Solid Reverse Factory Racing 2017

Jan 17, 2017 at 7:32

by Solid Bikes

After a successful three years on the World Cup Circuit, Solid Reverse Factory Racing sees some exciting changes for 2017, continuing their commitment to developing and supporting talented riders who are breaking into the World Cup scene.

Bad Wildbad, a notorious Downhill track in the heart of the Black Forest, brings Solid Reverse Factory racing back to where it all started. Three riders, all from within two hours of the Solid / Reverse Headquarters - form the DH racing team that will compete in German national rounds, iXS Cup and World Cup events. We welcome O’Neal onboard as a new sponsor for 2017 along with Solid Bikes, Reverse Components, Magura, BOS, SAPIM, and Schwalbe.

Riders

Julian Steiner - Elite

2016 was the first year for me riding on the Strike for the Solid national squad. Looking forward to spending nothing but good times with my teammates Joshua Barth and our junior rider, Jan Flor at the races all over in Europe. At the moment I'm living in New Zealand getting ready for the new season I never prepared better for a season than this year. So I can't wait to get out there with the team and see what we can do at the races.

Joshua Barth - Elite

2017 will be my 5th year with Solid Bikes and Reverse Components! For me it's great to be on a team with two guys I know so well and enjoy riding with. I'm looking forward to helping push each other to ride faster this year.

Jan Flor - Junior

It's amazing to be part of SRF! Since I was a young boy one of my dreams was to ride for a big team. Solid Reverse Factory Racing have made my dreams come true. I'm very excited for the upcoming session and racing around the world with best friends and the Solid Reverse Factory Team.

Sponsors:

Solid Bikes will be providing framesets, with their newly designed Strike EVO, an incredible mix of durability, strength, and stiffness.

SRF will be running a Reverse Components cockpit, drivetrain and finishing kit setup, including wheelsets complete with SAPIM spokes.

BOS Suspension will be continuing to provide their high-performance dampers for 2017. The team will be running the BOS Idylle Rare FCV fork aboard the Strike EVO.

O'Neal will be providing all clothing and protective equipment for the riders, including their new Element Fr Blocker kit which will also be worn in 2017 by fellow O’Neal World Cup rider, Greg Minnaar.

Magura will be providing stopping power in the form of the awesome MT7 Carbon brakes and Schwalbe will be the official tire sponsor.

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their support for the 2017 race season and we're looking forward to seeing our riders on podiums across Europe and beyond.

MENTIONS: @solidbikes / @schwalbe / @oneal

Author Info:

Solid Bikes

Freudenstadt, Germany

Member since Jan 16, 2015

8 articles

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29 Comments

leopaul (Jan 20, 2017 at 5:56)

that's a solid team

vinay FL (Jan 20, 2017 at 11:54)

Compared to a couple of years ago, the presence of German bike brands on the UCI WC DH circuit is massive. Solid, Bergamot, Propain, YT, Canyon, Cube... and I sure must have missed a few. Is it the most represented country for bike brands on the circuit right now?

KlausiFr12 (Jan 20, 2017 at 12:10)

You forgot Radon with Manon Carpenter this year and with that by the number of Riders on German Frames I guess yes.

vinay FL (Jan 20, 2017 at 12:30)

@KlausiFr12: Indeed, I did miss something

. I wouldn't be surprised if Rose would eventually give it a go as well. But only if they can set up some physical shops outside Europe. That would be a winner. Complains I find here on PB about these direct sales brands is that they cannot deliver on time and don't respond in time. The in-between solution of Rose might fix that. Not next year probably. It takes time to set up something like that. And now that Joost Wichman went to Radon and runs a team there, they don't seem to be in a rush. Which is good. YT and Canyon were in too much of a rush, which hurt their image over there.

KlausiFr12 (Jan 21, 2017 at 9:52)

@vinay: I actually got a Rose bike 5 years ago and the delivery time was not that bad, they tell you the Time it takes before ordering. The Rose headquater is about one hour away from me and it is freaking nice there you can ride every bike they have and you can get personal advice like by you car dealer. But they distance a little bit from the Gravity market they invest more in Roadbikes and allmountain stuff, but i hope they come back in the future. I also ordered a yt tues nearly 2 years ago an i got my Bike solid 3 weeks before the delivery date so there is nothing bad about that. And the customer service is also quiet good it takes a few days to respond but they are very accommodating, i got a brand new renthal Stem without asking because the old one could Brake.

dobsn (Jan 22, 2017 at 9:31)

