Annika Langvad's Specialized Era 29 - Vallnord XC World Cup 2016

Aug 31, 2016 at 21:53
by Richard Cunningham  

Specialized Era 29

Annika Langvad chose her dual-suspension S-Works Era 29 for Vallnord's World Cup XC race this weekend - the very same orange and blue bike that she raced in the Olympic XCO in Brazil. The current World Champ's bike looks quite conservative compared to many of the wilder cockpit arrangements we are used to seeing in the cross-country pits. With one exception, the components are split between Specialized and SRAM, with an Eagle XX1 transmission, sporting a 34-tooth chainring; Level Ultimate brakes; and a RockShox SID 29 Brain-equipped fork. Annika's wheels, seatpost, handlebar, and saddle are carbon fiber goodies plucked from the high-dollar shelves at the Big S's Morgan Hill headquarters. The Era 29's Brain-equipped SID fork is paired with a Brain-equipped Fox Float Kashima shock, giving the Danish ripper a possible advantage on the Vallnord course, as she will not be wasting time and concentration flipping levers to firm up her suspension for the climbs. The Brain's mass valves do that job admirably and automatically.

Specialized Era 29
The shock's mass-valve body is tucked in front of the brake caliper...
Specialized Era 29
...While the fork's mass-valve is installed inside the right stanchion tube.

Specialized Era 29

Specialized Era 29
Body Geometry saddle.

Specialized Era 29
SRAM Level brakes and foam grips.
Specialized Era 29
Carbon Roval Control SL rims.

Specialized Era 29
Conservative, 90mm zero-rise stem.

All tallied, Annika's S-Works Era 29 may be a conservative build, but considering the Danish rider's penchant for airing drops and jumps, it showcases her skillset. The stripes on her kit tell the rest of the story.

specialized.com

MENTIONS: @Specialized / @SramMedia


Author Info:
RichardCunningham avatar

Member since Mar 23, 2011
974 articles
Must Read This Week
Kona Bicycles' Parent Company Appoints New CFO, Intends to Sell Brand
64778 views
Downhill Bikes of Sea Otter - Part 1
47221 views
Brian's Randoms from Sea Otter 2024
45114 views
Randoms Round 3: Dario's Treasures
44735 views
Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League: Get Your Team On The Line - Fort William is in 10 DAYS!
39959 views
Randoms Round 1 - Sea Otter 2024
38342 views
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Araxá XC World Cup 2024
38208 views
Spotted: Frameworks Racing DH Bike with Electronic Fox Shock & Unreleased Enve Rims
37389 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup

34 Comments
  • 78 1
 I just want to give a shout-out to all the twigs and rocks out there that were rejected in favour of this legitimate bike stand.
  • 25 8
 Specialized big boss guy: ohhhhh ma gawd Trek bought a pinkbike bike check. Im soooo jelly! Dont we sponsor a girl?

Intern: yes sir Annika Langvad current world champ.

