Home-built bike to tackle Rage

COLIN SMITH/Nelson mail

MEAN MACHINE: Matthew Bruce with the bike he made himself.

You can't fault Matthew Bruce's resourcefulness.

Not only has the 16-year-old Nayland College student transformed a bare $900 mountainbike frame into an operational $9000 racing machine, but he tasted success in the new bike's first outing when he won the under-19 section and finished third overall in the enduro class in last month's Coppermine Epic mountainbike race.

But that was only 40km long. On Saturday, he'll be making his first attempt at the 106km More FM Rainbow Rage adventure ride from St Arnaud to the Hanmer domain. Despite organisers' insistence that it's not officially a race, Bruce will still be trying to be the first rider home in the 18 years and under class.

Bruce said he spent most of last year putting his new bike together after a friend initially bought the Commencal Meta 4.1 full suspension frame on-line off Trade Me. After months of switching and adding parts and constant tinkering, he's delighted with the finished product which he now estimated at a retail value of $9000.

He said that much of the (Shimano) componentry had been imported from the United Kingdom.

"It's a really good bike, I'm happy with it. It likes that sort of trail," said Bruce in reference to his debut success at the Coppermine.

"The suspension worked very nicely and everyone who sees it comments on how well it looks. It's quite different. It's only got one swingarm, so it's kind of like a motorbike in the way it's built."

He's been involved in mountainbiking for only the past two years but since the Coppermine, has become passionate about the sport. The Rage will only be the bike's second official outing, but Bruce will contest the national secondary schools championships in Levin the following weekend.

He'll be looking to break 5hr on Saturday after a friend, Tom Filmer, completed last year's ride in 5hr 26min 37sec. He's been putting plenty of hours into his physical preparation as well, just not on a mountainbike.

"Most of my training's on a road bike, so I jump on that and head up to the top of the Whangamoas and stuff like that.

"On a mountainbike, it'd be just my luck to go out the weekend before and crash and on a roadie you can sort of keep a constant pace and constant threshhold."

He'll be one of 500 riders attempting Saturday's Rage, down from last year's 602 finishers. The event was first held in 1996 with 66 starters, rising to a record field of 1604 in 2001.

However, ride organiser Mike Gane was philosophical about the event's declining participation numbers.

"There's been a big growth in other events and a lot of people have done the Rainbow, they've sort of ticked the box - they've done one, that was enough, they've done three, that was enough ... whatever, and that's fair enough.

"But also, I do still think the economy is having a big part to play."

None of last year's top three men's riders, Ashley Whitehead, Michael Naylor or Murray Sheridan, have entered this year, although the top women's rider, Susie Wood, will be on the line for Saturday's 9am start.

And for those more competitively inclined, Tim Vincent's 2002 record of 3hr 29min 03sec still stands, as does the women's record of 3hr 56min 47sec set, coincidentally, by Vincent's wife, then Sandy Kunz, in 2006.

- © Fairfax NZ News