Matt Hunter

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Matt Hunter's Gear:
  • http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/mountain/endurofsr

    Enduro

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Enduro

I was born in Kamloops, British Columbia in 1983. Singletrack zigzags through the hills behind my parents' house; bikes were freedom. I explored the hills and trails wherever and whenever I could. I was 12 when I got into XC racing. I was really into it until I was about 15, when I started focusing more on DH riding. Some of my friends who I raced with made the same transition, and we started to learn together. We started building big jumps and aggressive trails. We filmed ourselves riding and I made a short video. I entered the video in an online contest, the "Ultimate Freeride Challenge" and ended up winning. That was the beginning of my sponsored career in 2003. Specialized sponsored me then and I have been with Specialized ever since.

My focus has always been shooting photos and filming video segments, that is what I love to do. I really enjoy finding adventure in the mountains - whether it be challenging moves and airs or maybe it's a multiple day ride.

I like watching big mountain skiers and snowboarders, the way they shred the mountains in the snow inspires me on dirt. Besides riding, I surf, fish, and backcountry ski as much as I can.

Sponsors: Specialized, Shimano, Clif Bar, Chromag, MRP, IXS, Fox Racing Shox, Dakine, Contour

Tire thoughts

June 4, 2010

I don't live in a muddy area. Kamloops is a pretty dry place, even after it rains things can dry up pretty quickly. We often joke that the dirt here is thirsty.

This spring has been unusually wet. I was away for a week in Japan and it rained every day while I was gone... I came home to some soft dirt - unusually soft conditions.

I have been waiting for these conditions to try out the Storm DH tire. Until yesterday I hadn't had a really good chance. It rained all morning and then cleared up in the afternoon, and I was ready. I had a fresh set of Storm 2.3's on my Demo 8 and I watched from inside my garage as the rain stopped.

15 minutes later I was dropping in on one of my favourite trails, and my mind was being blown. It is unbelievable how different those tires feel in the mud. It really is a whole different kind of traction. I hope there is still enough mud left today so that I can shred those tires some more!

I guess this blog is about making small changes to your bike, and then noticing big differences in performance. Recently I noticed that my air pressure had leaked a bit, I think I was down about 2 or 3 PSI. After I fixed the problem I felt like I was riding 25% faster! Tires are our only contact with the ground and they make such a huge difference how they are set up. I really love experimenting with tires and feeling the changes.

Next time you prepare to ride pay special attention to your tire setup. Make sure your pressure is right and if your tires are worn, recycle them and go for some new rubber. Sharp new tires can make a normal ride feel like a new trail.

MH

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