Rainy day in Andorra. The right time to look closer at some bikes.

Greg Minnaar

Sam Hill

Loic Bruni

Alutech is a German bike company that likes to do things differently. They designed a trail bike based on a range of opinions from an online community of bikers from Germany and came out with the ICB2.0.

We met up with Alutech’s product manager whilst riding in Punta Ala at our test center to have a look at this different approach to building the bike and have a test ride.

The brief given to the community was to design the bike around the concept of a trail bike. The prospective rider has to be able to use the bike in a fun way down the trail, the bike should not make the trail too easy. The bike needed to have 130mm of rear suspension travel. The focus was the frame only, not equipping the bike, which is to be done by individual riders who purchase the frame only and build it up with custom parts. Later on in the process bikers will be able to get hold of a fully equipped bike from Alutech.

Specifications

•    27.5” Wheels
•    130 mm Rear-Travel, made for forks with 130-150 mm
•    Tapered Steerer ZS44 28.6/ ZS56 40
•    12X142 mm Rear Axle
•    PM180 Brake Mount
•    2850 g frame weight
•    Price TBA but around €1400 frame only, no shock
•    Test build weight was around 13.4 kilos.

The numbers speak for themselves aiming the bike squarely at fun trail riding. The fork can be mounted with an internal headset design for use with 150mm of travel, or an external headset for use with 130mm travel forks. The chain stays are short and the single pivot design lends itself to a sprightly ride that allows the rider to feel the trail well and pop over roots rocks and corners. However the experience should be more edgy than with an Enduro bike. The idea is to bring back the feel to riding a trail that had been lost somewhat with some long travel Enduro designs that are very good at absorbing all the trail features.

Starting at the front of the bike the welding is clean and robust, notice the possibility with all cable mount points to either mount externally or internally all the cable routes.

Here the cables are internal, but all the external routes have the fixing holes present.

The rear end is a single pivot design.

Alutech have mounted their production prototype ready for fairly aggressive trail riding, in this case a Fox 36 on the front as it is stiffer than other options but light enough to be pedalled in 150mm mode.

In this case the 150mm version has been mounted, which we tried, notice the internal headset.

A fairly aggressive trail tyre up front from WTB, the bike always has a leaning though even with tyres to some riding being done on the limit. The beauty of the low frame price though is that any rider can build up the bike the way they want.

This version has been built with a 1 X build kit, saving weight.

The community of designers numbered around 2000 riders, who made around 15,000 comments during the design phase. Part of that design phase included some user testing in Finale Ligure. One element discussed was the shock linkage, which has been designed by software that bases its concepts on a virtual spring, then calculates an industrial element into the part as can be seen in the organic looking linkage. The movement of the suspension is a progressive design that ramps up well.

The Float X platform is one of the options that will be available when the frame goes on sale.

A custom parts list on the prototype.  The public version will have a complete bike with SRAM build kit for around €2000-3000. With higher specification models also to follow.

Testing a dual valve system for the tyres.

KOM wheels on this version.

Magura four piston brakes show that despite the 130mm of travel the bike is designed to be pushed when needed down the hill.

The reverse side of the frame shows the lower part of the rear triangle which is from a  CNC block that took 3 hours to build. In final production versions this part may have some adaptations.

It is hollow where it needs to be in order to keep weight down.

The pivot hardware and attachment points are all finished very well indeed, despite the competitive price quality is still the aim of the game.

The seat supports have a somewhat industrial look to them,

The colour options of the frame are anodized and painted or an exclusive  powder coating on brushed aluminium.

Attention to detail with the rear brake mount that is a post mount and 180mm compatible.

The idea is to sell eventually complete versions of the bike with 800 mm bars which are likely to be cut to around 740-780 by most users.

The Alutech logo is incised out of the headtube, a beautiful piece of machining.

More Info

Jason McRoy was one of the early 90’s legends in mountain biking from the UK, he was the first UK rider to make it big in the USA, a close friend of Steve Peat and one of the originators of the speed and style of today’s mountian bikers. Take a look at Jason McRoy’s Specialized S-Works FSR, the bike that helped him achieve a few legendary rides.

While attending the inauguration of the new T9 bikepark in Sacramento, CA, managed by Terry Cox of College Cyclery, we spent some time in his incredible garage, full of vintage bikes. We found a very special one: Josh Bender’s Canfield Secret Weapon. Terry and Josh are long time friends, so actually it is no surprise to find here a bike that made freeride history.

