Bike Check: The Lupato Brothers' Trek Slash & Remedy - Finale Ligure Superenduro 2018
Probably most renowned for their dedication to their beards and having their own Lupato brothers branded socks – Alex and Denny Lopato are a mountain bike loving, travelling and racing duo from Northern Italy.
We caught up with the brothers in Sanremo, Italy, ahead of the first round of the Italian Superenduro race series and chatted about both their bikes and the race. Despite living just over 3 hours north of Sanremo in the Piedmont region of Italy (near the renowned Aosta valley), the brothers had never raced or properly ridden the tracks in Sanremo prior to the Superenduro. They're used to riding the soft dirt and loam on offer on their home turf rather than the sandy and rocky trails and sweltering heat of the Liguria region. We chatted to them both about how they’re getting on with the course and how they’re feeling about the upcoming race day.
Denny Lupato's Ohlins coil fork.
Talking about their favourite tracks after practice it’s stage 1 and 3 that come out on top for the brothers. With stage 1 featuring a little bit of everything from pedalling, to technical to flowy sections it is a great all-round trail. Stage 3 is a little tighter, with a number of narrow switchbacks at the beginning, forcing you to have to work and pump with the bike to gain momentum.
Both the brothers are running coil sprung suspension front and back and the Lupato brothers are supported by Ohlins all round but with a little something extra; Andreani a suspension tuning company that means their Ohlins forks have a wider range of adjustability as well as transforming the damping of the forks. The main and large difference between the brothers despite running their bikes set up pretty much identically is that Denny rides a Trek Slash 29er frame, whereas Alex opted for the 27.5 Remedy. Breaking the mould for European riders, the brothers run their brakes moto style (front brake on the right, rear on the left).
Denny's personalised "Spongebob" sticker.
 | I think it’ll be really really hard because of the heat. With it being a long day [60km of riding] with long stages and being self-sufficient [no outside mechanical assistance throughout the day], along with the style of trails, you can’t go full gas, you need to reserve some energy. |
Denny Lopato's Trek Slash 9.8 29er.
Denny Lupatos Trek Slash 9.8
Frame: Trek Slash 9.8 2934
Shock: Ohlins TTX 22
Fork: Ohlins Coil RXF 36 160mm with Andreani Piston Kit
Wheels: 29" Damil Extreme T7, 27mm rim width
Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF
Drivetrain: 32 tooth Absolute black Oval Chainring with Sram X01
Brakes: Sram Code RSC brakes (set up moto style)
Cockpit: Bontrager Line Pro handlebars & stem
More info: Crankbrothers Mallet pedals
Frame: Trek Slash 9.8 2934
Shock: Ohlins TTX 22
Fork: Ohlins Coil RXF 36 160mm with Andreani Piston Kit
Wheels: 29" Damil Extreme T7, 27mm rim width
Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF
Drivetrain: 32 tooth Absolute black Oval Chainring with Sram X01
Brakes: Sram Code RSC brakes (set up moto style)
Cockpit: Bontrager Line Pro handlebars & stem
More info: Crankbrothers Mallet pedals
Denny Lupato's Ohlins TTX 22 Coil Shock.
Denny Lupato's Sram Code RSC brakes.
Lupato Brothers' branded mudguard.
Alex Lupato's Trek Remedy
Frame: Trek Remedy
Shock: Ohlins TTX 22
Fork: Ohlins Coil RXF 36 160mm with Andreani Piston Kit
Wheels: 27.5" Damil Extreme Tzero, 30mm rim width
Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF
Drivetrain: 32 tooth Absolute black Oval Chainring with Sram X01
Brakes: Sram Code RSC brakes (set up moto style)
Cockpit: Bontrager Line Pro handlebars & stem
More info: Crankbrothers Mallet pedals
Frame: Trek Remedy
Shock: Ohlins TTX 22
Fork: Ohlins Coil RXF 36 160mm with Andreani Piston Kit
Wheels: 27.5" Damil Extreme Tzero, 30mm rim width
Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF
Drivetrain: 32 tooth Absolute black Oval Chainring with Sram X01
Brakes: Sram Code RSC brakes (set up moto style)
Cockpit: Bontrager Line Pro handlebars & stem
More info: Crankbrothers Mallet pedals
Alex Lupato's Ohlins Coil RXF fork with Andreani Piston Kit.
Alex Lupato's Minion DHFs and Damil Extreme Tzero wheels.
Stickers galore over each brothers' bike.
Mr.Wolf has Alex's back.
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Not much actual feedback about it online (yes, I can use Google)
this is the forum of the "italian pinkbike" site (MTB MAG). The APK seems to give more support in the middle of the travel and increase smoothness. Good luck using google translator. (i can translate something for you if you need)
On the 2018 Fox 36 the HSR is preset by the selection of shims and the area of openings on the valve, the red dial controls LSR. The biggest effect I notice is how quick the fork responds to repeated hits, it can recover much more quickly but still doesn't kick back from a full travel big hit. The fork also seems slightly more supple on rough stuff due to the HSC area and shim stack.
Ring JTech Suspension if you want to find out more - they fitted and set up mine. You can see a photo of the original fox damper piston against the Andreani one (right in photo). It seems like an expensive little piece of metal... but then it does make a big difference particularly for rapid rebound recovery.
j-techsuspension.co.uk/products/andreani-piston-kit?variant=14133880966
hi, do you still have the ttx on your slash? hows the progressivity and overall performance?
i am considering to gone one for my slash.