words: Gary Barnard

photos: Eric Palmer, Gary Barnard

Morewood Enza1

Morewood Enza - Day 1

I stopped Dirt Jumping in 2002.

I had a BB snap on the face of a double :0  The ensuing super man without the bike was fun until I slammed my hip into the concrete hard transition.  It took 2 weeks for the bruising to come out and another 2 before I could walk properly.  Next weekend I snapped my ACL wakeboarding and that was that.  12 months of rehab had me feeling a little less keen on dirt jumping as my knee felt a little weak.

I started Dirt Jumping in 2009.

After racing the World Cup in South Africa I realised that on that course jumping a DH bike could make up some serious time.  I was getting over the 55ft table alright but some of the smaller stuff I just wasn’t getting good downslope and lost chunks of time.  I figured it was time to learn how to do that s$%t again.

I put together an interesting mix of bits and bob’s from the garage and borrowed a frame from a mate.  This was my first non-Morewood bike I had ridden since 2003.  I started riding at some local trails and just didn’t feel right on the bike…..I wasn’t sure what exactly it was( wheelbase, Chainstay length, Head Angle) but it required a lot of thought to get the bike to do what I wanted.  I felt like a bit of a spaz but wrote it off as too much time off a hard tail.

Then I rode Jonty’s Enza……..hmmm, interesting!!!!!! Intuitive handling, you think about turning, it turns.  No ooh aaah maybe I’ll turn of my frame.

I HAD to have one.  Like really urgently/immediately.  Forget about the recession it was all I could think about.  Getting that frikkin frame. So after 1*10^8 (that is 100,000,000) phone calls to Richard at Morewood we worked something out and the Enza arrived.

It really is a tribute to everyone that brings a Morewood to life just how good a product they produce.  From the packaging, stickers, welds, finish, design and production it is a thing of beauty.  Not only because of what it does, but also, because of what is doesn’t do.  I just gets out of your body’s way and let’s your mind ride the bike.

I am thankful for many things and being able to ride for Morewood is one of them.

Morewood Enza

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