nino and absalon together into the last climb, a minute up on Kulhavy, nino in 2nd, camera breaks to show something else, camera back, nino now in front, final descent he starts opening a gap, bins it on the last bottom corner, absalon passes as nino is getting back on, sprint to the finish, nino gives up with 100m to go

MOAR XC TECHNESSS!
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/albstadt-xc-pit-walk-bike-checks-and-crazy-tech.html

Lauf forks 😯

I really can’t bring myself to love XC race machines. The big wheels, the steep, short travel fork and the drop stems make me twitch.

The less said about kulhavys saddle angle, the better, frankly 😯

Disagree!! Race bikes are always beautiful be they Road/XC/ENDURO/DH/BMX/Track, Kulhavys is an extreme case and should just be ignored.

What’s that in the axle?

http://m.pinkbike.com/photo/12287885/

What’s that in the axle?

Display/pit stand, I think.

Duh, never even seen the stand 😳

Oh I agree (mostly) monkeyfudger, it’s just the front of xc racers seem to have the proportions all wrong IMO.

Picture also shows no bottle mount bolts – crikey.

interesting stem that has no apparent clamping device. Does this mark the return of the internal expanding quill stem? We would not be surprised.

I wish they were taking the p1ss but the author’s comments in the comments section just show that they do indeed know sweet FA about anything XC related 🙄

Madness!

Why do people shift more with electronic shifting?

I wish they were taking the p1ss but the author’s comments in the comments section just show that they do indeed know sweet FA about anything XC related

I thought that, mental!

Why do people shift more with electronic shifting?

Because it always works instantly, not 99%of time in ideal conditions and 9/10 chance just before that tricky rooty climb. And its just a button, no more having to gently aapplapply pressure and untill you fell the chain shift, just full power-click-bang-full power.

Its all marginal gains.

I really want to see the whole bike that that pink Lauf is attached to!

XC bikes are amazing. I don’t want one any more than I want a massive DH bike, but they’re great.

🙂

I have to say I like how much positive feedback there is in the comments. Being cynical Id expect a lot more “there not 2 rad m8”.

XC bikes are amazing. I don’t want one any more than I want a massive DH bike, but they’re great.

They’re pretty versatile, I’m happy with mine as my only MTB!

Why do people shift more with electronic shifting?

Because it always works instantly, not 99%of time in ideal conditions and 9/10 chance just before that tricky rooty climb. And its just a button, no more having to gently aapplapply pressure and untill you fell the chain shift, just full power-click-bang-full power.
Its all marginal gains.

I see, so you get that split second more of optimum power input in the right gear , and that adds up over the course of a race. Clever clever !

I see, so you get that split second more of optimum power input in the right gear , and that adds up over the course of a race. Clever clever !

That plus it makes your bike sound awesome with the whizzing and whirring. At least that’s why I want it!

A look at the carbon Lefty’s hydraulic lockout control and an interesting stem that has no apparent clamping device. Does this mark the return of the internal expanding quill stem? We would not be surprised.

What are they on about – do they have no idea abou the OPI stem thats been around for ages!

I love that D’ale.. Always been a fan of leftys and that bike looks bloody lovely..

I feel a twinge coming on…

I see, so you get that split second more of optimum power input in the right gear , and that adds up over the course of a race. Clever clever !

Kinda, though more like it felt reliable. Even with a brand new drivechain, perfectly setup it always feels on the verge of not shifting (especially under power) with cables. Whereas Di2 always felt like it would shift however much you were pedalling, never just ending in that clicking noise and having to shift up 2 down 1 to get it back.

A bit like riding an SS and never needing to worry about crunching your bollox into the stem.

That was just on a road bike though, no idea how it handles mud/grit, I imagine it gets even better (relative to cables).

I can see Shimano’s argument that Di2 makes 2x better than 1x as the shifting’s so smooth and therefore they’re sticking with 2×11 10-40 and smaller gaps than 1×11 with 10-42. But they seem to have lost the popularity contest on that.

I love that D’ale.. Always been a fan of leftys and that bike looks bloody lovely..

I feel a twinge coming on…

Read a report from the welsh enduro over the weekend, a F29 came 1st senior and 3rd over-all!

If we are really getting picky then I’m pretty sure that isn’t an AX saddle on the Ghost, there’s no such thing as XX1 brakes, I’m not sure how many “2.34-inch knobbys” exist, mocking a bike for not being Di2 ready then praising the Di2 access ports is a bit silly, we don’t really have “peletons” in XC… but the pictures are nice 😀

We like the checkerboard motif on its RockShox RS-1 inverted fork

Ah, that’s more their level 😆

Is funny to see obsessively weight wheenied bikes with a big old RS-1 shoved on the front. The power of sponsorship!

