US Open Giant Slalom Bikes of choice
Are you wondering what you can do to your bike to make it more suited for the slalom tracks? Well, I took the liberty of snapping photos of some of the top riders on course today and their bikes so...
Check out the photos inside!Wondering what you can do to make your bike more slalom specific? Here are some photos of some of the top riders on the Giant Slalom course today. At 17 years old Mitch Ropelato was pinned today, beating the field by 0.72 of a second, which is a big deal on a 40 second course. Especially when the gap between first and 15th was only 2.28 seconds! So, here are some images of a few of the top bikes on course today.
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Mitch was one of a couple riders out today on hardtail's, and it obviously proved to be very effective. Mitch qualified first in today's Giant Slalom event, so obviously the setup he has is working great for him. Maybe those carbon Edge wheels are motorized as well!
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Here is Sam posing with his race bike that piloted him to a 10th place qualifying place. Brendan Fairclough had an identical bike, along with Troy Brosnan, all of which were in the top 10 standing. Wicked setup, but is the rear suspension slowing them down? We will know come race day!
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Lopes was out killing today as well, and tying for 3rd place with Gerrit Beytagh sure proved that Lopes is ready to kill it tomorrow. He looked super fast on course, and finished a minor 1.22 seconds behind Mitch.
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Jared Rando has been looking fast on course as of late, and his 4th place qualifying result is a testament to his speed. A ton of riders were rocking the slalom course on the new short travel Fox 831 fork, so it must be doing its job right!
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Transition Bikes' Lars Sternberg has been putting in some serious time on his new Double. The Double is marketed more so as a slopestyle bike, however clearly its working just fine on slalom tracks for him with a 9th place position on his qualifying run. Lars managed to qualify 0.9 seconds ahead of Sam Hill, so the Double must be doing its job!
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Tyler McCaul has been working on his speed and racing skills and obviously his work has payed off. Tyler qualified in at 15th place, which is still an awesome result! Go hard tomorrow T-Mac!
In the women field Jill Kintner of Transition racing piloted her new Transition Double to the top of the list with a time of 43.15 seconds. Her and Lars are running the same bikes so clearly its not a women, or men specific bike.
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Rolling at 3rd place was Tracy Moseley on her fancy new Trek Ticket. The new Trek team color and graphics look great, and obviously the bikes are working great. Oh, and look at that, another Fox 831!
So that's how the bikes looked for the Giant Slalom event today at the US Open here at Diablo freeride park. By the looks of things Mitch Ropelato and Jill Kintner are gonna be the ones to beat tomorrow!
Check out the photos inside!Wondering what you can do to make your bike more slalom specific? Here are some photos of some of the top riders on the Giant Slalom course today. At 17 years old Mitch Ropelato was pinned today, beating the field by 0.72 of a second, which is a big deal on a 40 second course. Especially when the gap between first and 15th was only 2.28 seconds! So, here are some images of a few of the top bikes on course today.
Mitch Ropelato with his 2011 P3
Mitch pinned - photo by Ian Hylands
Mitch was one of a couple riders out today on hardtail's, and it obviously proved to be very effective. Mitch qualified first in today's Giant Slalom event, so obviously the setup he has is working great for him. Maybe those carbon Edge wheels are motorized as well!
Monster Energy Specialized Slalom Bike
Here is Sam posing with his race bike that piloted him to a 10th place qualifying place. Brendan Fairclough had an identical bike, along with Troy Brosnan, all of which were in the top 10 standing. Wicked setup, but is the rear suspension slowing them down? We will know come race day!
Brian Lopes and his Carbon Ibis
Lopes was out killing today as well, and tying for 3rd place with Gerrit Beytagh sure proved that Lopes is ready to kill it tomorrow. He looked super fast on course, and finished a minor 1.22 seconds behind Mitch.
Jared Rando and his Giant Slalom bike
Jared Rando has been looking fast on course as of late, and his 4th place qualifying result is a testament to his speed. A ton of riders were rocking the slalom course on the new short travel Fox 831 fork, so it must be doing its job right!
