The 2018 US Open of Mountain Biking is currently underway in Killington, Vermont, and there's a solid contingent of top level pros in attendance. With the Mont-Saint-Anne World Cup only a week away it’s the perfect opportunity to hone bikes and bodies, and the fact that there's a completely new track to race on makes things even better. Pinkbike photographer Dave Trumpore took the opportunity to track down some of the more interesting bikes and components that were rolling around in the New England mud - here's what he found:
Newly crowned French National Champion, Gaetan Vige, and his prototype Scott. The raw aluminum version of this bike has been hard to miss this season, but this is the first time the yet-to-be-released machine has turned up at a race with a proper paint job.
Like the previous Gambler, there are two axle positions that are used to adjust the chainstay length.
The new Scott has an idler pulley that's meant to minimize the amount of pedal kickback that occurs as the bike goes through its travel.
All the colors on newly crowned US National Champ Samantha Soriano's Industry 9 wheels.
While more popular in Europe, it is still quite uncommon to see DMR clipless pedals at North American races.
We first saw Crankbothers' prototype carbon wheels underneath Unno's Greg Williamson earlier this year at the Croatia DH World Cup, and now it looks like there are multiple sets out in the wild.
Even if you are not on a factory program, you can still find clever ways to personalize your equipment.
Max Morgan has a custom reach adjust headset from Cane Creek that allows for a 4mm shorter reach while still keeping the cups flush with the top of the head tube.
The motocross legend Doug Henry is here giving downhill a try (there's an adaptive downhill race taking place on Sunday). Despite being paralyzed from the waist down since 2007, Doug has never stopped living his life on two wheels.
Doug Henry is sporting a customized GT Fury to experience the trails in Killington.
More info about Ryan St. Lawrence's bike can be found in a recent Pinkbike article here.
It looks like GT's new DH bike is just about ready for release. After being black and nondescript all season they are now team blue and yellow and looking like a finished product.
No one at GT would say a word, but those sure look like 29" wheels on Wyn Master's DH bike. We've seen the 27.5" version all season - this is the first time a big wheeler has been spotted.
The devil is is the details when you are a factory pro.
Even though the new Santa Cuz V10 is a finished product in terms of the carbon frame design, that doesn't mean they are not still testing various links, as seen on Kiran MacKinnon's bike.
Neko Mulally is running a set of TRP's G-Spec brakes that look a little different from what's currently on the market - the bleed screw is now directly above the reservoir, and the shape of that reservoir has been altered slightly as well.
Must Read This Week
72 Comments
www.facebook.com/usopenofmountainbiking/videos/vb.952280038241175/1300437173425458/?type=2&theater
Props for pushing through.
DOUG FREAKING HENRY!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Henry_
It might just be something as simple as that given it's BOS, but the lateral freedom is no doubt an added bonus of the system.