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08/21/2008
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SMX - What's
the deal?
A skeptic is converted
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Call me a skeptic. I'm not the sort of person to leap onto the newest
technology just because it happens to be the newest technology. I rode
full rigid longer than most of my friends and I held out on a hardtail for a
long time as well. When I first saw pictures of the SMX I basically thought
'I'd rather ride my snowboard.' What really could be better than
just a board (or perhaps two) between you and the snow? This isn't the
first 'snow bike' I've seen and the others haven't impressed me at all. So this
was the mindset I carried in my back pocket as I entered Cove Bike Shop the
other day.
In case you are wondering if the SMX can turn. Photo ~ North
Legion. Click
to enlarge.
When I arrived I spoke first to Mike Hamel - the promoter and announcer behind
the Adidas Slopestyle who is also working with North Legion to light the SMX
on fire. He's always stoked and he showed me some cool photos of riders
doing really rowdy moves on the machine. Still I was unmoved. After that
I began speaking with the co-founder of North Legion - Egil Stene-Johansen -
and poking around the three-skied snow trike. I noticed that while there
is a rear shock there is very little travel - Egil explained that the suspension
is mainly there to reduce stress on the frame. So big deal. It's
a snow trike with hardly any suspension.
About the most comfortable way to ride a T Bar. Photo ~ North
Legion Click
to enlarge.
Well not exactly. There is an innovation that makes the SMX unique.
After trying a few different configurations - including two forward mounted
skis like a snow mobile - the partners began examining the way skiers turn and
they worked towards having the SMX mimic that dynamic. Eventually North
Legion began developing what they call their 'Parallel Motion Frame.'
When you grab the bars and tip them right or left the rear of the machine tilts
while the skis tilt in parallel at a similar angle. Bungee cords pull everything
back straight again if you are in the air so you can land smoothly.
This system also gives the SMX its brakes. You'll be leashed to the machine
of course and when you come off the leash will pull a pin that releases one
of the bungee cords so the SMX will fall over instead of plowing into mum and
the kids. There is a separate leash so you can ride a T Bar without being
dragged on your ass if you fall - you and the SMX will be released because of
the unique tether system.
To load a chair the SMX is hoisted so the chair tucks under the saddle of the
machine and you just keep sitting on the saddle. It sounds a little awkward
to me but Egil assured me it works smoothly.
A rearview of the parallel motion frame tilted to the limit.
Photo ~ Cam McRae
The 'pedals' are essentially motorcycle pegs and thus far riders have been
using snowboard boots to keep their toes toasty and protected.
Sometimes you learn more about a new product by learning about the innovators
behind it and that was certainly the case when I sat down with Egil. He
had just finished studying English in Australia and was surfing on the Gold
Coast when he met his eventual business partner Grunde Wage. Their shared
passion for surfing and action sports lead them to pursue ideas together.
"We had a lot of plans. We first thought of building a surf wave
pool in Norway." That plan has been shelved for the moment and instead
they explored an idea from Grunde's past. "He worked at a ski resort
and they used to ride around on GT snow racers." That experience
lead them to develop a product that could bridge the gap between winter and
summer for riders and thus the SMX was born.
Egil Stene-Johansen - one of the two brains behind North Legion
and the SMX. Photo ~ Cam McRae
Egil's background is more snowboarding and skiing as well as wakeboarding,
kiteboarding and surfing and he's had a bmx for years but the SMX has turned
him into a mountain bikers. "I'm a rider now. I've taken off
on the scene."
Trond Hansen was one of the first riders to really get some time on the SMX
and he managed to pull tailwhips and backflips on the very first day.
This was a relief to Egil and Grunde; "I'm happy they can do it,"
Egil told me, "If they couldn't trick it, it would have been a failure."
Don't call the SMX a gimick though, like a snow skate or the GT racer.
"We don't want it to be their thing they pick up when the day's over."
Egil feels the SMX will make skiers and snowboarders converts to six edges.
"The riders feel like this is the first product that feels like a bike."
The SMX
Right now the SMX is designed for groomed runs or tracked snow; the current
skis don't push enough volume to deal with powder but those are in the works.
It comes stock with a Marzocchi DJ fork, an aluminum frame made in Taiwan, an
RST rear shock (with no damping adjustments) and skis made by Pale in Austria.
On their trip to Canada Hamel and Stene-Johansen rolled into two ski resorts
who run bike parks in the summer: Mount Washington on Vancouver Island
and Whistler. They were very pleased with the response at both resorts.
When they return in January they hope to visit some more mountains - including
those on the North Shore - to try and get their product approved for use.
The SMX will set you back about 8300 Norwegian Kroner. Today that's about
$1400 Canadian and $1250 US. I expected the sting to be worse. The
current SMX weighs 17 kg or about 37lbs
North Legion has assembled an impressive list of riders for their 'team.'
This year you'll find Eric Porter, Matt Hunter, Cameron Zink, Richard Gasperotti,
Niki Leitner, Darren Berrecloth, Trond Hansen and Niels Windfeldt piloting SMXs
at their local hill. There will also be a comp in December 2006 to showcase
what riders can do on the machine. The Adidas
Winter Slopestyle will be held in Saalbach Hinterglemm of course - home
to the summer comp of the same name.
For riders who don't have a winter sport mastered the SMX might be just the
ticket. Much easier to learn than skiing or even snowboarding, a rider
can be shredding on an SMX in a matter of minutes I'm told. Hopefully
nsmb will get hold of one of these and convince the local mountains to let us
do some testing.
It looks like a blast.
What do you think? Let us know here.
For more info hit northlegion.com
North Legion AS
Egil Stene-Johansen
Sales And Marketing Director
+47 928 62 897
egil@northlegion.com
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