Round two of the New Zealand National Downhill series seemed like the perfect opportunity to catch up with the riders and see what many of them are throwing a leg over for the 2017 season. With Napier being such a pedally course, it was of little surprise to see a few sporting the trail bikes this weekend.
Mike Evans and his Zerode G2.
Tyler Smith and his GT Fury.
Finn Parsons and his Banshee Legend.
Patrick Hale and his Specialized Demo 8.
Ashley Bond and her Commencal Supreme DH V4.
Anton Weatherly and his Intense M16c.
Young Robert Ennor and his Mondraker Summun
Isaac Ewen and his Lapierre DH527.
Louis Hamilton and his Commencal Supreme DH V4
Sam Robbie and his Wide Open Factory Team Spec Intense M16c. Built up with a Deity Cockpit, a Shimano Saint groupset and Chris King on Stans Flow MK3 wheels.
Liam Jackson and his YT Tues.
James Mcdermid and his Devinci Wilson.
Cole Lucas and his Wide Open Factory Team Spec Intense M16c.
Daniel Cobb and his tricked out Yeti SB6c with a Push Industries shock.
Brendan Regan + DH family and his Scott Gambler.
Guy Johnston and his Transition TR500.
Peter Bethell and his 2017 Scott Gambler.
Blake Ross and his out of the box build Pivot Phoenix.
Keegan Wright and his custom Giant Glory.
Alex Kennett and his stealthy Devinci Wilson.
Shania Rawson and her Devinci Wilson.
Dane Nimmo and his Devinci Wilson.
Lloyd Jenks and his Custom S-Works Demo.
Logan Jensen and his Santa Cruz V10.
John Richardson and his Pivot Phoenix.
Leonard Sonntag and his YT Tues.
Carson Rayner and his Giant Glory.
Josh Reilly and his GT Sanction.
James Carley and his Specialized Demo.
Bradley Sloane and his Cube TwoFifty.
Jack Humphries and his Santa Cruz V10.
Watch out for this little shredder, Coming to a DH race course in NZ in about 10 years time!
Callum Sprosen and his Specialized Demo sporting perfect orange trimming and custom colour kit to match.
Matt Hunt and his Yeti SB6c.
What would have been - Connor Hamilton and his Commencal Supreme DH V4. Heal up quickly mate!
So yeti's Enduro bikes have to double as dh sleds I feel sad for the team to have to show up to a dh race like that. Like the first comment says bring back a full on dh sled Yeti!!!
@hetfield1: No, you're spot on. They require the most R&D and make up the smallest % of sales. If a company is approaching it correctly they treat it as a halo project to attract people to the brand. If it holds up and goes fast then it strengthens consumer confidence when considering the company's trail/AM bikes, which is by far the better seller. It's indirect marketing, but in a niche business based on performance you have to convince buyers that it's more than just a pretty face with no trousers.
@dthomp325: I think there's a racer in the pro GRT who did that in 2016. I saw him at Mountain Creek with an SB and a Fox 40 on it. I can't remember his name though
@dthomp325: You're right, but that's the closest thing you'll see to a full DH sled. Yeti is focusing on the most popular category(ies) right now: enduro and trail bikes. From a business perspective, I fully understand what they are doing. They don't have the big $$$ to develop DH bikes that won't sell in big figures like Giant or Trek, so they aim to stay on top of their game in the market segments they're best known for and sell the most.
@RedBurn: And I can also report that it was lucky that one person was running a Schwalbe on the front, otherwise, in New Zealand, photobombing would be just as popular as Schwalbe tyres.
The amount of times iv heard that in my life! Haha. Also to those wondering about the bike choice, I also have a zeroed dh bike but honestly thought that on that particular track I'd be faster on the trail bike, the tracks not that rough, and the steep loose bits were about as steep and loose as what i usually rode on the trail bike anyway. A bit more pressure in the suspensions and tires, a few more clicks compression and rebound and the sb6c was mean.
those of us lucky enough to know Mr Hunt don't bother with word play, we just straight up call him a cunt, most of the time he's a good cunt, but occasionally we just call him a cunt, because calling someone a cunt is funny
Trailbikes are pretty competitive on this track, not a lot of flat out steep sections, just all about linking up big jumps and carrying speed across flat skid sites. Super fun track on any bike.
Yeah I thought that too. I thought there'd be more Flite wheels in the mix. But as far as I know they only have one DH rider, Bryn Dickerson, and it doesn't look like he raced.
People prefer reliable wheel, and cheap to replace rims.
No Bryn this time around, Not sure what his plans are for the rest of NZ Season yet, Hopefully he will show face soon!
But it made me laugh anyway. Well played!