The Best Tech From the Losinj DH World Cup
There may have only been one World Cup at Losinj but it was packed with new tech as it opened the season and allowed us to see what riders had been testing all winter. If 2017 saw the birth of 29ers on the World Cup circuit, then 2018 was the year they became almost ubiquitous and there were plenty on display in the Croatian harbour. Here are some of the best from our short time on the island.
29ers galore
Pivot's aluminium prototype
Pivot first showed a prototype 29er at Fort William in 2017 and apparently had one in the works since 2016 but in 2018 we saw the aluminum mule raced for the first time. This is Eddie Masters' bike who flew in straight from the EWS rounds in South America for the race.
Headset cups allowed Pivot to try some different geo set ups to dial it in for the final version.
Less than a year later we saw the carbon iteration of the bike unveiled at Crankworx Rotorua
Saracen Myst 29
After an aluminum mule in 2017, the Saracen Myst was being raced in both flavours in 2018. Matt Walker used the 29er and Danny Hart stuck to 27.5 on his first season with the team. They kept the geometry the same between the two frames, which allowed their riders to swap between them while testing.
Kona Operator
Connor Fearon turned up to Losinj with two separate bikes, one on 29-inch wheels one on 27.5. A flip chip in the seatstay allows the Operator to swap between wheels, but Connor brought two to keep things simple for his mechanic. Two chainstay positions and a reach adjust headset allows for dialing in the bike's fit further depending on the track.
Those colored headset caps help make it easier to identify which bike is which.
Norco Aurum HSP
Norco had been testing the revised Aurum in 2017 and we saw a final version in Losinj. This high pivot 29er is still one of the most striking bikes on the circuit.
New YT Tues
Over the offseason, YT had worked on a new race bike ready to race at Losinj. It was a winning debut for the bike with Gwin taking his 20th victory, leaving him just 1 behind Greg Minnaar in the all-time tally. It was 29 inch only at the time but a 29er version came along at the end of the year in La Bresse.
This was spotted in the pits on trackwalk day, but we wouldn't have to wait long for the production version as the press camp for the bike happened directly after the race on the very same track.
Randoms
Brook Macdonald made the move to Mondraker in the offseason and made an instant impact in Losinj. He qualified fastest and seemed to be favourite for the win until he crashed hard on one of the drops and separated his shoulder.
27.5"
29"
New RockShox Boxxers were on about half of the bikes in the pits. The drop outs were the clear tell which was which.
Greg Williamson's Unno was a head turner in the pits.
Some slimline telemetry on the Syndicate bikes
Some people questioned whether the Syndicate were being fully honest about not using tubeless inserts on the recent bike check we did. Here is the last time we had a look under their rubber and saw a prototype system on Vergier's wheels.
Bruce Klein's Commencal Supreme on the sea front
Brendan Fairclough's Scott Gambler getting some attention from the Bos engineers. The French company were using the Scott team for testing and development on the Obsys upside down fork all year so their telemetry was never far from Fairclough's aluminum prototype.
Prototype 4 pot Formula Cura calipers in the Unno pits
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
Love em' all, especially the Aurum, and that Saracen... Man that is such a sick lookin' bike! And I bet it ride like a beast too