Hamster wheel

Keeps of spinning
Did you receive that special gift that you wanted for Christmas from your better half, GF, or mom? If the answer is YES then lucky you. If instead you got something else then...be thankful and sell that thing for bike parts. Hey such is the life of bike junkie!

Santa already made A list and he already delivered the goods to the nice kids all over the world now for those who received coal (like yours truly) then make a list, save up, or work hard, and purchase that freaking shiny new part for 2015 you do not need no handouts from some dude with flying reindeer.

Hamster list

• Shimano XT or Zee brakes - they are both priced close to each other, both are compatible with shimano ICE TECH system, the XT a bit lighter and little prettier hanging from your cockpit. While the ZEE sports four piston calipers versus two from XT probably overkill for my riding. More is better perhaps?
• Rockshox Reba - finally seeing reasonably price brand new reba's on local bike market. With non remote models going for 18k srp the price difference from the Manitou and Suntour air fork offering pretty close. It also comes with 1 1/8 steer tube, and 9mm QR perfect for my bike.
• Shimano Zee 1x specific crank set - probably the least likely upgrade. But when the right deal comes I might pull the trigger.
• Flat pedals -  replaceable pins, thin profile, light and a wide foot print for my size 12 teva's. Spank, point 1, Xpedo? Price usually dictates the purchase but a good pedal will last for years without much fuss on maintenance so I am putting that into consideration.
• Tires - Schwalbe tires present on my bike been nothing but trouble lately. Rocket ron a nice tire to use both on and off road but the darn thing just pinches tubes like crazy when the air pressure drops. Will try the more road oriented racing ralph at the back and maintain the less worn roro at the front for training duties. While a more aggressive set of tires going on for the trail (yet to be determined).
• One-up 42t sprocket and Radr cage - this one really depends if I can pedal 11-36 XT cassette on ANY climb I encounter. If I fail with initial setup of xt back-end with 32T chain ring then I still have the option to buy a smaller 30T at the front before springing for the One-up goodies.
• Stanton Sherpa - probable replacement for my near expiring Commencal 29 er frame. Sherpa delivers with 853 reynolds steel tubing, 68.75 HA, 435 CS length all the right "numbers" that make a nimble, fun bike. Plus I won't have to worry about transferring parts, since the sherpa and the camino shares the same components numbers like head tube, seat post, BB.
• Surly krampus almost has the same geo as the camino (69 HA, 445mm CS) with option of running either regular 29' rim, tire or the 29+ rims and 3' inch tires. Along with that feature the surly bike made of magic cush material known as steel. It is like getting two bikes for one 29+ for trail, rowdy riding. While normal 29 inch more subtle usage like touring, road training.

Pics from the net

Ernest "naughty boy" Hamster

Bike ride: Manila with Tito rom

Whatever crap you are going through a Bike ride is just what you need. This time I am assisting my Tito rom to get his legs back, since his bike still not around I let him use the El camino and yours truly rode the SS Beater. Got to say once you ride a bike you never lose that ability, oriented him briefly and we were of.

Route simple Manila fair passing through United nations, kalaw, roxas, baywalk where we entered the fair grounds, pasay CCP area, MOA. Trip back instead of Kalaw we entered remedios malate area until we reached singalong and home base to Paco.

Got to commend tito rom for his effort he did the initial route without much rest keep it up!

Ernest Hamster

Bike ride

Night ride
Last week ride was short but that did not stop my left knee to explode could barely get over the pain. After that ride I felt hopeless, troubled on possibility of my affliction being permanent. So I asked Doc Arvin what possible solution I could try he told me to adjust my saddle height and rail position. It worked! My right knee last night was back to it's usual not painful self even after 50+ km of doing the hamster on mid ring. Plus I tried something different, lessened the standing-mashing on acceleration, wore the proper footwear my flat pedal shoes along with compression socks instead of usual hiking sandal, and not tail or chase any of Siglo dudes present.

