Pete took a lap of the pits here at the second round of the 2019 UCI Downhill World Cup here in Fort William to check out the best gear.
Plenty of brands had launches here at the Fort William World Cup or were showing off their wares for the first time in public. Pete took a wander to find the best of the bikes, components and kit from the pits.
Nukeproof Dissent 290
Kelan Grant will be swinging his leg over the brand new Nukeproof Dissent 290 here at the Fort William World Cup just a day after the bike was released into the wild.
How cool are those Michelins? They have a super cool Group B rally feel to them. Kelan is also running the recently-released SRAM XO1 DH groupset, as well as Rockshox dampers and Mavic DeeMax wheels.
Ride 100% Aircraft MIPS Carbon Full Face Helmet
Lewis tested the outgoing colourways of the Ride 100% Aircraft MIPS Carbon full face, and you can read that review here.
Silverfish were on hand to show off the brand new colours of the Aircraft MIPS helmet, as well as the more budget-friendly Status.
Scott Prospect Goggles
Scott have long been the kings of all things goggles, the foam on their Prospect and Hustle goggles winning in the comfort stakes by a country mile.
A full range of brand new colours could be found in the same pits as Scott’s most talented prospect, Mr. Brendan Fairclough. All the colours, two frame sizes and more lens options than you can shake a stick at, plus that legendary foam.
Orange Surge
Designed to replace the Alpine E, the Surge takes the e-bike Orange idea far enough to warrant a complete redesign.
A 327-derived swingarm gives a more bottomless feel and offers up 165mm of single pivot travel, and is mated to a 170mm Fox 36. Everything else is uniquely Orange, even down to the behemoth of a monocoque alloy downtube that houses the battery.
Atherton Bikes 29er trail bike prototype
A brand new Atherton Bikes 29er, 150mm travel prototype sat unridden on the Atherton Bikes stand here in Fort William.
The rate at which these prototypes are coming is impressive, and the new 29er is waiting to be dirtied here in Scotland. This is more than just a 29″ version of the bike Rachel has been riding.
Santa Cruz Megatower
The Santa Cruz Megatower might well have been the most hyped bike in 2019. 160mm and 29″ wheels from the brand of the moment certainly caused a stir, a bike borne from Santa Cruz’s Enduro World Series racers constantly trying to eek more out of their Hightowers.
The Fort William World Cup is likely the first time most will have seen the bike in the flesh, and you can be sure, the demand for this bike will be high.
Santa Cruz Stigmata
Gravel is all the rage these days, and thankfully, for those Santa Cruz fans out there, there is a bike for that too in the SC stable. Racy enough for the odd cyclocross race, but relaxed enough for those gravel missions, the Stigmata is definitely up there in the dream list of gravel bikes.
Fox’s Zebra DH pants
The talk of the pits yesterday, besides the fact that it was wet, was Fox Racing’s Zebra print pants. Word on the street is that they’re selling like hot cakes already.
Certainly not as ‘full metal packet’ as the other Fox DH offerings, the Zebra print numbers have been seen rocked by Tahnee and Kaos Seagrave, Loris Vergier and by former Wideopenmag alumni Laurie Greenland.
What’s your thoughts? Should they have gone Mel B leopard print?
Cannondale’s Split Shock DH bike
You’re missing a shock… It’s got two shocks…
Both things we’re sure the Cannondale guys have heard no end this weekend.
Notice the damper is missing? That’s intentional. So modular is the split shock and linkage options, Matt Simmonds’ mechanic Tom Duncan has tweaked the layout to suit what Matt needs from it.
Linear linkages and a single, standard FOX X2 coil add a more linear feel to Matt’s Fort William setup.
Crankbrothers’ Stevie Smith edition F15 tool
Launched yesterday and seen in the flesh here at the Fort William World Cup is the special edition Stevie Smith F15 multitool.
Full details on the Stevie Smith F15 tool can be found here.
Endura’s new MT500 full face helmet
The Endura MT500 full face helmet gets an update and is mostly focused on the advantages that Koroyd offers. Airflow, impact protection and low weight.
This new lid is aimed squarely at the enduro racer, looking for full coverage without the weight penalty.
You’re looking at £189.99 retail price with the helmet coming in at a featherweight 680g in the M/L size. That’s about 100g lighter than the Fox ProFrame.
Push ElevenSix Shock
Push have been making aftermarket internals for suspension forks for quite a while, and have now branched into the shock market with this serious bit of kit.
The Eleven Six is produced in-house or all within a small radius of the Push facilities in the US. At £1290, this easily wins the award for the most expensive rear shock out there but there’s more to it than just the marketing spiel.
Every single element of this shock has been fine tuned to work the best it can, and you can even have the shock returned to a service centre to change the eye-to-eye length if you change bikes.
The Eleven Six has two fully separate compression chambers, allowing you to switch seamlessly between two very different setups.
Identiti AKA
Borne from the bloodline of the 2000-era Mr Hyde, and inspired by the Mettle the AKA is Identiti’s hardcore hardtail and the Fort William World is the first time we have seen one of the two new colours.
Your options are full ‘murdered out’ black or a rather fetching skye blue.
