The Latest from Magura

A few weeks ago I jumped on a plane South-bound to Phoenix, rented a car at the airport and drove 100 miles North to Sedona. I did the same trip last year, a trip made possible by our German friends Magura. I was secretly hoping for dreary weather back in Vancouver while I was enjoying the desert sun and heat in Sedona. Someone got it backwards – It was sunny and warm in Vancouver while it rained for most of my time in Arizona.

^{View from the patio of Jane’s old house, looking towards one of the valleys we rode in.}

Despite the looming grey clouds and rain, the usual contingent of Magura staff kept our spirits high. Local guides John and Janet Finch pointed out some of the spiritual vortexes of Sedona while showing us some fantastic trails. When they weren’t showing us the trails, they were cooking up some great meals. Also aboard for the ride was Ruthie Matthes, former world xc champion and US Olympic Team representative. Magura managed to book us all into a massive house formerly owned by famous actress Jane Russell.

^{Magura provided a great selection of bikes, all kitted with the latest Magura and Syntace parts.}

Magura introduced 2 new xc forks: the Durin SL (80 and 100mm), and the Durin Marathon 120mm. The Marathon has adjustable travel from 80 – 120mm by way of Magura’s Flight Control Remote (FCR). Damping adjustments are made with Magura’s Albert Select. Both the SL and Marathon feature post-mount caliper mounts, wich accomodate a 6″ rotor without the need for an adapter. The SL is a lighter version of last year’s Durin Race. The 80mm version weighs in at a paltry 1350g, and has a set-and-forget platform adjustment.

^{The Durin Marathon 120: 1555 – 1585g, $899 USD. Albert Select and FCR included.}

Also new in the fork department is the all-mountain 140mm Thor. It comes with magnesium lowers that use a 20mm thru-axle (Maxle 360 or the lighter Magura proprietary “60less” screw-in axle) and feature a post-mount for calipers that accept 180mm rotors without the need for an adaptor. Thor also uses FCR to adjust travel down to 100mm.

^{Thor comes in black and white. All of the Magura forks feature the eye-catching red sock.}

Sticking to their successful designs from 2008, only a few changes will show up in the Shore-worthy 160mm Wotan. These changes include some improvements to the damping from some new internals, and added tapered steer tubes (from 1 1/2″ to 1 1/8th”). Thor also has a tapered steer tube option. I rode a 140mm Thor during my visit. It was easy to set up and easy to adjust during our rides. I stopped thinking about it 20 minutes into my first ride, and was happy to not worry about it for the rest of the weekend. I’m sure it saved my butt from a few washed out corners.

^{The tapered steerer tube. The gold knob is the platform adjuster, and the blue dial is for compression.}

^{The Marta SL is still a sexy brake. I understand why they didn’t need to change it.}

Magura hasn’t made any significant changes to their 2009 brake lineup from the 2008 models. Are they standing by that old pearl of wisdom “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”? What else was Magura eager to tell us? There were two answers: Vaude and Uvex.

^{Morgan Meredith from Bike magazine, carying his camera gear enroute to Hangover.}

Vaude (pronounced “fau-day”) is a German company that has been around since 1974. In Germany, and the EU, they’re known for their outdoor adventure recreation gear and clothing. Here in North America, they hope to become known for their line of hydration packs and paniers. A partnership created with Magura should help them reach this goal.

^{Packs and saddle bags from Vaude; helmets and shades from UVex.}

We had a chance to have a close look at their lineup of hydration packs, and put some to test in the field. They have 3 lines of packs: race, all-mountain, and trek & trail. The lightest packs are extremely light, so much so that I was shocked when I picked one up to have a closer look. The material is made from a similar material used in tents. When the material is punctured, the silicon-coated threads will seal back up. There’s not much room for extra storage beyond the bladder, but that’s to be expected in a pack that weighs between 300-400 grams.

^{Lost in the landscape is Tony Ballantine from Magura. This is also on Hangover.}

A line of packs designed for women feature shorter backs, straps appropriate for the chest, and rear ventilation. All of the packs are waterproof but still come with a waterproof cover that is folded up and stored on the bottom of the pack, accessible from the outside. This cover has hints of fine German engineering – elastic straps that loop around the bottom of each shoulder strap where the shoulder strap is sewn to the bottom of the pack. This allows the waterproof cover to fit very tightly around the pack with no exposed areas.

