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Bart Brentjens Challenge 2018

Bart Brentjens Challenge 2018

BBC 2007
BBC 2007
BBC 2009
BBC 2009

It is 2007 when I first participate at the Bart Brentjes Challange. Bart is a former mountainbiker who is having his own team now.
The BBC does start in Eijsden, southern Netherlands, called Limburg

Limburg is known for his more hilly area, so the climbs are longer then the rest of the Netherlands.

In 2009 I did participate again in the trail ride.

( directly to the photo or video)

BBC 2018

Would it be fun to ride it again with my ten year old son. Is it something he could enjoy as well or is it just something I want?
We decide to go for it and plan a long weekend in Limburg.

On Friday we did ride the “sint pietersberg” , this new trail is very technical and some nice views.

On Saturday we did relax and picked up our race numbers.
Sunday 07 october it is raceday.

It was a bit colder then the last vieuw days so we did start in our tights.
Then the waiting begins before we are set to go.

start BBC
start BBC

And the we can ride on. After a few corners we did the the trails for ourselves. Passing by some riders with mechanical issues.
It gets warmer when we have our first climb, so we stripped down to shorts.

During the ride we did get a lot of reaction. My son was really motivated to ride on. On some climbs he was able to pass some adults as well, wich made him go even faster.
At the end we have rode a 42,5 km ( 26 miles) and had 580 altitude meters.

Proud of what we did we drove home to enjoy the photo’s and did create the video.

(© sportograf en Guido)

Foto:


Video

We are going to ride some more of these trails.

Tow whee, the bungy strap

Tow whee, the bungy strap

We have been mountainbike a long time with the familiy. We did notice it is hard to make nice downhill track is there is no cablecar nearby.
We parked our car on the top and rolled down the mountain and I did cycle up again to get the car.

Then I found out there is a bungy rope designed for bikers.
I orderded one for testing.

A few weeks a go we did test the rope in Belgium. Our son (10 years) has developed quite some riding skills but he does miss the strength on long climbs.
(for now lucky for me 😉  )
This summer we plan to use it in Austria where climbs a much longer.

For now I’m happy with the first rides.

towwhee
towwhee
Bike-experience Roosendaal

Bike-experience Roosendaal

Last weekend (18-04-2018) we went to Bike-experience Roosendaal.

We did bring our BMX and MTB with us.
The have created a large 3500 m3 pumptrack for skateboards and BMX.

jump wielerexperience
jump wielerexperience

A MTB track with 3 differant routes and a racetrack for speed bikes.

We did use all 3 of them.

How we did that? See our video:

Want to go there?
See locations below:

Frog bike 78 trekkingbike

Frog bike 78 trekkingbike

The frogbike is rebuild to trekking bike.

Why | Parts| Photo

Why:
Frogbikes make perfect kids bikes but miss out on some parts.

  • No reflective striping on the tyres. (most common in europe)
  • mudgard don’t have a break out.
  • Shimano Acera 8 speed is a to “light” for serious climbs.

Since our first Frog bike some things have been changed:

  • Mounting option for locks.
  • mounting options for mudgard.

So I decide to make some changes to our frogbike.
My local bike shop “de Kleine Spaak” has this options availalbe for buyers as well.

 

Parts:
I use the following parts to create a trekkingbike.
Pricing is a indication.

Total extra costs are approx $ 330,-
The schwalbe Big Apple tyres are a bit expensive but they help to get a better comfertable ride.

Many off the parts would be available for a lower price. I did want to create a solid bike at a low weight.
For every part I did make choose between price/ weight/ quality.
These choices will be differant for every one.

the total weight is  13,4 kg ( 29,5 LBS). The lock with a weight of 700 gram makes the Frog 78 a bit heavier.
The first 12 km have been made. Finn did like his new bike.
Many kilometers will follow.

Foto’s

Links are to a affiliate partner.

New frogbike 78

New frogbike 78

Since last week we got a Frogbike in our family. It is our third frogbike.
In the past we had a Frogbike 55 (20 inch/ 2014), frogbike 62 (24 inch/ 2015) and now we got a Frogbike 78 (26 inch/ 2018)

We had a Cube 260 in the family with a bit to large cranck set and my son wasn’t happy riding it. On his Genesis Core 26 however he did like riding.
During some mtb chalanges I met Pieter from  “De Kleine Spaak” ( dutch bikeshop specialized in lightweight kids bikes)

He told me Frogbikes will come with a new Frog 78 with a better geometry. This winter we had a test ride on the new Frogbike with good results.

test ride frogbike 78
test ride frogbike 78

After the test ride we did order our new Frogbike 78 in Neon red.
We do have the bike at home now and I’m planning to create a trekking bike out of it. More info in a special post.

The Frogbike 78 is available in the following colors: Neon Red, Neon Green, Dark Grey, Team Sky Black .
Check your local bike store if you want some help on creating a trekkingbike from your Frogbike.

If you got any questions, leave a reaction below or use the  contact form.

Some specs and photos.

Specs:
Standard specs from Frogbike.

Approx Age 13+ (finn is nearly 10 inside leglength is 65 cm)
Available colours Neon Red, Neon Green, Dark Grey, Team Sky Black
Weight 10 kg (trekkingbike will be approx 12kg)
Wheel size 26″ (ETRTO/ISO 559)
Frame 6061 T6 heat treated, double butted aluminium alloy, seat tube 18″ (465mm)
Fork 6061 T6 heat treated aluminium alloy
Crank set / Chainring Frog Bikes patented aluminium straight arm cranks with Frog Bikes double chain guard, 155mm, steel 34t chainring
Bottom Bracket Neco, square taper, 68/107.5, cartridge bearings
Pedals Frog Bikes eco-friendly rice husk composite pedal, w/reflectors, 9/16″
Front Hub Quando, aluminium, sealed hub, QR, 28 hole
Rear Hub Quando, aluminium, sealed hub, QR, 28 hole, Shimano type 8-speed free hub body
Cassette Shimano Altus, HG-31, 8-speed, 11-32t
Rear Dereailleur Shimano Altus, M310, 8-speed
Chain KMC, 8-speed
Rim Aluminium, 26×1.5, double wall, machined braking surface
Seat post Aluminium, micro adjust, 27.2mm
Seat clamp Aluminium, QR
Headset Neco, 1″1/8 semi-integrated threadless, aluminium Frog Bikes top cap
Handlebar Aluminium, straight, 540mm
Stem Aluminium, 1″1/8, 60mm, 4 bolt clamp
Grips Soft rubber grip with lock ring, 30mm OD
Gear Shifter Shimano Alivio, M360, 8-speed, rapid fire
Brake Levers Frog Bikes’ designed Tektro easy reach brake lever
Brakes (F+R) Tektro 836AL, aluminium, linear pull
Saddle Frog Bikes junior specific saddle (medium), w/ steel rails
Tyres Primary Kenda K154, 26×1.5, hybrid, (ETRTO/ISO 40-559)
Tyres Secondary Kenda K1153, 26×1.75, MTB, (ETRTO/ISO 47-559)
Mudguards Full length, resin, black
Accessories box Bell, bike reflectors white/red, wheel reflectors orange/white, frame protector patches

Foto:

Standard bike with kickstand