As ever, Fort William pits has a myriad of different custom and prototype offerings that we’ve been keeping our peepers out for.
Here’s what we’ve spotted on our several hundred laps of the pits this week so far.
Rockshox Vivid Air Shock
Norco’s protoype downhill bike came complete with a rather large air shock that dwarfs their current largest air unit, the Super Deluxe. It’s great to see Rockshox back on the big shock wagon. This Vivid (it might be called something else, we don’t know), is not yet for general sale.
Norco prototype downhill bike
Norco’s prototype downhill bike sports a fair bit of rearward axle path thanks to its high pivot, and also comes with adjustable chainstay length, progression and reach, all isolated from each other. You can see Hemstreet and Wallace giving these bikes the beans this weekend.
Hattie Harnden’s nails
“We’re keeping things fun and not overcomplicating it”, said Hattie’s mechanic Andy Lund. That includes the nails.
Tartan
There’s a fair bit of tartan about this week, with Greg Williamson’s Saracen Myst prototype coming with Clan Fraser tartan and their clan motto ‘Je Suis Prest’, or I am ready.
Neko Mulally’s Frameworks race bike
Whilst it’s certainly nothing new, the Cotic stand had Neko Mulally’s spare Frameworks downhill bike on their stand, made by the fair hands of Five Land Bikes here in Scotland.
Great to see the bike in the flesh and how this collaboration spawned this race machine.
Mondraker Neat ebike
Launching this week is Mondraker’s light weight ebike, sporting a TQ motor and a rather neat Fidlock range extender.
The model seen here is the Neat RR SL sporting a TQ HPR50 motor with 50Nm and a 360Wh battery. Suspension is Fox Factory Kashima, handling 150mm rear wheel travel and running on SRAM XO T-type drivetrain.
Vitus downhill/super enduro prototype
Vitus first aired their long travel prototype at Hardline, under the stewardship of Joe Smith and it’s here again under another pinner. Right now it’s an alloy prototype with a 4-way flip chip offering more or less progression or the ability to run Mullet or full 29″ wheels. There’s also an adjustable reach headset inside a very big headtube and adjustable chainstays.
The idea here though is not just to offer a pure downhill bike. Look at that seat tube. Chat is that you can run a 240mm dropper for full super enduro action with a 190mm fork.
Mondraker prototype
At the opening World Cups, you’ll have no doubt seen the MS Mondraker team running a black cover over the central workings of their prototype bikes. Well, the covers are now off and we can see what they’ve been fiddling with.
BB blocks bolt on to allow the team to adjust the BB position by changing the shape of the block to whatever they feel like running. There’s also a multi-way flip chip and a reach adjustable headset for some serious adjustability. Bolt-on rear triangle braces allow the team to fine tune rear end compliance.
