20 Years of Stoke - Rob Heran Returns to Cape Town

Rob Heran’s rides in Cape Town are nothing short of magic, and there’s a good reason for that. Let’s dive into the connection he has with this incredible place!

What’s your story with Cape Town?

I was quite nervous boarding the airplane that would take me from wintery, cold Germany all the way to the South African summer heat in Cape Town. It was my first flight, ever, and it would take me on a 3-month trip of riding bikes, surfing, hiking around Table Mountain – a summer that would feel endless and bring me memories to last a lifetime. That was in 2003, so exactly 20 years ago now, when I departed on this life-changing trip. And that trip also marked the start of my professional career as an MTB athlete.

I returned to Cape Town many times and watched the place transform into a vivid bike riding destination over the years. The gravity-oriented mountain biking scene in 2003 consisted solely of a handful of guys smashing it on locations like Tokai, Stellenbosh and on some private DH tracks in the vineyards. The bike I had with me in ‘03 was a Specialized Big-Hit, a freeride mullet bike with a 24“wheel in the back and a dual crown freeride fork. It was also my first ever full-suspension bike, and I borrowed it from BIKE Magazine for that trip. Well, I had a few stupid ideas back then what to do with it. One was to go onto a Moto-X Track and get pulled into a massive Freestyle Motocross Ramp by a MX Bike to launch myself I to orbit.




WHERE DID YOU RIDE THIS YEAR?

This time I headed to the riding hot spot around Stellenbosh with multiple locations nearby. One of the most exciting ones is the Nature Reserve of Jonkershoek, which offers some spicy Enduro and DH tracks - all for me to enjoy after the climb. Like most places there are no regular shuttles going unless for races or camps. So, I swung my legs over my carbon horse, activated my Trackloc and spun up the gravel roads going up the mountain with ease. As I mentioned already, I had many different bikes with me in South Africa for all kinds of riding. Some were pure DH bikes, some freeriding rigs and a few enduro bikes. But this new UNPLUGGED is truly something else and makes me grateful to be able to ride such a modern and innovative bike today. Exciting times!




WHAT ABOUT THE NEW UNPLUGGED?

I’m not really a fan of motorized MTB’s because I really love the purity and simplicity of a normal enduro bike. The Tracloc remote adjustments allows me to reduce the rear shock travel for uphill’s or for smoother flow trails on the go, while the Nude Suspension Technology in the shock is like a transformer button you can use to get a completely change the pop or climb abilities. It’s seriously effective because it’s not just a climb switch with added low speed compression damping like every other shock has. It honestly feels like a second shock inside the frame through the reduced air volume, which gives you a more progressive, yet still lively and very poppy ride with a good small bump sensitivity. To me, that is a real game changer. I don’t know how many times I forgot to unlock my climb switch before a downhill ride in the past on regular shocks, which is the most annoying thing when you’re in the middle of a race run. That’s a thing of the past now, because now I have control over my shock with just a push of my thumb.

Once up on the mountain, it’s time to get down to real business. A 160mm Super Enduro with a VP Linkage Design is already very promising on paper and clearly built for speed. Fast and very rough trails like the „Plumber“, and the Downhill are what the UNPLUGGED wants when in open DH Mode. Thanks to its integrated shock the bike has the lowest center of mass possible on a frame, which makes the ride very agile and allows me to throw the bike extremely fast from one side to the other. I was also very surprised how playful the bike feels, compared to its progressive and long geometry numbers.




The UNPLUGGED proved it’s a modern do-it-all bike on any trail I rode, and that it doubles as a true race-ready enduro machine. Again, looking back at my first-ever Cape Town trip 20 years ago, I am truly grateful for how bikes evolved during that time, how the trails progressed, and how places can turn into a mountain bike paradise thanks to everybody’s shared passion for bikes. Passionate riders are the real engine; they drive the sport forward.

Thanks, Cape Town, for the past 20 years and for the next 20 to come!


CREDITS

Athlete, Direction by Rob Heran
Camera, Editing by Sebastian Doerk
Vintage Shots by Chris Blecher & Craig Kolesky
Supported by Bold Cycles, IXS, Sync Workshop, Syncros