Tracy Moseley's Remedy 29 - Enduro World Series, Round 1
Tracy Moseley's resumé is an impressive read, with a handful of national DH championships and World Cup victories spread over her career, but the highlights include both a World Cup overall title and a World Championship victory, stats that are hard to argue with. It's obvious that she has the speed, and some of her more recent cross-country endeavours have shown that her fitness certainly isn't lacking, two ingredients that came together last season for an Enduro World Series overall championship. Keep in mind, thought, that while she was racing on a Trek last year, it was more of a relatively minimalist operation compared to what she was used to during her days on the World Cup circuit. That's changed for 2014, with Trek entering the fray to provide factory support for the team, something that certainly isn't going to hurt her chances this year. And neither is her second overall placing in Chile this past weekend aboard her Remedy race bike featured below, pipped by perennial rival Anne-Caroline Chausson. It's going to be a hell of a season.
Less Travel, Bigger Wheels
One of the most interesting aspects of the Enduro World Series, aside from the actual racing, is the varying equipment choices that the riders make for each race, with setups from bike to bike sometimes being drastically different. And we're not just talking about components, but also wheel size and travel numbers - we saw some top racers using 120mm travel 29ers for the same terrain that had others on 150, 160, and even 170mm travel machines last season - with it being all about what they feel fastest on. Tracy's weapon of choice for the first EWS event of 2014, as well as for much of last year, is the 29" wheeled, 140mm travel Remedy. ''I think it's faster, carries more speed, and I really enjoy riding it," she told Pinkbike about her choice to ride the big wheeler over a 650B wheeled machine. But will we see her aboard either the 650B Remedy platform of the same travel, or maybe the burlier, 160mm Slash in the future? Don't bet against it, although Moseley sounds quite confident in her riding when on the shorter travel, bigger wheeled bike, only reaching for something different when tire selection became an concern: ''That was the issue with the 29er last year, but at the moment I'm super happy on it,'' she explained, ''although I haven't done a massive amount of testing back to back with the 650B yet.'' Does Trek prefer her riding one bike over the other? That doesn't seem to be the case, with it being more about what their racers prefer than any sort of marketing push. ''''I've got a choice of anything, really, travel-wise and wheel size, so we're not restricted to anything. It's entirely up to us, and there aren't any tracks where I feel like I'm struggling on the 29er.'' Multiple victories and an overall championship back that sentiment up.
Versatile Gearing
The entire Trek team is running Shimano drivetrains front to back, and Tracy's Remedy is equipped with a 2013 XTR group rather than the just released eleven speed system, although we'd be willing to bet a large wad of cash that the newer group will make an appearance on her bike at some point soon. Unlike a lot of racers, her bike has been set up with a two chain ring crankset and a front derailleur that she says allows her to avoid pushing during transfer stages. ''Generally, I like to ride as much as I can. I'm not a big fan of pushing the bike, so having that double 'ring crankset means that I can stay on my bike a lot longer, and it also means that I can spin my legs rather than grind a big gear.'' It's that last point that can make a big difference over two long days of racing and climbing during transfer stages, as it is only a matter of getting to the start of the next stage in time, not beating everyone else there. After all, the goal is to arrive a fresh as possible so you can push hard when the clock is running.
Going with a two 'ring system wouldn't have been a viable option only a few short years ago, especially when you consider that these bikes are basically being ridden like they're on a World Cup downhill track for much of the time. Clutch equipped derailleurs are obviously a big key to this, but reliable guides also play a big part, with Moseley's rig making use of the e*thirteen's 74 gram TRSr Dual Guide. ''It worked great last year, and I'm sticking with what works,'' she said of her drivetrain choice.