Manila to QC, cubao, san juan, sta.mesa, pandacan, paco, malate, pasay, makati, manila. 50+km of fun, couple of moments of pain with Siglo Siklistas.

Steak dinner on makati before going home. Too bad no bikers juice last night.

Strava it happened duh...

Ernest "1x10" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning...

Had it with all the complications in my life. That is why I choose to go "single" for 2015, no longer I will be burdened by triple crank, front derailleur, and shifter...what were you thinking?

Logically going 1x10 route barrel of compromise with minimal payoff. Instead of having wide selection of gears you are now at the mercy of your chosen chain ring ratio. No more roadie gear, good bye granny, say hello to pain and lots of grunting on long climbs but what the hell...let's do it!

Already posted a topic earlier this year about One-by setup HERE.

People has spoken
Last quarter of 2013 ushered in slew of innovations trickled down from SRAM "million dollar baby" 11 speed group the XX1, namely X-SYNC chain ring tooth profile, and wider range on a cassette (42t). 
Companies like Race face, wolf tooth, etc. jump at the opportunity to bring sram tech to a price range suitable for the masses with none of propriety stuff that comes with the territory. 

Perfect timing
For 2015 my bike will finally go from 9 to 10 speed with 1x10 configuration.

Zee and XT 10 speed

Goodies
Already acquired most of the parts, only the narrow wide chain ring, chain left to purchase along with the crank that I have yet to pick up from Siglo Siklistas group mate.

Shimano Zee Shifter M640 - 1x specific, shares the same guts as bigger brother SAINT, tough, super cheap.

Baby bro of SAINT for 800 pesos HELL YEAH!

Shimano Zee RD M640 FR version - short cage, 1x specific, shadow plus tech, tough, cheap, best option going 1x.

Burly, gold clutched goodness

Shimano XT CS M771 11x36 - triple spider assembly will not dig much on hub freewheel, compatible with almost all 42t cog conversion kits.

11x36 for poor climber hamster

Shimano Deore M610 crankset 42-32-24 - Super deal from Aaron thanks dude!

Chain ring will be 32T NW chain ring from Race Face.

Shimano XT  HG92 chain - XT where it matters.

Full assembly details and  initial road, trail impression coming SOON.

Ernest Hamster

Bike ride: urban fun

Back with the boys of Siglo Siklista's for fun filled night of riding, food, and bikers juice.

Started at Dapitan where I got to gawk at pretty girls attending the event at nearby college while waiting for the group. Instead of the usual route through quiapo we proceeded to inner parts of binondo until we reached lucky chinatown mall then jones bridge, inside intramuros, roxas, baywalk, moa, vito cruz, kamagong, jupiter to El chupa cabra for grilled mexican food, I had a tasty burrito!

Shout out to the dude on a motorcycle who saw us leaving dapitan and later saw us (me) on makati en-route to mexican place. Got to chat with him while snaking through traffic along jupiter he told me that his a mountain biker himself a member of Comembo (?) bike group.

Ernest "blown knee" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Couple of days ago I purchased a new bike for my son done a couple of stuff to improve the ride of bike but there are things I cannot do myself. Namely truing the wheel, and messing with the headset, luckily ULYBY bike shop just around the corner to do the dirty work.

Still a dog but it now rides well

Kid just learning the seat slammed so that he will not have any difficulty putting his foot down to dab, the front brake also works now with minimal effort to engage, steer tube set to the lowest position to aid EJ in steering and visibility.

Cool night ride

Got the bike on Tuesday and immediately tested it on our favorite spot. At first EJ was still adjusting, coming from 12 inch bike that he can easy man-handle and throw around from a 16 inch that is a tad big for him my son felt the difference right away. I noticed that he was over correcting the handlebars and balancing from mostly his legs I gave him a simple advice to just pedal and not fight the bike. Heading to my advice it only took him minutes to adopt and ride like he been doing it for years got a little teary eyed watching him circling the area.

