5 Cross-Country Bike Checks - Sea Otter 2018
Annika Langvad
Annika Langvad's Specialized Epic
The World Champion's Specialized Epic is built conservatively, which means it doesn't stray too far from what bike shop customers would get for the Epic Eagle's $10,000 asking price. Annika is also running a dropper post, a sight that would have been unheard of a few seasons ago, but is becoming increasingly common as tracks get more technical (Sea Otter excluded).
Fast rolling Renegade Control tires.
SRAM Eagle XX1
Magura MT8 Racelite brakes are the current gold standard.
The top cap says it all....
Nicola Rohrbach's Felt Edict
Nicola Rohrbach's Felt Edict would be recognizable by its frame's checkerboard-pattern Textreme carbon material if there were no logos pasted on it. Rohrbach's racebike sports a SRAM Eagle drivetrain, DT Swiss remote, cable-actuated suspension and XRC 1200 carbon wheels. His choice of tires underscores how fast and relatively smooth the XC course is in Monterey - nearly treadless 2.0-inch Choyang Zipperings. (Yeah, everyone I know rides them.)
2.0-inch Choyang Zippering tires.
Magura MT8 caliper.
Crankbrothers stem.
Magura MT8 levers, carbon, of course
Geoff Kabush's Yeti SB100
The Tall Man of cross country rides the latest machine to emerge from Yeti's race shop. The SB100 employs their Switch Infinity rear suspension, but it's tucked in a cupboard behind the seat tube. Kabush rides a Shimano Di2 transmission and XTR brakes. His Yeti must have copious amounts of anti-squat, because its Fox suspension has no remote lockouts and he spends a lot of time mashing out of the saddle.
No remote lockouts to be seen.
Will XTR 2018 make the chainguides disappear?
Shimano Di2 shifting.
Maxxis Aspen tires.
It's still a Yeti - shorty stem and stretched geometry.
Shimano XTR brakes.
Emily Batty's Trek Pro Caliber
Emily Batty chose her hardtail for Sea Otter, and it's dialed in with Bontrager components, as is the tradition. She rides a SRAM Eagle XX1 transmission and sports a remote-lockout RockShox SID fork. I wonder how many grams Batty would save if those massive Bontrager stickers were removed from her carbon wheels? No mistaking those hoops! Batty's secret weapon is the isolator hidden in the chainstay/seat tube junction that takes the edge off of the race course without messing with her power output.
Remote lockout RockShox SID fork.
Slammed stem is necessary for shorter riders.
Upper guide on the most stable chainring made.
A gold SRAM XX1 cassette provides 12 speeds to choose from, although those easier gears probably don't see much use on the race track.
Anton Cooper's Trek Pro Caliber
Anton Cooper is one to watch this year. His Trek Pro Caliber duplicates much of the same cockpit and drivetrain items as Emily Batty's, with the exception being his massively dropped stem. Cooper also chose a hardtail, taking advantage of Trek's "IsoSpeed Decoupler" micro suspension device depicted in the photos.
No dropper posts required at Sea Otter.
RockShox SID fork with remote lockout.
May as well integrate the stem with the fork crown.
A look at Trek's IsoSpeed shock absorber.
"So, there ya have it!" Gary Fisher signs off Sea Otter until until next April.
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Carrry on...
Also, note that Trek doesn't make a 29er ProCaliber in Small/XS, so the bikes she had last year must have been customs/prototypes.
As always, the pros clearly know nothing and people slapping a keyboard totally know better.
@mgolder try harder, I said his tyre is stupid, I feel sorry for the guy, why are you saying that I said that XC racers know nothing? Want a piece of me? Try harder baby. If you say his tyre is fine you know sht about tyres, grip and rolling resistance. I hooe you can at leadt pedalhard
@Tucson Don, Ikon in the front, XR1 in the rear, didn’t notice it on the front. Again, very similar tyres. Good ones.
(1) Person is running XTR with a chain guide because the chain ring doesn't hold the chain.
(2) People are running Eagle with a chain guide just for "extra-not-really-needed" security.
The other two bikes run Rotor and Wolf Tooth without chain guide.
The guy running Wolftooth has an Eagle drivetrain, but he preferes the security of the Wolftooth ring.
According to the logic of this write up, both Rotor and Wolftooth are better than Sram?
But Sram is "the most stable chainring made"?
I have seen a test done by Sram where Wolf Tooth was actually better than all others they tested, including theirs.
I understand they are a huge source of income for sites, but the Eagle chainring is no better than others.
Anybody that rides hard enough is better off with a chain guide. I can do without.
That said, both Epic and Felt in the picture can mount chain guides but do not have one.
In both cases you lose.
I trust that I've not made myself clear at all. I had a good time, though.
@freestylAM shimano already has n-w rings, however their 1x tooth profile works just as good as any other. the clutch derailer is what really keeps the chain in place. The shimano ones have adjustable tension. Crank it up and your chain will never drop. Shifting will slightly slow down.
Sram derailers do not have adjustable clutch, most chaindrops I have seen at races are from people running sram.
My take: ISO speed is neat, but didn't do much for me in my time training on the bike and the weight penalty isn't worth it. Get a real hardtail or a full suspension XC bike , not the worst of both worlds.
Yeah I used to be that guy.
More of anything is just always the new cool thing to do
Well, I understand that.