Tech Randoms: Châtel EDR World Cup 2023

Sep 17, 2023
by Nick Bentley  

photo
Tech Randoms
EDR World Cup
from Chatel, France
Words & Photography by Nick Bentley(Man Down Media)

Between practice sessions, we took a look around the pits at the Châtel round of the EDR World Cup.

There is just something about polished aluminium components
A Devinci Spartan with a reach adjusting headset installed.

Jet washes came in handy to get the clay out of the tires from the bike park
Jet washes came in handy to get the clay out of the tires from the bike park

There were plenty of forks missing on our trip around the pits
There were plenty of forks missing on our trip around the pits.

Who doesn t like flake in their paint
McKay Vezina's Giant Reign, also with a reach adjusting headest.

Full rebuilds in Ibis for their last outing
Full rebuilds in Ibis for their last outing

Full fresh builds for the Gas Gas team
Full fresh builds for the Gas Gas team.

Custom levers for the boys in the Polygon pits
Custom levers for the boys in the Polygon pits.

These Oak brake levers are an after-mark addition with Polygon s Matt Stuttard being involved in the design of these ones
These Oak brake levers are an after-market addition with Polygon's Matt Stuttard being involved in the design of these ones.

The team at Forbidden had every bike ready to go pretty early
The team at Forbidden had every bike ready to go pretty early.

Final pressure check
Final pressure check.

Finger protectors were seen on a few bikes maybe a little bit less offensive than handguards
LoamLab's Counterpunch grips help keep those pinkies safe.

Full strip down for the Specialized team
Full strip down for the Specialized team.

Every part off cleaned and refitted
Every part off, cleaned and refitted.

Busy time in the Yeti pits with forks heading off for their service
Busy time in the Yeti pits with forks heading off for their service

Privateer pits are a little less glamorous
Privateer pits are a little less glamorous

But the same care and attention is paid to their bikes as the rest of the field
But the same care and attention is paid to their bikes as the rest of the field

Tire choice was tough for practice day with the greasy bike park stages being everybody s concern
Tire choice was tough for practice day with the greasy bike park stages being everybody's concern

Quick tune-up for this EXT shock
Quick tune-up for this EXT shock

Some funky volume spacer action going on at Fox these did not find their way back into the fork post service
Some funky volume spacer action going on at Fox, these did not find their way back into the fork post service

This is one battered Cushcore
This is one battered Cushcore

Another set of Zebs getting some love
Another set of Zebs getting some love

Ingenious little bungee cord support for the rear end of the bike when the shocks out
Ingenious little bungee cord support for the rear end of the bike when the shock is out

Tim at SRAM retires after this race. I think everybody will miss Tim and I think every rider he has ever worked with would like to thank him for his help throughout the years and he even got a hammer as a retirement gift
Tim at SRAM's retirement gift.

Stickers are the final touches
Stickers are the final touches

Fresh Vivid heading out
This Transition looks a little different than the current Repeater - there are cable ports at the headtube, and considering that the SRAM E-EDR team is racing it, it probably doesn't have a Shimano motor...

Spot the odd one out . . .
Spot the odd one out . . .

Another entry for toolbox wars
Another entry for toolbox wars

Final spoke tension checks were being done at Specialized
Final spoke tension checks were being done at Specialized

The service teams have been busy with freshly built forks for most riders
The service teams have been busy with freshly built forks for most riders

This is quite a simple but genius way to support the fork when it needs a little bit of attention
This is quite a simple but genius way to support the fork when it needs a little bit of attention

Fresh layer of grease
Fresh layer of grease

Some fancy footwork and some not-by-the-book bike cleaning going on in the Deviate pits
Some fancy footwork and some not-by-the-book bike cleaning going on in the Deviate pits

We see telemetry going on a lot in downhill. The enduro boys and girls are not shy in using it either
We see telemetry going on a lot in downhill. The enduro teams are not shy about using it either

Some pretty fancy foam cut tool boxes for the Commencal boys
Some pretty fancy foam cut tool boxes for the Commencal techs

These might be DT Swiss new hubs with some clues as to whats going on inside them
DT Swiss' unreleased new hubs with some clues as to whats going on inside them

Attention to detail is everything
Attention to detail is everything

This Jekyll is getting a bit of love
This Jekyll is getting a bit of love

Pre-soaked foam rings keep things moving quickly for Fox
Pre-soaked foam rings keep things moving quickly for Fox


