UK Saracen distributor Madison just sent us a whole heap of images of Manon Carpenter’s new competition bike being built. We’ve put a few of our favourites below, and if you scroll down you can find a gallery with many, many more.

Manon Carpenter’s 2016 Saracen Myst

That’s a long day of wheel building.

Etoile* handmade bicycles at Bespoked 2022

Captions below by Madison-Saracen, and they include a whole load of information on the exact bike setup:

Manon Carpenter's 2016 Saracen Myst — Manon Carpenter’s 2016 Saracen Myst

The finished article. One down, seven to go.

Erlkonig is Continental’s tyre testing division.

Hoses are cut to length and brakes bled.

Finishing touches like these bump stops make all the difference. This attention to detail is the advantage of having a race team to help develop the finished product.

An array of spares is essential before you can call yourself a pro mechanic.

Midway through the bike build, staff from Saracen come down to check on the progress – nobody can wait to see the finished product.

Assembly grease is used on each contact point of the bike. Attention to these details now will prevent problems when the pressure is on in the world cup pit.

Measure twice, cut once. The Fox 40 is slotted into place. It will be tuned to perfection when the team complete testing next month.

Next stop – adding the headset. The length of the Myst can be adjusted and Manon likes hers to be 8mm longer than standard. The stem is set to the 45mm length.

The first task is to threadlock each pivot bolt into place, before adding a shock to the frame.

A mechanic won’t function without a fresh supply of tea and cake.

With a seatpost in the frame and the workshop stand filled, it’s time for the most important task of the day.

A line of new, unbuilt Mysts hang on the wall.

David Hayward

David started mountain biking in the 90’s, by which he means “Ineptly jumping a Saracen Kili Racer off anything available in a nearby industrial estate”. After growing up and living in some extremely flat places, David moved to Yorkshire specifically for the mountain biking. This felt like a horrible mistake at first, because the hills are so steep, but you get used to them pretty quickly. Previously, David trifled with road and BMX, but mountain bikes always won. He’s most at peace battering down a rough trail, quietly fixing everything that does to a bike, or trying to figure out if that one click of compression damping has made things marginally better or worse. The inept jumping continues to this day.

Leave Reply

Post Comment

Gallery: Manon Capenter’s New Bike

Leave Reply

The ultimate MTB accessory – VW Crafter race van