP23, with a high volume body- which felt excellent. I thought a Rockshox shock might have been a tall order to compete.

A little different from production units. The sticker says so..

However, the Rockshox Monarch Plus body with piggyback reservoir and valving specially done for my weight and riding style by SRAM’s Torben ‘I have the biggest calf muscles known to man kind but am too nice to kick your ass up this climb’ Borrowy instantly changed my mind.

It’s too early to say how it feels all round- I’ll be spending some time on familiar trails riding it back to back with the Fox. Initially though, I noticed a few things I liked- the high-speed rebound felt brilliant. The piggy back should prevent it suffering from fade too- which air cans can suffer from on long runs.

Also, the fast low speed rebound offered fantastic grip and felt noticeably different. I played mostly between the mid setting, and off for the low speed compression.

In the off position, it was active as you may imagine, but the back end of the bike was a lot quieter.

A good thing, no doubt.

In the mid setting, the bike sat up- also as expected. But it didn’t feel harsh like some bikes can with Pro-pedal on.

Rob’s having his shock tweaked again, but I’m going to continue riding mine.

Look out for updates in the magazine.

But what do they know?

I’ve been playing around with 29in wheels for a while now on various test bikes, and to be perfectly honest I’ve been nothing but astonished by their plus sides. In certain situations.

They aren’t good at everything. In fact far from it. They do have limitations. And they do look a little odd.

But they go like stink when it’s wet, slippery, bumpy, hilly and pretty much anywhere where I ride. It’s called the UK.

They don’t suffer in technical situations- you just have to ride them differently.

Doddy's Spearfish. Affectionally known as Old Deere.

I’ve gone for a Salsa Spearfish in a whopping 22in frame, in a lovely John Deere green. With matching yellow Fizik Gobi saddle. And I’ve decided to called it Old Deere. Which is what too many people think 29er riders are. So I’m going to see what I can do to help change opinions and show that the 29er does in fact have a place along side 26in wheel mountain bikes, hard tails, single speeds and all the othe rdifferent creatures out there. It’s just a bike, after all.

Says old on the tin, but goes flat out...

Up front is a Rock Shox Sid XX, and a SRAM XO groupset gets thing spinning and stopping. Crank Brothers Cobalt 29in wheels do the job of staying stiff and fast, and for now, Maxxis Ardent tyres are on there. Although I’ve already noted they’re just too heavy for this exceptionally light frame. Light in weight, but also in the way it rides. The Ardent wants to haul ass, but is somehow out of place. Anyone know what I mean?

The Ardent UST- rolls fast, grips well- but sluggish on this rig

There’s a 29er thread here on Bikeradar.com so feel free to let us know what you think of the bigger wheel compared to the smaller wheel. Let’s roll…

I’ve been lucky enough to ride a hell of a lot of bikes in the nearly 10 years I’ve been at MBUK towers, and it’s pretty rare I sling a leg over a bike that’s unquestionably brilliant.

With my long legs, long arms and fairly short upper body I do struggle finding bikes with the right geometry- but when I rode an XL Trek Remedy Carbon at Moab last year I knew I’d found a winner. With a 70mm stem and a 740mm bar, it’s bang on for me.

After riding mine for nearly a year without changing much, it seems to have gone through a lot of changes in one hit- most recently Easton Carbon Haven wheels, Specialized Eskar tyres, Easton Havoc bars, a Garmin Edge 800 and some Rockshox Revelation XX forks.

You can read more on the wheels in the mag soon, but for now I’ll just say how I did doubt they could make that much difference over the alloy versions, but oh-my-god these things are fast.

Sure, £2K is enough to make a Sultan sweat, but they are phenomenally good wheels. Time will tell on strength, and I don’t plan on treating them well.

I’ve been running a Blacx seat post lately too, which are set to be distributed soon by a certain distributor. It’s magnstic release, neat cable routing and resistance to muck make it a sure fired winner. Watch this space for full details as we get them…

The bars have just been fitted, and with a comfortable 9deg bend and 5mm upsweep they feel good, and despite being very stiff have that shock absorbing property that carbon is famous for. More on these soon- although you might want to know they weigh a scant 240grams, and are rated as Easton’s strongest bars…

Garmin have a fantastic unit here with the Edge 800- the colour touch screen is very bright and easy to use. Intelligently the white screen with black graphic switches automatically when it’s dark out to a black screen with white graphics, so it doesn’t ruin your night vision. It’s a fully laiden bit of kit- look for a full review soon.

Finally, the thing I’ve been loving most is the Revelation XX fork. It’s ultra stiff, and once the dual air spring is dialled in correctly is very plush. It’s also easy to keep the fork at a good ride height, without sacrificing sensitivity- and there’s the added benefit of the hydraulic lock out with force adjustment. It makes a huge difference for out the seat climbing.

With the tapered steerer tube, fore and aft rigidity is ultra stiff- which is really noticeable under braking, especially when it’s rough out.

- Easton Carbon Haven Wheels

- RockShox Boxxer World Cup fork

- Saracen Myst

- WTB Stryker wheels

- Devinci Dixon

- Pivot Mach 429

- Morewood Kalula

This little lot is just a sample but goes to show how exciting 2011 is going to be. We’ve been putting the miles in, pushing the bikes and products as hard as possible so we can provide you guys with the best buying advice possible.  Stay tuned to this site and the mag for all the latest.

Sam Hill’s mechanic Jacy has always made sure that the Antipodean flyin’ machines bikes have been imaculately prepped. His Iron Horse Sunday was famous for having more little tricks and polishes than the rest of the World Cup fields’ put together.

Ok, so a square inch of moto-foam here and there does not World Champions make but it all adds up. In a sport where the Overall title was decided by just three tenths of a second, little differences can have huge consequences.

We ran into Sam’s bike on the Specialized stands at both Interbike and at London’s Cycle Show and every time you look at it it seems like you see another ten little tweaks that you missed last time. Here are our favourites…

Custom cable-guide – This neat solution deals with keeping the gear and brake cables snug and out of the way. It’s missing from the production bike but may make a cool little mod.

Micro-drive gearing – We guarantee that there’s very little that would feel ‘micro’ about this gearing once you were pedalling it. A lot has been made about the tiny six speed block on the Monster Energy/Specialized bikes this year but apparently it’s just to enable them to run a smaller front ring which in turn provides a touch more ground clearance.

Custom E*Thirteen bash-ring – This trimmed down bash also helps to  make that extra ground clearance possible.

Custom SDG saddle – Another one which rumbled the forums earlier in the year. You can read more about this ‘Jacy special’ in MBUK very soon…

Trimmed shifter – You know that you’re operating in hundreths of a second when your mechanic starts filing down the edge of your SRAM X0 shifter. Pro-only name etching obligatory.

Double cut tyres – The tricky conditions at Mont St. Anne had everyone second-guessing their tyre choice. Sam’s bike was running a double cut (straight and slanted) front and a straight cut rear.