Posted In:
Reviews and Tech eMTB Randoms Enduro Racing EDR Châtel 2023 World Cup Enduro


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69 Comments
  • 63 0
 Wtf is the Deviate dude doing? Haha!
  • 78 2
 He’s deviating from normal socially-acceptable behavior and demonstrating his favorite bikesexual position — the “upside down high pivot split” which reduces noisy chainslap.
  • 11 0
 Looks like Matthew Fairbrother asserting his dominance
  • 1 0
 hiding that UDH rear triangle that's what... LOL
  • 39 0
 Yay. EWS tech randoms . Seems like it's been a while.
  • 27 9
 Would be interresting to know if all this over serviced bike are really faster. Think no normal person will service his bike every day on a one weeh trip. Also a fork should work without serviced after every ride.
  • 24 5
 I guess when you’re battling for a race it’s worth it. I mean, some times the top 5 men is within a second over more than 20min of racing and they’re less then a second apart.. everything counts
  • 9 3
 I suspect part of it might be because they're about to go into the off season. It makes sense to use the services they have available to them from their suspension partners now as much as they can while they're there.
  • 3 0
 It's just tiny little things which you don't really notice if done each on it's time, but once it's done all together it makes sense. Also one thing is working just fine and another is to deliver the top available performance.
  • 2 0
 I always wonder about this. How much faster is a bike that has just been serviced in every way over a bike that has had time to have all it's kinks and sticky issues worked out.
  • 3 0
 It's not just speed, it'll make it less likely to have a mechanical too.
  • 12 0
 the red Zeb - matching the red Lyrik further down. The best fork colour!
  • 7 0
 Yeah, please SRAM release a red Zeb
  • 9 0
 So Tim from SRAM gets a hammer made of Fox parts, interesting.
  • 13 0
 I have no use for said hammer, however I still want one
  • 8 0
 Plan on picking up one of those team bikes on the pinkbike classifieds in a couple months.
  • 4 0
 I guess I somehow missed the speculation on what DT has going on in those new hubs. Short of filling them with 90's dance jams as per their labels, what's the active theory? It looks like the hub has been bumped out to accommodate a big drive ring for six-ish pawls, but that doesn't track with DT's history of only using pawls on lower end hubs. Some sort of sprag clutch a 'la the Onyx Vesper?
  • 2 0
 those hubs really do look like they have pawls
  • 2 0
 Simple ring with high POE that DT Swiss will introduce as another revolution by Swiss engineering.
  • 1 0
 I'm thinking a bigger diameter ring with bigger teeth and one moving part keyed into the hub shell with the fixed ring part of the freehub.
  • 2 0
 My money is on some type of silent/clutch hub.
  • 12 0
 @devlincc: There are clues.
She's so high - so it'll be high engagement?
All star - so it'll be star ratchet ?
Here comes the hotstepper - sort of drive from pawls to the ratchet?
The rhythm of the night - it'll weirdly sound
  • 8 0
 That jar of pickled beef tendon rings looks mighty tasty.
  • 1 0
 At first glance, I thought it was a jar of sangria...
  • 7 0
 That commencal tool case looks sick. I'd let that mechanic fix my teeth.
  • 4 0
 Oh that Commencal toolbox... Jeepers... someone show me how that's done !!!! That wasn't done with ShadowFoam and a craft knife at 11pm with a few beers !
  • 3 0
 CNC I’d wager
  • 4 3
 Not sure on those grips, might save pinky in front on impact but also might damage it if u happen to need to eject hand sideways under force. Having flashbacks to the old bullhorn bars, any forward facing hook on front of a bike is not a great idea if u get off track or bumping trees at speed
  • 6 0
 It’s just part of the natural evolution of bar ends, back in the 90s you had the Scott AT3 bars and those massive Control Tech bar ends, over the decades they have shrunk as bar have grown wider and stems shorter. Eventually we’ll have negative length stems, 900mm bars and the bar ends will be about the size of a presta cap.
  • 5 0
 Naw they’re great. Ran em for a year and saved me countless times. It also helps you slide off whatever you impact so you don’t lose as much control.
  • 4 0
 The counterpunch bar ends have saved my hands nasty impacts many times. They also let you put your hands further out on your bars and seem to deflect off trees instead of catching them.
  • 3 0
 They are actually remarkably adept at saving you from crashing when striking trees at speed.

