Tech: Juicy Bits From The Pits - XC World Championships Vallnord 2015

Sep 4, 2015 at 11:52
by Richard Cunningham  
Manny Fumic's Cannondale F-Si Team

Manuel Fumic 2015 World Champs
The World Championships is an all-or-nothing race, so most riders will be betting on hardtails. From two meters back, Manny Fumic's Cannondale F-Si Team looks pretty close to stock trim, with its FSA cockpit, Lefty 2.0 suspension, and 29-inch ENVE wheels, but don't let that fool you.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
No chances taken here: apparently, Fumic chose this beefy, direct-mount CNC-machined aluminum upper chain guide for insurance. The stock item is an MRP 1X. The crankset is the standard-issue Cannondale aluminum Hollowgram with a SRAM XX1 36-tooth sprocket.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
Cannondale's Lefty 2.0 is constructed largely from carbon fiber and its remote lockout (hidden by the Avid XX carbon brake lever) is operated by a RockShox Xloc plunger.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
No, you can't have one. SRAM released gold-tone (probably titanium nitride plated) XX1 cassettes and chains specifically for its sponsored athletes at the Vallnord World Championships.



Mathias Flückiger's Handmade Inverted Dropper Post

Matthias Flueckiger s home-designed and build dropper post. Weight 230 grams. 4 5 centimeter drop.
Mathias Fluckiger's home-designed and built dropper post is inverted in order to fit the frame's 27.2-millimeter seat tube. The drop is only 4.5 centimeters, but that is more than enough to provide a handling boost in the technical sections of the course. It is said to weigh only 230 grams. Will be see a production version of this dropper in the future?

Low weight was key to the design. Matt reckon s 4 centimeter is a good adjustment for XC use.
Ugly, but effective. Strips of pre-impregnated carbon fiber were wrapped around the area to reinforce where the seat post head from another post was mated to the carbon shaft.
Custom carbon layup.
Some carbon frames are joined using the same "tube-to-tube" process. After the joints areas are sanded smooth, the finished product can be quite beautiful.

Minimalist all the way.
Simple and effective remote cable lever.
In order to overcome the 27.2 diameter Matt opted for a reversed design. This also allows for the weight to remain low.
The stanchion tube is aluminum, but there's no clue about its internals. However, it's very likely air-sprung, and possibly employs an existing hydraulic cartridge from currently available seat post. That's just guessing on our part, though.



Nino Schurter's Scott Spark

Nino Schurter.
Nino is bucking the 29er hardtail trend for the World Champs. His Scott Spark has DT Swiss carbon tubular wheels, glued up to handmade 27.5-inch Dugast tires. Suspension is all DT Swiss, and the World Cup Champ is sporting SRAM's gold XX1 chain and cassette. The cockpit is all Ritchey, including the pedals.



Jenny Rissved's Chain Guide Device

Jenny Rissveds chain retention device.
Scott puts its direct-mount front derailleur mount to a better use with this sweet looking Scott-branded top-mount chain guide seen on Jenny Rissved's Scale.



Jolanda Neff's Stöckli

Jolanda Neff s St ckli. Neff opted for her hardtail on the course today.
How does Shimano Di2 XTR hold up in the rain and slop? Jolanda Neff put it to task at Vallnord.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
Difficult to fathom how Stockli manages to get enough strength from those pencil thin seatstays, especially considering the pounding they receive on today's technical WC courses.

Full XTR Di2 setup on Jolanda Neff s bike.
except for the wire, you may never guess it was Di2.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
25th anniversary edition Shimano SPD pedal.
from the pits 2015 World Champs
Electrified old-school top-mount derailleur.

from the pits 2015 World Champs
Looks like she hardly used the brakes.



25th Anniversary Pedals

Shimano s special edition 25 years SPD pedals.
Another look at Shimano's 25th anniversary XTR SPD pedals.




