THE PRIVATEER
SEASON 2
Photography by Jason Lucas & Mitch Gulliver, Video by Chris RicciBehind every top level athlete is a support team that helps them with everything from diet and exercise to product and equipment set up. When you're a Privateer it's up to you to fund your racing endeavours. While the top pros worry about the race you're worrying if you can afford that extra slice of avocado toast for breakfast. But what if you had everything covered? Could you make the leap from average joe to top-level pro? We're here to find out.
Adam is back for another season of racing as The Privateer. Even though he made some positive gains throughout the 2018 season, Adam showed that going from zero to hero in one year is no easy feat. When considering the candidates for
The Privateer this year we ultimately decided that there was more to Adam's story. So, with the 2019 race season coming to a start, Adam has another crack at the whip. This is his make or break year.
Despite
breaking his hand in Italy, Adam has still been putting in work at the gym this off season preparing for the year ahead. Now that he has recovered he has been able to get some saddle time on his freshly built Pivot Firebird 29.
Adam's Firebird 29 consists of parts from new and returning sponsors for 2019. Here's a more in-depth look at his fresh race bike.
Deity and Hope have come onboard and supplied the cockpit and controls.
We'd like to extend a big thank you to all of the sponsors who will be supporting Adam this year. Also, a special thank you to Fox Canada for letting us film the bike build in their Vancouver service centre, which is now open for business.
We're very excited to be back at it for another season with Adam and we're stoked to see what he can do with the continued support. Adam will be racing select EWS stops this year starting with Whistler in August. Keep an eye out for the first episode dropping later this Spring.
MENTIONS: @pinkbikeoriginals
The title may be a bit misleading, but the premise makes total sense... ya know, if you take the 12 seconds to read the first paragraph.
The title is a bit misleading, we are not talking about pinkbike finding some random joey and then giving them max support, free bikes and all, hence where it gets confusing. I don't know Adam personally, but I guess he was a pretty good bike rider before already and the support he gets from these companies can only help him perform better.
The true definition of a privateer is someone who competes on a regular basis, without any help from a major manufacturer and probably does most of the wrenching and tuning by himself (as you would probably see at your local enduro/downhill races). In this case, we're talking about someone who gets max support and training but naming it something like "semi-pro" probably wouldn't be as click-baity...
I another hand will enjoy this series whatever it will be about. The last one was awesome. Awesome stuff Pinkbike and Adam.
@Shartriloquist: I am indeed a hand. The one who used to belong to a man named Bruce. He cut it off using a chainsaw in the middle of Evil Dead movie. Now this hand found a keyboard. And it is even more evil
And looking to the future, next year PB could support another rider, Adam could mentor him.
@maximesl: this comment should precede every article and post.
Actually there should be a disclaimer before logging into the web about the abundance of idiots, to protect the few remaining sane.
Way more interesting to see a difference rider every year.
"- No easily accessible bottle cage mount"
*cough
Good Luck Adam!
Bike weight, to a point, for enduro doesn't make that much of a difference.
You can get 'em pretty light, pretty easy.
My L with the stock wheels and simply narrower tires is a smidge under 30lbs.
When I throw the 35mm hoops with 2.6" Butchers on, it swells up to 31.5lbs
I simply installed Next R carbon cranks and Renthal carbon bars, but I also swapped out the XT/R d-train for GX Eagle, which prolly added weight. Pivot goes pretty light on the paint/clear- noticed this when I was repositioning the helo tape on the downtube, it pulled off a (thankfully) small patch of clear AND a small piece of the PIVOT sticker there.
I have no doubt that if you were to install some lightweight carbon wheels and light tires, you could get the thing sub-29lbs no problem.
I don't think I believe PB's weight claims on this bike though. Not with those wheels and those tires
It was an observation made into a point.
Also Pinkbike's own "Field Test" review bike with much lighter EXO casing tires and 1700 gram carbon wheels weighed 30.2 lbs without pedals
www.pinkbike.com/news/field-test-pivot-firebird-29.html
Adam's bike probably weighs 32 to 33 lbs give or take...
www.pinkbike.com/news/field-test-pivot-firebird-29.html
Now add these wheels and super gravity casing magic mary tires for a total extra of 1.5 pounds, plus pedals that are almost another pound... and there you've got your 33 to 34 pound bike.
Might want to weigh your bike again.
No one ever fully weighs every gram and everyone fudges... and then there are no bigger fudgers than manufacturers. If anyone is basing their weights off of what the manufacturer is telling you, throw that shit on a scale because you're fooling yourself!
A good way to check component weights is through the fanatik bike co site. They weigh all their parts and frames in each size (though they have limited frames).
mine is the x01 model with enve m60 wheels and 2.3 tires so yes it will be lighter than this one but it wont be too much different
For many of us office-bound weekend warriors, being able to focus on a few core moves in the gym (less time gym time the better!) and keep up with guys who ride every day of the week is crucial.
But this series with Adam is awesome as it is even if the name is confusing to some...?
This is a great series, and I'm stoked to follow it this season.
If I may: One area that hasn't been explored is riding skills. From my perspective, Adam is a great rider but (like all humans) he can be better. I can see obvious areas of his technique that can be improved -- and they would make a significant difference.
If you're interested, I'll be happy to help.
Lee
lee@leelikesbikes.com
1) was surprised how little difference the so professional team backing improved his results last season - I think there are a lot of people selling snake oil, or new clothes to emperors...
2) would be cool to offer this experience out to a genuine "unknown" ie random pick from pinkbike members who entered a draw...
3) despite my comments on point 1, I really enjoyed the series, and glad they've bought it back.
Compare mortals to Hill, Maes, etc..
I got to get a real bearing press someday....
Famous quote from our fav mentor in the first season.
I do hope Adam gets to do more rounds of EWS this season as he had a limited season last year and I think that would also useful to him and The Privateer series.
And remember - Slow is Fast
and Shimano still does 11spd ? I need that cassette if they do LOL .
On a road bike, for sure, on a XCO bike, why not (but that's dull as well), but here... seriously.
I like it as it also has the Front Brake lever on the same side as a motorbike.
But hey... he definitely is not getting the same level of race day support as say... the yeti team guys or rocky, etc.
So... "Privateer... sorta" season 2.
Free bike.
Free parts.
Free clothing.
Free training.
I bet PB is paying for his travel, race fees, etc.
Last time I checked, privateers paid for all of the above.
Not a factory pro but definitely receiving pro level support.