^{John made it look easy on the “exposed” side of Hangover, while sporting a Vaude pack and UVex gear.}

Packs that have the “Airflex” back appear to have borrowed something from Deuter – a tight mesh that rests against your back and pushes away the main bulk of the pack. In Germany and the UK, it’s Vaude that are known for this style of ventilation, not Deuter. Vaude have also built in a patented size adjustment for the main shoulder straps on the Airflex packs.

^{Day two trails included cow pies, hangover (in the pic), munds and huckabee.}

The larger packs (“North Shore” and “Flowride” models) have full-face helmet holding capability by way of a detachable holder that normally stows away in the pack. The other models have a helmet holder have a strap suitably sized for a traditional helmet. These larger packs also have two aluminum rails that run down the back of pack for added support, and can be shaped to fit the unusual curve of your back you might have when bombing down the trails.

^{Ok, it didn’t always rain. But there were cactus EVERYWHERE.}

At the moment, the packs come with a bladder (which, by the way, was the most new-plastic chemically tasting bladder I’ve ever used. Please take note Vaude!) but Magura are thinking of selling bladders separately to give consumers some different options.  They also mentioned that they would have a special combo-price for the pack + bladder option.

^{Barely enough room on this cantilevered corner to get around the rock outcrop. Trail: Hangover.}

UVex is the other company new to partner up with Magura. They are a leading brand in the EU, and they aren’t strangers on North American soil. They’ve been a well known brand in the skiing world, as well as being a big player in the industrial safety industry.  Their bike helmets haven’t seen much success in the US market, so Magura is stepping in to take over the inventory of the UVex biking line in June.

^{The UVex helmets are well designed, they’ve paid close attention to details.}

There will be approximately 22 model lines of helmets available in the US, ranging from time-trial to mtb to kids helmets, priced between $40 – $200. We were all equipped with UVex helmets during the press camp. The first and most important detail I noticed with the helmet was a nice padded chinstrap that covered the lower 4 inches of the helmet strap. It wasn’t a bulky chinstrap, but rather a simple padding that wrapped around the strap with the help of some velcro. When I ride with a few days of facial growth, I find my whiskers tend to get yanked out from the the straps on my helmets. The UVex solution was perfect. Other details on the helmets include full 360 degree tensioning (adjustable from the back of the helmet) and small holes in the front of the helmet big enough to put the arms of your sunglasses into. I asked about full-face helmets and was told that they do have one, but it may not be in the lineup for US.

^{The exposure was big and steep in places.}

Speaking of sunglasses, UVex (short of “UV Exclusion”) have a huge selection of sunglasses, primarily designed for sport enthusiasts. All of their sporting models come with three  sets of inter-changeable lenses. With a long history in the safety glasses industry, UVex are proud of their optics and have a reputation for quality.

^{One style from a big selection. All of the shades come with 3 lens options.}

Magura is also partnered with Syntace, and they too were represented at the press camp. Roadies in the crowd should take note that Syntace currently make the world’s lightest handle-bar. Syntace is also doing a great job in dispelling the myth that carbon bars are no good for DHers. These bars are crazy strong! Their dh bar comes in 9 and 12 degree sweeps, with a 1/2″ rise. They also have an xc bar that has a strength rating for dh (check out this video: Syntace VR-3 test – they put their carbon bars through the same test). To prove their point, all products come with a 10 year warranty. The bars they had on display were very light, and unbelievably stiff. Look for some new products including stems and risers bars coming out in the next 6 – 12 months.

^{The sleeve comes with the stem and provides much more surface area to grip the top of the stack.}

^{I rode a Ventana El Ciclon with a Thor 140mm, Louise brakes and Syntace bar. Note the flat pedals.}

The trail riding in Sedona is fantastic, even in the rain. In fact, I think I’d rather deal with red mud than red dust. On day one, we rode lost watch/turon/chuckwagon in the morning. In the afternoon we tackled under the radar/under under the radar/new rams head/cake walk/pyramid/witch doctor/pyramid/cake walk/new rams head/under under the radar/old post. Day two was mostly about the epic ride on Hangover. We had rain off and on for the whole trip, but it wasn’t until we were half way down Hangover that the rain really came down. We were all covered in wet red mud at the bottom of the trail. It was deluxe.  Thanks again to Jeff, Tony, Jude and Stefan from Magura for hosting a great press camp. If you’re in Sedona, watch out for the vortexes. Maybe you’ll see a UFO. Best yet, perhaps you’ll bump into John Finch and he can give you a tour of the local trails.

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Fergs