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Wheels and Tires
The two 'ring drivetrain on Tracy's race bike isn't the only thing to talk about, though, as she has a number of interesting things going, one of them being tires. Moseley hinted above that she had a bit of an issue last season when she needed specific tires for the Remedy's 29" wheels, enough so that she actually made the call to ride a bike with smaller diameter hoops, but also that she is ''super happy'' now. The reason? Her bike has a set of what appear to be production SE4 tires from Bontrager but are actually prototypes that differ from what you'll see in the shops, although she didn't expand beyond that. If we had to guess we'd say that they feature either a higher volume (production width 29er SE4s measure 2.3'' wide) or more flat protection, or maybe both. As a lot of enduro racers do, Tracy goes with a tubeless setup all around, and she told us that she prefers around 24 - 25 PSI up front and 27 - 28 PSI out back. Both tires are mounted on Bontrager's Rhythm Pro TLR Disc 29 wheelset, complete with carbon fiber rims and the company's new Rapid Drive freehub system.
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Suspension
Despite what you might assume, the life of an Enduro World Series and World Cup downhill champion doesn't always mean that your suspension gets rebuilt with magical unicorn pee for damping fluid after every run - Tracy's bike is running off the shelf FOX suspension on both ends. Yes, we'll likely see her using something special from FOX's RAD program at the next round, but it's somewhat refreshing to see a top level pro going with production units that anyone can get their hands on: a FOX 34 Talas and the FOX Float DRCV shock that's proprietary to Trek's lineup.
Regardless of why type or level of suspension a racer is using, getting the ideal setup for an Enduro World Series event has to be quite the challenge given the varying conditions and somewhat limited practice time. Tracy weighs in on how it compares to setting up a World Cup downhill bike for a one track: ''You're just setting it up for one course, so it's easier in a way because you know exactly what you want the suspension to do in a downhill race,'' she explained us. ''But with enduro, you've got so many variables in a day that there's always going to be a compromise, and you're never going to have the perfect setup.'' What that means is that there comes a point when, although it might not be perfect, the racer has to go with what he or she knows and make the most of it. There is also likely some turning of the external dials during the transfer stages if the next timed section is drastically different than the one that came before it, but Tracy also admits that absolutely nailing the setup might not be as important as it was when her races only went downhill and lasted under five minutes. ''I also think that it's not as crucial as during a downhill World Cup to get it bang-on because there's no way you can have it perfect for every stage, so you kind of need to find that happy medium, which I think is quite hard sometimes,'' she says of having to be okay with compromising at a certain point. ''There are days when you wish it was feeling a bit softer, and days when you wish is was feeling a bit different, so you just have to find one setting that works for everything.'' And that thought sums up a lot of what's great about not just the Enduro World Series, but enduro racing as whole: racers and their bikes have to perform on so many different types of terrain, far more than what you'd see on a single downhill course.
Photos by Matthew DeLorme
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAEiI_x71Ko
Unless Mike Levy writes the article, then i read it first.
Can't wait for the internet defects to turn up and tell a EWS championship winner that she shouldn't be riding a 29".
the range is hardly any different from a 2x setup
she has a very good point about arriving at enduro stages fresh, im ordering a one-up expander for my bike b4 the UKGE/ EWS rounds in scotland for this very reason, those climbs are loooong
will be intersting to see if she goes 1x11 when she gets the 2015 XTR, I reckon she will
I have converted my 3x10 into a 1x10 with a bash guard in place of the big ring, and installed a WT 42t GC and am very happy with the range. BUT as I was converting it, I was thinking... What if you kept the single ring narrow-wide setup, and also left the small granny gear in place, but still ditched the front derailleur and shifter.
The idea being you could easily move your chain over onto the small ring for the super extended climbs or transfer stages, then back onto the big ring at the top. This way you would still have the range, simplicity and security of a narrow-wide 1x10 setup for 99% of your riding. You would ditch the weight of the shifter, derailluer, and cable, and as a secondary benefit you would have a place for your chain to go if you still managed to drop it off your primary ring, and that could save your ass on a descent whether it is timed or not. There is no real downside to leaving that tiny ring on. It weighs all of what... 10 grams!?