@KlausiFr12: I think if you live in or around Germany (like I do in Austria) there's no problem to deliver on time but what if they have to send a bike to Australia or the US? There are too much possible ways of messing this up!
Btw I got my Radon in about 2 weeks, that was awesome!

sq225917 (Jan 22, 2017 at 9:56)

Have we ever had a German DH WC winner?

vinay FL (Jan 22, 2017 at 11:28)

@sq225917: That's a whole different story, interestingly. I recall Dirt magazine once contributed an article to this phenomenon. For a country with the proper infrastructure, tracks (in parks with uplift), wealth, bicycle culture and brands etc it was odd to have so few German competitors at the top. I don't think they could actually answer that question. Sometimes it takes a single rider to do that in order to inspire others and get something on a roll. There was a time when there were only a few British junior World Champs and one master (Nigel Page, if he eventually got to keep that) but nowadays it would be odd to not have a British senior champion at the worlds. But I don't think this is so much related to where the bikes come from. There have been loads of winning US bikes on the circuit without a single successful US rider. There have been loads of winning Australian riders without any Australian bike I know of.

@KlausiFr12 My perception of the complaints is that they mostly come from US and Canadian PB visitors. I think YT and Canyon weren't prepared for the huge market demand there and couldn't deliver on time. Add to that Canyon had some issues with their IT, which delayed matters even further. As for Rose, I agree their gravity offering is limited. But their Stitched 720 jump bike with rear suspension looks good fun for everyone

KlausiFr12 (Jan 22, 2017 at 12:08)

@vinay: Yeah thats acually true but i dont understand why nearly not a single other country has a direct sale market for mountainbikes. The US or Britain were easily able to do that, like commancal in andorra since two years. I mean nearly every bigger Bike brand in germany is direct sale.. And yes YT was a little fast in opening the us market but with cam zink as a salesman now and little more time they will be able to settle there with a solid Market.

KlausiFr12 (Jan 22, 2017 at 12:14)

@sq225917: The german mtb scene especially the young riders are not supported by our gouverment, nearly every `illegal` Trail will be closed because of insurance issues and that save the nature stuff, not to mention the extremely strict laws for everything here. And with that we need to ride in one of our rare Bikeparks and no wc champs are born there.. But our Bikes win Worldcups and thats close enough

MuddyFoxCourierComp (Jan 22, 2017 at 19:37)

@vinay: pretty sure Katy Curd competed in WC on a Rose

Chridel (Jan 22, 2017 at 21:43)

@vinay: new rocky slayer is now 12 months late here. It's not only a direct sales problem
????

Chridel (Jan 22, 2017 at 21:45)

@sq225917: haha, I guess not. Typically german, great engineering but not the riding ????

graeme187 (Jan 20, 2017 at 4:17)

Bad Wild Bad is rad. Firstly how can it not be with a name like that - totally awesome track. . Now, where is that bad ass looking Enduro bike Solid have been teasing us with for the last couple of years....

mrwynnewillson (Jan 20, 2017 at 4:06)

I got 21 seconds to flow

mcozzy (Jan 20, 2017 at 10:01)

I didnt even know they were in WC. I've always liked the bikes. They need better PR/exposure.

leopaul (Jan 21, 2017 at 5:24)

they need a new website as well. it's brutally outdated

mrcoley (Jan 17, 2017 at 7:55)

Whats happened to harry

solidbikes (Jan 17, 2017 at 8:15)

He's got some exciting things in the pipeline for 2017 on a new team- we wish him all the best!

hamplanet FL (Jan 20, 2017 at 4:51)

I thought BOS were on the way out?

hhaaiirryy (Jan 20, 2017 at 12:51)

It surprises me how the hell they keep going, i had their forks and they were terribly unreliable. never again.

dobsn (Jan 22, 2017 at 9:31)

@hairy1976: Reliability isn't that much of a problem for a WC team I think...

chappers998 (Jan 17, 2017 at 8:37)

Josh no longer with Solid either? Good luck to the new team for 2017

Bigwill13 (Jan 20, 2017 at 4:34)

Where's Joe Breenen

notphaedrus (Jan 20, 2017 at 23:46)

Joe *Breeden - the young Brit has a new team this year (to be announced soon)

Bigwill13 (Jan 22, 2017 at 1:32)

@notphaedrus: haha I have the spelling of a 4 year old

bulldog6485 (Jan 20, 2017 at 13:05)

I must just be an old school bastard but a DH bike without a bottom guide or roller just looks wrong.

dascou (Jan 17, 2017 at 21:23)

All the best for SRF team on 2017 season...

kerberos (Jan 21, 2017 at 2:46)

All the best for the coming season, guys!