2020 marked the first year that Nino Schurter didn't win the World Championships since 2014 but he bounced back just a week after the Leogang wash out to take the European Championships on home soil in Monte Tamaro. To commemorate that achievement, Scott has provided him with a custom bike for the 2021 season.
There aren't too many changes on this bike from
the Scott Spark Nino was racing last year. Spec-wise, the biggest change comes in the wheels where Syncros comes in to replace DT Swiss with their new Silverton SL hoops. Other changes include Syncros Foam grips replacing their Silicon ones, and HT's M2 pedals replacing M1Ts. The most eye-catching change here will be the lack of a dropper post after Nino used the AXS Reverb in 2020 but the team tells us that this is a part he will change throughout the season depending on the track.
Schurter returned to form at the European Championships and took the win after a battle with Titouan Carod and Mathias Flueckiger.
I would love to know the secret. I've heard that they run tire inserts but consider it a bit of a secret weapon and don't share that info freely. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that tires and wheels only need to last one race?
XC is pretty chunky these days, but they're not taking the big hits like the gravity disciplines. I've run my 2.4" XC tires as low as 12 psi with no issues.
"I invested more time than ever on searching smooth lines and I can tell you almost every sharp rock on that 4.5km lap. I chose slower lines, rode higher tire pressure and I attacked (luckily I also had the legs to do that) before the dangerous descent to force my rivals to mistakes. It payed off - preparation and the right focus is ????"
www.sram.com/en/quarq/series/tyrewiz
My wife is running the same aspens as above on her bike and I regularly find her pressures down in the 10-12 psi range but she is just over 100 pounds so ...
Unless of course I forget to check the pressure and peal my tire off argh.
An olympic rider that weighs 135 and has finesse can ride at lower pressures than the rest of us mere mortals.
I am sure Nino has spent plenty of time on a CX bike with 33mm tubulars inflated to barely anything. And Nino used to ride tubulars on his MTBs, too, so he's used to super low pressures. You just get an innate feel for what will pinch the tire and what you can get away with.
My team doesn't use tire inserts, we haven't really seen any major benefits from them. Not enough to outweigh the drawbacks anyways. But there are definitley people who like like to run them, even if it might just be for peace of mind in the event of a flat tire.
That's really not all that low in the grand scheme if you scale it down from a heavier rider on narrower tires.
SRAM had similar results to the Specialized calculator.
He used one at Worlds and Euros, but that's it. Not for the World Cups at Nove Mesto. Previous to that, the last time he used a dropper in an international race was 2018 Albstadt, when he ran one with a travel reducer on his hardtail in the mud:
www.pinkbike.com/photo/15921375
I asked him his take on droppers at Sea Otter a few years ago, and he said "too heavy for XC". At 700 g with remote, I wouldn't expect the AXS to change his take.
www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/01/16/when-us-air-force-discovered-the-flaw-of-averages.html
Cliff's note version: They tried to make the ideal cockpit size for airplanes by averaging all pilot's physical dimensions. Conclusion: Out of 4,063 pilots, not a single airman fit within the average range on all 10 dimensions
But you are seeing a lot of guys WAY out of that range too, more relatively recently. Guys like Chris Froome, Brad Wiggins from just a few years back to guys like Toon Aerts, Tom Dumoulin, Wout and of course MvDP. All these guys are in that 6-0 to 6-4 range and seem to have no problems climbing / hanging with the best....but they are the exceptions body wise relative to the average but also happen to be some of the best - so statistically, who knows.
I'd also be super interested in seeing what disciplines of riding and racing most champs came from previously. UFC did a breakdown of their champs and their respective specialties and it was super interesting, albeit predictable.
The best local around here for years at XC and CX, who had 2-3 national championships was 6-6....pro's and con's just like martial arts to body types. Look at Minaar, he's 6-4 190ish and the GOAT but the modern group of guys are shorter and likely more naturally gifted athletes and seem to be dominating.
Have you seen what the CX guys run on those little 33c tires? They are in the high teens too.....
On my XC bike I run 18F/20R no cushcore with 30mm rim and 2.35 ralph and ray combo. Still no flats.
"As always, Nino Schurter has chosen the version made of HMX carbon, which is not the lightest of the available models, but he prefers the rigidity that this brings."
www.brujulabike.com/scott-spark-nino-schurter-world-championship-2019
I guess the SL version has made improvements in rigidity?
Gotta work on my legs for cleaner bike looks ,????
"The bars are 680mm wide and the stem length is 95mm with a huge -30° rise." ?????
Drop surely?