Bike Check: Nina Hoffmann's Santa Cruz V10 - iXS Cup Test Session
After her successful 2019 campaign as a privateer that saw her finish fourth in the overall World Cup ranking while even being injured during the final stages of the season, everyone was expecting Nina Hoffmann to join a factory team for 2020.
Instead, she chose to tackle the racing season with her own UCI team, allowing her some more flexibility in her choice of sponsors and independence in general. Stif, the UK distributor for Santa Cruz bicycles is acting as her main sponsor, adding Reserve wheels to her Santa Cruz and Juliana frame deal.
Nina is also involved in prototype testing at Levelnine. With her current setup, she’s in detail giving feedback on the differences between the new 35mm clamp and her regular 31.8mm setup. Interestingly, to her, the wider clamp offers minimally better damping.
Instead, she chose to tackle the racing season with her own UCI team, allowing her some more flexibility in her choice of sponsors and independence in general. Stif, the UK distributor for Santa Cruz bicycles is acting as her main sponsor, adding Reserve wheels to her Santa Cruz and Juliana frame deal.
Nina is also involved in prototype testing at Levelnine. With her current setup, she’s in detail giving feedback on the differences between the new 35mm clamp and her regular 31.8mm setup. Interestingly, to her, the wider clamp offers minimally better damping.
Nina Hoffmann // Nina Hoffmann Racing - Stif
Age: 23
Hometown: Jena, Germany
Height: 172 cm/5'8"
Weight: 68kg/149lbs.
Instagram: @nina.hfm96
Age: 23
Hometown: Jena, Germany
Height: 172 cm/5'8"
Weight: 68kg/149lbs.
Instagram: @nina.hfm96
Having worked on a base setup with Fox in Lousa, Hoffmann added another five percent of air pressure to her fork and stepped up to a stiffer spring in the rear after some additional testing. The added support helped her to feel more secure on the bike. Also, she’s running a quicker rebound setting compared to last season, allowing her to ride the bike more actively.
Santa Cruz V10 Details
Frame: Santa Cruz V10, L
Shock: Fox DHX2 Factory RAD, 475lbs. spring
Fork: Fox Float 49 Factory RAD, 82psi, 3 volume spacers
Wheels: Reserve DH 29”
Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary, Ultra Soft, Super Gravity casing, 29x2.35” front (23 psi), Schwalbe Prototype rear (25psi)
Drivetrain: Sram X01 DH 7 Speed
Cranks: Race Face SixC, 165mm, 36t chainring
Brakes: Trickstuff Maxima, 200mm discs
Handlebar: Levelnine Carbon Prototype, 770mm
Stem: Levelnine Prototype, 49mm
Seatpost: Levelnine Race
Saddle: SQlab 6OX
More info: www.santacruzbicycles.com
Frame: Santa Cruz V10, L
Shock: Fox DHX2 Factory RAD, 475lbs. spring
Fork: Fox Float 49 Factory RAD, 82psi, 3 volume spacers
Wheels: Reserve DH 29”
Tires: Schwalbe Magic Mary, Ultra Soft, Super Gravity casing, 29x2.35” front (23 psi), Schwalbe Prototype rear (25psi)
Drivetrain: Sram X01 DH 7 Speed
Cranks: Race Face SixC, 165mm, 36t chainring
Brakes: Trickstuff Maxima, 200mm discs
Handlebar: Levelnine Carbon Prototype, 770mm
Stem: Levelnine Prototype, 49mm
Seatpost: Levelnine Race
Saddle: SQlab 6OX
More info: www.santacruzbicycles.com
 | Last year I was running a size medium frame with longer reach adjust, this year a size large with a shorter reach adjust. It always used to feel a bit short so now it’s the perfect fit for me. |
Five percent more air pressure for this season in the Fox 49 RAD fork with three tokens, sitting at 82psi now.
Stiffer 475 spring and a quicker rebound setting for this year’s setup.
Nina got the custom Trickstuff Maxima at Worlds last year but wasn’t able to ride them since she had to cut her season short due to a shoulder injury.
The Levelnine bar and stem that she’s riding are still in their late prototype stage. New is the 35mm clamp size.
Nina is using the 49mm long setting but she could also bring it down to 46mm. Preferring a low cockpit, the new stem is not exactly to her liking but at steeper tracks like Schladming, it’s not a bad choice.
Prototype Schwalbe tire with an Ultra Soft compound on the rear. Usually, she’s running the Super Gravity casing in the front and Downhill casing in the rear, but this prototype came in the Super Gravity version for testing.
Nina is running a size large frame with a Reverse Reachset, shortening the reach by 6mm.
Nina’s base setup is running the geometry adjust on the low setting in combination with a shorter chainstay length.
On tracks like Fort Williams or Mont-Sainte-Anne she thinks the longer chainstay will be the better option, although then she’s going to lift the bottom bracket with the flip chip, also turning the head angle slightly steeper to get it around corners better.
Choice of wheels: Reserve’s DH with 31mm internal carbon rim laced to Chris King hubs.
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Also congrats on the success!
I love her personality and found a new appreciation for her after hearing her podcast, but the results are not there just yet. Emphasizing on the "yet"
On another note, on those 2021 Commencals there are a couple other new Schwalbe bits. Nobby Nic finally gets a soft compound version and less flimsy casing. There's a new 'supertrail' casing that's probably between snakeskin and SG, something like EXO+ at Maxxis.
That Betty though. The perfect rear for MM front on softer trails? Should clear better than HD with fewer knobs and the cornering feel will be closer with that side tread.
Though I just looked at the Kaiser and it is closer to that than the DHR actually. Except for Schwalbe's angled, more rectangular side knobs and differently alternating centre (narrow-wide-narrow vs narrow-wide-wide-narrow).