Unfortunately due to the spread of the tree disease P. ramorum the Cross country nationals which were slated for Tollymore forest have had to be cancelled.  No alternative venue was open to the organisers Banbridge CC due to the sudden and virulent spread of the disease and as such they were faced with no option [...]

[Read more →]

Online registration is now open for the Biking Blitz, round 1 of which kicks of on the 19th of February in Ballinastoe.

The series is perfect for riders who are new to racing with its ‘Baggy Shorts’ category that is aimed at giving a taster of what the cut and thrust of racing is all about [...]

[Read more →]

Wexford will again host the opening round of the Leinster League Cross country series at the excellent Kilbrannish Woods venue, just outside Bunclody, on the shoulder of Mount Leinster.

The race has beome something of a highlight of the calendar

[Read more →]

The Offroad Commission have released details on the grading for cross country racers for 2012.  This is based on the riders performance in the preceding year, new riders will need to assign themselves to categories.  For those who raced in 2011 you can see where you have been assigned here.  If you upgraded during the [...]

[Read more →]

Venues have just been announced for the 2012 Irish XC Champs and XC Marathon Champs.  The Cross country Nationals will be hosted by Banbridge in Tollymore in what is sure to be a fast and technical course.  Tollymore has hosted a National champs before and is always a popular venue choice as indeed have Banbridge [...]

[Read more →]

We have been eagerly awaiting the final version of the Through the roots documentary and here it is in all its glory.  Congratulations to all involved.  Put the kettle on, this one last a while but it is worth every minute.

Through the roots documentary on pinkbike.com

[Read more →]

Offroad 2 Rio is an exciting new project that will seek to establish a high performance strategy for Irish women’s cross country mountain bike racing with the ultimate goal of achieving qualification at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.  Ireland has a great history of sending riders to the Olympics with Jenny [...]

[Read more →]

With the Ballyhoura Spook rapidly approaching it is time for a look at the trail improvements that have been made recently at the trail centre.  On a recent trip we were struck by how much work had been done and how well the trails were riding so be sure not to miss this one before [...]

[Read more →]

This video is going viral on youtube.  Pretty crazy stuff.  Going to have to treat the deer around here with a bit more respect

[Read more →]

We have been asking SRAM when they were going to produce a wheelset for MTB for over three years and each year they gave us a knowing smile and said soon.  Well soon is here with two new wheelsets announced - the RISE 60 and 40.  The former features a carbon fibre rim, no surprise [...]

[Read more →]

The world governing body for cycling has announced changes to the format for mountain bike World Cups with the elimination of 4 Cross and in the introduction of short track cross country eliminator (XCE) racing to the calendar.  Enduro racing is also to be added to the calendar as official events under the title Gravity [...]

[Read more →]

Welcome to the 2011 Ballyhoura Spook, the Halloween Mountain Bike Stage Race, formally known as the screamer. It’s the same great event as in previous years but now bigger and better than ever.

Racing takes place over two stages on the Ballyhoura trails with a 30 kilometre cross country loop and an additional 10 kilometre night [...]

[Read more →]

Competing at the final round of the British Mountain bike Series in Plymouth, Mel Spath has bagged the overall series crown with a second place finish to World Under 23 silver medalist Annie Last.  In her blog post she outlines how the race unfolded.  The race was a good one for Irish riders with a [...]

[Read more →]

The 2011 Cycling Ireland Offroad AGM will be held on Saturday Oct 8th. in Taylor’s pub, Ticknock, Dublin.  This is the annual event which allows Cycling Ireland members to have their voice heard in governing how the sport is run in this country, both XC and DH.  Last years AGM saw a floor motion to [...]

[Read more →]

At last weekends World Championships, Jaroslav Kulhavy took gold.  Bike geeks watching closely will have noticed something special on the winning bike. The 26-year-old Czech, who took the XC world by storm this year and also won the World Cup, had a secret weapon: SRAM’s new 10-speed BlackBox Grip Shift® twist shifters.

[Read more →]

Specialized have a new XC World Champion, Jaroslav Kulhavy.  Following a dominant season the team headed to Champery and this is what happened.

[Read more →]

In a word - Awesome! Last weekend 400 hundred riders took to Ballinastoe for the annual Epic Blast but this year with an added event - The Foxhunt.  Former World Champion downhill rider Gee Atherton chased the pack down the mountain, eliminating riders by passing them.  Come the finish line there were only a handful [...]

[Read more →]

Yet more videos from Champery (plenty to come too).  This time it is the Trek World Racing boys and girls including defending female DH champ tracy Moseley.   Downhill first with XC below.

[Read more →]

Last weekend saw the best riders in the World head to Champery in Switzerland for the World championships.  First up lets take a look at the Downhill.
The Champery downhill course is renowned for its high degree of difficulty and its steepness. It has claimed many victims over the years and has seen a number of [...]

[Read more →]

29er frame manufacturer Niner bikes have just announced the redesign of two of their most popular designs the Air9 and EMD9.

[Read more →]

First up the Downhillers who have enjoyed a fantastic season for Aaron Gwin and Tracy Moseley.

Next it is over to the cross country boys to complete the World Cup season in advance of the World Champs.

[Read more →]

Here is a great video from Gnarly Adventures from the SSWC that includes a section at the end on how South Africa won the rights for 2012.  Sums the whole event up really well.

[Read more →]

Shock manufacturer Rockshox has just annonuced a new even lighter version of their XC orientated Monarch shock that incorporates a carbon fibre air can and the excellent XLoc hydraulic lockout.

[Read more →]

Five hundred and eighty riders signed up for the 13th official Single Speed World Championships which took place last weekend at the Ballyhoura mountain bike trail centre in County Limerick, Ireland.  Ireland’s Niall Davis of biking.ie emerging the eventual male World Champion to take the coveted tattoo first prize. Competitors faced a gruelling 38 [...]

[Read more →]

Mel Spath and Cait Elliott recently competed in the final 2 rounds of the World Cup series. First up was Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic, set in a forested area of pretty rolling hills, the race was based around a biathlon stadium which created a great arena and starting area. The course was very [...]

[Read more →]

Mountain biking great Jacquie Phelan is coming to Ireland for the Single Speed World Championships this August 2011. This is a once in a life time chance to ride with a true mountain bike legend. Biking.ie are hosting two mountain bike rides with Jacquie, all money raised goes towards Jacuies expenses in travelling to Ireland. [...]

[Read more →]

The Through the Roots guys are back with another top notch production focused on the seventh round of the XC NPS held in Slade valley recently.  Enjoy.

[Read more →]

In advance of the final NPS this weekend, the Offroad Commission is drawing attention to the overall competition with a number of riders currently missing out as they haven’t raced enough rounds.
Important: 2011 XC NPS Points - Please Read!
So, the last NPS of the year is just around the corner - and it looks like [...]

[Read more →]

With only a year to go to the 2012 London Olympics a number of test events are taking place including a test event for the Mountain bike course.  Over to Cait Elliott for the report.

Three Irish mountain bikers, the male and female Irish National champions (Robin Seymour and Cait Elliott) and Mel Spath (although still [...]

[Read more →]

This weekend sees the final round of the XC NPS in Castlewellan, Co.Down.  The course is a perennial racers favourite with a nice mix of singletrack.  The video below gives an indication of some of the features, might want to turn the sound down if you are in work though…

Course Description: This year’s main course [...]

[Read more →]