Fort William MTB World Cup downhill pits - gallery
Fort William MTB World Cup downhill pits - gallery
From Minnaar and Atherton to Peat, Gwin and Hill, we check out the pros' gear
Gee Atherton is using an SRM power meter on a Saint crank. Having won round two in Cairns and taking the win at Fort William in 2013 he's surely the favorite
Gee Atherton is using an SRM power meter on a Saint crank. Having won round two in Cairns and taking the win at Fort William in 2013 he's surely the favorite - James Tennant / Future Publishing
The new XTR Di2 is on shown on a very few BMCs - proven with Absalon's BMC last weekend - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Greg Minnaar shows off a limited edition helmet to celebrate his 100th UCI world cup race - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Greg Minnaar, the 2013 world champion, takes a walk on the track - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Nicolas Vouilloz was on hand to talk about the new Lapierre DH bike - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Lapierre created a new linkage for its 650b DH model - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Matt Simmond's Saracen DH bike. Look for a video feature on this from BikeRadar soon - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Midges... millions of midges! - James Tennant / Future Publishing
A prototype Continental Baron will be featured in a BikeRadar video soon - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Sam Hill checks out the legendary race course - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Steve Peat - testing a new wheel size? - James Tennant / Future Publishing
Fort Williams hosts the third round of the World Cup this weekend - James Tennant / Future Publishing
With rain clouds circling overhead, the weather could be an issue on Sunday, but unlike other tracks on the circuit, Fort William actually improves with a little moisture, helping to prevent corners from blowing out and keeping riders on their bikes and not over the bars - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
DVO suspension had driven this Land Rover all the way from Poland (the brand’s European headquarters). They had a color coordinated Antidote DH bike to show off the mean and very green Emerald DH fork - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Antidote are a relatively unknown brand away from their native Poland, but with bikes that look as good as this, that could change. Antidote also offers owners the opportunity to send their bike back after a year’s abuse to be freshly clear coated again, removing signs of wear and tear - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Spank bars and stem complement the green DVO Emerald fork dials and outer legs - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new DVO Jade coil shock is not far from being ready for market, with production samples due in a few weeks. With the Emerald fork having been a success in the marketplace so far, the new Jade shock could prove the perfect partner - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Also brand new and coming to the end of its development stage is the new DVO Diamond fork. Designed with enduro in mind, this new single-crown fork employs many of the damping features found in its big brother, the Emerald - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Initially available in 26 and 27.5in versions with a 29in option to follow, the new Diamond fork has an internally adjustable travel feature that allows the fork to deliver between 140 and 160mm of travel and will have either green or black decals. Aftermarket options available for tailoring forks to existing color schemes - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Like the Emerald, the DVO Diamond has externally adjustable high- and low-speed compression adjustment as well as DVO’s OTT (Off The Top) feature, which allows the fine-tuning of the fork past traditional adjustments - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Steve Peat’s custom CNC-machined headset cap will be a must-have upgrade for anyone from Yorkshire! - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Spacers galore on Steve Peat’s V10 race bike – many riders are increasing the height of their bars here in Fort William to cope with the extra high speeds encountered on the terrain. Steve is also running the Chris King Buzzworks headset – a prototype headset designed to increase or decrease reach for riders looking to fine-tune their setups - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Greg Minnarr’s Santa Cruz V10 was sporting some prototype ENVE carbon rims that his mechanic, Jason Marsh, was uniquely lacing to help with flex in the wheel. Carbon rims are exceptionally stiff, which has both pros and cons, so adding some flex in the spokes can help balance it out - some flex is a welcome attribute on rough courses such as Fort William - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new Giant Factory Racing pits are huge and constantly buzzing with mechanics preparing race bikes for one of the most challenging course on the circuit. Here, Andrew Neethling and Paul Miles discuss setup - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
With so many huge hits to be dealt with on the Fort William course, wheels are regularly destroyed leaving mechanics with another job to deal with — pre-emptive wheel building, just in case! - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The midge is an evil little nuisance here in the Highlands, and after years of struggling in the midst of a midge infestation, the Giant team have found an incense-based alternative. While it did make their pits smell like an alternative medicine store, it seemed to work - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Tools and spare parts litter the tables in all the pits spaces here as mechanics ready team bikes for practice on Friday – Dave Garland, Danny Hart’s mechanic, explained how Danny’s pin-point accuracy on the track here leaves little to the rocks, but that some of his creative line choices have taken their fair share of chain devices in years gone by… - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
As well as being Danny Hart’s mechanic, Dave Garland is quite the suspension expert, with his own brand, Stendec, having been around for some time offering aftermarket parts and oils. For 2014, Dave is launching a totally new coil spring (pictured) as well as some new aftermarket damping systems - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new Stendec Extreme coil spring was developed jointly with an Italian automotive company who were keen to explore the bicycle market. The new springs, which are considerably lighter than titanium, are made of a composite alloy with an ABS section designed to prevent abrasion against the shock collar. With a variety of sizes and weights soon to be available - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Lots of carbon! The Evil team, like many others, are having all their forks and shocks set up for the extreme terrain here in Scotland - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Canadian DH pinner Mikayla Gatto is riding for the UK-based Pivot Factory team and ripping up the races this year on their new prototype dw-Link equipped 650b DH bike - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
One of the most successful patented linkage designs currently available, the dw-Link has won countless races and championships and is still gracing the frames of several brands eager to reap the rewards of such a lineage - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Also spotted on Mikayla’s bike were these prototype Reynolds carbon DH rims. Information was thin on the ground, but keep your eyes peeled for more on BikeRadar - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Not quite a DH tire, but causing quite the stir none the less was this new rubber from Continental. Designed for enduro, these new tires are called the Der Baron Projekt 2.4. They are still going through the testing process, but are designed to offer riders the grip of a cut-spike tire, with the rolling speed of an intermediate tire - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The Der Baron Projekt 2.4 tires are a blend between a Trail King and Mud King, and weigh in around 950g each in a 650b casing with a 29in option due when the tyre makes it to production later this year - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
