Video pro bike: Aaron Gwin’s Trek Session 88

US racer's World Cup winning downhill bike

Published: June 5, 2011 at 9:10 am

US downhill racer Aaron Gwin is leading the 2011 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series after winning the first round in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa last month, so all eyes will be on him at today’s second round in Fort William, Scotland – particularly as he was fastest in yesterday’s qualifying.

He’s on a new bike this season – the Trek Session 88 – following a switch from Yeti/Fox Racing Shox to Trek World Racing late last year, and it’s a very different beast from his old Yeti 303DH.

We grabbed a few minutes with Gwin and his mechanic, David ‘Monkey’ Vasquez, to get the lowdown on the bike. Check out the video below. You can find out more about Aaron’s Shimano XTR Shadow Plus rear derailleur in our review.

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Bike specification

Frame: Trek Session 88
Rear shock: Fox DHX RC4
Fork: Fox 40 RC2
Headset: Cane Creek
Stem: Funn RSX direct-mount, 50mm
Handlebar: Funn Fatboy, 785mm
Grips: ODI Ruffian
Front brake: Shimano Saint, 203mm rotor
Rear brake: Shimano Saint, 180mm rotor
Brake levers: Shimano XTR Trail
Chain device: Gamut
Rear derailleur: Shimano XTR Shadow Plus
Shifter: Shimano XTR 10-speed
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace 10-speed, 11-23T
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace 10-speed
Crankset: Shimano Saint
Bottom bracket: Shimano Saint
Pedals: CrankBrothers Mallet
Rims: Bontrager scandium
Front hub: Hope Pro2 Evo, 20mm axle
Rear hub: Hope Pro2 Evo, 150mm
Spokes: DT Swiss
Front tyre: Maxxis Minion Super Tacky 2.5in
Rear tyre: Maxxis Minion Super Tacky 2.5in
Saddle: SDG I-Fly
Seatpost: SDG I-Beam Micro Carbon
Total bicycle weight: 37.3lb (16.9kg)

James Costley-White

James Costley-White is the editor of Mountain Biking UK (MBUK), the UK's best-selling mountain biking magazine, founded in 1988. James, often known as JCW, has been an avid mountain biker since 1992, during which time he's amassed a huge amount of knowledge about the sport and masses of riding experience. He can regularly be found riding the trails around Bristol and south Wales. As well as editing MBUK, JCW contributes regular product reviews and other articles to the magazine. He's a fully-qualified professional journalist, certified as a senior reporter by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and holds a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Cardiff University's School of Journalism, Media and Culture. As well as heading up MBUK, he's worked for other cycling titles including BikeRadar.com, ChopMTB.com and Triathlon Plus magazine, along with the Bristol Post, Western Daily Press, Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen newspapers.