Author Info:
RichardCunningham avatar

Member since Mar 23, 2011
974 articles

115 Comments
  • 96 2
 Nino's bike = awesome
  • 44 2
 I'd take it out for a nice dinner, then take it home and make sweet sweet love to it. Hopefully that's legal...
  • 61 1
 It's clearly under age, you pedo.
  • 111 2
 Dude, it's 27 and a half...
  • 10 0
 we've been coming to the same party now for 12 years now and in no way is that depressing ...
  • 3 13
flag dzenyy (Sep 6, 2015 at 11:10) (Below Threshold)
 About Nino's bike: every suspension component by DT that i've ever had to test and ride, was a piece of sh*t, it looked like a group of retards tried to copy a decade-old components and employ it to the bikes. I'd hardly never buy any fork or shock from them. Smart alignment of carbon fiber in rear triangle in Scott Scale 910 did better job in damping, that DT shock in 2014 Scott Genius 740.It seemed to compress, but with a feel of bending a steel bar rather than compressing a shock. Did something change about their produts?
  • 46 3
 Finally someone put dropper post on a XC bike. Are descends with seat hitting your stomach really better than +500g load of the bike? Finally nope?
  • 12 1
 Was watching some xc the other day and yeah, its the straight legged descending that always amazes me.
  • 8 1
 Been there....many times your legs are so shot..that's all you can do to recover. Looks dangerous but it's all good
  • 2 0
 He did not run the post during the race... Just read the Fontana interview on PB to understand why they don't... Until the sponsors make them...
  • 57 2
 These guys can also descend technical trails much quicker than a lot of people expect, especially the top guys. They have so much skill and, having ridden with some world class XC guys, I'm not sure many of them would go any faster with a dropper post. It's different for us, especially when we're gassed from a climb and trying to come down a difficult trail quickly, but these guys are on another planet altogether.
  • 20 8
 I think most people on PB start riding after droppers were on the market, therefore don't have the technical skills to ride with high seatpost, let alone ride a rigid bike. No offense.
  • 51 2
 Would 200 - 300 grams of added non-rotational weight slow them down an appreciable amount? I doubt it, especially over the short timespans that a World Cup cross-country race runs for. But a lot these racers are head cases (I mean that in the nicest way possible) that need to know that their bikes are the lightest and fastest that they can be - they can't be on the start line and looking at their competitors thinking that they're at a disadvantage.

I've been told by pro mechanics and engineers that they'll straight up fib to their racers about their bikes, telling them that the bikes are lighter than they actually are or that such and such component is doing something better than it actually is. So much of it is mental, which means that yes, a 200 - 300 gram weight gain can make them slower.
  • 25 1
 Mike Levy just schooled you son
  • 6 1
 i'm not sure if schurter, fumic or absalon will gain a lot of time if they use droppers..

watch this gmbn video, is not about droppers but still interesting..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M6qq5jxJ6E
  • 7 1
 Mike Levy, that's exactly the case, and if you're not a racer yourself or know people who race XC, you most likely won't understand it. Every time Pinkbike writes about xc stuff there's a lot of comments about lycra clothing, dropper posts and so on, and no they probably wouldn't loose a second on uphills with a dropper post, and the same goes if they were wearing baggy shorts and shirts, but marginal gains helps the athletes getting the right racing mindset. The less things they have to be concerned about the better.
Last season I was racing on a Spec Epic, and even though that's a pretty fast bike in the first place, I tuned it in every possible way, just to be sure that the guy next to me on the starting line didn't have a better shot at winning than I had. And we are talking about trimming your SRAM 1X groupset with carbon plates for the rear mech, 700$ ceramic titanium pulleys, lighter bars, seatpost, saddle, seatpost clamp, and replacing all bolts on the whole bike with alloy bolts(rear mech, crankset, suspension, gear hanger, brakes and rotor bolts). Basically every bit possible.
  • 5 1
 It's come to that time of year that it's time to choose the race bike for next year, and I was considering a full sus. Then one of my mates lent me a dropper post for the week in Andorra, and it's been an absolute revelation. Screw full sussers, a hardtail with a dropper is way more capable I reckon, lets you use your legs as suspension and huck off sh*t.
  • 15 6
 @mikelevy - The weight increase driven argument against dropper post for XC racing is not defendable and will not stand a test of time and technological development. Their skill is a mere adaptation to not have a post, rather than effective advantage. I have been riding sketchy crap with seat up on XC bike I know the basics of technique of using your arms and holding saddle with butt cheeks and turning bike by grabbing handlebars to the side swiftly as you would do while whipping. Nevertheless Physics of handling a bike are clear, if your center of mass around hips can get lower, if it is given room to move in all planes, it will make for a more effective steering and make it possible to generate speed and carry momentum through the obstacles. When lock out buttons will disappear from handlebars, dropper post switches will move in. Irrational practices you mention, superstitions are always sentenced to death. What kills them best and creates new ones is push from the industry. Look at RS-1, who the F needs that, heavier, flexier, yet it is raced by the best on WC circuit. As soon as John Cancelier says go for XC dropper post, within 2 years, Fox will make one and all top racers will be riding them. Resistance towards droppers in XC is pointless and analogical to disc brakes in the road world. They are simply conservative because unlike DH or Enduro they haven't seen much swings of tech evolution.
  • 5 0
 Yeah, it reminds me when front suspension appeared. placebo effect it's an effect at last.
  • 5 1
 "Would 200 - 300 grams of added non-rotational weight slow them down an appreciable amount? I doubt it, especially over the short timespans that a World Cup cross-country race runs for."

