Eleven years ago, (a year before the first ever national enduro race), we (Tribe 10 000, Tribe Sport Group) already had two talented riders racing for us: the Balaud Brothers (Alex and Willy). Ten years later, Alex is still with us and has won pratically everything in France.
Today the team is composed of six riders: a balance of experienced racers like Alex Balaud and Olivier Giordanengo (9th overall in the 2011 Enduro Series) and young, talented riders like Alex Cure (16 years old) and Maurian Marnay (19 years old, first overall in the 2011 Enduro Series and EMTN junior class winner). Morgane Jonnier (first overall 2011 in the Enduro Series women class) is also on the team, but is out with a broken foot for the moment. The ever-cheerful Fouad Gourirane completes the team..
The team was invited to two days of testing in mid-April at Gassin, the south of France and close to Tribe Sport Group’s office and Fox Racing Shox, France. The spot is maintained by the local club and has three very different trails - this meant the riders could try their setups on different types of terrain. The goal of the weekend was to find the best setting for each racer on their Rocky Slayer or Yeti SB 66, with all bikes running FOX's 2012 suspension.
With eleven runs on Sunday and 18 on Monday, we can say that the riders and the Fox technicians (Sebastien Benavent and Alex Fath) made the best of those two days. This weekend will help our racers attain their best results during the season and our customers can get the same racing settings from Fox France.
Every rider liked the rear shock, with the lockout mounted on the handlebar and the Float 36 set up to match their riding style and the kinematic characteristics of suspensions on the Slayer or the SB 66. Technicians and riders were talking about racing the Van 36 coil fork at few races depending on how rough it got. Of course everybody likes the Kashima treatment on the rear shock and fork, definitely a real plus to reduce friction.
The team is structured and strenghtened by the support of OST with Lilian (training coach) for the physical preparation of the athletes and Nicolas Parisi (team co-ordinator) who will help with his experience in enduro racing, Nico will also be the mechanic for the season.
The goals for this 2012 season are easy; the racers will aim for the Enduro Series-French Cup, as well as a few local races and the famous DH marathon, Megavalanche. The team looks forward 2013 and hope to announce an Enduro World Series. In any case, they will be ready to shine.
You can see the full set of
testing day pictures in our album.
www.tribesportgroup.com 
