Although he was absent from this year's Crankworx Whistler, Brandon Semenuk is in Utah looking to take home a win at the 2018 edition of the Red Bull Rampage. We caught up with his mechanic Shawn "The Wizard" Cruikshank from Fluid Function to check out the details on his Trek Session and glean what we can about his set-up going into the event.
According to Cruikshank, every year around Crankworx time, it's the same routine. "After Crankworx Whistler, we always turn to the DH bike. Usually, he gets a new frame immediately after Crankworx Whistler and we set that up. We give him a couple of shock choices, he runs those, and then we refine them to what he likes. Usually, in a few weeks, we have the bike to where he wants in terms of shock and fork tune. We get the contest bike for Rampage shortly after that and then we build it up. We try to keep that bike in good shape and beat up the spare.
Shawn says that Brandon's DH bike set-up is usually "freeride-ish" so it's always on the firmer side. Even when he rides a DH bike and it's not for filming, it's for big stuff so he doesn't change his settings too much, however, he does have a heavier compression setting than usual. The geometry stays mostly the same and the fork height changes every once in a while. As far as specific components installed for Red Bull Rampage go, he's running some moderately light wheels, likely to make flipping and spinning a little easier. Brandon's handlebars are 760mm wide.
Specific to the line he's created at Red Bull Rampage, Cruikshank says that Semenuk is running Chromag's dirt jump saddle, the Overture.
36 Tooth Chainring and SRAM's X01 DH drivetrain.
Desert riding requires big tires, in order to stay on top of the loose, sandy soil. Maxxis Minion DHF and DHR II tires in a 26 x 2.7" size and with tubes. He runs 30psi in the front and 34psi in the rear.
Chromag Contact pedals.
MENTIONS: @trek
29“ for Racing
27.5“ for Riding
26“ for Rampage
Make sense to me!
They're the old Maxxis carcass that was narrow.
IIRC, they weren't even 2.5"
Sorry dude.
I didn't see your post, and posted the same shit.
Is there any more info on the wheels?
Hell it could be a one off bontrager rim, they have all the machines to do it in house.
Or it could be something else entirely. If some sees Brandon around just ask him and give us the details