I really do not consider 1.5-2 hours at 100% effort to be a short timespan....no matter what sport you are talking about
  • 4 1
 If you compare it to BC race or better: trans provance where you ride for 4-7h a day then well...
  • 2 4
 The industry needs to make money. How they make money? Selling you new products. How they force you to buy new products? Creating new "standards". A dropper post on a xc bike screams "begginer". Like wearing elbow pads. Disk brakes on road bike... Nobody wants them, especially the racers... But everyone will "have" to buy a new bike, wheels etc... Thumbs up to campagnolo and shimano that only make stuff that make sense. All the rest are marketers.
All the "innovations" in the past 3-4 years have been existing since the 80's... And raced by pro teams... Dropper post, wider front and rear hub, 1x extra wide cassette, wide rims, etc etc...
  • 4 3
 Pretty easy to calculate, that depending on the power output of the rider, 200-300 grams is 15 to 25 seconds in a 1:30 XC race. What was the gap Nino and Julien at worlds this year?
  • 6 2
 WhatAboutBob - That would be possible to calculate if two identical bikes with no riders on, differing only with seat posts, raced on straight and perfectly even surface. Science of MTB component choice has a big problem: on one lap rider lifts his front wheel over the big root, on second lap, he jumps over it, on third lap, he rides through it with both wheels. It is extremely difficult to control variables in MTB environment. You'd have to replicate the experiment many, many times in order to gather average numbers, it simply seems impossible to determine considering mass start situation, especially in a race full of mud. In all this lowering the saddle and physics related to riders COM having more ability to move around the bike control points allows for bigger flexibility in choosing lines thus limiting variables, such as track erosion and body fatigue during the course of the race. You could calculate effect of 29er wheel over 650B wheel. You'd get different results depending on racers dimensional physiology, muscle structure, as well as character of the track, whether accelerations are more important than rolling over and keeping momentum - which is highly unlikely, and terrain wise, 29er should always win. But as you see Nino can overcome the deficit in roll over and uphill grip. Keep science away of in-depth MTB component choice, it cannot bare variables of the race tracks, human physiology and psyche. Otherwise those bikes would weigh no more than 5 kilograms.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Actually we can just remove the variables to figure everything out. Wheel size advantages can be quite easily measured without bicycle, terrain and rider. Same for most other things. I doesn't mean sth like 'one who takes 1 kg off the bike, he will ride 0,9 km/h faster'. It means science can improve known weak points of the bike components but finding and measuring these points is the key. Guessings- and feelings-based changes would probably just multiply parts' standards and praise negligible improvements. Of course human factor is the most important, but without thorough science there would be very little progress in the sport.
  • 3 0
 No you can't count it like that in MTB, because you are exchanging weight for a functional feature. Race is nothing more but energy management, who uses energy most efficiently at a right time, with being very mimdful of the fact that human engine adds regeneration factor to the equation. You do spend more energy to propell a heavier seat post but you theoretically improve regeneration and lose less energy by keeping speed up by using a dropper. You also allow your brain to relax more. There is a reason why Gwin's S-Works demo is heavier than Demos of people who owned stock one for a year and within that time managed to change a thing or two in order to make it lighter. You can get a DH bike under 13kgs yet carbon bikes of pros still go above 16.
  • 5 0
 Why is Nino using a suspension fork then if he could use a 700g lighter rigid fork? Why is Julien riding a Full Suspension bike? Why aren't F1 racers using qualifier setups on race day? Unless you realize the idea of compromise management you will just cross out variables and focus on one factor and for that, counting grams is a plague in MTB, even in highest levels of racing and I am sure of it. By 2020 all top XCers will be sporting "XC specific" droppers.
  • 1 1
 Why not? Dropper posts are awesome if you ask me. And going light by hook or by crook is ridiculous! As I said - there's a need for laboratory measuring, which can tell where you can go light, and where go strong. I agree in many cases it's unnecessary to lighten bikes. But if you can do this with almost no side-effects - why not? (BUT do science before announcing these lack of side-effects!) Also (just joking) Gwin's bike is not the best choice for mentioning today... Poor Aaron Razz
  • 1 0
 "I really do not consider 1.5-2 hours at 100% effort to be a short timespan....no matter what sport you are talking about"

