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Mountain Biking Mt. Ugo: Part I

September 19, 2016 5 comments
Mountain Biking Mt. Ugo

Mt. Ugo is a one-of-a-kind mountain biking destination. Whistler ba ‘to?

Mt. Ugo is not exactly the highest peak in that ass-kicking mountain region called the Cordillera– that would be Pulag. For experienced hikers, it’s a relatively moderate climb. Nowadays, it is even used as the venue for some of the country’s most prestigious trail running events.

But for mountain bikers, Mt. Ugo is the closest thing to Everest, or El Capitan in the Philippines. Bikers who have ridden its trails swear that Ugo’s gnarl factor is off the charts. If there was an hors categorie in mountain biking, Ugo was supposed to be it.

So when a friend from Valleybikes asked me if I wanted to join an exploration bike trip to Mt. Ugo, I said: Oh… Hell…. Yeah!!! There was no way on Middle Earth that I was going to miss the chance to be part of this sacred Fellowship and its grand quest. Read more [+]

Project CX/Touring Frankenbike

April 25, 2016 8 comments
Cyclocross bike

Presenting the Frankenbike

After enduro, perhaps the hottest new trend in cycling right now is gravel grinders, also known as adventure bikes, also known cyclocross or CX. While it’s not exactly a new thing, CX seems to have caught the fancy of a lot of bikers… including me. I liked the idea of having a bike that can handle pavement with respectable speed, and still handle gravel roads and moderate trails with acceptable deftness. Such a bike would also be ideal for touring long distances where pavement is the terrain of choice.

However, I wasn’t ready to plunk down a lot of money and buy another bike. Thankfully, there was another way. And it’s called Multi-level Marketing lalo na kung open minded ka sa business…

Just kidding. After doing several upgrades to my mountain bike, I ended up accumulating a lot of excess bike parts and components. Somewhere along the way, I realized that with all these extra bits and pieces, I could actually build up a whole new bike. Read more [+]

Philippine Bike Demo Day

March 18, 2016 2 comments
Despite its massive wheels, the Trek Stache was still surprisingly nimble

Despite its massive wheels, the Trek Stache was still surprisingly nimble

When I heard that Edmund Ang and several other personalities in the biking community we organizing the first Philippine Bicycle Demo Day, the first thought that came to mind was: Hell yeah! It’s about time somebody did this.

As a long-time biker (don’t be rude and ask how long) I’ve seen the Philippine bike scene expand, develop and explode from a negligible subculture of enthusiasts into a mainstream force in society today that just can’t be ignored. Last year we had the Second Philippine Bike Expo day, which was a testament to just how far the cycling community has gone. The expo was as exciting and colorful as the car shows held in recent years in Metro Manila, albeit admittedly on a much lower budget because you know, bike companies don’t have the financial resources of those big bad polluting road-congesting automakers.

Anyhoo, the success of the expo showed that there was a huge community of two-wheeled, human-powered aficionados out there, and it was a market just waiting to be tapped.

However while it was fun gawking at the wares and salivating at the bike porn on display at the expo, a part of me also wondered what it would be like to actually ride some of those bikes. This is where the #PhBikeDemo comes in. Read more [+]

Good Friday Ride

April 15, 2014 2 comments
Good Friday Ride

Quezon Avenue at 5pm Friday looks empty and very appealing

It is no secret that Metro Manila becomes the most pleasant city in the country during Holy Week. From Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday, the city becomes free of traffic, free of smoke belching vehicles. Metro Manila’s wide thoroughfares transform from loathsome highways and actually become fun for biking.

Last year on Good Friday, instead of joining the exodus to the beaches, mountains and provinces, me and my ex-girlfriend decided to stay put in QC and sample what it’s like to live in a city without loud blaring cars, and without people who seem forever caught in a mad rush to nowhere.

We took our bikes for a spin around the city, and see what we could see. All in all, it was a pretty interesting ride. Read more [+]

How About a 650b or 27.5er Bike?

March 6, 2014 58 comments
Mountain Bike Wheel Sizes

PIck your poison–29er, 27.5er or 26er

Buying a bike used to be easy. You just went to your friendly neighborhood bike shop and picked one you like. But today, with so many types of bikes to choose from, picking one that suits you seems to have become much harder.

This is especially true in the world of mountain biking where new stuff gets unveiled and marketed almost every day. 29ers used to be cool. 29ers were once the hipster anti-mainstream enfant terrible of the mountain biking universe. But nowadays bikes with 29-inch wheels are more often seen as “the establishment.” Like all rebellions that became all too successful, the 29er movement seems to have lost its aura of defiant nonconformism. It is now the mainstream.

Now it seems that 27.5 inch wheels or 650b is where the action’s at. Bike manufacturers are betting big on 27.5, with Giant even putting all its eggs in the 650b basket. So what’s the hype all about? Read more [+]

King of the Mountain 2013

July 4, 2013 6 comments
All Terra King of the Mountain 2013

Mountain bikers race towards the sun and the hills at the All Terra King of the Mountain 2013

The philosopher Nietzsche had a lot of strange ideas. ‘What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,’ is one of his more popular quotes. For no reason at all, this thought struck me out of the blue while I was ascending The Wall in Timberland last Saturday in All Terra’s King of the Mountain bike race.

I was with more than a hundred other bikers who were struggling up the steepest part of the dreaded Wall, drawing heavy breaths, gritting their teeth, grinding their cranks, giving everything their legs could possibly give, but I was also wondering: will I get stronger after this or will I simply drop dead? While marinating in gallons of my own sweat, the outcome seemed more like the latter. But I kept two fingers crossed while I held on to my handlebars. Read more [+]

Switching to a 29er Bike

March 13, 2013 23 comments

 

29er Mountain Bike

29er Mountain Bike

Originally, I wanted to say “Upgrading to a 29er.” But I realized that that would be biased. It would suggest that 26er bikes were somehow inferior, which is hardly the case. There’s a whole bunch of reasons why 26 inch wheels have come to dominate the mountain bike world.

But first things first. For those new to mountain biking, a 29er is a bike that has wheels with a diameter of 29 inches. Standard mountain bikes have smaller 26 inch wheels. And no you can’t simply slap a 29 inch wheel into a standard mountain bike, they just won’t fit. You’ll need a new bike frame and a new fork as well. Read more [+]

Upgraditis or Gear Lust

September 21, 2012 19 comments

How do you muster up the fortitude to resist buying new gear when your current ones still work?

So you just bought those new top-of-the-line racing flats. They look great, feel even greater, and they just cost you half a month’s salary. Expensive? Who cares? Because after a week of breaking them in, you feel like you could challenge Dean Karnazes to an ultra smackdown! Hey, bring it on Bikila. Usain Bolt, your days are numbered haha!

But a week later, you pass by your favorite running store. Something catches your attention. What are those things on display? What are those bright, shiny, gorgeous, kickass things? Salivate. Drool. They whisper to you: “Come to me baby… Take me home… Bring me home now and I’ll show you all the pleasures of the world…” Read more [+]