Ah the joys of father hood.

Ernest Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

"I'm fast, faster than you"

Yesterday we went to nearby mall to eat waffles and browse the "sh*t pile" toys on sale. The missus already scouted the displays the day before so I was not expecting much. Until one of the sales rep offered me a bike at cost. It had all the boxes ticked, 20 inch 16 inch wheel size my son could use this for years, rims; tires are standard (spokes, tube), non of unnecessary crappy accessories present, and it was dirt cheap. Sure it was a pig on purchase but with a few minor touches I could turn the bike to something my son can enjoy.

EJ new steed last night

Instead of going home EJ wanted to test the bike. So we went to Blue bay, nearby family friendly place to eat and hang out. He rode that thing still with training wheels until he dropped.
When we got home I immediately tinkered with the bike removed the training wheels, angry bird race plate, decals. Adjusted the saddle, tightened bolts, re-aligned the front brakes was rubbing the rim, inflated the tires to 40 psi it was at 10 psi when we got it, flipped the front wheel orientation the thread pattern of tires was on opposite direction, adjusted the BMX handlebars to EJ liking, removed the ugly pedal reflectors, and lubed the chain.

Perfect for the price. Frame paint needs work, next project?

EJ got to rode the bike with proper setup today and told me that he liked it very much. Thank you son you made my day.

Shout out to the dudes of Siglo Siklistas who participated on Nuvali Dirt weekend XC race. Congratulations! Enjoy your after race "bikers juice".

Ernest "Papa" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Tough decisions
November is the month of BONUS. For many this signifies the start of a hobby, for most it signals an upgrade, for some lucky dogs a new bike maybe? But one things for certain money going to change, parts are going out of the shelves, bikes are going to roll out shop showroom into the road and mountain.
Once upon a time you have a choice of hardtail or a full suspension mountain bike, steel or aluminum, 80 to 200mm of travel.
Add 29 and 27.5 wheel size NOW. Options are a double edge sword, What you want most of the time really NOT what you need. So in spirit of giving friendly advice I will give you couple of tips to follow (or not) in buying, upgrading a bike.

Know your options...
26 the standard.
27.5 the new kid on the block which will (?) replace the present standard touted as "wheel size with same agility of 26 er, with roll over of a 29 er" .
29 wagon wheel. The big foot of the group roll's over everything, holds momentum well.

What riding are you planning to do?
"I would like to go touring, XC, trail thrown in now in then"
Get a 29 er

"I would like to go trail, XC, roads on some occasion"
Get either a 29 er, or 27.5

"I would like to go trail, pump track, couple of jump sessions"
Get either a 26, or 27.5"

"F*ck this dirt jump, urban freestyle, pump track where it's at"
26

"I would like to exclusively shuttle my ass to the trails, and on occasion go big on mountains"
26 or 27.5

"Downhill"
26

A bike can do it all if you want to, but it will excel on what it is intended to.
80mm-100mm touring, XC, light trails
120mm-140mm trail, all mountain
160mm-180mm all mountain/enduro, free ride, downhill
200mm downhill

And lastly invest more on skills, legs, ride your bike dammit! You will be faster in the long run than blowing a wad of cash on upgrades.

Ernest "never saw that coming" Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Recently concluded Philippine bike expo was a nice freshmen effort for the organizers. It just goes to show that with enough support our community could organize such event. My only gripe the major brands, distributors was not present. Majority of the expo booth space was  occupied by niche, boutique, and start up brands. That leaves the chunk of cyclist who either do not want to ride unknown brands, and those who cannot afford boutique brands with nothing.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed all the quirky niche stuff like Phatkat bikes, innovative feel good companies like Bambike, brands yet know to majority of cycling masses like pyga, rocky mountain. Heck even China branded bikes did a great job on their booths.