Indeed! The Ghost is the best example of this- AX everything, great looking frame, AX/ Tune wheels, Ti Eggbeaters… then that porky twisty fork!

Wonder how long it’ll last. Don’t get the impression Kulhavy is particularly obsessive with weight, I expect Sauser would’ve been having kittens by now!

Wonder how long it’ll last. Don’t get the impression Kulhavy is particularly obsessive with weight, I expect Sauser would’ve been having kittens by now!

Is there a minimum weight for XC bikes? Seeing as you can build a 20lb hardtail for not silly money with mainstream components, some of these must be worrying the road bikes?

What does an XTR, SID, novatec-light bikes, type build (i.e. lightest without going to tune/AX) on a light-ish fame come to?

There are no restrictions on MTBs, very much unlike the road. You simply need to have bar caps as far as I am aware.

Also, some WWers have managed to build raceable bikes for around 7kgs – weightweenies.starbike.com

What does an XTR, SID, novatec-light bikes, type build (i.e. lightest without going to tune/AX) on a light-ish fame come to?

My Superfly is 18.8lbs with Thunder Burts based on a 1300g frame and entry level SID. No crazy parts. Cannondale are tickling the 17s without anything insane, and you can definitely go sub-17 with gears and bouncy bits and still use it!

The main problem for the pros, as we’ve already alluded to, is the sponsor commitments which means the bikes rarely end up “properly” light. I’d imagine not many, if any, are lighter than 18.xxlbs, maybe a handful of 17.xxlb bikes in there. Much like Pro road bikes tending to be in the 7.4-7.8kg region 😯 😆

Wonder how long it’ll last. Don’t get the impression Kulhavy is particularly obsessive with weight, I expect Sauser would’ve been having kittens by now!

I think Sauser is resigned to being part of bigger marketing picture now- poor guy is even having to run all the latest Spesh SWAT tat in longer races 😆 I may be mistaken but I think on some S-Works models the SWAT box thingy is even permanently attached to the frame!

My Open O-1.0 is 17lb with Rocket Rons, 100 mm Fox, MT zoom and LB wheels, 1×10 XTR/XX mix. Perfect for me in the Surrey Hills.

That Open, nice, anything to do with this? 🙂

That Open, nice, anything to do with this?

Well spotted – that was banked a long time ago. The Open was a bit of a mid-winter project to see what I could build with weenie parts but for the bike to still be usable. Its turned out to be a very special bike.

Go and stop talking about bike weights…I’m waiting for some carbon rimz and all this talk is making me consider more carbon!

Really looking forward to shedding some wheel weight, going to stick with the front hub that came with the bike for now (can’t imagine there’s big savings to be made anyway) but the rear feels rather lardy! Just need to ditch the cranks then I’ll be happy enough with it, can’t afford to go full weight weenie and replace stuff like bars/post/seat that ain’t broken.

I think Sauser is resigned to being part of bigger marketing picture now- poor guy is even having to run all the latest Spesh SWAT tat in longer races

I saw a pic with the case on his bike and thought it seemed a bit out of place, did wonder if maybe they’d made some vacuum formed shell to look like it without actually weighing anything, or would that have fallen foul of the ‘nothing on the bike that isn’t needed for racing’ rule?

Go and stop talking about bike weights…I’m waiting for some carbon rimz and all this talk is making me consider more carbon!

I’ve got carbon bars on my Fatty, made a surprising difference knocking ~100g off the front end!

Really don’t want to get sucked into weenie’ing it as everything is both fatbike-taxed and weenie-taxed 🙁 Still got to drill the rims, then maybe a lighter stem, carbon post and roadie saddle and I’ll call it quits……………honest.

I think it is where he stores the RS-1 brochures to hand out along the course 😆

IIRC the minimum bike weight for ALL UCI sanctioned races is 6.8kg. Be that that road, TT, XC, DH or trials bikes 😆

edit, actual research says there is no limit.

Yep, no limit for MTB. The UCI are rumoured to be thinking of reducing the weight limit on the road too

To be fair to the UCI, they are now committed to bringing bike tech into the 20th century.

Here all week folks. try the steak.

In fairness to the UCI it’s only really been in the last 5 years or so that bikes been at the limit consistently. And arguably it’s been good for other less intended reasons, aero tube profiles, disk brakes etc wouldn’t even get discussed if there wasn’t spare weight to be used up.

I remember seeing a special edition Madone after Lance won yet another tour, and they were offering it in 2 versions, a climbing version and an aero version with a teardrop seatube. The aero one wasn’t on the limit despite being something silly like £8k.

Here all week folks. try the steak.

Flashy gets it 😉