In case you are too young to rembember:

If you haven’t heard of Sam Dale, that’s because he isn’t the loudest or most brash character on the World Cup DH circuit.  Sam lets his riding do the talking.  A UK legend, Sam has the honor of gracing the cover of the very last issue of Dirt Magazine.  A brute of a lad, Sam has always been one to push bikes to their absolute limits.  This year, he made the switch from Madison Saracen to GT.  We’ve spent a bit of time with him today and got the full rundown on his new Fury.  He’s made some interesting comparisons to his Saracen and stated that it’s definitely been a seamless transition.  More below…

Rachel Throop recently made the move from a brand ambassador to a full time racer aboard GT’s factory enduro team.  She’ll be hitting the big EWS rounds.  Coming off of a leg injury from last year, Rachel has been putting the extra work into her training.  We chatted with her a bit yesterday and she’s really excited to be following in Anneke Beerten’s footsteps; stating that riding with Anneke has helped her to push a bit harder and realize her potential.  We caught up with Rachel for a bit to get the full rundown on her GT Force.

www.gtbicycles.com

Whilst out putting the km’s in the bag testing in Punta Ala, we spent one particularly warm February afternoon riding with and chatting with the 2015 Italian Enduro champion and Santa Cruz sponsored rider, Nicola Casadei.

Nicola was with his training bike which although “only” a Bronson C was tricked out to the max with more specialist custom components than we have seen on a Pro’s bike in a while. Nicola went over his bike with us, plus showed us a few moves on the trails.

Nicola was having his fork tuned with Formula who were present for a test and fork development day.

No rest for the wicked, whilst out and about at the end of the trails on the beach in Cala Violina, Nicola is arranging his next ride.

Pretty special riding with a pro in February, these trails are perfect for Nicola’s training program and winter-time desire to ride always.

Nicola makes short work of any trail and also likes to launch just for fun.

Enduro is not just about descents, and Nicola was constantly putting short work into anything that slowed him down up on the transfer trails above the beach.

Nicola shows us how to highline a corner that normally sinks most riders.

Nicola’s Bronson C

We thought we would leave Nicola in the shot, all the magic bike check photos need a rider to let go and hold, Nicola obliged for us today.

That is a 46T Ingrid rear gear sprocket, there are not many of those around, it is a specialist component. We tried it for a while and can say it worked.

Formula brakes keep things stopping well. Nicola uses the T1 version, which we suspect a lot of pros use as it saves weight over the RO versions.

Santa Cruz make two versions of the Bronson, the C is a slightly heavier version, although Nicola says his race bike is very similar, we can’t say the C version will be slowing him down.

Nicola was tight lipped about the shock he was running, it is a Extreme Shox Storia, an Italian brand.

Special tune on the Formula fork, but he was running the middle valving. Always open…

Up front the cockpit is ready to keep things on track, he runs his brakes fairly low and sports a GPS from Garmin with a 45 mm stem and 780 mm bar.

Sram XX1 on the gear shifting, all positive clicks despite his custom drive train.

Thompson seat post and Dirty saddle.

Shimano pedals and INGRID cranks.

Custom INGRID 36T ring and cranks, later that night Mr “INGRID” messaged us on Facebook when he heard we were doing an upclose on Nicola’s bike. INGRID is a custom house brand from Italy. He wondered what we thought, also he let us  know the components will be available shortly.

Shifting with an XX1 mech.

There is no doubt the Bronson stands out in the sun and makes us dream of being able to ride it as fast as Nicola.

Johannes Fischbach won the Valparaiso Urban Downhill  (full report here) on his Radon Swoop 200, a German Bike. We took a closer look.

Happy winner. Well, he didn’t know it yet, because the photos were taken before the race.

One of the beautiful Valparaiso murals.

Aluminum frame, 200mm of travel.

Rock Shox Vivid Coil Shock.

SRAM X0 DH groupset

Answer Products bar. Manitou Dorado fork.

Magura MT7 Stoppers.

Answer stem.

The Team Edition can be bought online for 4.499 Euro here. Radon sells only online.

More Germany: Ergon saddle.

Now he knows : he won.