For me if you love cycling, community and not in it just for the money you will support events like this. Which brings the curious masses to our lovely hobby, lifestyle, sport what ever you call it. The "NO SHOW" of the Major brands/distributors was a surprise but since the expo in my opinion was somewhat a success I am hoping that, this will encourage them to participate on 2nd Philippine bike expo.

Notables
Bike town booth, sure it was small, had zero presentation other than BTC tarpulin inside the booth, but the amount of "I want this sh*t" swag on display wallet numbing. Damn you Ibis ripley...

Bike planet for making me lust over their carbon KEITH hardtails and imagining the torture one will endure piloting the elliptical trainer bike.

Brompton colorful accessories for equally nice and expensive folding bike.

Hitch pro for bringing Niners. Next time get a whole booth for them...and represent.

Pinarello and Cervelo for having on display reasonably priced road bikes along with super bikes like the Dogma.


Quirky stuff
Phatkat bikes had cruisers in all shapes and sizes but the one that caught my attention is the black fat bike cruiser it screams "bad ass".

Big chunk of the show floor was occupied by the Rare Vintage bikes. Rascal and stumpjumper was the head turners along with the RUST is gold 100+ year old bikes. Also spotted a BMW bike with German over engineered suspension, the ISOLINK bike which is the first Filipino designed full suspension mountain bike, and the red WHAT THE HELL is that crank bike.

Innovations
Full custom folding bike for P35k Sweet deal over the NYFTI booth.

Bambike they have travel tours of intramuros. A good way to also demo the bikes if you intend to buy one. Personally I would like to try the bambike 29 er and do a SIGLO ride with it.

Recumbent bike nice to see this available here.

Others
Mars kingdom for that awesome Christmas tree with bike decorations and nice lineup of affordable fat, folding and carbon bikes.

Viper for having a nice booth with matching "roletta ng kapalaran" swag giveaway.

Corratec for the Tron inspired booth.

Dude that entertained me on Stanton, Pyga booth. It was love at first sight with the Stanton Sherpa.

Filipino pride hope it comes into production soon.

Dogma least expensive stable mates

Now it's Cervelo turn P165k

29 er mountain bike, road bike, ladies bike, with bamboo frame panda is hungry.

Until now I do not know how this works

They see me rollin', they hatin'

Ernest Hamster

Philippine bike expo 2014

Bike components and other cool stuff on display

Keith carbon bike frames in 27.5 and 29 wheel size drool peasant!

Elliptical trainer bike, torture and pleasure all in one package

Philippine bike expo 2014

Vintage bikes

1936 Elgin twin bar 20

Philippine bike expo 2014

Folding bikes, cruisers, low riders

Brompton when you need to fold in style

Something different

Philippine bike expo 2014

Mountain bikes, Fat bikes
Now for something right up my baggy shorts Mountain bikes! From XC race whippet, to trail, Enduro the expo was not lacking in Range rover of the bike family.

My wallet not worthy sir Ellsworth

Philippine bike expo 2014

Introduction, road bikes, and fixie
Deck the halls with the two wheeled contraption we love! Spend a good chunk of late afternoon roaming the expo floor. With ton's of bikes in all genre, shapes, and colors Phil bike expo was like a cyclist candy shop.

Entrance hall let's go!

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning

Yay! Got the old crotches out of storage. Left knee not feeling all that great after night ride yesterday, ice pack compress on tow I am hopeful that the pain will subside before Sunday I hate to bring the crotches on 1st Philippine Bike expo here in Manila.

Ernest Hamster blog will be covering the event along with sweet bikes on display.

Fellow cycling enthusiast see you at the expo!

Visit FB page for more details > 1st Philippine bike expo

Ernest "with a limp" Hamster

Bike ride: Longest 8 km

Siglo bikes

Night ride
Started the ride perfectly stuffed myself with home cooked mash potatoes, 2 hard boiled eggs, and ton's of water. Traffic traveling to meeting point was almost non existent, the weather cold with light breeze.
The stars aligning for THAT perfect ride but it started to get interesting right at the beginning.

