MTB TRIBE - Your Trail Map to the World of Mountain Biking

After getting a lend of the new 2018 Rocky Mountain Altitude Aluminium (Shimano 70) from Mech Monkey and having a total blast it got me thinking, ‘Should I buy a new bike’? I kind of know why I should buy one but was that just a heart over head type response.

Yes, the Rocky Mountain was lighter, faster, slacker and more controllable or was that just the placebo effect? So, to find out the real reasons why I should buy a new bike I visited the Mech Monkey guys in Belfast to have a chat about it. Yes, Mech Monkey do sell Rocky Mountain, Transition, Nukeproof and loads of other required stuff (not a plug, really), but I knew I could chat to them and get truthful answers regarding this topic and not get regurgitated responses from the industry trying to sell me something (because I need it all to become a better rider!).

Find out why you should buy new over upgrading.

It's episode number Twenty Eight and I am so delighted to have Brain Kennedy from his YouTube Channel BKXC on the show. Brian has build his YouTube Channel up over the last couple of years to 130K followers. We chat about how Brian got the idea for the channel, how it grew so quickly and why he thinks it has been received so well. Plus much much more.

Brian's success is not by accident. He has always been looking for that side hustle to escape his 9-5 and after doing research and following his dreams of mountain biking he found his opportunity. Brian was quick to chase that dream down and now makes a good living by filming his adventures from riding the best trails on the planet and bringing us along for the ride. Or as Brian puts it,  'Let's ride the best trails in the world'. We chat to him about his fast rise to YouTube success.

It's episode number Twenty Eight and I am so delighted to have Brain Kennedy from his YouTube Channel BKXC on the show. Brian has build his YouTube Channel up over the last couple of years to 130K followers. We chat about how Brian got the idea for the channel, how it grew so quickly and why he thinks it has been received so well. Plus much much more.

Brian's success is not by accident. He has always been looking for that side hustle to escape his 9-5 and after doing research and following his dreams of mountain biking he found his opportunity. Brian was quick to chase that dream down and now makes a good living by filming his adventures from riding the best trails on the planet and bringing us along for the ride. Or as Brian puts it,  'Let's ride the best trails in the world'. We chat to him about his fast rise to YouTube success.

In todays episode number Twenty Seven we are chatting to Robin O'Neill about being a professional photographer not only within the outdoor action environment but also within the mountain biking scene. Robin has worked with a number of top company's and personalities in the mountain bike industry. She chats to us about how she became a photographer, why she moved to Whistler and how she came to be shooting for some of the best brands in the mountain bike scene.

Robin had a different and interesting direction into the photography industry. She chats about this and how she decided to follow her true passion and get involved fulltime in outdoor lifestyle and action photography. This was a natural direction for Robin as she is a avid mountain biker and skier. We chat about this plus much much more.

In todays episode number Twenty Seven we are chatting to Robin O'Neill about being a professional photographer not only within the outdoor action environment but also within the mountain biking scene. Robin has worked with a number of top company's and personalities in the mountain bike industry. She chats to us about how she became a photographer, why she moved to Whistler and how she came to be shooting for some of the best brands in the mountain bike scene.

Robin had a different and interesting direction into the photography industry. She chats about this and how she decided to follow her true passion and get involved fulltime in outdoor lifestyle and action photography. This was a natural direction for Robin as she is a avid mountain biker and skier. We chat about this plus much much more.

Welcome to the forth instalment of our 'Why I Ride' series with Audrey Gallagher. Audrey is a super keen mountain biker and can often be spotted charging her local trails at Davagh. Audrey chats to us about how she came from a background of very little sport and how after some coaching from her boyfriend, she got hooked on mountain biking.

It wasn't an easy start for Audrey. She had her fare share of injuries from a number of accidents in her past and felt that mountain biking was the last thing she should really be doing. But after some encouragement, great coaching and a proper bike she finally got bit by that mountain bike bug and was hooked. Audrey has taken this one step further and has introduced a number of her friends from her road cycling club to get off road and on the trails. She now heads up a social roadies get-together on the trails of Davagh every Saturday morning. We chat about that and much more.

Welcome to the forth instalment of our 'Why I Ride' series with Audrey Gallagher. Audrey is a super keen mountain biker and can often be spotted charging her local trails at Davagh. Audrey chats to us about how she came from a background of very little sport and how after some coaching from her boyfriend, she got hooked on mountain biking.

It wasn't an easy start for Audrey. She had her fare share of injuries from a number of accidents in her past and felt that mountain biking was the last thing she should really be doing. But after some encouragement, great coaching and a proper bike she finally got bit by that mountain bike bug and was hooked. Audrey has taken this one step further and has introduced a number of her friends from her road cycling club to get off road and on the trails. She now heads up a social roadies get-together on the trails of Davagh every Saturday morning. We chat about that and much more.

In todays episode number Twenty Five we are talking to James Wilson, owner and founder of Pedalling Innovations. We will be talking with James about why he strongly believes you should be using flat pedals over clipless. James has done lots of his own research into the pedalling stroke and has come to the conclusion that clipless is not the way to go.

James provides us with his evidence on the podcast of what he has found during his research and what his conclusions are regarding the use of flat vs. clipless pedals. But James also believes that the flat pedals available on the market at this time are also not great at helping the pedal stroke, so James made the decision to create, design and produce his own pedal, the 'Catalyst Pedal'. So why is this better? You will find out all on the podcast.

In todays episode number Twenty Five we are talking to James Wilson, owner and founder of Pedalling Innovations. We will be talking with James about why he strongly believes you should be using flat pedals over clipless. James has done lots of his own research into the pedalling stroke and has come to the conclusion that clipless is not the way to go.

James provides us with his evidence on the podcast of what he has found during his research and what his conclusions are regarding the use of flat vs. clipless pedals. But James also believes that the flat pedals available on the market at this time are also not great at helping the pedal stroke, so James made the decision to create, design and produce his own pedal, the 'Catalyst Pedal'. So why is this better? You will find out all on the podcast.

In our Third instalment of the African series and episode Twenty Four we will be chatting to Adam Davis about how a California kid ended up living in East Africa, what his local Kijabe trails are like, why he wanted to start an Enduro Race, what it was like guiding Brian Kennedy from his YouTube channel BKXC around and how he got so good on a bike with no coaching or guiding at the age of 16!

I got Adams details from Simon Blake, who was on a previous episode (#020, see below for the link). Simon said I should have a chat with him as he was doing good things in Kijabe and holding a Enduro race early next year (2018). I got in contact with Adam who was more than happy to come on the show and talk about what he was up to, how he got involved with mountain biking and everything else related to mountain biking in his area of Kijabe. Adam has a very interesting story and as a 16 year old he is certainly enjoying life, making the most of every opportunity and grabbing the bull by the horns (or the bike by the bars, if you wish).