Wakidesiges " If you compare it to BC race or better: trans provance where you ride for 4-7h a day then well..."

You may have missed the point. I said 100%. I take nothing away from the athletes who compete in stage races as they are truly amazing athletes. But just like triathletes, they need to "budget" their output, whereas World Cup XC racers are absolutely going full out for the entire race......oh, except on the descents...where they get to rest for Maybe 10 or 15 seconds.
  • 3 0
 @WAKIdesigns do you think the top guys in xc really need droppers?, i agree with you that droppers help a lot but are not determinant (just my point of view). like Mathias Flückiger he has been using a homemade dropper sometimes and he doesn't win yet...

i do xc and enduro (i'm just an amateur guy), and there are a few trails where i live where a dropper is really useful.

look I made this video today only to compare two runs in the same trail, one of them with my enduro bike and the another with the xc bike (not a technical trail, very easy and fast with some little rock gardens and flat sections) and i'm only a few seconds faster with my enduro bike..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgkhII5vjUo
  • 2 0
 djzatorze - if the most stupid German carbon seat post weighs around 120g for 400mm in 30.9, (average reliable one like Syntace P7 goes for 230g), then it is obvious that putting additional tube with bushes, coating, anti rotation keyed elements, all increasing thickness of the tube and all that will wind the weight up to at least 250g, add collar, seal, then internals with hardware and you are easily above 300g. Then add cable with hosing and shifter and you are lucky to end up at 350g. That is for dumb unreliable version like Tune or ax-lightness stupid stuff. Take apart KS Supernatural, do you think they purposefully add lead to make it go to over 500g without a remote? If some company will be able to mass produce a reliable dropper under 400g incl. remote then it will be a huge success... aaaand it will cost sht loads.
  • 1 0
 FelipeGJ - Some WorldCup XC courses are really gnarly, even on Enduro bike I'd not dare to ride them blind. That is just about riding, then racing them is another much more scary story.
  • 6 0
 @WAKIdesigns super easy to calculate the cost of adding weight t = (mgh)/P. m = is increase in mass in kg, g is 9.8N/kg, and h is the total vertical climbing in a race, and P is the average power output while climbing. That doesn't calculate the cost of constantly accelerating that happens during a mountain bike race. As I said the cost of weight on climbing performance, assuming all is equal can be calculated. There is a cost, weight matters like it or not.

Weight is about all you can calculate the cost of. The benefits of FS, tires, droppers are impossible to calculate and just about impossible to test in a meaningful way. For example a single hot run down a descent doesn't really mean much, because in an XC race fatigue changes the way you descend. Or a FS maybe 2lbs heavier but smoothing affect and grip allows you to produce more power and be more efficient. Those decisions are based on a bit on testing, a bit on gut, and a lot on experience.

If you follow XC racing you know that right now the trend is for bikes to get heavier not lighter. The average weight of a bike in the 10 at worlds this is probably 23lbs to 24lbs, this is at least 3lbs heavier then what bikes were 5 years ago. Right now racers want an FS and grippy, durable tires. Contrary to what @mikelevy says racers aren't "head cases" they are constantly looking for an equipment advantage.