Specialized big boss guy: ok go buy a bike check for her bike, and call sram to see if they want to chip in.
  • 10 0
 But does it run + size?
  • 5 0
 It's a proper race rig... I hope Annika will secure the world cup title.
  • 6 1
 Green Orange and Gold...what is this 1985 ?
  • 3 0
 And the original Sid blue.
  • 1 0
 You forgot blue...
  • 5 0
 A refreshing change to see a stem on the correct way round .
  • 2 0
 Has anyone seen photo evidence of the color of the frame changing at the Olympics? They seemed very orange but I thought they were going to be red.
  • 2 0
 Check out pictures from the road race, they were in and out of the sun more making it easier to see the difference. Same paint
  • 1 0
 @mellowxc: got a link?
  • 2 0
 Look at that cute little Shocksey!
  • 2 1
 What would you bet that the girl who rides that bike, with the cute little shocksey, could outride you both up and down?
  • 1 0
 That bar angle makes my hands hurt. Looks like you would have to twist your hands outwards a lot.
  • 4 0
 many riders like this position because it naturally allows your elbows to stay in an outside position, like a bulldog, it can give you more stability in many situations on a XC bike and track. And it is more confortable than it seems.
  • 4 2
 Lovin the colors
  • 1 0
 That is a very nice looking bike
  • 2 1
 What's with the orange and blue? Have specialed trademarked them?
  • 4 2
 everybody says Specialized is too overpriced, maybe they are trying to make it look cheaper without lowering the prices.
  • 4 0
 Every manufacturer was looking to get exposure at the Olympics by using a stand out color since they can't promote brands at the olympics. Specialized had the torch collection (frame changes color at 22 degrees celcius) and RS a blue fork for every factory sponsored rider
  • 2 1
 @GrandDanois: Correct, similar to Scott and some other brands with their Olympic paint schemes. What I'm trying to figure out is why they haven't labelled their Torch collection Epic/Era bikes with the S-Works tag. Instead they are 'normal' Specialized frames. Doubt it's because they want to make them more affordable, maybe it's because the multiple layers of paint to create a color-change paint job is too heavy to really call it an S-Works?
  • 4 0
 @jeffreyelias8: For the average Olympic TV viewer "S-Works" branding probably means nothing. Much more advert value to be extracted from the opportunity by having the company name "Specialized" put front and centre instead.
  • 1 1
 Better ditch those tires, I can see them going flat just by looking at the pictures
  • 2 2
 No dropper sorta strange?
  • 1 5
flag kiwi-in-ns (Sep 1, 2016 at 2:59) (Below Threshold)
 Too much weight too little benefit
  • 2 0
 @KiwiXC: Not sure if Absalon and the others has the same opinion...
  • 1 0
 @bosnianrider: she wouldn't be putting out the same type of power so the added weight would affect her more. But at the end of the day, they are probably just more comfortable without a dropper post.
  • 3 0
 @scissors888: Couple of them in the women field are using droppers on some courses Maja Włoszczowska, Tanja Zakelj and I think I saw Catharine Pendrel too but probably there are more. As the courses became more technical I think we will see more of them using it. Btw Annika Langvad looked anything but comfortable on the MSA world cup and the Rio race.
  • 1 0
 @bosnianrider: For sure it will eventually be the norm, especially as they become lighter and shorter drop options become available. And comfort is a relative thing I guess, yea she may have looked awkward at MSA and Rio, but she may feel like right now, its worse on a dropper. Who knows. On my Hardtail it took a while for me to go to a dropper post because it felt so awkward not having the seat where I was use to it. Now though I wouldn't go back.
  • 1 1
 @bosnianrider: It's always going to be a personal preference, but everything on the bike is there because the benefit outweighs the cost (possibly there are some commercial sponsorship influence on running 1x12 over 1x11).
  • 1 0
 @KiwiXC: Of course. I think 1x12 has a real value in the women's field but not so much in the men's I can't imagine Schurter or Kulhavy in the need of 50T cog... Smile
  • 1 0
 @bosnianrider: Maybe or maybe not, depending on the course. You're mistaking the reason for the 50t cog though. It's not to provide a bigger bailout cog in the rear for climbing, it's so that they can have the SAME ratio bailout for climbing as before with the previous 42t, yet be able to have a bigger ring on the front so that they're not spun out of available gearing on faster sections like flats, which they have lots of watts to and burn with. Then again, the monsters at the pointy end of the field like Nino, Julien, and Jaroslav were already often running something like 36t on the front anyhow even before, so maybe more of a benefit for the riders behind them! Think about one of the sprint finishes between Nino and Julien earlier this year, which came down to less than a bike length. In that situation it may have meant the difference between winning and losing to have a larger front ring available, yet still have adequate climbing gears - at least for riders that are on SRAM which Julien is not.
  • 1 0
 @Ginsu2000: No, I am not mistaking the reason for the 50t cog. Schurter and Kulhavy already ran 38t with the 11 speed 10-42 I don't think they will go up to 42/44 to have more top end and it's not even available. Women's field is different with less power they have more use of the 500% range so they can ditch the 2x11.
  • 4 6
 This is one ugly bike.







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.039230
Mobile Version of Website