NzoLand
To E or not to E?
Elsewhere in this very magazine (er, blog), I wrote a piece about my time aboard the Trek EX e, my first extended period atop an electric-assist machine. I finished by saying “when I get one”.
The mountain biker's E bike?
This is a review of the Trek Fuel EXe, a great example of a new category of mountain bike. It will not be like any review you have read before.
A deep dive into New Zealand mountain biking history
The history of New Zealand mountain biking could arguably start sometime pre-WW2, when races like Round the Gorges were almost completely ridden on gravel. Mountain biking as we know it today got started in the 80s.
Earning (and previewing) your turns
I posted a photo on the Nzo Facebook page the other day which has received more than the usual amount of attention. I wouldn’t call it viral, especially after contracting COVID a few weeks back...
Sand and corrugations, and corrugations, and sand.
The morning schedule looks something like this: Stagger around in search of coffee. Having secured some, retire to window seat to check morning’s latest happenings.
Spinners and Stance bikes
Following on from our last post about how lucky kids in our hometown get to roam around the forest on their bikes as if they own the joint, here comes another example of a bicycle-based subculture liberating youngsters from their day-to-day lives. We found an excellent report from Soweto, South Africa this morning while we imbibed our morning joe.
A great place to be a lucky kid
When we were kids in Auckland, we got the keys to the city on the day we got bikes. Our home range of a couple of blocks became anywhere we could reasonably get back from by dark.
Goodbye, old friend...
This week one of our mates shared a fond farewell message she was directing to her Deanos, the first piece of Nzo kit she ever had, procured long before we got acquainted and became friends.
Bike riding and the End of Civilisation
Usually this communication muses about something mountain bike related, and if possible there is some sort of connection to a product we would dearly love to sell. This morning the subject is wider, bicycle riding in general, and the mystery of why the very sight of people on bicycles is so annoying to some people.
Don't try this at home
When Nzo got started we had a shop of our own. It was a long shot, there were nowhere enough mountain bikers to support that idea at the time, but we learned a lot. One of the very good things about that proto-shop was the opportunity it provided for yakking with mountain bikers about mountain biking.
The Photographer's Day Off
The man behind most of the decent photos in the Nzo story is Graeme Murray. We met on a mountain bike ride, shortly after we moved to Rotorua, the town we chose as a base to start Nzo.
Outrunning a deluge
It’s Thursday, which on my planet means the day after Wednesday. Hump day. It’s the day we generally do a trip to the coast for various reasons, and usually run out of time for bike rides.
Thoughts on trail muntage
Here is a snapshot of the way my brain operates. Well, not the whole thing, a blogpost isn’t long enough. Just the bit that is in charge of my emotional response to the comings and goings of mountain bike trails.
Test flying a drop bar Krampus
Many moons ago, when giant lizards walked the land, I thought I would like to ride Tour Aotearoa. We had done some long bike packing missions before, camping our way around the South Island, and another time in Hawaii (highly recommended, will repeat if we are ever allowed to go there again).
Are you e-curious?
One of the phenomena that really became obvious in 2020 is the surge in the use of e-bikes by mountain bikers. Shops sell as many as they can get, and all sorts of people are jumping on to them.
Gravel - its a thing!
Gravel. It’s a thing. Tickle your wanderlust on the road less travelled, hunt down unsealed routes in the backblocks, and intersect with places and lives you may never have guessed existed. It is the bike world’s newest and most exciting thing that doesn’t have a battery.
Nzo Annual Report to Stakeholders
2020 is almost over. That is a sentence I quite enjoyed typing. We can finally reveal what we have been up to for the last few months, and what we have planned for 2021 and beyond.
Why is Nzo closed for now?
Excellent question. The new world of COVID - 19 has presented the single weirdest period in our long and complex history as a small apparel brand adrift on the high seas of global commerce.
Pointless bicycles, and why we ride them
In case you are feeling less than optimal because of the weather, virus, politicians, current radio, or anything else really, this may help you beat those equinoxial blues.
Saving birds and dropping trails
Last week’s highlight was a chance meeting in the woods. I took a visitor for a big lap, showing him a side of the local trails he had not seen previously. One was a dotted line through the primordial jungle that survives on the wilder side of the fores
The big lap
When I have got time, like three hours or so, and I have enough gas in the tank, I like to do what I regard as a big lap of the local woods here in Rotorua. There are endless variations that can be added in, but the basic touchpoints are the same.
Weird times: are they here to stay?
2020 has so far been the single weirdest year of our existence as a company. We are sure most of you will have a similar story, but in our case its has been so weird that we had to shut down for a while.
Beating boredom
Hi there from Lockdown! We are entertaining ourselves by keeping an eye on your orders, and reading the discussions on social media about what constitutes responsible outdoor exercise.