I am pretty involved in the WC XC world. I know a lot of riders use droppers in the off season. Yet very few are putting them on their race bikes. For some reason, those who make a living off XC racing, the professionals of the sport, aren't finding that droppers make them faster.

I don't rule out droppers for WCs. The second someone uses a dropper to win a race then you will quickly see droppers everywhere. If Absalon puts a dropper on his bike and uses it drop Nino on the descents then everybody will have droppers at the next race.

You might be right by 2020 their might be droppers everywhere, but my gut and experience with the highest level of XC racing says no.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns Matt (Fluckiger) is not someone who mistakes in weight of his parts, nor makes up figures. FYI that weight is without remote. However, this is a one-off, and it is something else to mass produce a dropper post at this weight for a price which is affordable.
  • 27 2
 Can I get a weight on that cannondale? Not that I got $15k for a XC race HT, but that thing looks fast. I'd love to ride it on the paved path by my house with a Ulock swinging for the handlebars.
  • 4 1
 A mate has the team model and it weighs just over 20 lbs. Fumics is likely well below that.
  • 6 3
 very insightful
  • 1 0
 And yet he and most others rodebFS.
  • 19 0
 I feel like Shimano should have always made pedals in colors...Not just for a limited edition run.
  • 18 1
 This is great! Thanks PB for the XC stuff !!! I LOVE THIS SPORT AND PB is the best!!!!
  • 9 1
 dropper posts and chainguides on XC bike never thought i,d see the day LOL
  • 18 2
 we're still using LOL in everyday conversation?!?!
  • 5 0
 oh sorry don,t spend my days studying up on the acronyms would ROTFLMAO be better ???
  • 4 0
 Little Old Lady?

I don't get it.
  • 1 0
 Lots of love.. Technically. But the kids hijacked it. Prefer little old lady though. Or lacerated old latex.
  • 3 0
 Losers on Line !!!
  • 7 1
 Four things... Stockli seatstays??? Nino's tyres!!!!! Xc pros using 1x?!?!?! And finally, Cannondale make seriously hot xc bikes.
Thanks for your time.
  • 5 0
 " Xc pros using 1x?!?!?! " Lol where have you been the last year or two?
  • 2 0
 Since before the 2012 Olympics, at the very least...
  • 3 0
 I don't watch or pay attention to xc bud, maybe I shouldn't be in this thread. You never saw me okay?
  • 7 0
 XTR 25th drool worthy in Mojo Lopes blue. awesomeness
  • 6 0
 Inverted is a perfect way to fit 272. Also negates the issue of binder affecting mechanism within the dropper post.
  • 4 3
 Certainly did not expect anything useful in an XC post!
  • 4 0
 Actually makes me wonder why not all posts are made this way. It solves a lot of dropper post problems.
  • 8 0
 In most cases u can't get enough drop if it was an inverted post. If the bike has a full length seat tube then the seat post can go all the way down inside when lowered. But if it's inverted it can only go as low as seat tube. Look at the picture of the inverted one. And try figure out how u would get it to go any lower. For xc people that leave the post up super high 2 inch drop helps. But lots of people run a post that can drop 5 or 6 inches. If u tried to get and inverted post to drop 6 inches it would have to be 12 inches high to start with.
  • 2 0
 Good point, pretty clear too. I find a ks 150mm is about right... Definitely would be awful inverted
  • 2 0
 " Actually makes me wonder why not all posts are made this way. It solves a lot of dropper post problems."

Because it does not make sense to add weight further away from the centre of gravity. Basic physics are actually important to over all bike handling.
  • 3 0
 So I was pondering that dropper. Is it not just a standard dropper like a Lev that has had the head cut off and carbon wrapped to the other end having being turned upside down?
It must be feasable as it dies not matter which routing you have. Especially if its oil.
I just went and measured my reverb stanchion out of curiosity and its about 26 to 27mm with a ruler in the dark! Look how tight that clamp slot appears pinched so it just might be.
That is really more cunning then we think as that opens up the possibility of quality droppers on steel hardtails which of late have had to increase their seat tubes to cater for droppers sacrificing the 'steel feel'.
  • 3 0
 "Mathias Fluckiger's home-designed and built dropper post is inverted in order to fit the frame's 27.2-millimeter seat tube. The drop is only 4.5 centimeters, but that is more than enough to provide a handling boost in the technical sections of the course. It is said to weigh only 230 grams. Will be see a production version of this dropper in the future?"

