5 Race Bikes from the Lourdes DH World Cup 2022

Mar 27, 2022 at 11:06
by Ed Spratt  
Neko Mullaly’s Frameworks

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Neko showed up to Lourdes with the third version of his own downhill bike that abandoned the idler seen on previous frames.

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The bike was modeled by Ben Arnott and hand built by Frank the Welder in Vermont.

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While the bike doesn't have an idler Neko still designed the bike with a higher pivot but it is intended to always use an O-Chain with a sizeable 38 tooth chainring. Neko says, "this allows me to have a more rearward axle path than any modern bike without an idler pulley, while maintaining the simplicity and efficiency of a low pivot design."

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A broken finger kept Neko out of contention to qualify for finals.


Raaw's DH Bike

A closer look at that new Raaw downhill bike.
Next up is Raaw's new DH bike that is being raced by the 555 Raaw Gravity Racing Team.

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Raaw says the bike was designed to send it down the Champery World Cup track and "every decision in the bike followed that crystal clear idea and results in a bike fit for tackling one of the most demanding courses to be raced on, again and again."

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Currently the aim is to have the DH bike ready to launch by 2023.


Dan Slack’s Commencal Supreme

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UK racer Dan Slack was still running the old Supreme but that wasn't slowing him down with a 20th place in qualifying and 44th in finals.

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Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli DH Team's Bike

The new Canyon Pirelli team bikes have a pretty unique colour scheme.
One of the many Canyon teams at Lourdes was the newly formed Canyon CLLCTV Pirelli with some very striking custom Senders.

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There s still not many details about the prototype Pirelli tires we ve seen on the circuit over the last year or so.
There are still not many details about the prototype Pirelli tires we've seen on the circuit over the last year or so.

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George Brannigan’s NS Fuzz

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A new team and fresh bike for George Brannigan in 2022. This year sees the New Zealand rider shift to NS Bikes and he already has a national champ title on his sleeve.

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George is another rider choosing to run the O-Chain device. We are starting to see quite a lot of riders running this on their race bikes.

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Lourdes didn't have the best of luck for George after a small crash in qualifying meant he didn't make it to finals. He will have to wait until Fort Wiliam in nearly two months for another shot.



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Member since Mar 16, 2017
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73 Comments
  • 89 5
 The CNYN CLLCTV PRLLI DH TM’S BK looking sick!
  • 43 2
 Pat….I’d like to buy a few vowels please
  • 11 2
 @Ben-76: can I get an O for Orsome
  • 3 3
 @Ben-76: I'm afraid they bought them all for Wales...
  • 3 0
 We drove through many of these towns on the way to see my grandparents in Llanelli as a kid
  • 45 4
 Raw finishes are coming back! So hot!
  • 39 5
 Always better raw
  • 6 2
 They never went away
  • 3 5
 @Konashredder94: I think I know what you're talking about.
  • 1 3
 A lot of new designs being put forward in the DH bike field, so I think it's just as a result of these bikes being prototypes or first run production bikes. But hey I'll take it, they look great!
  • 21 2
 I love the British Racing Green on Dan Slack's bike, it's absolutely gorgeous.
  • 2 0
 I concurr, green bikes forever!
  • 1 0
 I have to agree, it looks bad ass.
  • 31 13
 Man, looks all the beautiful bike, life without battery.
  • 18 7
 The lifts are electric though Wink
  • 7 9
 Oh I dunno. Give me a battery any day to avoid a 2 hour lift queue.
  • 9 2
 @mcozzy: Where are you riding with a 2 hour lift queue? So I know where to avoid...
  • 4 0
 @kanioni: Not in France. There's actually two donkeys powering the lift in Lourdes.
  • 6 0
 will we ever get a review on anything sr suntour? or we just gotta get used to seeing them on world cup bikes fighting against the top dogs?
  • 9 3
 The Raw looks like a Neko

That's how that saying goes right?
  • 2 0
 Both look like a Scott Gambler. Which, for the RAAW, isn't too surprising considering a former Scott engineer was seemingly involved in the design.
  • 2 0
 I'm not even saying this for the joke, but that new Raaw DH race bike looks exactly like my Scott Gambler Alloy. Like, seriously almost the same. Except for the slight curve in the top tube, the Raaw has an almost identical silhouette to a Scott Gambler.

So maybe Dan Roberts being involved wasn't a joke...?
  • 6 5
 Bloody hell, Neko's idea is smart. And look at the logic: The faster you go (with the faster gears from the larger chainring) the more vertical axle path you get. And why stop at 38? Even a 44t can be run out pretty easily, and the extra weight from the larger bashguard that's necessary might be less than that of an idler.
  • 1 0
 Question regarding high pivots, idlers and O-chain.