I spy with my little eye… Yes, that’s a 650b Specialized Demo. We weren’t allowed to get too close to this bike, but rest assured, it looked pretty dialled in the big red and white Specialized pits - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Aaron Gwin’s Fox-equipped 650B Demo gets the last touches from his mechanic before heading up the mountain to do battle - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Also spotted in the Specialized pits were these prototype HT clipless pedals being developed with Aaron Gwin - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Information is sparse on these, but the new HT clipless pedals look like they’ve been designed with muddy European riding in mind, with lots of useful mud clearance and adjustable grub screws to add further support, which would hint to a level of float similar to that found in the popular crankbrothers design, previously favored by Gwin - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
With number one on his plate, the soft-spoken Californian will have one goal in mind when he leaves the start hut on Sunday — winning! - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new Renthal Integra stem has been going through the prototyping stages since the last time the World Cup rolled into Fort William. This version with a new front loading clamp design, looked almost ready so we could see production soon - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Warming up on the trainers prior to a trip up the mountain for Friday practice, the Specialized team of Troy Brosnan, Mitch Ropelato and Aaron Gwin look like a happy and very balanced team — some of the necessary ingredients for success at this level of competition - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Specialized is entering the gravity market with these new shoes that were being sported by team rider Troy Brosnan. We’ll hopefully have more information soon - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
It was only last year that FiveTen had all these shoes under wraps and still in the prototype stages, but now the new Impact VXi is available to the public - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The huge Trek pits are constantly buzzing with bikes being stripped and rebuilt, including this bike that’s fitted with an SRM device to monitor and document power output from the rider - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Sam Hill’s freshly painted Troy Lee Designs D3 has been getting its fair share of interest since Sam leaked it via his Instagram page last week and you can see why – it looks amazing in the flesh - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
From the retro purple flames to the ‘Yosemite Sam’ cartoon character, Sam Hill’s latest custom D3 is one we’re sure the fans will be eager to see go into production - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
With this race marking Greg Minnaar’s 100th World Cup race, helmet sponsor OGK decided it was the perfect opportunity for a custom paintjob, which looked evry bit the piece of art you’d imagine for such an important race - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
They may have battled for years back in the mid to late '90s, but DH icons Steve Peat and Nico Vouilloz seemed to have let bygones be bygones, sharing a few words before Steve heads up the mountain for practice. Nico, who is now racing enduro between helping his sponsor Lapierre develop new bikes, is currently recovering from a injury - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Did someone say whip comp? Brendan Fairclough must favor his chances come Saturday where the best in the business get it sideways before the serious nature of racing takes over on Sunday - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
What, no Kit-Kats? The Smith Optics vending machine is certainly catching people’s eyes – it contains the brand’s latest Forefront helmet and array of goggles - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The team trucks are seem to be getting bigger and bigger, and the Hutchinson United team are definitely not bucking the trend with their huge road monster - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
SRAM’s European race support truck must rack up some miles and contain more spares and one-off protoype parts than you could imagine. It’s also a one-stop shop for some of the world’s fastest riders to get their bikes and suspension tuned for action - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The pits in Fort William are something else and a great attraction for race fans eager to get close then to favorite riders - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The MS Mondraker team has always had an impressive setup for the European events - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
This rather hot-looking Volkswagen Crafter with matte black alloys is part of Specialized’s new team vehicle fleet - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The Trek World Racing team has one of the largest setups on the World Cup circuit - this huge truck is just one of several - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The Scott 11 team truck is covered head to toe in matte black vinyl and used to be a rock band’s tour bus – not too dissimilar to ferrying a bunch of professional DH racers around? - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Nice truck! The Schwalbe tires team are rolling around in style - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
From one extreme to another - Ed Masters and the Bergamont team are rolling around Europe in this DIY team truck. Just goes to show that it’s not all rock n’roll at the top! - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Fort William, Scotland is hosting the third round of the UCI World Cup this weekend, and BikeRadar is on hand to check out the new gear.
It's arguably the biggest and most important stop of the series, and the racers will employ the latest and greatest products and technological advancements in order to be the fastest down the mountain.
World cups are the ideal opportunity to spot the latest gear that is not quite available to the public, and with as many as 30,000 spectators pouring into the venue, the opportunity for manufacturers to show off new gear is a hard one to pass up.
With that in mind, we headed up to the Highlands to capture the riders, their bikes, the kit and hopefully a taste of what’s to come from the pits here in Fort William.
Click through the photo gallery to whet your whistles for the racing to come.
Olly can trace his obsession with off-road cycling back to his childhood in the Borders, yet it wasn’t until he discovered Mountain Biking UK magazine that his obsession with bikes truly took root. He eventually found find himself as Staff Writer on his favourite mag. From print to digital and from Europe to North America, Olly’s 10-year stint in bicycle media has seen him represent a host of titles and in a range of roles, but he likes nothing more than geeking out over the latest tech. Today, Olly’s contributing to BikeRadar once again, tapping into his encyclopedic knowledge of all things off-road and occasionally radical. Away from his laptop, Olly would prefer to find himself in the woods, bouncing between rocks, roots and ruts getting into all manner of mischief on his trusty Transition Sentinel.
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