From the very beginning, we built mountain bikes to take us further. To explore new trails. To discover new experiences. To push the boundaries of cycling, into unknown pedaling territory. Just as knobby tires, suspension and disc brakes took all of us deeper into the unknown, pedal assist e-MTBs have brought more of us along for the ride.
The following adventure is an excerpt from Further, Shimano’s finest collection of e-MTB tales from around the globe. These stories are told to inspire us to push our own boundaries of action, adventure and advocacy, just a little bit further with these powerful new rides.
Words by Eddie Masters
Photos by Sven Martin
They say you never forget your first time, and they’re not wrong! But hold on. Before your mind tumbles too far into the gutter, let me clear things up.
I’m talking about e-bikes.
You would think that as a seasoned professional mountain biker I would have dabbled in electrically charged thrills a long time ago, but no. To be honest, I’d always been a little hesitant and fearful that once I tried an e-MTB, it would be hard to go back to the breadwinning, naturally aspirated push-bike that I know and love. And as it turns out, I was right.
Like most cool projects, this all started with a surprise phone call–cue Toby Shingleton– Australia’s Mr. Shimano and all-round legend. As Covid-19 ran amuck in most parts of the world, here in little old New Zealand we were lucky to be relatively free of infections or restrictions.
He proposed a proper e-getaway with a straightforward brief: Get a Kiwi band together, find a stunning location, ride a bunch of epic trails and get some sweet shots all aboard e-MTBs. After a bit of brainstorming, we agreed on the perfect destination: Nelson in the north of New Zealand’s South Island. In recent years, Nelson has established itself as a cult mountain bike destination amongst New Zealanders in the know. Simply look at the steepness of the surrounding hills, and it’s obvious that most trails will have a fair bit of influence from every mountain biker’s best mate, gravity. Only problem with best mate gravity is it’s a two-faced son of a bitch who can be a real drag on the way up. e-MTBs seemed like the perfect solution.
We’d use pedal-assisted power to cram in as many of Nelson’s diverse and iconic trail kilometers as possible. We quickly realized that with our expanded range, we were going to need some solid local knowledge if we were going to pull this off. A quick phone call ensued to friend, photog extraordinaire and local resident Sven Martin, and we dove into the planning to make the most of our three days in Nelson. The trail options were endless, from extensive hand-built singletrack networks through the native bush to full blown old school Downhill tracks to 40 kilometer alpine traverses. With only three days, we were barely going to scratch the surface.
A Zoom meeting was called, and we rallied the band of misfits tasked with tackling the project. First up, a man who needs little introduction, Brook Macdonald. I’ve been lucky to call Brook a good friend for many years now, over which time we’ve shared a lot of funny times on and off World Cup DH tracks around the globe. Up next is one of my best mates, travelling companion and Pivot Cycles teammate, Matt Walker. We decided that to add some extra spice and much needed intel to our menagerie we would acquire the services of the aforementioned Nelson local, Sven Martin as the project’s photographer. Oh and of course myself, Eddie Masters, all-round cycling genius, trendsetter and legendary social media influencer.
Like most Zoom meetings I’m involved with, initially very little was achieved except for some continuous banter and jokes (mostly at Sven’s expense). We also got a sneak peek at Brook’s lovely new deck. Through the quagmire of nonsense, a very loose plan emerged. Never mind the “very loose.” Things were beginning to fall into place.
Fast forward a month or so, and we were almost ready to roll. The key word being almost. With pandemic panic wreaking havoc on global supply chains and shipping routes, Matt and I only had a tracking number but no bikes. After a couple of days of frantic calls to shipping companies and a late-night, covert rendezvous with a freight truck, we finally had our bikes safely in our hands. I say bikes–I actually mean bare frames and boxes of parts. It was 9 p.m. on the eve of our departure as we sped home to meet Kurt, our trusty mechanic who scrambled building two e-MTBs for the next morning. In true Kiwi-style he pulled it off at the buzzer, and by 10 a.m. the next day the loudspeaker at Queenstown Airport beckoned to me. “Passenger Masters. Please report back to the luggage desk.” Turns out that forgetting to remove your e-bike battery in checked baggage is not that kosher. If it wasn’t obvious already, we were pretty new to this whole e-MTB thing.
Crisis averted, I boarded the plane, sat back, closed my eyes and enjoyed the flight up the South Island. I was only awakened by turbulence on the descent into sunny Nelson at the southern extent of the Tasman Bay. Sven’s wife, Anka waited for us at the airport with her trusty Land Cruiser. She’s a mountain biking legend herself, and she had offered to play driver, chef and most importantly camp mum for our trip. The Martins live up in the hills, a fifteen minute drive north of Nelson, and their place just happened to be a stone’s throw from Cable Bay Adventure Park where we had decided to ride on our first day. They had also found us an awesome bed & breakfast just round the corner as our base.
