Red Bull Rampage, Utah
Brandon Semenuk's
Trek Session Park
WORDS Mike Kazimer
PHOTOS Nathan Hughes
After winning this year's Red Bull Joyride contest, there's no doubt Brandon Semenuk would like to finish his season with a win at the Red Bull Rampage, a win that would make him the first repeat champion in the event's history (Semenuk's Rampage win was in 2008). He'll be tackling the steep desert terrain aboard a pre-production version of Trek's Session Park, a bike that shares similarities to the regular Session, but gets shorter chainstays and slightly less travel. These geometry changes make for a bike that's more nimble and maneuverable while still being able to handle big hits, traits that should make it ideal for the trick-filled, technical line Brandon has planned out. The frame uses Trek's OCLV carbon for the front triangle, with aluminum seat and chainstays in the rear. There are versions of the frame that use carbon seatstays as well, but it's likely that the decision was made to go with aluminum stays for the Red Bull Rampage due to the massive forces the bike will be enduring. | Trek Session Park Details • Rear wheel travel: 190mm / 7.5" • Wheel size: 26" • 420mm chainstays • OCLV frame / aluminum seat and chainstays • Full floater suspension design with ABP • Frame only: $4499.99 USD |
Suspension: Being on RockShox's BlackBox program has its perks, the biggest one being the ability to have custom tuned suspension, plus suspension technology that isn't yet available to the public. Brandon Semenuk's Vivid Air R2C rear shock is set up and ready to be launched into the stratosphere, with more air pressure than usual and a tune to prevent it from bottoming on harsh landings. Up front, the Boxxer fork has a Charger damper, technology shared with RockShox's Pike fork, but is still BlackBox only on the Boxxer. The fork has been lowered down to 190mm to match the Session Park's rear travel.
Drivetrain: A SRAM's 36T X-Sync chainring is mounted to a set of Truvativ XO cranks, with a 10 speed cassette and SRAM's prototype DH derailleur in the rear. The derailleur uses the same parallelogram shape as an XX1, but in a shorter caged, more compact package. Although SRAM's shaped chain rings offer excellent chain retention, it's not surprising to see an MRP G3 chain retention system in place. A thirty foot drop is definitely going to bounce a chain more than your average trail ride, and with the amount of exposure and no-fall zones at the Red Bull Rampage there's certainly no good spot to lose a chain.
Components: Staying true to his BC roots, Semenuk will be riding with Whistler-based Chromag's grips, Scarab pedals, and his pro-model Overture saddle. Handlebar and stem duties are taken care of by Truvativ, with a Boobar handlebar and Holzfeller direct mount stem. Avid's Code brakes remain some of the most powerful stoppers available, which will come in handy when things get wild on the course's steep, dusty chutes. Bontrager rims are shod with a 2.5" Maxxis Minion DHF in the front and a 2.4" DHR in the rear, a well proven combination for rowdy terrain.
www.trekbikes.com
with that said i am rooting for him because sadly the CLAW is out
i am no guru but this is no horst link like spesh. you have a horst link when there is a four bar linkage especially a pivot before the rear axle on the lower chainstays...trek is a floatersystem. you can look it up.
VPP and Four Bar are essentially the same thing. FSR is basically a VPP with a very long lower link. So long infact, they perform very much (although not exactly) like a single pivot with a linkage and brake isolator, hence my "little to choose between them" comment.
Bluechair84 seems to get it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_link#Rear_suspension
Semenuk: "I'm gonna huck this off a big effing cliff at Rampage."
Bike company: "Someone dust off the TIG welder..."
Just under the piston head as i thought. These have been around for many years, we used to call them "top out springs". Admittedly this is the first time ive ever seen one in a rear shock. Thing is tho, this will only have any effect when the shock is at full extension. so basically, when you are in the air. I have never really had a problem with stiction when landing a jump, the forces involved are way too high for stiction to be an issue. With the wheels on the ground your shock will already be compressed, making this "negative spring" totally pointless if you are hunting for more traction in corners. This is basically a top out spring and just a top out spring. No added grip whatsoever...but with added Sram marketing bull...
I would like to see the technology behind "rapid recovery" apparently allowing the beginning stroke rebound to be set slower and magically speeding up under successive hits to reduce pack up.
As I replaced a Vivid 5.1 with this Vivid R2C I can say that with the beginning stroke rebound set much slower it performs the same ,with regard to pack up, in repeated hits while having a very dampened feeling (less feedback in the back end).
Also I just noticed that the negative spring actually is effective over about 30% of the shock stroke. The main spring actually preloads the negative spring when extended, not just in contact when it is topped out. Same technology just longer spring.
Like you said, probably more marketing than technology. I'd like to have some SRAM mechanic weigh in an save their reputation with a more technical answer. But for now, I'll say its a good shock, even without kashima.
That includes the unlimited lifetime warranty with it right... right?
Seriously though, $4500 for a park frame?
Someone stole his bike