Rebecca Rusch's team-issue Specialized Fate is the women's analogue to the Stumpjumper HT, built with specific geometry but also smaller-diameter tubes.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Rusch runs the custom RockShox/Specialized SID fork with a carbon fiber crown/steerer assembly and Brain inertia damper.(Image credit: Jonny Irick)
Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) at the finish(Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)
Rebecca Rusch (Specialized) is auctioning off the bike she rode to victory in Leadville to benefit an Idaho nonprofit. The former 24-hour solo world champion will award her 2011 Specialized carbon fiber Fate mountain bike to the highest bidder. She raced the bike to her third consecutive Leadville win in August 2011.
The beneficiary of the auction, which started Saturday, July 20 and goes until Monday, July 30, will be the Wood River Bicycle Coalition, a group devoted to bikes and bike culture in Rusch's hometown of Ketchum, Idaho and the Sun Valley area. Sun Valley recently hosted the US Cross Country Mountain Bike National Championships.
"It's one heck of a fast bike, and I'm hoping someone takes it home and enjoys it," said Rusch. "I'm proud to offer this bike up to help make the Wood River Valley even more of a bike-friendly community."
The Wood River Bicycle Coalition advocates for a bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly community throughout Idaho's Wood River Valley. In the summer of 2008, the group helped the area achieve a "silver medal" Bicycle Friendly Community status from the League of American Bicyclists.
The Ebay auction headline is "Buy the Specialized Fate 29er that Won Leadville." The bike will began its listing on eBay priced at $2,500. The carbon fiber 29er is built up with the lightest high-end parts including the Specialized team issue carbon crankset. The bike retails for nearly $10,000. Buyers will have 10 days from the auction's beginning to bid on the bike. Rusch has agreed to ship the bike to a buyer for free, and will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the Wood River Bicycle Coalition.
"I can honestly say this bike helped make me faster," Rusch said. "It's ready for years of fast and fun mountain biking anywhere in the world. And the buyer will be supporting the bike culture of one of the most beautiful places in the country."
