This is Sabrina's Labyrinth Minotaur race bike for 2012. It's a stock, small-sized frame in a custom colour - she loves her pink, right down to the anodized, pink dropouts. The drivetrain and brakes are Shimano Saint
A close-up on the Minotaur's suspension. The main pivot sits above the bottom bracket and then behind that is a compound linkage that drives the shock. The big, Bos Void air shock is tucked inside. More on that later.
Up at the front is Bos' all new Idyll RaRe fork - their first air-sprung downhill fork. Team riders were given the choice as to whether they wanted to use the new air fork, or the more proven coil version. All of them chose to run the air fork. Compression adjustments are at the bottom of the damping leg, with separate high and low-speed adjusters. Rebound is a single adjuster at the top of the damping leg (right) and below that is a grub screw, used to release the differential pressure that builds up in the fork's uppers.
The Bos Void shock in more detail. Like the fork, the riders were given a free choice on whether they wanted an air or a coil-spring shock, and they have all chosen to run with the air spring - even at Val di Sole, which is most technical track on the circuit this year. Only Remy Thirion ran a coil spring on his bike, but that was simply because there wasn't an air shock ready for him. The eye-to-eye length appears to be more than ten inches, so it's a bit of a monster. Rebound is adjusted by a small black dial at the back of the unit and high and low-speed compression adjusters sit on top of the piggyback reservoir. The spring's air valve can be moved around the circumference of the shock to help get at it when it's needed and keep it out of the way when it isn't.
It's fairly well known that a lot of the top men raise their bar heights these days, and the women are at it too. Sabrina has a spacer underneath the stem to get the front end up a bit. The Easton Havoc direct-mount stem is set in the 50-mm position.
Out the back - Shimano Saint direct-mount rear mech, Easton Havoc wheels, a 150mm through-axle, a nine-speed cassette and a 203mm brake rotor.
Hutchinson Toro tires. Spikes seem to be the preferred choice for nearly everyone at Val di Sole, as the dust is so deep.
About Us
Contacts FAQ Terms of Use Privacy Policy Sign Up! SitemapAdvertise
AdvertisingCool Features
Submit a Story Product Photos Videos Privacy RequestRSS
Pinkbike RSS Pinkbike Twitter Pinkbike Facebook Pinkbike Youtube
You heard it hear first!
www.sabrinajonnier.com/news-actualites/sabrina-jonnier-will-retire-from-world-cup-downhill-racing-at-the-end-of-the-season.html
..where old W/C DHers go to pasture.
Anybody think this looks similar to the Morewood Kalula.....i thought the linkage looked familiar straight off. Just sayin. To even this out, the Morewood single pivot designs look uncannily like those of Orange bikes....sorry to troll a bit.
Nice frame Labyrinth...love how low it looks at bottom of top tube....bubblegum pink is shit though.
Labyrinth is a small french company, which doesn't have as much money as teams like Trek... Even with the sponsor, they can't just clap their hands and get new stuff.
franchR has the right idea
Also understandable that they don;t have unlimited funds as a company like Trek...but a higher rise handlebar isn't that hard to come by. I'd think custom spacers and bolts are more effort.
And whoever neg propped me above, bite me.
What a stupid question! Of course the best pros can feel the difference between the smallest adjustments. Some do not care and ride well regardless of set up and some are particular and have their bikes set 'just so' every time.
Actually, yes, some people can feel it, I do too. Of course when you don't try out many setups, you can't see the point of such a change, but believe it does matter. About the possibility of putting an higher rise handlebar, I prefer the spacer. Putting a spacer between your direct stem mount and your top crown is much more less effort than changing the whole handlebar, and I'm not sure it would have the same effect
And for those commenting on weight, it is minimal weight for a start, but extra rise in stems and bars requires more material too, therefore is also more weight.
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact we have the range to choose from, having tried both I personally am faster with a lower, slightly steeper front end still. Its just funny to see how the pro's are as bad with trends as the rest of us, a few mm noticeable bar height difference.. if you say so..
Sweet bike though, would love to have a try on the full air BOS system, the coil stuff always felt pretty sweet!
And I don't think the pros are bad with trends. They set the trends...
Adding just two 2.5mm spacers on my bike made a huge difference , it went from feeling like an OTB moment on steep tracks to feeling completely neutral.
And I only ride mine 2 times a week so imagine how differnt it feels to some one like Sabrina who probably rides a fair bit more than that.
But you do have a very valid point on the fasion of handle bars and stems , I chose to ignore it and stuck with 50mm reach 15degree up stem and 25mm rise bars.
When Sam Hill was on Iron Horse, he was machining top crowns, and running no seals in his headset to get a 41" bar height. On a 2012 Demo, with Boxxer WC's and a 38mm Renthal bar, bar height is somewhere about 40.5"...
It's not about how high or flat your bars are, it's about stack and reach measurements.
fstatic1.mtb-news.de/f/cq/j6/cqj60l8voun2/large_DSC_2899.jpg?0
The rear works very well.
Getting a bar setup just the way you like it on a spacer then to changing the height (+/-), angle or slightly offseting it would be quicker to swap out the spacer than to go chasing new stems for different conditions or courses. They could be machined at the beginning of the season from a material of choice including chamfers and cutouts to save weight and much more cheaply than buying god knows how many stems and carry them all over the world.
www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Trek-Session-9-9-Project-Flyweight,2800/Project-Flyweight-The-28lb-Trek-Session-9-9-DH-Bike,26669/bturman,109
www.bosmtb.com/en/index.html