In the pits at the MTB World Championships
For the first part of the World Championships week, a lot of the action is in the pits, as bikes get built and secret bits get spied.
While the tail end of a World Championships week sees lots of action between the tape, the first few days are a slow build. Racing is now underway with the Team Relay being run and won, and Junior XCO and eMTB racing happening right now. But lots of the interest early on is what's happening in the pits.
Top riders get custom bikes for World Championships, and custom kit for practice as well (race day sees national federation gear worn).
It's also a time where you see a lot of the hard work in the background making the bikes of the best in the world really sing. Here's a look at the pits at the 2022 World Championships thanks to Matt Rousu and Jack Fletcher.
All about suspension
Fox Factory are hard at work for the whole race, tuning and servicing forks and shocks for riders.
It's not uncommon to see mechanics walking around with armfuls of Fox 40s taking them to Fox for service. And they're lined up ready to get some attention – possibly after cutting laps at Morzine over the weekend!
Rear shocks are in as well, and often with tuning notes. This will typically be done working with the rider's mechanic to get exactly what's needed for the track.
When you take a closer look at what's going on in the pits, you can spot some handy tricks. With the amount of servicing going on, Fox had foam seals for 34, 36 and 40 forks all presoaked, ready to go.
Custom bike builds
This is common place for a lot of top riders – but it really stands out for Downhill the most.
Not every bike at World Champs is brand new. But some of the top riders will be on just about completely new parts, even with wheels being laced up through the week, with fresh rubber as needed.
Trek Factory Racing had bikes being built up for their riders, matching their national strip.
In the Pivot tent, Bernard Kerr (who runs the team) had organised a custom paint job for team rider Jenna Hastings (NZ) who always said she wanted a paint job like Lightning Macqueen from Cars if she ever had a custom bike…
On the tools
For those who like tool porn, a glimpse into the tents at World Championships, or a World Cup, is a dream.
In fact, a glance around a few work benches shows that most mechanics have a place for everything.
DT Swiss are also on hand, building up wheels and keeping them rolling for riders on DT Swiss product.
A few small details
While a flash paint job is nice, small details also add up. We've seen Troy Brosnan's bike check, and if you looked closely you would have seen details like his mechanic's name on his top tube, as a rider's mechanic is an integral part of their success.
The mechanics also make those small changes that add up. If you saw the bike check on Josh Carlson's Giant Trance X Advanced E+ you'd know what we're talking about. That thing was shining in green and gold, with Ti bolts all over it.
How about some pedal pins matched to your flag? That's exactly what Myriam Nicole's Crank Bros pedals were receiving.
Her whole Commencal Supreme DH bike is looking pretty epic as well. It's got the Schwalbe Magic Mary First Ride tyres on, which denotes a prototype. Is it a new casing? New rubber? Tiny differences in the tread? Who knows. But it will go fast!
Olympic Champion Jolanda Neff's Trek Supercaliber
Jolanda has had a lovely bike this season, with gold highlights to reflect her Tokyo Olympics Gold Medal.
Wow. Coloured Ti bolts all over the place. Gold Nokon outer for the lock out, foam grips, a reuseable elastic product tag for a plate holder, and those lovely Bontrager RSL bars we tested last year.
Above that gold frame detail that looks like a custom seat post clamp as well, in black. Jolanda isn't big but she rides hard!
Jolanda has an MRP chain guide on, and what looks to be a new tyre design as well. There's less transition knob than the current XR1, and more edge knob as well. It's hard to be sure from this angle. And we're not meant to see it but that blurred rear mech is not a normal XX1 AXS rear mech, and the cassette as well. And the chain? Hollow outer plates are also new.
While this bike isn't Neff's, it clearly has a prototype tyre on the lovely Bontrager Kovee RSL wheels. We'll keep an eye out for more!
Stay tuned for more items we spot. It looks like SRAM have some new Eagle items coming, so let's see what pops up!
