Bike Check: Eddie Masters' Pivot Mach 5.5 - Crankworx Les Gets 2018

Eddie Masters is another World Cup and EWS racer whose bike of choice for the slalom is about as slalom-specific as a true slalom bike would be at an enduro race, but he's made some changes to the blue machine to have it better suit the Les Gets turns. It's a Mach 5.5 from Pivot in size large, and the sharp-looking color is actually to commemorate Pivot's ten year anniversary.

''It's got a 140mm of rear wheel travel, which makes it perform for slalom because it's better for pumping and generating speed,'' Masters said of the bike in comparison to something with another 20mm of travel. There is that 160mm fork, though, ''Which maybe is a little too much travel, but we've just pumped them up because this is also a trail bike as well.''





It's a safe bet to assume that Eddie's trail bike sees some action that most of us would say is above the average trail ride, but that's not all it's good for. ''This is just a trail bike that I use; I obviously use it for warming up at World Cups, so it wears a few hats, and today it's wearing the slalom one,'' the Kiwi went on to say. ''For slalom, I just banged on a 30mm stem, just to shorten it up, and we just pumped everything up super hard'' When in doubt, just add more air.




The Mach 5.5's spec is interesting, with Reynolds carbon rims and an Industry Nine rear hub that sound like a few thousand bees on the hunt, and his Shimano XT Di2 drivetrain isn't what you'd usually see at a pro slalom event. Then again, although it might have this particular hat on today, this is actually a trail bike after all.

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Reviews and Tech Crankworx Eddie Masters