Murphy  visited.

Start: Manila Paco
Destination: Uncle Moe's shawarma hub paranaque

Food at Moe's Shawarma rich just what the doctor ordered to stay awake and alert during the jaunt back. My only regret not having a bottle or two of bikers juice to lessen the pain I was experiencing on my knee when pedaling with the left leg. Down stroke fine but the return stroke and rotation was like getting punched in the family jewels every freaking time. Honestly I wanted to cry because of the pain but with group waiting I needed to complete the ride.
With drafting support from Anton and patient sweeping from Doc Arvs I survived and we reached last stop before going our separate ways.

Thank you guys.

Alone I traversed Pasong tamo with the ferocity of a turtle usual 10-15 min travel time took me an hour. Only stopping once to eat wife snicker bar that I took from her snack supply it fueled me enough to get home...longest 8 km of my life.

Like the battle of New York from the Avengers flick SHAWARMA for the win!

Ernest "Grab a snicker bar" Hamster

Bike ride: Halloween ride, and Doc BDAY ride

Night ride

Oct.30
This time I finally reached my goal of making my legs numb at 40+km on 100% effort, I did it yey!

Traffic light on some parts of the route with typical build-up on busy streets "exodus" before the coming holidays (all souls, all saints day). Manila, makati, pasong tamo, nichols, sucat service road, alabang, BF homes, sucat road, NAIA road, macapagal ave., roxas, malate, home.
Ride total 39.9 km not including the 9-12km from macapagal to my home in manila. Forgot to turn the tracker ON before departing.

Monsters!
Prior to meeting-up with some Siglo dudes Doc and Aaron did whole day bike shop hopping along Metro Manila finishing with Night ride to the south you guys are truly Mamaws!

After ride late dinner, early midnight snack, along with a bucket of Bikers juice.

Kebab and coffee

Snack!

Nov.6
Something not right? Been a full week since the last ride but I could still feel a little pain on my left leg. Asked Doc about it and I will try his advice next time out.

Traffic surprisingly lighter today than last week. Manila (home), otis, nagtahan bridge, lacson ave. , dapitan UST, quezon blvd. , quezon bridge (quiapo), padre burgos ave. , Quirino grandstand, roxas baywalk, CCP pasay area, mall of asia, macapagal, sucat road, NAIA road, sucat service road, nichols, pasong tamo, makati, makati ave, pedro gil, home.

Capped the endless mashing and sprints with Taco's and couple of buckets of sub-zero bikers juice courtesy of Arvin Happy birthday doc!

EL Chupacabra...oh may alcohol!

YES MALAPIT NA KUMAIN! Photo courtesy of Aaron

Ernest "Bucket of bikers juice" hamster

Hamster wheel

Powered by...potatoes!

Just can't stop eating them spuds. French fries are cool along with awfully addicting Piknik, Pringles chips but nothing compares to boiled potatoes, mashed with skin, a pinch of salt and spoon of butter.

Meow meow

We are finally at the home stretch of October signaling the end of the storm season. Thankfully Manila did not suffer that much in terms of getting beaten by mother nature.

November hosts a couple of races to cap 2014 season. And for the 2nd consecutive year I am in no shape to participate. This year been rough on my body and wallet here's hoping that coming year will be better.

Last night gave the EL Camino well overdue TLC. Orange scented de-greaser, toothbrush did well to remove the 4 month old drive train gunk, while my brother ex-bath towel and alcohol combo removed most of caked tar, grime on bright green frame hah!
Of course a once over is not complete without checking bolts, tire pressure, putting lube on the chain and overall integrity of bike and it's parts. Just to be prepared I used a wet lube instead of normal dry lube for the chain this week, weekend forecast leaning towards rain which usually hits late in the afternoon or evening.

Night ride anyone? Siglo Siklistas "Halloween night ride" coming tonight and ride report tomorrow with well...not that much content hehe!

