manifest
I remember vividly being extremely excited when heading for my first proper mountain bike ride. Following the pattern of a typical trekking day, I purposely pushed a bike up a mountain trail for a fair number of hours, with little to non-existent pedaling time. The fast descent back home on an asphalt mountain road was exhilarating. It definitely seems borderline stupind now, but back then it made a lot of sense. The notion of mountain biking found its way into my little universe back in the nineties, and it was…
I spend most of my time in or around the mountains. Even when going on a summer family holiday, usually driving South to the Greek coast, we end up in a very mountainous looking Aegean landscape. I routinely bring my mountain bike with me, but usually I don't get enough time and energy to do serious pedaling or trail riding, too busy baking in the hot sun or chilling in the turquoise waters. This time around I was able to do some proper recky in the island of Andros, home…
Why do people mountain bike? What are they after? Flow. A sublime state of being that combines levitation with swinging. The closest thing you can get to flying. (Or skiing. Or swimming). Adrenaline. From the physical effort and technical precision required to do a steep, rowdy climb. Or from the 100% concentration needed to solve the continuous stream of problems a natural trail throws at you. Gnarl. That tingling sensation you get in front of a sketchy section of a trail, when you see the line, you kind of know…
Looking back to the piece I wrote about electric mountain biking back in 2021, Less is more. Does it still stand? Do I see things differently? Four years ago e-mountainbiking was just erupting in our neck of the woods. Today it pretty much took over. Judging by the people I meet while out riding, sporting a classic bike on our trails is more and more of an exception. While these four years did not make me any younger, I am happy to report that I still don't need the help…
This is a true buyer's review: the COTIC RocketMax frame and all the components used for this built were purchased by me, at true market value. My first proper big rig is in the house. 170mm front travel, 160 rear travel, coil shock. Enduro style frame, wide rims with sturdy tires. How does it fit my riding style? Is it suitable for the UP. DOWN. REPEAT approach to mountain biking that I aim for here, at mtbtours.ro? The short answer, coming after a month of intensive riding on our amazing…
There is a good chance you don’t. You don't need a guide when you ride at home, on familiar trails (you might benefit from a mtb instructor, though). You don't necessarily need a guide when you hit the trails in a bikepark. Standardized signing, comprehensive maps, and hordes of fellow riders will lend you a helping hand in finding your way through the unfamiliar terrain. (Keep in mind the mtb instructor idea, though). You don’t need a guide when you are keen on exploring new places on your own, getting…
All the photos you see on this website were shot during our own rides. Be it with clients (the vast majority), with friends or by ourselves. The image above, for instance, is taken on the way up to Scara Peak, Făgăraș Mountains, featured in our Carpathian Peaks program. Apart from a very small list of reports about tours abroad, the images were taken on the very trails we bike during our tours. It happens more often than not: lacking good quality photos, one would revert to image banks in order…
E-MTB: the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine It seems pretty much decided. The future of mountain biking is electric. From shifters to derailleurs, from seat posts to suspension controls, and last but not least, the assisted pedalling. The ebikes. There is a long list of technical improvements that made mountain biking easier, safer, and more fun. (And also more expensive...) From cantilever brakes we moved to V brakes, which turned obsolete when disk brakes entered our world. We added 3 inches to the…
All around the world the Covid-19 forces everyone into reassessing priorities. Living so close to a life threatening situation is pushing people to have a different perspective on pretty much everything. Everywhere you look, people magically discover the joy of cooking at home. The bliss of spending more time with the very close ones. The thrill of exercising in the living room, with a lazy cat or a bored dog in the background. The futility of high-cost expenses, like a state-of-the-art new car, or the latest instalment in the ever…
Cleaning and checking the bike. Sending more delicate components to specialised servicing. Updating programs and tours, fine-tuning coming trips. Reviewing the website, refreshing layouts, messages, logos. Warm-up rides on the trails that are drying up at lower altitudes, while skinning and skiing is still up for grabs higher up the mountain. This is what a regular month of March or April looks like in our shed and in our neck of the woods. Not this year. Together with the rest of you, we got rolled over by a big wave…
