Bike
MTB
Behind the bike with Matt Jones
Ahead of Crankworx Rotorua Slopestyle, competitor Matt Jones talks us through his MTB set-up.
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Matt Jones: Rider and mechanic
© Miles Holden
Early on in my career I realised I wanted to work on my bike myself. I wanted to have direct input into how my bike feels and have the ability to play around with my own ideas to make my bike as suited to me as possible.
I would say my mechanic skills are somewhat limited, but my bike set-up is pretty simple, and my skills are tailored towards the needs of a slopestyle rider. There are little tweaks I make to customise it so it doesn’t feel like it's straight out of the bike box. That make the difference to me.
Rear brake hose
Behind the bike: Rear brake hosing
© Miles Holden
I bled a 2.5m (70cm longer than standard) hose onto the rear brake. This allows me to coil the hose seven times around the head tube, and means when I start a contest run I can plan the run to ensure I have enough coil for all the tricks I am going to do. Some guys use a BMX gyro but I love the feel of a conventional hydraulic. This set-up ticks all the boxes for me.
Bike tyre spacer
Behind the bike: Bike tyre spacer
© Miles Holden
This is my most ghetto invention. I use a piece of cut tyre as a spacer between the chain ring and the bottom bracket. This means when tightening the cranks onto the tyre I generate additional friction, which stops the cranks turning in the air when I take my feet off. This addition really helps with tricks such as flip whips and decades.
Crank-arm grip tape
Behind the bike: Crank-arm grip tape
© Miles Holden
I came up with this at White Style in the snow. It basically opens up the option to allow me to land on the cranks if needed, this is quite commonly needed on tail-whip tricks. This little piece of tape has helped many times and kept me on the bike between tricks in a run.
Bike frame
Matt's custom-made Marin
© Miles Holden
This is a new custom frame that I've designed with Marin. At the moment it’s the only one in the world. I’ve taken all the best attributes from the bikes I have ridden over the years and factored them into one frame that suits my every need. It’s extremely short, which allows you to rotate faster off the lip. This has opened some options for some new tricks for contests this year and I’m looking forward to riding this bike at Crankworx, it'll be its first contest outing.
Right-hand brake lever
Behind the bike: Right-hand brake lever
© Miles Holden
Growing up in the UK I always rode with the back brake on the left side which is the same here in NZ. In the last two years I've switched it over to the right-hand side which has helped massively with my bar spin tricks. Because I spin the bars counter clockwise it means the brake lever is caught directly with my right hand, instead of fumbling with the left.
Mechanic kit
Matt's mechanic supplies, simple and effective
© Miles Holden
This is my mechanics kit for a competition, it’s all I really need to perform most tasks and repairs on my bike. Super handy for travelling!
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