18 Race Bikes from Red Bull Hardline 2023

 You would think if there's one thing the Trek pitts would have it's a decent sharpie...

 They needed to draw a HardLine with the sharpie.

 @FuzzyL: Bontrager's only gravity tire the G5 which is similar tread pattern to a Minion - for the absolute shitshow that is Hardline in the rain I too might opt for Shorties rather than a minion-esc tire...

Jonny Salido was out there on Vee tires!

 Better than the cover up on Goodyear sponsored Matt Jones rear wheel...!

 @FuzzyL: Oddly enough, TFR teams no longer use Bontrager tires. They are now sponsored by Pirelli, you can even see the Pirelli logo on Kade's Session. Yet none of the racers seem to actually use them.

 @FuzzyL: All of Trek's factory teams are sponsored by Pirelli this year, so none of them should be riding the Bontrager tires, or anything else for that matter, although Kade is not the only one running other brands tires in the DH squad

 the whole Trek racing lineup no matter discipline been running none pirelli tyres apart from road teams they seem to follow contracts.

 @Vikikus: Thanks, I think I heard that somewhere, but forgot about it.

Brendan Fairclough actually seems to have Pirellis fitted. Obviously, he’s not on Trek, though.

 @stubestrong: The XC teams have been riding pirelli.

 Tells you the tire truths.

 I'd like to see a black sharpie taken to orange fox forks!

 @stubestrong: Pirelli road tyres are decent, probably make a difference.

 @snotrag: Had a chuckle at that one.

 Looks like a Maxxis

 @snotrag: I hated it when riders do this. If your going to take the money and advertise the product then you should be expected to use it

 @chrismac70: This is exactly why no-one should be using the argument of "well this pro uses X" to pick products. 95% of them endorse what they can get paid for and nothing more. This also breeds the "lots of people run X" argument which is also false logic driven by the said topic.

 Agreed but not sure how much they care about small bump compliance, buzz word for pricy suspension

 They all have a pretty damn good damper in them

 when all the brands are essentially full of bottom out spacers, it's really not about bump compliance!

 I hear ya, I do, really I do,but....
1. What the pros do and dont do, has nothing to do with us mere mortals
2. I'm not sure why people think that the same internals youd find in an off the shelf Marzo 58, is in any way the same as whats in a pros 58....If you were a sponsor of elite athletes, would you provide them with something special, that looks for all intents and purposes the same as what you sell?
3. Its much more difficult to design and build something for the masses, with varrying body weight, terrain, abilities, etc, than it is to build something for the elite, that has to last a weekend, and comes with a full support truck.
4. we think we need need the best, only to never fiddle with the knobs we are given.
5. HAving a support crew, testing time, and input directly to engineers sure can help a lot when trying to setup suspension for a single race....

just some food for though ay

Although, I agree, we dont typically need most of those adjustments, but they do help to get your sus set up for YOUR riding style, terrain, weight, etc, without having to get a custom damper...

 You'd be surprised how many pros are running absolutely bog standard equipment and when asked "what settings do you run?" will respond "dunno mate, I just twisted the knobs a bit till it didnt feel like shit"
Pro riders can ride absolutely mental stuff on a bike set up like a shopping trolley. And often do...

 @gabiusmaximus: dj Brandt’s videos always have that fit 4 squish I have on my foxzarocchi so I’m guessing he’s stock…also he doesn’t seem to give a fucck

 The bike that won Megavalanche this year was a trail bike with Suntour on it

 @gabiusmaximus: sure, why would a pro rider know whats in their fork?
all the testing, and timed runs, and heavy use of telemetry is simply there for the illusion of professionalism. theyre simply out there twisting knobs.....

The camaro going around a nascar track, bone stock too, same as a moto GP bike, stock af

 It’s not so much being a snob about it, it’s more that I need all the help I can get out there.

 I bet the marzocchis have a fox grip 2 damper in them

 @onawalk: Apart from maybe the top 10 guys, I think you heavily over estimate the technicality & detail at the top level. Most pros are running stock internals for sure, they might play about with volume reducers/tokens etc but it's nothing like you've mentioned. In XC things might be different but in the gravity world it's pretty simple (for better or for worse!)