2012 UCI Downhill Women’s World Champion Morgane Charre has been knocking around the trails of Punta Ala recently, doing some pre-season training and testing. We managed to pull her aside to take a look at her Bergamont DH bike, the Straitline Team, for a close up look.

“So I’ll be racing the whole World Cup circuit this year, World Champs, plus several French Cups / IXS Cups as well as Crankworx Europe. (Maybe Crankworx Whistler..).” (Morgane Charre)

Bergamont have gone for a fairly bright colour scheme that sets the Straitline apart.

First things first, notice the Manitou upsidedown Dorado fork. She uses a fairly standard tune and rebound speed is set to be middle of the road. Her rear shock has a 350lb spring.

Morgane runs a 760mm bar cut down from 780mm.

The front end up-close with the lowers protection.

E*Thirteen LG1 chain management.

1×10 SRAM as standard, however Morgane uses a 1×7 setup for racing. She starts normally in third gear then heads down the block as she gets closer to the finish.

Another world champion that uses flat pedals!

Magura MT7 brakes on 203mm front and rear discs.

Soft Renthal Push on grips, motocross style. (she is searching for her ideal diameter still so this is work in progress.)

SDG saddle.

Sun Ringle´ Inferno rims and Jumping Flea hubs matted together with Maxxis Minion tyres.

External cable routing for high speed changes.

This is where Morganes bite point is.

Morgane training on her trail bike in Punta Ala, Italy.

Bergamont Hayes Factory Team
Morgane Charre
Location: Punta Ala

Davide Sottocornola is well known in Italy as one of the top Enduro riders. The first serious international race of the year the Superenduro is taking place in Massa Marittima, Tuscany. Davide showed us his ride for the very first race of the year and all his trick parts.

Directly from the EWS in Chile, Jerome’s Cannondale Jekyll with the brand new SRAM Eagle 1×12 drivetrain.

27.5″, size M, carbon frame.

160mm of rear travel,  Dyad 2 shock.

The Eagle X01.

RockShox Lyrik.

HT Components T1 pedals.

WTB SL8 saddle.

Truvativ Descendant stem.

WTB grips and SRAM Guide Ultimate brakes on the Truvativ BlackBox Jerome Clements signature series bar.

Michelin Wild Rock’r 2.

DevinciSpartan  2016, size Medium

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165mm Travel from the carbon fiber frameRockShox Monarch Plus Debonair. Sram XX1 drivetrain,  32 T X-Sync chainring, and an E13 – TRS chainguide.  SDG SaddleThe new Mallet E pedals from Crank Brothers. Truvativ Holzefeller stem / FSA headset. SRAM Guide Ultimate brakes and Truvativ handlebars. Front and rear Maxxis Shorty tires. RockShox Lyrik.

We just caught up with Richie Rude at the first round of the Enduro World Series.   Richie won last years overall aboard a very similar bike.  Here are the details…

Yeti SB6c 2016.

Carbon frame with 153mm travel.  Richie rides a size Medium.

His rear shock is a Fox Float X2 RAD with a new low speed compression lever.

Maxxis Aggressor Double-Down rear tire, a complete Shimano XTR drivetrain, chain guide & 34T ring by OneUp.

Shimano XTR pedals.

Ergon saddle and that appears to be a black Thomson dropper post….

XTR brake levers with Saint calipers, Ergon grips, and a Renthal  carbon bar.

Maxxis Minion DHF Double-Down up front.

Fox 36 RAD Fit RC2 holding it down up front.

Today is race day 1 at the Enduro World Series in Chile. Before bringing you all the action, let’s check the bikes of the Specialized team. Let’s start with Curtis Keene.

Specialized S-Works Enduro 650b 2016.

Carbon S-Works frame with 165mm of travel.

Rock Shox Vivid air R2C.

SRAM XX1 drivetrain, 34T chainring, Gamut Trail SXC chainguide, carbon Roval Traverse wheels and Specialized Hillbilly tyre..

Crank Brothers 5050 pedals.

Specialized Power saddle.

Truvativ Holzfeller 50mm stem.

Odi grips, carbon Specialized S-Works bar and Sram Guide Ultimate brakes.

Rock Shox Lyrik, 170mm.

Jared Graves changed team this year, and a bunch of sponsor too. From Shimano to SRAM, from Fox to Rock Shox, this is Jared’s new bike.

Specialized S-Works Enduro 650b 2016.

Carbon S-Works frame with 165mm of travel.