That first day aboard our electric-assisted steeds was one for the books. We powered up, rolled out the farm gate and headed up the road towards Cable Bay Adventure Park. The park is relatively new and the brainchild of Richard Ussher (a former Olympic mogul skier and multisport legend). Over the past coupleof years, Richard and his team of trail builders have crafted some of New Zealand’s finest trails. We had chosen the park for its big climbs and raw, undiscovered descents. The 800 meters of elevation, coupled with endless hand-built singletrack would be the perfect test ground for our new e-MTBs and their virgin pilots.
It only took one lap to realize that it was going to be a helluva fun day. We started out with a top to bottom lap of the Gamble Trail, and the highlight for me was seeing Brook clearly back to full strength after his injury, destroying everything the hill threw at him. The Jurassic and CCR trails quickly followed suit and after nearly 2,000 meters of climbing and descending before lunch we retired to the café for a flat white (a highly recommended Kiwistyle coffee). With more than a bar of battery remaining we headed up for one more lap to finish off the day. A steep and loamy descent of The Pines had our crew of six (including the video guys) grinning from ear-to-ear as we toasted our cold beers at the bottom. One lap of the park on a normal bike would have even the fittest riders hurting, but we had punched out four laps, and it was still early afternoon. I couldn’t believe the possibilities that these e-bikes opened up. My initial fears were turning into reality–I was in love.
Day two was all about pushing the limits and exploring the unreachable. Sven (secretly an e-MTB rider himself) had a few surprise ideas about riding to a hard-to-access location that he’d recently scouted with e-assist. So we rolled out of the house and ventured into the unknown. Our destination was simply called “Spot X”, and without giving much away let’s just say that the maze of tracks between Nelson and Cable Bay are pretty epic, all boasting expansive views of the Tasman Sea and untapped ride potential around every corner. With batteries fully charged and bellies brimmed with coffee, the crew made light work of the climbs that would otherwise have been strictly hike-a-bike.
With views stretching from Golden Bay in the west all the way to the Marlborough Sounds, it certainly wasn’t a bad day at the office. The sun shone, the birds sang, and it was only the intermittent screams of “another one” from Sven that interrupted nature’s epic playlist. On his earlier scouting mission, Sven had spotted a natural grass hip. It was here that an epic wilderness huck session unfolded. With those extra watts of power lending a helping hand, none of us had any problem getting up to speed nor did we mind sending a few extra hits for the camera. We rode home mesmerized by the sunset over Cable Bay and Peppin Island. For the second day in a row, you couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces.
Waking up each morning after full days of riding with relatively fresh legs was something I’m not so used to, but something I really liked! Although we had two massive days under our belts, the froth levels remained at an all-time high for the last day. The crew couldn’t wait to see what Sven had in store as a finale. Day three’s plan was simple: head into town and try to knock off as many classic black diamondtrails as possible on a single charge. The bulk of Nelson’s money trails are accessed from Fringed Hill, an 800-meter highpoint that looks over Tasman Bay and the city below.
The long, steep climb to the summit is normally a brutal slog up a forestry road, but we made light work of it aboard our electric climbing machines and were quickly at the summit practicing our wheelies to the amusement of the tree surgeons on their morning break.
From Fringed Hill, we decided to push on up to Sunrise Ridge via the Black Diamond trail, a steep technical undulating traverse. By now, we all felt very confident on our bikes, and Black Diamond was perfect for testing the climbing limits of the e-MTBs. You’d think by now I wouldn’t have been surprised at what these bikes could do, but yet again they blew me away. The slippery, jagged rocks and slick beech tree roots of the climb were no match for our bikes. As we pulled onto Sunrise Ridge, I found myself daydreaming of where I could go and what I could ride on this beast when I got home.
Sven had brought us up here to check out the newly constructed 660 trail. The level of trail building going on in Nelson attests to the dedication of the local riding community, and 660 was no exception. Using the natural lie of the land, 660 had a bit of everything, and I would’ve lapped it all day if given the opportunity. The project’s biggest challenge was choosing where to stop and shoot, it seemed like around every corner was another feature or scenic view worthy of capturing. We all joked that it wasn’t a bad problem to have. We lapped the steep Nelson fire roads and rowdy descents until both daylight and batteries began to fade. All good things must come to an end. For our last descent of the trip we decided on a nostalgic one, the iconic Kaka Hill downhill track. It’s a trail where we had all raced together in our early DH careers. Like I mentioned earlier an awesome part of the trip had been seeing Brook back doing what he loves following his horrendous injury. Watching him hammer down Kaka Hill DH, destroying the lower berms with his iconic style, put a huge smile on my face and was a real sign that the Bulldog was well and truly back.
The daylight had all but disappeared, so the call was made and we closed the door on what had been an unreal few days, with an unreal crew. Looking back, I was right to be worried about e-bikes, they’re dangerously fun and the possibilities they hold are truly endless.
As a riding destination, Nelson has it all. The quality, variety and level of trails there was world class and it should be high on the bucket list of any avid rider. It also proved itself as the ideal destination for three downhill racers to get their first taste of the electric revolution– it’s a revolution I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to join.
