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Race tech: UCI Mountain Bike World Championship, June 26, 2008
More mountain bike bits from Val di Sole
By Luke Webber in Val di Sole, Italy
More on Sauser's new Specialized Epic: how it almost didn't happen
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Christophe Sauser (Switzerland) won his second UCI world championship aboard a brand-new Specialized S-Works Epic full-suspension bike but had Specialized's marketing and engineering staff had their way, he would have competed aboard his usual '08 machine like teammate Liam Killeen (Great Britain).
Sauser is well-known as one of the most technologically minded racer on the circuit; he is not only a great help in every stage of product development and a huge asset to his sponsor in that sense but he also always wants whatever will give him a technological advantage over his competitors. After testing a pre-production Epic for a few days back in February, he knew he would want it for the big event in Italy but Specialized informed him on the Tuesday prior that it wasn't to be.
"I went ballistic," said Sauser. "I love the pressure this situation brings and I knew on this bike I would be able to do anything. I emailed everyone, the engineers; I told them there was no other option, that I must ride the new bike. They were scared that maybe the shock would blow up - I would only ride the bike once before the race and never in anger. But it is always possible for something to fail; you can't worry about that [since it could fail just as easily] maybe after one ride, two weeks, two months? Nobody knows as it is not possible to test for it. I couldn't back down though, that was for sure."
Sauser's desires would clearly interfere with the company's marketing plans but he eventually got his way: he rode the new bike on course on Wednesday for the first time since February and felt right at home.
"Back home I ride a lot of different bikes," he said. "I switch all the time from my road bikes, my training bikes, Epics, Enduros. All are a little different, with handlebar widths the biggest change, but essentially the saddle height is the same so I can pedal and go without problem."
After a little over two hours of racing on Sunday the turnaround was complete and Specialized's fears were allayed - there were no breakages, no surprises, just the best possible result as Sauser triumphantly crossed the line as the new world champion. Even during the race, though, it is said that team managers were on the phone with Specialized headquarters to formulate a plan depending on how things went. In the end, it was decided that if Sauser won, the bike could be presented for photos. Anything less and the bike was to be taken immediately back to the truck.
Lightweight stoppers from Avid and Formula
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Disc brake weights continue to drop and the latest models to follow the trend are Avid's new Juicy Ultimate SL Mag and Formula's new B1. The Juicy Ultimate SL Mag looks to use the same magnesium master cylinder assembly as on current versions but a new two-piece calliper (certainly made of magnesium as well) is said to drop 70g per pair. A new pad retention system uses a simpler pin-and-clip arrangement that makes for easier top-loading pad replacement as well as a bigger window in the calliper body for more efficient cooling. Avid has also ditched the rotating banjo in favour of a lighter direct-mount hydraulic hose.
Formula has also trumped the weight of its own Oro Puro brakes with a new R1 model found on Irina Kalentieva's bike. Claimed weight is just 280g per wheel, thanks to an incredibly minimal master cylinder complete with carbon levers, a one-piece calliper body, floating aluminium-and-steel rotors and alloy and titanium hardware all around. Sets are expected to hit the stores this fall.
RockShox makes the natural step forward with new carbon SID
Julien Absalon's Orbea was fitted with a BlackBox version of RockShox's new
SID that featured a one-piece carbon fibre crown and steerer tube. Unlike the
previous-generation SID World Cup whose carbon upper assembly was there mostly
to improve stiffness, this newest iteration's carbon bits are said to save an
appreciable amount of weight over the aluminium version. RockShox wouldn't say
exactly how much weight was saved, what other internal changes might be hiding
within or even when (or if) this new model would be available to the public.
We're guessing that this new model is certainly destined for production, though
it's anyone's guess as to when.
New carbon-spoked cross-country wheels from Mavic
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Mavic-sponsored riders were also spotted testing a new carbon fiber-spoked Crossmax wheelset. The as-yet-unnamed wheels appear to differ rather significantly from the carbon-spoked R-SYS road wheels, though, as the spokes affix to the hub shell without the aid of an internal reinforcement ring and are crossed on both sides, front and rear. It's also unclear whether these spokes are tubular like on the R-SYS or solid (we're guessing the latter in the interest of impact resistance).
The rim also bore some new features that are slated for introduction on the '09 line, namely ISM 3D (Inter-Spoke Milling) which now removes excess material from the side of the rim, not just from the inner wall. There's no word on technical specifications on this new wheelset but it's a fair bet that it's considerably lighter than what is currently available (and possibly stiffer and more responsive).
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Luke Webber
- Specialized almost didn't allow Sauser to run the new Epic in competition but all turned out fine in the end.
- Fears of a very public component and/or frame failure were allayed when all was said and done and everything ended up working fine and Sauser took the top step of the podium.
- Had Sauser not won (or if there were some sort of mechanical) the new Epic would have been quickly shuttled away for no one to see.
- Avid debuted a new SL Mag version of its popular Juicy Ultimate disc brake.
- The new two-piece calliper is likely magnesium and is held together with titanium hardware.
- New top-loaded pads are secured with a simple pin-and-clip arrangement. The larger window affords better cooling, too.
- Based on the date stamp on this sample, these brakes haven't been around for very long.
- Formula showed off its own ultra-lightweight stopper called the R1. The incredibly minimal master cylinder naturally sports carbon lever blades.
- The Oro Puro's two-piece calliper body has been traded in for the R1's one-piece unit.
- The top-loaded pads look to be the same as on the current Oro lineup.
- More weight is saved thanks to a new aluminium-and-steel floating rotor.
- A Center Lock adapter makes quick work of attaching the six-bolt rotor to the DT Swiss 190 Ceramic hub.
- RockShox-sponsored rider Julien Absalon was found with a new BlackBox-edition SID complete with carbon fibre crown and steerer.
- We also spotted a new Mavic Crossmax wheelset that was equipped with carbon fibre spokes.
- We don't know the technical details but the carbon spokes are sure to shave some grams from the Zicral-spoked models.
- We're not entirely sure if the goop visible around the spoke ends is glue or grease; we're guessing the latter as it'd otherwise be impossible to true the wheel at all after building.
- A new ISM 3D process removes excess material from the inner rim wall as usual but now also the sides of the rim, too.
- Some riders tackled the course with tubulars. Is this a trend that's likely to continue to grow in the future?