PB, can we have more info on this please? I'd buy 1
  • 2 0
 Kind Shock are have already released a Carbon LEV Integra with 65mm drop. Sure it doesn't weight only 230 gram, more like 450 grams. But as you are probably not WC top 10 your marginal gains will probably be larger and worth the weight "penalty".
  • 5 0
 Remember when everyone rode 5.5lb rigid steel frames back in 1985? now my xc FS frame weighs that much. Ned Overends 1990 world champs winning specialized ultimate frame was a massively expensive 1 off custom frame that weighed 2.2lb. Now anyone can buy several different brand frames of that weight & even lighter.

If everyone stuck to the marginal gains arent worth it mindset we'd still be riding the 5.5lb rigid steel frames!

Progress of improved performance & reduced weight benefits everyone. If that 230g weight is accurate then why limit this seatpost to a 1 off? so yes PinkBike. more info on this seatpost please
  • 2 0
 When I watched the 3 XC world cup races this year that I got around to watch, it seemed to me that there is a much higher percentage of men on full suspension bikes than women. Is there a reason that more women stay on the hard tails?
Just curious.
  • 4 0
 Power to weight.
  • 2 0
 A heavier rider feels a heavier bikes weight penalty less because the bike is a smaller percentage of his body weight. A more muscular male rider can get away with running a heavier full suspension mainly because he doesn't feel the difference in weight as much.
  • 2 0
 Plus a heavier rider is likely to hit obstacles harder, so maybe the women find it easier to float over the rough.
  • 1 0
 Makes sense. Thanks for the info
  • 5 1
 Pinkbike please give us a closer look at Anton Cooper's Cannondale. Thanks.
  • 1 1
 I'd even go so far as to say that cannondale make THE best looking xc bikes.
  • 3 0
 Sram has been blasting and brainwashing everyone with narrow-wide / no chainguide etc etc... So after a couple of years everyone is running chainguides?!
  • 1 0
 I think it's just a case of being better safe than sorry really. When you're giving everything to compete at that level, would you want to run the risk of dropping a chain, even if there was only a 2-3% chance of it happening?
  • 1 0
 Like Levy was saying, it's a mind game. I imagine this would help a lot of riders let it all hang out on descents, and for a relatively cheap weight penalty. Could the bike weigh less without it? Sure. Is the peace of mind from knowing that your chain mechanically cannot fall off worth the extra 50-100 grams? You bet.
  • 2 0
 Narrow wide is a big minus in mud. That said, riders will run whatever the sponsor wants them to. At the last cx world chapionship, the huge favorite for the win was running n-w... He dropped the chain few times and bye bye rainbow jersey.
All I want to say is that n-w has been blown and sold as "no chain keeper" from day one. So I am disappointed once again by marketing claims. If it really worked, shimano would have done it a long ago since the design has been out since the 70's. Also if the chain sticks so well to the chainring, you loose some minimal wattage each pedal stroke. But whatever, people nowadays buy whatever some marketing guy comes up with. Still can't believe when sram made all the fuss about 2x10...
  • 4 0
 The Stockli looks lovely.
  • 4 0
 Armchair engineer police here. Thats Titanium Nitride Gas sublimation.
  • 2 2
 Did anyone actually watch the race? For all the discussion of seatposts, chain retainers etc etc etc..... Schurter has skills, and i mean real skills, added to an incredible level of fitness.... Absalon i feel was fitter, but lacked the descending skills, and especially the difficult traverse over roots knocked him every lap. The race was won from the front, Absalon would play catch up every lap to Schurter.... The point i'm trying to make is that riding skills dictated the results.. not saying that his bike was crap, far from it, but all the bikes are not your standard throw down the trail hacks... moral of this, train harder and become a more skilled rider if you want to be more competitive :-)
  • 3 1
 Ah man wish I had that gold chain looks like just gonna just use some gold tinted spray paint XD
