Bike Check: Isla Short's Race-Ready Juliana Wilder
Isla Short is the current reigning UK XC and XC Marathon National Champion and World Cup Privateer. Isla has put together her own program for 2022 with long term sponsors including Hunt wheels on board along with Endura and Juliana. This bike has been built from the ground up to be a World Cup race bike. Isla's setup is unique: because of her height and products available from sponsors, she has ended up with some pretty weird things.
That being said Isla's Juliana Wilder is one hell of a good-looking bike and I guess that's no surprise, as that is something that Juliana put a lot of time into. But don't let that fool you, this is a serious race bike that has the tech to back up its good looks and allow Isla to compete at the highest level of XC racing. It's no heavyweight either, with the build weighing in at 10.2kg with pedals, although the bike being a small might help with that a little.
Isla Short // Privateer Rider
Hunt Bike Wheels/Juliana/Endura
Age: 25
Hometown: Aberfoyle, Scotland
Height: 153cm
Instagram: @isla_short
Hunt Bike Wheels/Juliana/Endura
Age: 25
Hometown: Aberfoyle, Scotland
Height: 153cm
Instagram: @isla_short
 | Saving weight means little without retaining an appropriate level of stiffness and responsiveness too. So we’ve taken all the acceleration and out-of-the-saddle sprint qualities of a carbon XC race rocket and fused them with a rear-end that still rails corners like a hardcore trail bike. |
Juliana Wilder
Frame: Juliana Wilder
Size Small
Shock:Fox Float
Fork:Fox 32 Step Cast Factory
Dropper KS Lev
Wheel size: 29
Hub: Hunt Prototype
Rim: Hunt Prototype
Chain Ring: XTR
Cranks: XTR
Pedals: Garmin Vector Rally XC200
Cassette: XTR 10-51
Derailleur: XTR
Shifter: XTR
Brakes: XTR
Handlebar: KS Ether Carbon flat bar
Stem: Drop stem
Grips: ESI Race Foam
Bike Weight: 10.2KG
Frame: Juliana Wilder
Size Small
Shock:Fox Float
Fork:Fox 32 Step Cast Factory
Dropper KS Lev
Wheel size: 29
Hub: Hunt Prototype
Rim: Hunt Prototype
Chain Ring: XTR
Cranks: XTR
Pedals: Garmin Vector Rally XC200
Cassette: XTR 10-51
Derailleur: XTR
Shifter: XTR
Brakes: XTR
Handlebar: KS Ether Carbon flat bar
Stem: Drop stem
Grips: ESI Race Foam
Bike Weight: 10.2KG
| I think XC bike technology has moved on immensely over the last decade, and I love that I can race the Wilder at XC World Cups and spend big days out on technical trails with nothing more than a tyre swap. It's a really versatile bike and can do anything my training requires. |
The Juliana Wilder is a unique mix of XC race bike and trail bike. The head tube angle is 67.1 degrees and reach on Isla's small frame 412.3mm. It's interesting to see that the head angle is a touch steeper and and the reach a little shorter than its Joplin big sister, keeping the build aggressive enough to meet the demands of cross country racing. However, the Wilder’s seat tube angle is a touch slacker and the chainstays are a little longer than on the Joplin to make sure the bike is plenty stable on descents. The Wilder also has custom chainstay lengths for each size, which helps maintain the geometry throughout the whole size range.
Isla has a few differences between her race and training bikes. Her training bike is wrapped in Invisiframe to try to maintain resale value. After all, Isla is a privateer and these things really matter when you are running your own program on a tight budget. However, she wanted to keep the race bike as light as possible so on that bike, she keeps the frame bare.
It's always nice to see little personal touches on people's bikes; this stick figure is Isla's own logo.
Out front on Isla's Wilder is a set of Fox 32 Factory step cast forks running 120mm of travel with Fox's signature Kashima coating on the stanchions. Isla isn't the biggest of people so it's no surprise to hear there are no tokens in the fork and it's only running 60psi. Isla changed to the Fox 32 step-cast from the standard 34 that the Wilder is fitted with from Juliana because after testing both, Isla felt she couldn't get the front end low enough using the 34 to suit her preferences.
