Racers Ride - Jak Rizzo's - Avanti Torrent
If you've been at any of the NSW Rollercoaster or DH races you would have seen Jak on his Avanti Torrent.
If you’ve been at any of the NSW Rollercoaster or DH races you would have seen Jak on his Avanti Torrent.
Initially his XC racing machine Jak has done a fair few mods to get it up to gravity enduro spec and still keep the weight way down,
Jak started MTBiking in 1989, crossed over from BMX, primarily raced Downhill & Dual Slalom, but like most of us from the 90’s we did everything, XC , trials, uphill races( who ever thought of that idea needs to be shot) but downhill was what I liked as I’m not a climber.
My MTBiking highlight was getting to meet John Tomac when he came to Thredbo in the mid 90’s.
Like most of us I have been following the Enduro (gravity) scene in Europe for some years, just quietly hoping that it would catch on Down under. I haven’t raced XC since late 2010 ( I was never that good at it anyway) so went back to Downhill, on an XC bike…………………which wasn’t good for my health. As my oldest friend owns Pushy Galore, an Avanti Plus store here on the Central Coast I ended up on the newest sensation in MTBiking an All Mountain Bike which in Avanti’s line up was an Avanti Torrent.
Being pedantic about aesthetics & setup, the only remaining original parts are the frame & rear shock, everything else has been beefed up or modified.
Remember the days when we had 3 colours to choose from for each model in every manufacturers bike catalogues? Those were the days! I love metallic paint colours, they should be mandatory for all bikes! Nothing wrong with Bling in the Bush!……………that sounds a bit wrong doesn’t it?
The All Mountain/ Gravity Enduro scene is fantastic, no one takes themselves too seriously , the atmosphere at the races is great, I wish this discipline was around 20 years ago when I was a bit quicker!
Frame: Avanti Torrent 2011, 135mm rear travel, painted metallic Emperor Red.
Bars & Stem: Answer Flat Bar with Hope 70mm stem with Ti-bolts
Forks & Shock: Fox F150mm travel with Kashima coating, Fox RP23 shock with Burgtech offset shock bushings
Drivetrain: Shimano XTR cranks (polished) Race Face 36T narrow wide ring, XTR chain, XTR 11-36 cassette with XTR clutch derailleur 
Brakes: Shimano XTR race with Metallic pads 
Wheels & Tyres: Stans Crest Rims with Schwalbe Hans Dampf Evo tubeless tyres
Complete bike weight: 11.65kg