Rock Shox Monarch plus RC3 Debonair.

Sram XX1 1×11 drivetrain, 34 T chainring, MRP SXG chainguide.

HT pedals.

Specialized Phenom saddle.

Renthal carbon bar, and Renthal stem.

Odi grips and Sram Guide Ultimate brakes.

Specialized Hillbilly tire on front, Butcher on rear. Carbon Roval Traverse wheels.

Rock Shock Lyrik, 170 mm travel.

In our first Bike Check from down south this weekend, we go over the details of the Rocky Mountain Altitude that Florian Nicolai is piloting in the second round of the Enduro World Series in Argentina. Florian is running a great deal of spacers under his stem to get that front end up in all the loose terrain.  If you haven’t seen the footage yet, the track is looking WILD!

2016 Rocky Mountain Altitude 27.5″ wheels.

150mm Travel out back

Fox Shox Float X.
PSI : 150
Sag : 40%

Full Shimano XTR Drivetrain
Crankset : 175 mm
Chainring :  Shimano Dynasis 34 T
Chainguide : One up
Pedals : Shimano XTR

 Notice the grip tape on the shifter.  Now notice that the XTR shifter is running his Fox post.  Nifty.Saddle : WTB
Dropper post : Fox Doss with 125 mm travel

Handlebar : Race Face SIXC 785 mm wide
Tee : Race Face Atlas Stem : 50mm
Grips : Race Face
Brakes : Shimano XTR with Saint Calipers
Headset : FSA

Tubeless Front Tire: Maxxis Shorty 3C TR DD
with : 1.8 Bar

Tubeless Front Tire: Maxxis High Roller 2
Rear pressure : 1.9 Bar
Wheels : Stans No tubes – Ztr Bravo Carbon
Rotorss : Shimano

Fork : Fox 36 RAD Kashima
Travel : 170mm
Sag : 20%

Visit www.bikes.com to check out the Rocky Mountain Altitude

Today we spotted Marco Aurelio Fontana doing laps on the Monte Tamaro XC track with a new bike, what probably will be presented as the new Cannondale Scalpel.

Full carbon frame for 29″ wheels.

Flexing carbon seat stays. No bearing pivots on the rear triangle.

The shock goes nicely into the top tube.

Probably instead of “Fontana”, on the production bikes, you will find the name of the bike.

Internal cable routing.

Marco says hello.

The spot where so many crashed today. Like a boss!

Commencal AM in 27.5″    Aluminum frame with 150mm of travel

Full Sram X0 Drivetrain :
170 mm Cranks
Sram Blackbox 32T chainring
E13 trs Chainguide

Pedals : Crank brothers Mallet  Saddle : Tioga
Dropper post : KS 150 mm travelRear shock : RockShox Monarch plus Debonair running at 180 PSI yielding a sag of 30% Extra spacers Handlebar : KS  at 760  mm length.
Stem : KS,  45mm length
Grips :  SB3
Brakes : Sram Guide Ultimate  Front tire : Hutchinson Toro  : 1.5 Bar
Front wheel : American Classic

Rear Tire : Hutchinson Toro : 1.9 Bar
Rear Wheel : American Classic
Rotors : Sram Centerline 

Fork : RockShox Lyrik : 170mm travel with Sag at 20%

As the winningest downhiller of all time, Nicolas Vouilloz needs no introduction. Here are the details on his Lapierre Spicy team 27.5 .Lapierre Spicy team 27,5″.  Carbon fiber frame with 165 mm of travelShock : Rock Shox Vivid RC2.
Spring : 425#
Sag : 35%  Full Sram XX1 drivetrain
Crank Length : 170mm
Chainring : Sram Blackbox 34 T

Chainguide : Truvativ Pedals : HT  Saddle : Fabric
Dropper post : RockShox Reverb w/ 125 mm travel More spacers.  EVERYONE is doing it.  Handlbar : Truvativ Blackbox at 770mm
45 mm stem
Lizard Skins Grips
Sram Guide Ultimate Brakes
Roost Protectors : AVS Front Tire : Michelin prototype at 1.6 Bar
Front Wheel : Sram Preproduction carbon?  Rear wheel : Michelin Wild Grip´r at 1.8 Bar
Rear Wheel : Sram Roam 50 Aluminum Fork :  Rock Shox Lyrik Travel : 170mm with 1 token and 20 % sag.