Lars Sternberg and his fancy new Double
Transition Bikes' Lars Sternberg has been putting in some serious time on his new Double. The Double is marketed more so as a slopestyle bike, however clearly its working just fine on slalom tracks for him with a 9th place position on his qualifying run. Lars managed to qualify 0.9 seconds ahead of Sam Hill, so the Double must be doing its job!
Tyler McCaul and his GT
Tyler McCaul has been working on his speed and racing skills and obviously his work has payed off. Tyler qualified in at 15th place, which is still an awesome result! Go hard tomorrow T-Mac!
In the women field Jill Kintner of Transition racing piloted her new Transition Double to the top of the list with a time of 43.15 seconds. Her and Lars are running the same bikes so clearly its not a women, or men specific bike.
Tracy Moseley and her Trek Ticket
Rolling at 3rd place was Tracy Moseley on her fancy new Trek Ticket. The new Trek team color and graphics look great, and obviously the bikes are working great. Oh, and look at that, another Fox 831!
So that's how the bikes looked for the Giant Slalom event today at the US Open here at Diablo freeride park. By the looks of things Mitch Ropelato and Jill Kintner are gonna be the ones to beat tomorrow!
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Sternberg needs someone to get his bike sorted. That setup is a mess. Mismatched rotors, no tapered steerer on the fork, a mid cage rear derailleur, and invisible logos for the brand he is selling. (and no, I'm not looking for a job as a race mechanic. Just pointing out that the setup isn't very pro.)
I think Ropelato still does not have a bike sponsor. Really a shame considering how fast he is.
That new P3 is looking SWEET.
Also, IBIS is probably happy to do any adjustments etc to lopes bikes with no question (not that that differs for any other pro rider, but his is probably a lot more personal than a massive frame mfg.
in the end, nothing is wrong with ibis what so ever. They make killer bikes. I have demo'd a few mojo's and I have to say it was an amazing ride. If lopes feels he can progress on the IBIS, maybe it's the best choice for him.
Also take note, Lopes went from one of the bicycle mega giants to a tiny company. That alone might give you guys ideas why he rides for em.
Suicidedownhiller - I think that many companies don't have a dedicate 4X/DS bike since they don't sell as many units as the other types. If there was huge demand, Giant for sure would have one in their line-up - they finally bit the bullet on 29ers afterall, and it is selling so well the Anthem X 29er is coming soon. As for Ibis, like others say and Brian has proven, their bike is very versatile (as is the Trance X). I guess too that carbon is expensive to prototype and create the molds (e.g. the old Giant Anthem Advanced mold cost $90k, but Ibis frames cost less to produce than Giants, so their molds are probably cheaper, but I'm surre they still cost many tens of thousands), so producing another frame is not cost effective for them.
This isn't hockey or football where riders are traded... riders have 100% of the say on who they ride for. Unfortunately, just because a rider would want to ride for someone, doesn't mean he would be offered the spot, but he would still have the choice on pursuing it or not.
Only in sports where players are traded, do they have less of a choice.
Also, like said, lopes 4x bike is probably more tailored to 4x than a lot of the hybrid bikes out there that are 4x/slopestyle. The ibis is DEF NOT a slopestyle bike in any form.
"GT Bicycles has decided to take their legendary "race-inspired" brand in a "new direction".
Which leads me to question what the "new direction" is, since Brian has been supplying them "wins" from the get-go. It is clear to me that the only "direction" to go is down, specially after this year's World Championship win. With that said, I don't wish for that to happen, since we have been fortunate enough to meet some great people through GT, but I do whole-heartedly question the thinking and strategy behind it this "new direction" set forth by corporate."
Does that sound like it was his choice? I'm sure Paula is holding back on what she really thinks.
Source: www.brianlopes.com/archives/000195.html
I can't remember the last time I claimed warrenty on a bike frame. Just don't buy frames that are known to crack like commencal's. (lol)
btw, I have never heard about a demo or sx cracking. Anyone else around here?