- In this Pro Bike Check, we're gonna take a look
at the two time Downhill World Champion,
Fabien Barel's enduro bike, this is his Canyon Strive.
(upbeat music)
So The Strive is Canyon's enduro race bike.
Its 160-mil travel carbon frame,
we actually got the Rockshox Lyrik
up front running 180-mil travel,
so pretty big suspension fork on the front.
We've got that Monarch Plus air shock on the rear.
And obviously we see that shape shift system
in this Canyon Strive, it's what they're famous for.
That changes the geometry of the bike
with that remote up on the bar
so you go from having it low and slack,
great for downhills.
And I put it into the recline centre,
which actually reduces the travel
let's the seat angle go back a bit more vertical
it keeps you in that very nice reclining position.
So let's take a look at the bars on Fabien's bike.
You've got these Renthal Fatbars aluminium bar.
Interesting to note they're in the 31.8 knob,
not the oversized 35 mil.
And there are 30 millimetres rows and 718 mil wide.
I've got the Renthal Apex stems in 50-mil length.
Interesting to note the frame
has got a couple of spaces above that stems.
It's got the ability to move that bar quite a lot.
It's actually quite a high bar anyway.
These Ergon G82 grips in that sort of fluor-o orange.
The Sram guide ultimate brakes, big brakes on this bike.
Got a 200-mil rotor on the front
and 180 on back, so super fast stopping bike.
Couple of custom touches, got this sort of
sandpaper grip tape on the brake levers
on the shifter, Sram X01, obviously one by 12 on this bike.
We've also got that reverb drop remote under there
and that remote that runs the shape shifter.
So you've got Mavic D-Max pro wheels on this bike,
with those Mavic sort of signature spokes very thick.
It's actually a 24-spoke wheel.
You see that, that's the EWS sticker,
so all the racers here have to
put these stickers on the rims, the frame, the fork,
and have to run these the whole race.
And if some of this gets damaged,
and that has to be replaced, that means,
obviously the sticker won't be on that new rim
and they get a time penalty for that.
So the riders really have to
think about that when they're racing.
We've got this Mavric tyre on the back called the Charge.
It says prototype on it, you can see it's got
this yellow sort of bead that runs around,
just that marking shows you've got
a special carcass and that soft compound on it.
To a full surround drive train on this bike,
it's an Eagle X01.
We've got that carbon crank up front,
an E13 chain device to make sure
that chain doesn't pop off in the race.
That big mech with that 14 tooth
jockey wheel at the bottom
and obviously the main part really,
most important part of an Eagle drivetrain,
arguably, is this big set,
12-speed, 50 tooth right down to the tap.
We've got some Crank Brothers Mallet DH petals on this bike.
Interesting he's gone for the bigger
downhill petals, not their enduro petals.
They do have a lot of adjustment,
you can see he's got four of these
pins on the front and the back.
They're actually wound quite a long way out,
so Fabien can actually feel that pedal,
obviously then through his shoe.
A couple of nice pro touches on this bike.
On his top tube, you've got his name,
Fabien Barel, number 54, and his stage times for the date.
So he can keep an eye on his liaisons
and where he's gotta be and when he's gotta be there,
Got his name down here, Fabien Barel,
and you've got those rainbow stripes
he got for being a world champion.
You've got to earn those things.
You've got Rockshock's Reverb drop seat post,
that's 150-mil drop.
We've got this Ergon SME3S saddle,
that's carbon wrapped, quite deep.
You've got some nice touches,
just the mechanics up by the bars.
You see this shrink wrapped go around the cables,
to make sure it's nice and neat.
A little zip tie there, a bit of velcro.
You've also got a power link, actually taped to that hose,
so Fabien snaps his chain he can just
get that off really quick, fix his chain,
be back on the track soon as possible.
Alright, found the man himself, here's Fabien Barel.
We've been checking your bike out.
I think it's fair to say you're
one of the most technically aware riders.
You've helped develop and design bikes
that people ride from the past.
Does that mean that you're really
fussy with your set up, like your bike
has to feel perfect every time?
- Yeah, I have to say that I'm
really picky with my settings.
Like, you know like break lever positions,
angles, my suspensions, the general balance I have
with my bike is really important
and every time I take the bike and go ride out
I have my basic setup that I like to keep for sure.
- And obviously enduro is a bit different
to downhill where you've got
to keep the same frame, the fork, the wheels.
So do you ride and think about trying
to preserve those things when you're racing
or is it always 100% speed?
- I would say that normally you try
to adapt the product to make sure
whatever you chose to ride is reliable,
so you can push and reposit.
But that's true that sometimes, for example
this weekend, it's very physical,
so a lot of people make the choice to have light tyres
and you know that when you get
in rocky section you have to be cautious.
So there is definitely a lot of things out there
that you have to making the choice
when in downhill, you're not making
any compromises you be pushing.
So that's where you see the general
variation in the approach that
could be between downhill and enduro.
- And often as well, if you run into problems
in an enduro race, it's up to you to fix them.
Do you feel like you're a good mechanic?
- Well, I wouldn't have said good mechanic,
but I'm good enough to repair my bike
and bring my things with me that when I'm out.
It's also a matter of weight, so whatever you carry on you,
but like when you have big days like today
you make sure that you have everything
to actually repair the tyres, help the transmission,
and be able to support on all those things.
And yeah, that's something you have to know how to do.
- We've got the shape shifter on this bike.
So obviously you've got your drop seat post
and the shape shifter on the left hand side.
Do you ever use that shape shifter actually
in the middle of a stage or do you save it for the liaison.
- Oh yeah, oh no, no, no.
I use the shape shifter all the time in the stage.
You talk about downhill and enduro,
and when I approach enduro, one of the big frustration
for me was to be able to find the right setting
for downhill versus the uphill stuff
and I was always in the compromise,
which I really didn't like.
That's why we developed this system
to actually be able to have a real downhill position
when it was like very technical and I speak staff
versus the uphill mode
and yet this is something I use.
I would say that if I shift 10 time
I will use my drop about seven
and I will use the shape shifter maybe four times.
So yeah, it's pretty efficient and quick
and it's definitely something I use a lot.
- Thanks to Fabien for his time
and letting me get my mucky fingers
all over his bike to take a good look at it.
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Click over here for pro bike check with Joe Barnes
on his Cannon Spectral and over here for another video
from Ninjira World series.
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