Kind of janky, but kind of brilliant as well, especially for the "enduro" race format or long ass trail rides that gain some serious elevation all at once.
A narrow-wide slightly smaller granny would be interesting! Im not aware of anyone making a N-W with the correct BCD to bolt in place of the granny ring though, but it would be very cool to see!
Keeping that granny in place would also let you run a more ideally sized big ring that you won't spin out of on your given terrain, and not have any concern about whether or not you the correct gearing as to not suffer severely on the long climbs or transfers.
I am generally really really Really in favor of wide range 1x setups and cannot see myself going back to a 2x10 anytime ever, but they still have some obvious limitations at the moment. The setup I'm running performs and shifts very well, but the equipment is not all ideal, and sram and shimano 1x11 pricing is still out of site for me for drivetrain equipment, and is still not 100% perfect IMO.
Running a 42 tooth cog with a 10 speed derailluer diminishes your chain wrap at the cassette which increases wear, has a less than ideal chainline when in the big cog, does not shift quite as perfect, and limits you to a long cage derailluer if you have a lot of rear travel and/or a lot of chain growth in your suspension design.
I love the added chain tension from a short cage derailleur, and if I were doing a enduro race, or my trail rides constantly demanded it, I would ditch the 42t cog, put a larger primary narrow-wide chainring, reinstall that granny ring, and run a short cage Saint derailluer.
I don't understand why you would want a
Narrow wide granny? Who loses chains on a climb? Would also make your manual shifting even more difficult.
Waki finally exposes that he doesn't ride in the mountains, which is why his ideas about his flatland "mountain" biking experiences sometimes seem so irrelevant to me.
Waki: "I like to push big gears because I'm an amateur, and I don't ride in the mountains, but I also have previously stated front derailleurs should be eliminated, even though I am contradicting myself here by saying ride whatever you want. Also, I've also never raced enduro but have lots of confusing opinions about it."
I'm just vetting an idea I had, as I dont see any real downside or disadvantage to bolting that tiny ring on there and forgetting about it.
Tracy is running a 2x10 here with aformentioned wimpy wimpy gym free granny ring, and so are a lot of other people around the world, so clearly there is a real-world reason to having that extra low gearing whether you are a pro or not.
Chain retention: in many cases NW coped with clutch rear mech is enough to keep the chain on. I have some nasty rockgardens here and once I forgot to engage the clutch on Zee and I still didn't drop the chain. I guess if you ride really fast, like EWS stages, then you need the upper guide.
Vans4life14 - your bike setup makes it perfectly reasonable to run a front mech, as long as you really DO need such heavy tyres, which obviously may be the case.
lozzerbiker is right: you get used to harder gears, and I'd say it doesn't take more than a month. A positive side effect on steeps, particularly in loose or slippery conditions is that hard gear provides more traction.
shes a great rider and a very friendly person, have met her at the UK series
I bet those custom bonty tyres have puncture protection, mate running the XR4s got a big tear in his on a transition last race and T-Mo lost out in the UK series a couple of years ago at Coed-Y-brenin because of a pinch flat on her bontys
I dig the dual ring setup, it makes so much sense for a sport like this. A full range of gearing for climbing to the top, and a full range to go back down, instead of half the cassette for up, and half for down. Hell, you could probably slap a little plastic cage into the derailleur and lock it out/turn it into an upper guide on the way down.
Also, I couldn't agree with her more on going 2x10. I need to demo some 1x11/10 bikes, but I can't see being served at both ends of the spectrum with 1x. As negative as early impressions on the new XTR might be (and the cranks are ugly as hell) I think a 2x11 with 24/36 gearing could delivery superior speed and climbing performance. Just MHO.
Ha! And what to do? I tell you what.... I really like this bike. I'd love to have it!!! I think this is great and I love Tracy. She is a super athlete and great person.
I am just about to buy and Enduro bike. I am thinking of:
Specialized Enduro 29
Kona Process 153
Canonndale Jekyl 29
and maybe this Trek