The latest and greatest from the pits at the opening round of the 2017 Downhill World CupSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Greg Minnaar, along with the rest of the Santa Cruz Syndicate, will be racing on the new 29” wheeled V10. Despite rumours that other teams would be on big wheels, this is the only 29er we’ve spotted being ridden so far. Stay tuned for a more thorough look at this bike soonSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Loic Bruni’s Specialized Demo uses the same custom linkage that he used last year, now driving an Ohlins TTX coil shock. Moto foam is used to keep mud from collecting inside. Also, look at the distinctive gold coating on the damper shaftSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Details are still thin on the ground about Ohlins’ new downhill fork. All we know is that it has 200mm of travel (shocking!) and an air spring, which appears to have two valves, much like the Swedish firm’s RXF 34 and 36 forks. There’s also low and high speed compression dials, similar to the single crown forksSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Stevie Smith’s legacy lives on in World Cup downhillSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Specialized Phenom saddles for Loic Bruni and Finn IlesSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Loic’s minty fresh flecked paint jobSeb Stott / Immediate Media
2.5” Hillbilly tires all round in the Specialized pitsSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Finn Iles’ demo carbon painted to look like alloySeb Stott / Immediate Media
Finn has a one-degree angleset this weekend to make his bike a little slacker. Loic’s uses a standard headsetSeb Stott / Immediate Media
You know you’ve made it when your face appears on JesusSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Loic’s data acquisition bike is setup as close as possible to his race bike in order to give the best impression of what the Frenchman’s suspension is doingSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Trickstuff Direttissima brakes on Mick and Tracey Hannah’s PolygonsSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Tracey’s brakes are set to bite pretty close to the bar, as according to her mechanic, she has pretty small handsSeb Stott / Immediate Media
The Hannahs will race on the new Kenda Hellcat Pro tyre…Seb Stott / Immediate Media
While the Helldiver semi-slick will have to wait for a less steep track to prove its worthSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Schwalbe’s new Addix compound tyres are a popular choice here in Lourdes. For some, such as Norco team rider Joe Smith, this will be the first outing on the new compoundSeb Stott / Immediate Media
This is Aaron Gwin’s bike. That’s all we’re saying about thatSeb Stott / Immediate Media
SRAM’s new Code brakes were commonplace this weekend, with fewer riders using the Guide leaver/Code caliper hybrids commonly used by World Cup racers in the pastSeb Stott / Immediate Media
CrankBrothers’ new Mallet DH pedals were also a common sight, although many top riders are still using the more enduro-orientated Mallet ESeb Stott / Immediate Media
This DH bike from Norco doesn’t even have a name yet. The team was less than open about the details, or even whether it will see production. We do know that it’s an idler pulley/ high pivot design made form carbon front and rear. Ooh, and it’s redSeb Stott / Immediate Media
The high pivot generates a very rearward axle path, which should improve square-edge bump compliance, while the idler pulley keeps pedal kickback to a minimum. The shock is driven from the front backwards via an alloy linkageSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Although it’s unclear what frame size they were using, here we can see the frame is reach-adjustable. Both team riders Joe Smith and Sam Blenkinsop were using the longest setting. Interestingly, Joe runs three volume spacers in his ‘stock’ Rockshox Boxxer World Cup fork, while Sam runs a whopping five and a half, providing a super progressive setup. Apparently, both bikes use the same linkage, although Sam’s shock is said to have a firmer compression shim stack to balance the front end’s ramp upSeb Stott / Immediate Media
Joe Smith’s bars are swept back to horizontal, presumably to help him get his weight back on the steepest tracksSeb Stott / Immediate Media
As the 2017 World Cup season gets underway here in Lourdes, France, we take a look round the pits for the most interesting bikes and components. Scroll through the gallery for more.
Seb's been riding and racing mountain bikes for half his life. Since getting hooked on mountain bikes aged thirteen riding a tiny 24Seven Crosser, he's raced downhill, enduro and cross country, and while no athlete, still enters the occasional race. Seb studied experimental physics at university, and he's now happily using (wasting) his degree experimenting with different bike setups, trying to work out what works best and why. You'll often find him riding the same track ten times in a day, changing just one thing to pin down the differences. Seb's much happier back-to-back testing suspension on a wet Welsh hillside than riding the latest five-figure bikes on some sunny press trip - although he quite likes that too!
