Wild Cross-Country Tech - World Cup XCO 2, Germany

Want to give your bike an eating disorder? Show it this Open hardtail that weighs in at a claimed 17.6lbs (8kgs), including a full Shimano XTR Di2 drivetrain and a proper suspension fork. The classy looking rocketship is outfitted with a selection of parts from Tune, Germany's gram-shaving component company, as well as barely-there discs from KCNC and an inverted stem that makes me feel like I'm endo'ing by just looking at it. It's impressive how fast these guys can descend on bikes that sacrifice so much for the climbs. Skills.






Trek's Emily Batty is going with a hardtail for the German World Cup. Her Procaliber SL carbon hardtail takes technology originally developed for the company's Domane road bike and adopts it for use in the mountain bike world. It's called IsoSpeed, and it involves detaching the top tube from the seattube and then joining the two together with a pivot that allows for up to 11mm of compliance. Trek is careful not to use the word 'travel' in their description of the technology. After all, this is still very much a hardtail, and the rear end doesn't move in the way a traditional full-suspension bike would.

The frame is said to be about 100 grams heavier than the Superfly SL, but according to Trek their racers are willing to take the minor weight increase for the performance benefits. She's also running Bontrager's new carbon wheels, a Di2 drivetrain combined with an 11 - 42 cassette, and a pint-sized MRP chain guide. Check out that seat position.



The devil is in the details when it comes to cross-country racing. Dugast's new tubular tires feature a slight rise in casing rubber between each of the lugs, giving it a new profile. No official word on what Dugast is trying to accomplish here, but the tire, named 'Eddy's Bambino', might have this shape to provide a bit more puncture protection or, more likely, increased rolling speed due to the lugs effectively being less prominent.



World Cup racing is all about factory this, lightweight that, and... duct tape? The KS LEV seatpost on this BMC cross-country rig has had a few wraps of duct tape wrapped around its stanchion to keep it from completely dropping through all of its travel. Ghetto? Sure. Effective? Yup. However, don't expect to see many racers running dropper posts this weekend as the course is much less technically demanding than the last round in Australia.



Caffeine is a daily requirement for some of us and being away from home doesn't change that. On the left is the setup in the Scott pits, and on the right is Ralph Näf's machine and supplies in the Stöckli pits. Word is that Ralph's Italian beans can be found in quite a few kitchens.



Cross-country legend and all around Swiss shredder Thomas Frischknecht is running a Yep Uptimizer dropper post on his Scott. Swiss rider, Swiss bike, Swiss dropper post. No word as to what kind of cheese or army knives Frischknecht prefers.



Mathias Flückiger puts his levitating powers to use to keep his prototype Stöckli upright when he's not on it. The carbon fiber frame is made in left and right halves before being bonded together, and it depends on flex at the dropouts and an aluminum linkage to deliver what I assume is not a whole lot of travel. Mathias' Fox suspension is locked out on the fly by way of the company's electronically controlled iCD system, with a tiny rotary remote up next to one of his grips. He's also running skinny Dirty Dan tires front and back that give him a better chance of staying upright on the slick course in Albstadt.




Yet another prototype, this one from Superior. Calling these new carbon bikes prototypes is a bit of a stretch as they're clearly ready for production by the time they look like this, funky paint job aside.

Much like the Stöckli, the Superior features a flex-pivot at the dropouts and a short linkage setup to deliver what is probably 100mm or less of suspension travel. There's only so many ways to get the job done, especially when everyone is trying to build the lightest and most efficient tool for the job, so it's not a surprise that many full-suspension cross-country race rigs look similar in basic design. Even so, they can all perform and handle drastically different due to small differences in pivot locations and geometry.





The dominance of single chainring drivetrains on the World Cup circuit is driving a market that many of us wouldn't have ever guessed would be a thing: ultra-light chain guides. Companies like MRP and e*thirteen offer a number of different lightweight solutions for racers and riders looking for some svelte insurance, but things are a bit wilder over in Europe. This one, from the ironically named Shift Up, consists of two two carbon plates that are joined by aluminum hardware, and the company says that this version of the French-made guide weighs under 40 grams.