I have read several articles that concluded pedal kickback is a myth in most cases, and that got me thinking when everyone is saying the suspension runs much smoother when going chainless.
Is it actually the chainslap you can feel trough the pedals, and not the "kick back"?
If so, then a O-chain makes completely sense, to isolate the chanslap, and make the bike feel smoother.
  • 1 0
 a lot is definitely helping with feedback from chainslap for sure. Same as with using the STFU for the chain noise and slap. Together, the results are quite noticeable
  • 5 2
 How 'mid' do high pivots go before they've not really that high anymore? Asking for a friend?
  • 3 5
 Anything above the chain line can be called high. But naturally, within the relativity that's inherent to those terms, it can also be called low or medium.
  • 1 3
 @DavidGuerra: thanks for clearing that up
  • 1 3
 @DavidGuerra: then my 2015 supreme V3 is high pivot bike¿
  • 1 3
 Compared to the V4 or a Zerode?
  • 7 6
 An unride-able Supreme, a Sender with an unride-able boxxer. And here I sit with my new and now unride-able Supreme with boxxer. Which until last week was totally sick. Blink and it’s outdated !
  • 6 2
 I suggest you review your definition of "ride".
  • 2 0
 it will really be unridable once it becomes unfixable, in a few years due to no way of getting replacement parts Big Grin So you are worrying too early.
  • 5 0
 5Dev Cranks are sexy AF!
  • 8 4
 Nekos bike looks so good
  • 3 1
 like a late 90's kona
  • 3 2
 Looks like athletes have more choices than ever about what they want to ride - I could find only one shared component used across all five of these builds!
  • 3 2
 The valves?
  • 3 0
 the Mallets
  • 1 2
 so treks dh product program legendary .. I mean come on, they got it right (forward thinking) in 2010 and continue to refine it and others (outside Commencal, specialized..few others ) pretty much go back to it as a base... and try to add from there .

You could put any rider on that bike and within 3 runs, there pretty much at speed with setup. Everything Neko is doing is getting closer and closer to the current iteration of that bike. Although Neko's looks a million for sure. Love the industrial design and analysis.

Interested to see the 5 bar next rev of intense proto. Ya kinda wish they would start closer to what has proved to be damn close to perfect, add proven tires for the racers during worldcups and iterate on data from there .... but very interesting.
  • 2 0
 Looks Like a couple of Sprindex in there. Sick way to fine tune your suspension.
  • 4 2
 What are the cranks on Neko's bike?
  • 7 3
 5dev
  • 3 0
 ride5dev.com
  • 2 0
 @eljefe1: man those are beautiful!
  • 1 0
 @optimonotmaximun Wow, I didn't know that, I thought it was just performance. Thanks mate.
  • 2 0
 Sweet bikes, ever take em off some sweet jumps?
  • 3 2
 So many Sprindex coils. Would love to see some long term reviews.
  • 1 0
 post-patent expiry convergence of design... horst-link
  • 1 0
 I love how clean that RAAW looks
  • 1 0
 I gonna say it... Looks like Session Big Grin
  • 2 2
 They all have mallet pedals
  • 2 2
 Dan Slack’s Commencal Supreme is Damn Slack
  • 3 2
 Raaw is a beauty!
  • 1 2
 Are the new Supreme's mullets?
  • 1 3
 Yes. Pretty much everything new is.
  • 4 5
 I wanna see the not-race bikes. That would be awesome.
  • 4 5
 Lots of Hurst-link pivots there!! 80%!
  • 2 0
 *Horst-link

Like in "Horst Leitner", the engineer who invented it.
  • 1 0
 @Muscovir: As opposed to the George Hurst, who made neato shifters, invented the Jaws of Life, and modified cars for the inventor of pantyhose.
  • 1 0
 @delta5: modified cars for the inventory of pantyhose... words I never imagined would ever be combined together.
  • 2 2
 suntour coil
  • 6 8
 One or two people are down voting random stuff. How can we make the 12yr old’s stay off PB?
  • 9 1
 Funny how you assume it's a young person trolling like that Smile If anything we need more 12 year old shredders here and fewer dad bods screeching at each other over 0.2 degrees of HTA.
  • 2 3
 when I saw that Canyon sender, at first I thought it was a Spesh Enduro.
  • 7 9
 No waterbottle mounts= no good
  • 1 3
 No bike check for this round?
  • 2 3
 New 29er Suntour Rux?
  • 4 7
 Pirelli should name those tires the ButtDude.
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