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Matt Jones Rides The New Quake At Hardline 2025

The time has come, the Quake has landed and Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 2025 is upon us!

MAtt Jones standing with his quake

Keep up to date below with this crazy event as Matt Jones throws our new downhill brawler down one of the world's gnarliest tracks.

JOHN OLDALE ON THE TOOLS FOR MATT JONES

john's job share - mechanic at work

Global Marketing Director by day, and Matt's personal mechanic also by day, and night!

Back in the early days of John's bike industry life, he was the man on the tools in a workshop. Whilst his job title may have changed over the years, he's still a solid race mechanic when needs must and at an event like Hardline, needs very much are a must.

John built Matt a completely fresh Quake just before the event meaning all components have zero fatigue or wear on them - gnarly tracks require this level of attention to detail, the best for the best!

See below for a bike check of Matt's elite build spec.

Quake profile image

BIKE CHECK.

Matt's fresh Quake is no standard off-the-production line spec. Dripping in Swedish gold, Ohlins bouncers at each end take care of suspension duties and soak up the massive hits Matt will need to absorb to even just make it down this Tasmanian mountain-side.

Shimano Saint stoppers take care of the speed adjustments and are mounted to big rotors to maximize stopping force and minimize brake fade. Likewise, a custom Shimano Saint drivetrain ensures the chain is always attached to correct gear when Matt needs to get on the power.

Finally, a fresh set of Halo Gravitas wheels shod in stick-af Goodyear rubber keep things rolling forward and, hopefully, rubber side down. Matt has a more-than-usual amount of air and sealant inside his tires, partly because of the huge g-forces sustained on a track like this but mostly because Matt loves a cheeky inside line and a naughty schralp for the camera!

Track Walk

A day of paradoxical emotions, athletes are pulled between excitement and nervousness as they walk the track that they will later shred down and attempt to go as fast as humanly possible. The dirt is hard, the dust is deep in places and the gargantuan features loom large in the Tasmanian jungle.

The atmosphere clings to the skin as much as the humidity and tension can be felt far and wide - this is where the job at hand starts to feel real. Many lines are discussed, some are not, this is a race at the end of the day and whilst everyone shares a common goal - send and survive - race craft is still important and these guys and girls are competitive to the core.

Matt and John walk and talk, pick out the key sections, places to push, places to relax and other places where downright survival is the only consideration. Despite the inherent fear that comes with the task at hand, Matt is classically humble and calm, ready to push his new Quake and himself to the absolute limit, and most likely John's stress levels, too - there'll be a few ten-coffee days and some sharp intakes of breath, we think!

MAtt JOnes & Ronan Dunne
Matt jones takes on hardline

day 1 on the quake

Day one saw athletes put rubber to dirt and start to tick off features. Matt wheeled out his two day old dream build and with his always-humble approach, did what Matt does - sent the Quake to the moon with his effortless style and easy speed.

Watching his new Quake soak up the gnar and big hits got us all stoked, this is what it was built for and to see it ripping in real-time is properly exciting.

Big props to all of the athletes that cut the tape today and whipped up the dust!

Day 2. flipping good

The arrival of Day 2 of practice is often more nerve-wracking than the first, the unknown of day 1 has passed and its time to tick off the lower big-dog-booters. Matt had a really successful day 1, finishing by back flipping one of the big doubles at the bottom of the track - we're sure you've seen that by now as it somehow broke the internet!

With the entire track completed safely and the large lower set in the bag, Matt's confidence is building and is ready to shift the Quake up a gear.

One thing that shines through at Hardline is the comradery between athletes, a different type of competitiveness to that shown at more mainstream race weekends. Whilst come race day everyone will be vying to lay down the fastest time, on practice days all that can be seen and felt is a sense of support and encouragement. In a sport that is very much a solo activity, its so awesome to see!

CMP RB Hardline Tas25 D3 Mid Res 9111
Matt Jones

day 3. Pants of perspective

The sun is still shining, the dust is getting deeper and confidence is growing. In the downhill mountain bike game, as conviction grows, so does the speed and subsequent risks riders are willing to take. Matt's backflip has now seen the dirt several times - will we see it in the race run?

Matt's new production Quake continues to take the big hits in it's stride, in fact, you can watch an interview with Matt and John as they discuss his new bike on our youtube channel, here.

As race day looms, racers are dialling in lines and honing their race-craft. Matt is no different, fortunately our man on the photo-box managed to pap Matt on his knees, in his pants, deep in thought whilst analyzing his pov footage - things are hotting up!

Matt Jones tire mark on pants

Finals day. Butt buzzingly good