  • 5 0
 KMC make one. It's called a X10 SL Gold. Probably not as cheap as spray paint though.
  • 3 0
 The funny thing is he didn't actually race with.
  • 3 0
 Great XC coverage again from PinkBike!
  • 2 0
 Nino's chainring is huge...what a beast!
  • 3 0
 Compared to others he is riding 27.5 .. so to have something similar he needs a chainring a bit bigger. But still impressive !
  • 1 0
 Makes me wonder how many teeth are on his largest cog.. 42? 45?
  • 1 0
 That Cannondale..... Almost makes me want less travel and rear wheel connected to a trolley Smile
  • 2 0
 Fumic's chainguide seems to be a leonardi's factory changuide not an MRP.
  • 1 0
 The mention referred to the fact that it was a replacement for the Cannondale's OEM MRP X1 guide.
  • 1 0
 Nice gold chain & sprockets get down and dirty, if only there was a solution to that?
  • 6 5
 That's one Ugly Flückiger dropper post!
  • 12 11
 At least he has a dropper post. In XC you get more of such device than in Enduro. The rest of guys is not using them because... because...eee... because... dunno, but they are probably afraid of rage of space monkeys or some other rational explanation
  • 17 1
 It s prototype! Congrats him for find a creative way after so many comoanies trying to bring droperposts on the market and he does it his own at incredible wheight... Also nice to see Xc riders making a bed for dropoer post... It s surrealistic almost no one using it after 10 years on the market...
  • 1 0
 TBH, I wouldn't trust the weight figure. 230g just sound unreasonable, knowing that normal droppers fall above 500g. It still is probably quite light...
  • 3 0
 @Kainerm that is why it is upside down. The main problem is to maintain enough stifness. 230 gram is a fact.
  • 2 3
 230g is impossible. Lightest carbon posts with no mechanism rarely go under that. 400g and we are talking
  • 4 0
 I have a 138g aluminum post on my HT. There are plenty of sub-100g carbon posts out there. You need to back away from the keyboard.
  • 4 5
 168 alloy post, natural selection is a beatiful thing. Do you also own one of those German bars 750mm under 100g? If his post incl remote and that seat clamp weighs at 270g then wow. How much graphene and unobtainium is in it? Cable must be made of Unicorn pubes. All filled with George Clooneys fart and lubricated with princess Amidalas menstruation blood
  • 5 1
 ^The same commentary came from people who thought that it was impossible for humans to fly heavier-than-air aircraft, to break the sound barrier, etc. Guess what? Materials and materials science evolves and improves. Back in the day, a "light" hardtail frame used to be 2kg. Now, they're sub 1kg. Times change, and now we have these things called "computers" that allow really smart people to run FEA to minimize material, and maximize performance. Companies like Tune and MCFK make sub-100g seatposts. Have been for a long time. Not everyone in the world is a fatass that rides like a hack. Sorry, bra.
  • 2 0
 Gold cassette... Want!
  • 1 0
 It's called KCNC for normal mortals. Ti-N coating on a lightweight cassettes, not sure how long they would last with normal use. My Ti-N coated KMC chain certainly lasts longer than a Shimano one and a lot longer than the SRAM chains so there has to be something to the coating.
  • 1 0
 Sram I heard that good brah, hands up this is a robbery
  • 2 0
 mmmmmm blue spds..
  • 1 0
 GOOOOOOLLLLLDDDDD
  • 4 7
 I like how Stöckli's hardtail looks aggressive.
and I want that blue Shimano so bad.
But the golden components are tacky as hell, hate that, shouldn't exist.
  • 9 9
 You're tacky and I hate you
  • 4 3
 Someone got stood up by his date...
  • 2 1
 HAHA I love that scene @andnyleswillriot - great movie!
  • 3 1
 ^glad somebody got it lol
  • 1 2
 lol. well, I guess I am...
but wait. Is from the movie... oh!!!!
Does your comment make me a fat loser and you a gay kid?
wow, PB is getting diversified.
  • 2 1
 What the hell are you talking about? How many pep pills did you take today?
  • 1 4
 Those ugly Enve wheels are back again to save the world.
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