- So this is the last round of the
Enduro World Series in Finale Ligure, Italy.
Let's take a look 'round the pits
to have a look at some of the cool tech.
(upbeat techno music)
One of the really nice things about Finale Ligure
is the pits are right next to the beach,
and we've got a pretty tropical looking bike here.
This is Theo Galy's Devinci Spartan
in that purple and green.
Proper Enduro race bike, as you'd expect.
We've got a Minion upfront, Maxxis Minion 2.5,
so a super chunky tyre.
And on the back, we've got this Aggressor in a 2.3,
so a much less aggressive rear tyre.
It's gonna be really fast rolling.
Probably not going to be able to stop quite as fast
as something with a big tyre on the back.
A 1x12 SRAM Eagle,
for a couple of really cool Enduro touches.
Obviously, the racers have got to be
really self-sufficient out on the course.
Big days here as well.
We've got a tube and a CO2 canister strapped to the bike.
We've also got a OneUp tool system,
that goes down the steerer tube.
Again, another CO2 canister,
and a multi-tool to fix anything on the bike.
A couple of nice custom touches up at the bars.
We've got the grip tape on the shifter.
Also, we've got that brand new Reverb lever,
or I say brand new,
it's been out a couple of months now.
But, it really feels the same as that X01 shifter
and again, it's got a grip tape on there.
Also, a nice little touch,
we've got a little bit of tape around the bars,
these carbon Descendant bars,
just to stop those zip ties making any marks on there.
Keep it nice and clean all year round.
So this is Josh Bryceland's race bike.
It's a Hightower LT 29er.
It's pretty punk for your average Enduro race bike.
It's covered in really cool stickers.
We've got some tie-dye tape on the seat post.
Purple flat pedal.
You don't see a lot of these at EWS,
but of course, Sam Hill, famously,
is doing pretty well on flat pedals so far.
Also got that purple Burgtec stem to match.
Santa Cruz carbon 29er wheels.
We've got a High Roller II up front,
and a really worn down,
well it's actually, the middle of it's cut out.
It's a Maxxis Minion that's been cut
and then completely worn down.
Josh said it rolls really fast and he seems to like it.
Right, I've found the rat himself.
Josh, I've got to ask you about your back tyre.
It looks like it's seen better days.
Is that something you like to run?
- Well, still plenty of life in that booger, mate.
I did me week at Mega on it.
- Yeah.
- It's a downhill casing one,
so I sort of avoid running 'em at all costs,
but it's so rocky here.
And I've got a freshy on 'em, and I was like,
contemplating cutting the freshy down,
I was like, booger that.
Put this old on, and took the edge off,
rolls a bit quicker.
- Good recycling skills. - Yeah.
- It does look like it rolls quite fast to me.
- Mate, today I was coming in sections,
just tapping me brake, just going in sideways,
like (chuckles) exciting, exciting tyre.
- So you got the coil shock on as well,
do you think that is necessary for this track here?
Or the course here at EWS Finale?
- Yeah, to be honest, I'd take one over an air
any day of the week, really.
So when Fox offered me that, I was like, bang on it.
Just, I do like air shocks, but only when they're real hard.
I think the plushness' is just, I dunno,
the coil just feels real.
And the lockout where it come in,
so that helps as well.
- And you're racing the flat pedals.
You've got some big, physical days,
some big stages here as well.
Do you ever feel like that is a disadvantage?
- Yeah, I feel like I could be quicker clipped-in probably,
but I never really do more than one run
in practise of the stages,
so I don't know them super well.
And I'm always, like, just on the ragged edge, so ...
I like just get the foot off loads.
Yeah, more fun in it.
- All right, good stuff.
Look forward to seeing you ride.
- 'Top man, cheers Donny.
- So this is Jerome Clementz's Cannondale Jekyll.
Interestingly, he's got a dual ply rear tyre on here.
This is the prototype Michelin.
And actually Jerome normally runs
quite a lightweight tyre on the rear,
but the trails are so rocky and gnarly here in Finale,
feels like it's worth it
to put that big heavy tyre on the rear,
just for that rim protection,
and obviously that puncture-resistance as well.
He's got a more normal tyre up front.
It's single ply, so more lightweight.
It's the Michelin Wild Enduro in a 2.4.
Fully styled bike, all black, matte black.
Carbon frame.
Obviously got these really nice gold touches
with the SRAM Eagle and the Rockshox shock and fork.
He's got this really lightweight coil spring on here.
See how small it is?
It's got these big spaces up there.
Interestingly, he runs that grip shift lockout
on the bar as well, so he must really use that quite lot.
Got some really cool custom stickers on this bike.
On the top tube, you've got all the races that he's won,
and down here we've got name, Jerome Clementz.
Hometown, Buhl, Alsace, France.
Height, 169 centimetres.
Weight, 62 kilogrammes, very light racer, actually.
Six EWS races won, and one EWS title.
Pretty impressive.
Something I've noticed about Jerome's set-up
is he runs his levers really higher on the bars.
You can see they're almost flat,
so he must really ride aggressively
off the back of the bike.
So we're getting in to the evening before the race here.
The mechanics are super busy, we're at the Canyon truck.
They're at the back looking after the bikes.
Obviously these bikes have been done already.
We've got Ines Thoma's pink Strive,
and we've got Fabien Barel,
the two-time former world downhill champion,
his blue Strive in the front of the tent.
So we've seen this new company pop up called MrWolf.
We've actually seen the tyre inserts
to help prevent punctures,
and this is their brand new product.
It's called the Rechhie, and it's an EnduroGuard.
So it goes on your handlebars, covers your hands.
You stop smashing your hand through bushes,
something that a lot of Enduro riders
actually like to run on their bikes.
Now look at this beauty.
This is Sam Hill's Nukeproof Mega.
The bike who actually saw him race
the downhill world champs in Cannes on.
He's here.
It's back in its normal habitat at an Enduro race.
Just check out those Aussie colours.
That lovely speckley colour, yellow to green.
We've also got those AVS EnduroGuards on the bars
to save Sam's hands.
So Sam Hill is obviously a flat pedal rider
and these are his signature pedals from Nukeproof.
He actually takes the spacers
out of the bottom of these pins.
They're absolutely massive.
Super aggressive, loads of grip there.
And we're gonna see him, hopefully,
go for the win this weekend to take that overall EWS title.
At the Rockshox SRAM pit.
You can see a lot of the bikes in the back
with numbered plates on with tags on them.
They're actually the work that he's doing to them,
and that's a complimentary service these guys offer.
It's a bit like a bike shop, really.
You bring your bike in here,
obviously you don't pay for it.
From the pro riders, right down to the amateurs,
they'll fix your bikes.
So there you go, there's so pro-tech
from the pit's here at Finale Ligure.
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Over here for a pro bike check with Sam Hill
on his Nukeproof Mega,
and over there for cross-country versus Enduro.