Enjoy this afternoon chillin' tunes before a ride.

No doubt

Ernest "Pumpkin' flavored potato" Hamster

Bike ride

Night riding on a Thursday almost ended fast a stupid motorcycle rider crossed red light on a pedestrian crossing narrowly avoiding two ladies crossing the street and me on my bike! Word of advice for that idiot someday you will get really f*cked up by not following BASIC traffic rules and it will HURT.

Anyway back to the ride a quick run through Midtown, baywalk, pasay CCP at night, mall of asia, macapagal ave. , airport road, airport road 3, nichols, makati, home. All the walking this week and riding the SS beater really paid off my legs are in great shape.

Hoot! crappy phone night shot

Used the Camino for this ride thankfully the bike rode without any incident.

Bottle of beer and cup of coffee real revelation the combination fueled me well during the trip.

It is nice to be riding again with Siglo dudes looking forward to the next night ride.

Ernest "I love titties"

Bike ride

Used the SS beater for picking-up some stuff for EJ school activity tomorrow. Then I visited Ulyby bike shop for some part orders for the SS and EJ bike namely 20-21t sprocket because the 16t installed killing my knees, and front 12 inch plastic rim for kid bike.
Sky overcast with a hint of rain looming, light winds, ber-months riding at its best.
Trip was short but I had lots of fun. Bicycles are still the best mode of transportation in the city, instead of spending 10-15 minutes travelling by car it only took less than 8 minutes for me to arrive in my destination on Malate.

90's called

Since I installed the rear rack on the SS Beater it has been very useful, hauled boxes of shoes, car parts, gasoline container, and other light loads. SS also fun in traffic although bike ratio's leans toward heavy pedal mashing you could just do half rotation and coast besides none moving vehicles. Road oriented 1.3 inch tires are fast and the old XC ALEX rims along with fat mountain bike spokes are pretty stiff for a parts bin special. To help with sanctity of my soft knees I am increasing the rear gear to 20t-21t the 16t fine when you are all warmed up but it's a struggle when you are just starting and ending a ride. 20's are a nice compromise and I could spin and climb with less effort than smaller sprocket.

It only drives one...the simplicity striking I could just enjoy the ride, pedal, stop, pedal, coast, brake. Even when the road narrows due to traffic and you have to snake to get through the SS bike lets you focus more on what's coming and where to go efficiently. Speed is awesome and am sure that a geared bike will be much faster on almost everything but my SS bike made me smile more. Raw, unforgiving, and lots of fun, biking at its simplest form and I love it.

SS beater a rigid, 26 inch mountain bike with skinny road tires. A rigid, single speed wagon wheel bike with fat tires built for touring and trails would be sweet. And this for later...

Ernest "Hamster"

Siglo Jersey

Siglo jersey awesome! Although a bit tight on some spots nothing a good couple of weeks on the bike cant fix.

Shout out to the member who designed shirt sweet work! And for Siglo dudes that made all this possible.

Ernest Hamster 

Bike updates: Commencal EL Camino and SS beater

Commencal El Camino
Since I binned the front rim it has been replaced by its stronger, wider, heavier brother the Spank Subrosa 29er rated for AM, DH and fat dudes.

Was running 45mm Funn serial mx stem and 720mm Funn full-on handlebar. Now setup 60mm funn stryge with 7 degrees rise stem, and 810mm Funn Fat boy HB.

Renthal Kevlar grips slip-on. Just installed the grips when THE CRASH happened. Couple of scratches on end caps were the only damage sustained, the grips itself still intact and being used.

Replaced brake pads front and rear.

Iberra top tube mini panniers for added carrying capacity on short rides.

Tubes lots of em'. Been blowing through these on an almost per ride basis so I carry two spares just in case...stupid.

Touring mode 29er, Iberra mini-pannier, Energizer rear blinky light, energizer front LED light

Coming next

• Fork tuning project "EPIFOX"
• 10 speed conversion
• Brake upgrade
• Wider flat pedals

SS Beater
Has the least upgrade but I seldom use the POS.