 @Joebohobo: Exactly. WC DH simply doesn't have the same level of support as pretty much any motorsport. 90% of the teams out there are just a few enthusiastic guys doing the best they can with stock equipment. Even some of the extremely high flying teams aren't in much better positions. Enthusiasm and hope really does fuel 99.9% of this sport.

 Pretty sure the Marzocchis have Fox dampers.

 @adminofthegapers: I'm gonna speculate here but my sense is they run higher pressures for those huge airs and need that extra support to pop those takeoffs (so they don't case and die on a 90footer) that the small bump is really an afterthought anyway.

 At this rate I'm starting to question my own existence

 So they stole 18 bikes?

 I just asked ChatGPT to rephrase it and it actually makes perfect sense

"Despite the cancellation of the race, amidst the chaos of people attempting to depart before the weather worsened once more, we made an effort to seize as many of the riders' bicycles as possible."

 @Mandownmedia: comma needed between rate and I'm

 @coltenbraden: sorry my AI is on the blink today!

 But it looks like a Marin...

 Clean lines and looks easy to service.

 @dragonwizz: Marin looks like a Vitus*

 I think they hired a colour blind designer to come up with that paint job though. The matching of those colours.... looks like a transgression. ... .. . I'll get my coat.

 Scott gambler looks more like a session than a session does :/

 But doesnt a Trek session just look like a Kona after all?

 (hard)line was (hard) enough in duallies.


I'll get my (rain)coat.

 Cannondale marketed it as dual-crown compatible IIRC.

 Looks kinda tiny for how tall he is. Looks like a medium.

 @Leppah: I think large. The medium and small have a very defined kink in the top tube and this one has a much more subtle one.

 @Leppah: he used to race a medium Santa Cruz iirc. And that was back when bikes were generally much shorter too - the last WC win on 26" wheels!

 @Leppah: When he rode for Santa-Cruz in DH he would ride a size smaller than most other riders.

 I’m surprised he is even sponsored still

 I'm trying to make them more diverse it's not that easy with the way the calendar is but for my part I want to bike check more interesting different bikes.

 Josh told in one video that he runs a mullet link (to get 185 travel) but still with a 29” wheel. The fork has less of a travel (190) to help keep the geometry closer to intended.

 @Velosexualist: In one of the bike check videos for hardline this year he said the link bumps up the travel to 175mm not 185mm. He says it at the 2:10 of this video.

youtu.be/cYg7igrCWQo

 www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-check-josh-brycelands-cannondale-jekyll-red-bull-hardline-2023.html?trk=rss

 AI can't do that quite yet.

 He's a Reserve rider. One of the reasons they have a separate brand name to Santa Cruz is to allow sponsorship of more than just SC riders.
List of other 'free agents' here:
reservewheels.com/en-eur/pages/free-agents?setstore=1&lang=en

 Cannondale and Reserve are also related though Pon Holdings which owns them both as well as a number of other brands including Santa Cruz, GT and Cervelo (pon.com/en/activities/bikes).

 @MattN: They will all be on one up components next year for the same reason

 I reckon Craig is one of the steeziest riders around. Quiet dude who just absolutely rips.

 Cannondale is in suburban Connecticut, they drink lattes.

 I love that banana yellow.

 Do people not like the Yeti blue?? I could never afford one but they look awesome imo.

 @DylanH93: i refer to it as "pepto blue"

 @sfarnum: Made with putrid water from the Long Island Sound

 @CamNeelyCantWheelie: That’s not where the drinking water comes from.

 It’s because most of the World Cup racers aren’t actually there

 45lbs after the mud

 even the chain is trying to escape!

 Probably not. The Sender is a specialized-style horst link while this as a parallel-link vpp. None of prime's bikes look like canyon's actually.

 @ThatOneGuyInTheComments: except the ones that do

 @pbuser30972: which ones?

 What new Saint?

 @hitarpotar: exactly.

 @southoftheborder: aaaaaaa!

 The proto has been rolling with Matt Jones for a couple of months now. Check his insta for moar pics

 I think most of those are? Kinda hard to tell from a distance sometimes, but at least the Atherton/Scott/Vitus bikes, Commencal Supreme look like they are

 @IsaacWislon82: I think most are mullet I didn't look to be honest

 @naturallight87 Craig Evan's Airdrop Slacker is dual 27.5, but most look like mullets?