The bike also sports a Fox Float Factory DPS controlling the 115mm of rear travel on the Wilder, which Isla runs with no tokens and 105psi.
On the right side of Isla's handlebars is the remote lockout for both her Fox 32 and her Fox Float Factory DPS. This isn't the normal position, but it works for Isla and with 100mm KS Lev dropper seat-post taking up the left-hand side, it's really the only sensible place it could go. It also allows Isla to unlock the suspension and drop the post at the same time. Isla's dropper has had its travel increased in length from 66mm to 100mm. She said "I don't really like long droppers for XC (although definitely likes riding a dropper) but I've increased the length on the one fitted for this bike due to the steep seat angle on the Wilder - it rides way better with 100mm."
Hunt Wheels has been a sponsor of Isla's for a while and the wheels are one of the areas where Isla's race and training bikes are different, with her training bike running Hunt's XC Race Wides. On her race bike she has a brand new set of their prototype wheels. She couldn't give me a lot of detail on them, but they look like they were almost at a production stage and they are super light.
When it comes to tyres, Isla has gone for a set of Schwalbes, with a Racing Ralph up front and a Thunder Burt behind. These are both tan walls, because why not! They are set up tubeless with 16psi in the front and 17psi in the rear.
Isla runs a KS Ether Carbon Flat bar cut to 680mm wide.
Interestingly, Isla opts for a -20 degree, 50mm long stem. Surprisingly, this is made from aluminium on such a race focussed bike.
Sometimes simplicity is best. Instead of a fancy Garmin mount, Isla runs one straight out of the box, using the O-rings provided to keep it in place.
It's a total Shimano XTR brake set up for Isla, with organic pads fitted and 160mm discs fitted front and rear
There is a set of Garmin Vector Rally XC200 fitted to a set of 165mm long XTR cranks. Isla ran XT cranks until recently, including at the World Champs last year, due to low availability and her need due to her height for 165mm cranks.
As for a drivetrain, it's more Shimano XTR with a full 1x12 set up - a 32T chain ring out front and a 11-51 cassette on the rear.
For grips, Isla runs a pair of ESI Race Foam grips.
Thanks to Isla for her time and help putting this together.
Author Info:
Member since Nov 28, 2019
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Not sure what’s so “weird” here.
Pretty well full XTR, carbon, short travel bike, prototype super light wheels, with a Fox 32 step cast.
Can someone enlighten me on why it’s considered weird?
If she was running a 36, and an Ass-Guy up front, I’d understand
Great bike regardless. But definitely no "weird" things going on that I can see.
Tech note: Looks like that Fox 32 up front is at 100mm of travel, which would bring the front end down lower as noted. (Is the 32SC even available in 120mm any more?!) This also means the HTA would be ~68.3deg as noted on SC's website for the Blur XC setup. That quoted HTA for the Wilder is based on a 120mm fork.
"Isla changed to the Fox 32 step-cast from the standard 34 that the Wilder is fitted with from Juliana because after testing both, Isla felt she couldn't get the front end low enough using the 34 to suit her preferences."
Axle to crown on the two forks is not the same (512 vs 501) so it would make sense she's running a 100mm 32SC to bring the front end down vs a 100mm 34SC.
Which makes it all the more interesting that she's running the longer stroke shock configuration for 115mm of rear travel and 100mm travel up front.
@brianpark - is there an update you can share? Is what we're seeing intentional? No fantasy league, no pinkbike primer for XC this week... it definitely seems that way. We know XC has a ton of viewers, but is it a case that they just aren't readers (or at least clickers) in the same rate you get DH/EN clicks?
Is it really so interesting? Since she already swapped forks to get the front end lower, it makes sense that she's also be using one of the lowest stems around. Just goes to show how much a few millimeters here and there can make a huge difference for fit and comfort, and this race results. She's riding arguably not the best fork for the job (specifically mentioned going to the 32 SC just for the axle-to-crown), and taking a possible weight penalty (kinda huge considering she skips a _wrap_ for weight savings) with the alloy stem, all in the name of positioning on the bike.
Even if it is, yep, running something under the clamps is smart. I use gasfitter's tape so they can rotate in a crash.