Brand new front and rear Shimano Acera V-brakes cheap but good stopping power for the beater.

Bungee ties for strapping-in cargo.

Coming next

• Smaller chain ring
• Replace front fork
• Bottle cage

Steel Single speed 26er now with proper brakes

For both bikes
Portable knife for personal protection while riding. Since criminals are f*ck all this season a little surprise will hurt if they try something.

Concealed protection

Ernest Hamster

Hamster wheel

Keeps on spinning...

Today first day of the week without any special stuff-to-do. What better way to celebrate normalcy than drooling over gadgets that I have no means to purchase...
TADA! Iphone m*thu' effin' SIX!

Tacky but you know you want one...

Euro all the way
After the dust settles around here (around 8 pm) I engage in quite drive around virtual Europe to relax and put myself to sleep.

Game is Euro truck simulator 2 hookers not included.

Truckin' fun

Cyclist problems
My XC bike good in racking-up the kilometers on almost any type of ride. It's biggest weakness is parking. The thing will surely attract wrong type of attention from shady folks. No amount of bike locks and chains will keep those nasty people at bay so...

Option 1
Right now exploring the possibility of purchasing a folding bike for convenience since I could haul the thing along with me. Looking at entry level offerings from Dahon and Tern but those babies come s with a weight limit and that really sucks!

Option 2
Planning on converting the EL Camino to 1x10 for more focused trail duties. The left-over 3x9 drive train could end up on SS beater and by doing so will remove SS moniker...street cred lost.
BUT I could still use the bike on commutes and other mundane tasks since the thing still looks shit.

Option 3
2015 FCB (fast city bike) from Commencal Looking sweet...but yet again.

No money, mo problems.

Ernest Hamster

Hamster product review: Kali Amara helmet

Amara helmet according to Kali
Borrowing from its Sanskrit name meaning Immortal, the AMARA helmet is a great all-mountain helmet. Featuring an ultra lightweight polycarbonate shell and an EPS liner bonded together with inmold technology, the AMARA helmet is sure to fill your all-mountain needs, along with a revolutionary integrated camera (or light) mount for a perfect filming position.

Kali Amara

Out of the box

Amara party piece is it's weight at (345g) it is pretty light for a XC/Trail helmet that covers the back of your head. It also has a lot of vents (17) which guarantees that your noggin' will stay cool on hottest of days and a breakaway visor to keep sun out of your eyes. Dual closure system ensures a perfect fit every time.
Sizing X-small/small, small/medium and medium/large.

Son stoked! Size Medium/Large 60-63cm

Run
Kali Amara my first Mountain bike helmet so I have nothing to compare it to. During its extended 2 year usage the helmet saved my head a number of times. Although the last crash sent it to retirement, physically Amara still looks fine but just to be safe I opted for a replacement.
The only issue I encountered with the Amara is sometimes when you don't properly adjust the dual closure strap the helmet would lift and wobble a bit on high speed runs, so before riding adjust accordingly.

Pros:
-Light weight
-AM/Enduro style covers a lot of property on back of your head.
-Plenty of vents keeps your noggin' cool at all times.
-Break away visor pretty effective.
-Took PLENTY of crashes without as much scratch on surface.
-Middle of range price P3.5k.
-Comes with multiple colors, and a action camera mount (Amara cam).

Cons:
-Dual closure system has tendency to come loose when not locked tight.
-Plenty of vents that lets water in during rain.

Lowdown
Your head protection is important so do not skimp on protection. I would have given Kali Amara 5 hamsters if the Dual closure system was better. The Amara saved me from having serious head injuries a couple of times, highly recommended for someone that is looking for Enduro style helmet on XC light package and budget.

Ninja turtle? Cowabunga!!!

Hamster point score: 4 "Excellent Product"



Ernest Hamster