LOCKDOWN
Down here in New Zealand, we are about to go into Covid-19 Lockdown, with a capital L. Well, semi-lockdown. Supermarkets will remain open.
Product testing and its downfalls
We’ll admit it. There are definite upsides to be in the business of bike stuff, and near to a whole heap of trails. People tell us we are very lucky, and we can’t disagree.
Getting with the programme
One of our mates has started a ‘training programme’. He has a ‘coach’. He is thinking about his entry in a ‘race’. I use inverted commas for his versions of these things because they all defy normal definitions.
No School like the Old School
The other day we went for an unorchestrated spin in the woods. We had a plan, it went out the window. Our mate had actual written instructions, also rolled into a ball and binned.
Three will do, thanks
Summer is still the flavour down here. We have been getting out on the bikes even more than usual, and I am really hoping that things do come in threes.
Growing MTB Parks
Last week we delivered a run of custom stuff for a special crew. They were happy with how it came out, we were very happy with how it came about. We made mountain bike tops and t shirts for a group of people working in forestry.
2020 and the state of the sport
During the festive season a mate penned a couple of articles for the local paper. These got us thinking about the state of our sport from where we sit… and it is amazing. And confusing, in equal measures.
Trees / No Trees / New Trees
In Rotorua, most of our riding is done in a ‘working forest’. It is a very complex scenario - the land is owned by its original occupants, iwi of Te Arawa. They generously allow all the development for recreational activity, including mountain biking, to take place in their forest.
White Line Fever, and the antidote
This time of year I am usually doing different versions of the same thing: cramming in some road miles, trying to get ready to do my annual hundred mile ride around Lake Taupo.
It happened here
In Rotorua we are in the middle of the hottest, driest spring since records began, or at least as long as we can remember. Trails are perfect in the trees, or dusty and falling apart where the sun can get at them.
Intergenerational bike shorts
E-bikes! Love them or hate them. Or both. For me, it depends whether I am riding one at the time. When I am doing that, I love them.
Scratching Your Itch
At the beginning, trails were mostly existing routes created for some other purpose, like hiking, riding motos, or getting to and from trees that needed cutting. Today’s lucky punters can roll up to a trailhead and do their thing without a second thought...
Nzo Sifters Summit New York
I was pretty stoked to hear from an Nzo fan in the states recently, telling us how much he loves his Sifters. He took them out on the trail for a test drive, too! Here’s what he had to say.
Back On The Horse
There are a few things nicer than getting back in the trails after a month of abstinence, but only a few, and not much nicer. A perfect storm of bicycle failure, house moving, deck building, and some actual storms had meant an enforced mountain biking lay off.
Dobies are twenty-one today!
Last year we celebrated two decades of Nzo. That means this year marks the coming of age of our most unruly offspring, the shorts we call Dobies.
Getting the best out of the end of the day
Down in the South Pacific winter has turned the corner, and the days are slowly getting longer, but it’s still winter. Bike rides may be wet and cold, but they can still be had with a bit of cunning and accurate scheduling.
Dusters, a poodle, and three lions
A few days ago we received the first production samples of the Nzo Dusters, a pair of pants we created for 24/7 activity. They fit like they are supposed to, and I can see this sample pair getting an everyday workout as soon as they are dry from their first laundering.
Withdrawal Symptoms
I managed one bike ride during a fantastic lap of the South Island. Great friends to travel with, no major mechanical malfunctions, almost perfect weather and camp spots that defy description made it an almost perfect holiday. Even the sandflies were off their usual game.
Not spectating at the EWS
Crankworx Rotorua 2019 has come and gone - the highlight for us was the Rotorua round of the Enduro World Series, and we proved to ourselves that it takes as much focus and single-mindedness to spectate as it does to compete.
We've got all day
On Sunday I took the first ride in ages that didn’t have any constraint except my attention span, and I set off intending to run out of gas just after cresting the last uphill.
The Local's Hour
Obviously, a perfect Sunday would start with breakfast prepared by a skilled chef, and coffee ladled out by a barista. After that, with no obligations on the agenda, there is leisurely preparation and a long mountain bike ride in a stunning location...
The Nzo Long Term Acid Test
When it comes to long term in-the-field testing of a mountain biking product, it is hard to argue with the patented method we have devised at Nzo.
Like a road race, only crunchy
As the seasons roll by the motivation to enter stuff gets harder to muster. Unless there is a damn good reason, it’s easier to just go for a ride. The Dirty K is a damn good reason
A Team Effort
I came by a racing bike a couple of summers ago. An almost new, ridiculously light, state of the current art, carbon fibre framed machine festooned with the best Japanese equipment, comfy and extremely functional.