You can see a video of a tree strike here www.instagram.com/reel/ChIu-R-gKMz
And another on the product page here www.loamlab.bike/products/counterpunch?variant=34531576250534
There are reviews to see what people who use them are saying too.
  • 6 0
 Red Zeb Red Zeb Red Zeb
  • 1 0
 just don't get the point with deviate "not-by-the-book bike cleaning going on in the Deviate pits",
Hi look closely as I was believing he dumping fork oil in the grass.
it is not the case. I will be interested to know if in such event organiser provider some kind of recycle facility for oil and tire. I know unfortunately it is not the case for tire
  • 1 0
 Trp really should take notice of multiple brands making aftermarket levers and offer a different shapes out of the box. I love the dhr evos, but I had to buy freedom coast levers to really make them fit for me.
  • 3 0
 Now I'll be singing Ini Kamoze songs all day. Thanks a lot DT & Pinkbike!
  • 1 0
 虽然我不能成为职业车手，但是能做这样的工作也不错啊，每天都能接触到山地车，还能参与到各项国际赛事中，作为一名山地车爱好者，这就是梦想的职业。
  • 3 0
 Love the tech. Wish the pics were higher res to use for wallpaper
  • 7 0
 Try this trick
m.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=129420
  • 3 0
 @tubby1536: Thank you!
  • 2 0
 No wonder it’s expensive racing if your getting new custom bikes every ride
  • 2 0
 Making bikes look pretty is at least a way to attract media attention which, for the brands/sponsors, is the sole reason to even go there. If you give your athlete a perfectly fine stock bike, chances are it won't even get noticed at all.
  • 30 26
 Less e-bike please.
  • 3 0
 Tim flooks retiring? Legend of a guy!
  • 2 1
 What's up with the Transition Repeater ? Does that mean it's equipped with a not yet released sram motor ? Or simply a Bosch one ?
  • 1 1
 We will all have to wait and see
  • 1 1
 Curious about that as well
  • 5 5
 DT Swiss could certainly use a new design. On the “new” EXP it is basically impossible to remove the rear driveside bearing behind the ratchet mechanism. The functional result is once that bearings done so is the hub.
  • 9 2
 you could certainly use a couple 'exp rachet removal' videos on YT
  • 7 7
 It's cool to see all this tech, but also a bit confusing... wasn't the concept of Enduro racing all about 'finish on what you started with'?
  • 11 0
 they actually race today, it was only practice till now
  • 4 2
 @Daddybear: still they can go back to the pits and get the bikes checked up and so on, which is not what it used to be
  • 5 0
 @nicoenduro: They can't just do that during the race. They sometimes have technical assistance zones (which they have had at the EWS as well) but that's not every race as far as I'm aware, and they still have to finish on the same frame, suspension and wheels they started on.
  • 11 13
 I like looking at all this stuff, especially because it reminds me how happy I am riding a fully rigid bike with a 1x 9-sp setup.
No suspension setup or overhauls, no batteries or updates to worry about, no expensive maintenance, just riding without any worries or trouble. Love it! :-)
  • 1 1
 Who's riding the red boxxer?
Which reminds me of the question are dual crown forks not allowed in Enduro or consensus is not necessary
  • 1 0
 They're allowed, but not many choose to run them. The industry is pushing chonky single crown forks so I imagine most of the top rider sponsors want them to be on Zebs/38s.
  • 2 0
 The state of the heavily worn steerer on that Zeb in the forks pic
  • 3 1
 ebike racing... YYYYYYAAAAAAAWWWWWWWNNNNNNNN
  • 2 0
 Nice to see even the pros using a toothbrush. ;-)
  • 2 0
 The irony of a GAS GAS battery powered bike will never get old...
  • 1 0
 It's not telemetry unless the data is transmitted wirelessly in real time! This is data acquisition!
  • 1 0
 Whats up with that massive hunk of aluminum as a derailleur hanger in the second to last picture?
Stiff AF!
  • 1 1
 "considering that the SRAM E-EDR team is racing it, it probably doesn't have a Shimano motor..."

more like cause they're crap
  • 2 1
 The more you try to validate ebikes the more I completely dissmiss them.
  • 2 2
 What happened to the cushcore!, after 2.5 years mine look still like new.
  • 4 0
 No offense, but I think they're hitting stuff faster than you.
  • 1 0
 @mtbwillems Really? One park season and my inserts look rough, two park seasons and they are done done.
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