Fort William MTB World Cup: factory bikes and fresh tech - gallery
Fort William MTB World Cup: factory bikes and fresh tech - gallery
Exciting pro kit from Sam Hill, Stevie Smith, Neko Mulally and more
The reigning UCI World Cup champion, Canadian Stevie Smith, is on a brand new bike from his sponsor, Devinci Cycles. The new bike is total redesign, although it takes elements from the existing Wilson downhill bike, while incorporating new ones, primarily the 650b wheels
The reigning UCI World Cup champion, Canadian Stevie Smith, is on a brand new bike from his sponsor, Devinci Cycles. The new bike is total redesign, although it takes elements from the existing Wilson downhill bike, while incorporating new ones, primarily the 650b wheels - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Smith's new Devinci sports the new e*thirteen LG1 R carbon chainguide, modified with velcro on the inside to reduce noise from the chain bouncing, while helping to remove debris at the same time. Smith’s mechanic, Nigel Reeve, also applies adhesive 3M mastic tape to the inside of the swingarm to manage chain slap - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new Devinci DH bike has gone from a 3.5in stroke shock to a shorter 3in stroke. It also incorporates a new yoke design. Also spotted was this rather sweet-looking blue titanium spring mounted on the RockShox Vivid shock from Ti-Springs.com - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
More BlackBox touches here with Smith's 7-speed SRAM shifter. He also has his name on the ODI lock-on collars, which is a nice touch too - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
After years of development, the Charger damper-equipped RockShox Boxxer fork is mere weeks from being available to the general public. But while the trickle-down effect is great for customers, unfortunately you won’t get to have your name on them unless you’re ‘factory’ - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new Devinci DH bike (no name yet, but it is more than likely to be another variant of the existing Wilson platform) sports a few alterations to the tried-and-trusted Split Pivot design that Smith took the 2013 overall series title on - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Smith is a born-and-bred Vancouver Islander, and his new Red Bull adorned Fox Rampage Pro Carbon helmet pays homage to his country’s roots and indigenous peoples - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Not many bikes are made in the good ol’ US of A these days, especially not ones made of carbon by the big manufacturers. Trek is keeping it real with its bikes - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Sporting some of the neatest looking internal cable routing, the new 650b Trek Session looks every bit the super bike. It’s also the bike that Neko Mulally is riding here at Fort William - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
This as-yet-unnamed prototype rear shock from Fox bares the RAD (Research And Development) stamp that means it’s still very much a prototype, but judging by the location of the dials and their configuration, it looks set to be a huge overhaul of their existing coil line and more akin to shocks found on moto-cross bikes. It has both high- and low-speed compression, and rebound damping adjustments, located close to the piggyback - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
With the threat of mud and rain constantly on mechanics’ minds, Jacy Shumilak, Sam Hill’s mechanic, applies ‘moto-foam’ to any parts of the bike that’s prone to absorbing moisture and mud, which will increase the bike’s weight on a race run - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The area below the saddle always collects mud. A little moto-foam helps solve that problem - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Sam Hill is another rider on the new SRAM Guide brakes and, so far, both Hill and Shumilak are loving their feel and consistency. Mere mortals don’t get to have their names on their brake levers - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Hill’s run last year was hampered when his heel dislodged the gear cable and caused his derailleur to stick in the lower end of the cassette. Shumilak, in an attempt to prevent this happening again, has made another custom alteration, this time to the cable routing, which goes through the inside of the seatstay, rather than the outside - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
More moto-foam in the swingarm and cranks, 3M adhesive mastic on the chainstay and a coordinated bashguard from e*thirteen help keep things quiet and intact, regardless of what the track throws Hill’s way. Hill also runs a taco-style bashguard under the chain device for extra protection from rock impacts - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
How big? These huge pins in Hill’s magnesium Nukeproof pedals provide tons of extra grip. They were bought from a hardware store and retrofitted. Doesn’t look like Hill’s reluctance to adopt clip less pedals has dwindled at all then - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Royal Racing’s Nick Baylis, busy in the CRC pits tailoring race kits for the riders. This is not something a lot of the brands do, but Royal ensure their factory riders look amazing, tailoring all their strips to the individual body types and shapes - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Prototype Mondraker Summum DH bike: From SRAM’s 7-speed specific transmission to the aftermarket kits from Ti-Springs.com, gearing in downhill is all about less of what’s not needed and more of what is. Note the vehicle brake pipe covering the gear outer for extra protection in case a rock flies up from the track. The cable routing is also rather interesting – it’s been optimised to the top-loading X01 derailleur - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The new and soon-to-be-released Renthal Inegra stem is on a lot of bikes here at Fort William – no details as yet on prices and release dates, but keep an eye on BikeRadar and Mountain Biking UK magazine (in the UK) for more in the coming weeks - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
All the team bikes are coordinated with a sea of one-of-a-kind products – such as this Team Specialized SDG saddle on Troy Brosnan’s prototype Demo - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Brosnan’s new custom painted Specialized Dissident x Monster Energy helmet looks simply amazing in the flesh - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Riding down the course here at Fort Bill takes its toll physically, especially at the speeds the top pros are going. The GT pits have a full-time masseuse to keep the riders limber and as ache free as possible - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Gnarly Mulally! If you haven’t got a custom paintjob on your helmet, what are you doing? - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
When you reach the top of the sport and ride for SRAM, you become one of a select few riders to be inducted into the BlackBox program. As part of this, you’ll be treated to the latest and greatest gear, tuned and built for your specific needs. Smith, like so many of the SRAM sponsored riders here in Fort William, is running the Guide brakes with 203mm rotors - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
As one of the world’s fastest riders, Smith not only has a special bike, he also has one of the best mechanics on the circuit looking after it – Nigel Reeves. The new bike sports an aluminium mainframe rather than the carbon frame of 2013, has carbon chainstays (previous Devinci DH bikes have had carbon seatstays), and is nearly the same weight as the carbon mainframed 2013 bike. There are rumours of a carbon mainframe by the end of the year - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
After a storming start to the season, Trek World Racing’s Neko Mulally is a rider to watch here at Fort William. He’s aboard the new 650b Trek Session - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
The matt black and gloss white factory Saracen Myst DH bikes are certainly understated lookers in the pits. Taking all the successes from previous incinerations, this new Myst sports 650b wheels, prototype Fox RAD coil shock and a full Shimano Saint groupset - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Sam Hill’s mechanic, Jacy Shumilak, shows us Sam’s race-ready Nukeproof Pulse. Well-known for the custom modifications and attention to detail, Jacy is always going the extra mile to ensure Sam’s bikes are flawless, run after run. This incarnation of the Pulse, is a custom number sporting a new shock configuration from RockShox, new ‘Dog-Bone’ links and, of course, go-faster 650b wheels - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
CRC/Nukeproof’s Joe Smith heads off up the mountain for practice, sporting the new Leatt DBX 5.5 neck brace and one of the custom Muc-Off painted Troy Lee Designs D3 helmets that the team is wearing this year - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Back from injury, French thunderbolt Damien Spagnolo is on the new prototype Mondraker Summum DH bike. The new bike not only looks amazing in the new MS team blue and white, but also sports the new prototype Marzocchi fork, 650 Mavic wheels with Schwalbe rubber and the SRAM X01 DH 7-speed transmission - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
No carbon here, apart from the X0 cranks (with 38T Renthal ring) and the superb and infinitely adjustable Cane Creek Double Barrel rear shock. This new version of the hugely successful Summum is as light as any model before it - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
From SRAM’s 7-speed specific transmission to the aftermarket kits from Ti-Springs.com, gearing in downhill is all about less of what’s not needed and more of what is. Note the vehicle brake pipe covering the gear outer for extra protection in case a rock flies up from the track. The cable routing is also rather interesting – it’s been optimised to the top-loading X01 derailleur - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Aussie shredder and all-round good guy, Troy Brosnan sneaks his prototype Specialized Demo DH bike out of the pits and into our lenses. Details on this one are thin on the ground, but to all intents and purposes it looks like the previous 26in Demo, with 650b wheels - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
Former 4X racer turned DH pinner Johannes Fischbach has started turning heads on the World Cup DH circuit. He’s helping to put Germany back on the map for the sport aboard his 650b Ghost DH bike - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
One of the sport’s danger men, French rocket Remi Thirion, is rocking a fully air-sprung Commencal and custom Fox Demo race kit and helmet - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
With the weather at Fort William constantly changing, the pits are buzzing as mechanics and riders preparing their bikes and bodies for the battle to come, high on the wind swept slopes of Aonach Mor.
Many of the bikes are still off limits to the prying eyes of the press, but BikeRadar hit the pits to gather shots of all the new bikes we would get away with photographing, and discovered that if last year was the year of the 650b trail bike, then this is the year of the 650b downhill bike. We also spied some of the custom modifications that the mechanics do to keep these bikes rolling, run after run.
Click through the gallery to see the latest and greatest factory fresh kit sported by the likes of Sam Hill, Stevie Smith, Neko Mulally, Damien Spagnolo and more.
The new devinci dh bike (no name yet, but it is more than likely to be another variant of the existing wilson platform) sports a few alterations to the tried-and-trusted split pivot design that smith took the 2013 overall series title on: the new devinci dh bike (no name yet, but it is more than likely to be another variant of the existing wilson platform) sports a few alterations to the tried-and-trusted split pivot design that smith took the 2013 overall series title on - Nathan Carvell / BikeRadar
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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