Jan 17, 2011 at 21:34
With most of Australia's factory riders sitting out this race for various reasons, it is interesting to note that the majority of bikes are standard sales' room models. It reinforces that it is the rider, not the bike, that produces the fast times. Most have adapted their particular bike to suit themselves in the form of tyres, handlebars and grips. As well as setting the suspension to their preference and the shifters/brakes to suit their ideal position. At this round some riders chose to lift their levers a little higher (or roll their handlebars back) to combat arm pump from the braking ruts that had formed on the track.
Let's take a closer look at the bikes underneath the fastest riders at the second Australian National Round.
Of the 10 bikes, 7 riders chose flat pedals with only 3 choosing clips. Rock Shox accounted for half (5) of the forks on riders' bikes, with Fox having 3 pairs of forks, this left Marzocchi and Manitou with 1 a piece. Tyres are a particular choice and riders would use different models from the same brand depending on conditions, but the main manufactures were; Maxxis 5, Specialized 3 and Schwalbe 2. The break down of shifting systems was very evenly matched with 5 riders using SRAM and 4 using Shimano (the Jezken with its gearbox was left out of this count!).
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| Ricky has been riding Oranges for many years now and knows how to get every inch from his settings. A titanium spring combined with a sensible build up makes the Orange one of the lightest bikes doing the rounds |
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| Rhys has one of the most well looked after bikes in the pits and can often be seen spannering away making sure everything is perfect |
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| Giant Glorys are one of the most popular privateer bikes on the Australian circuit, not so common is the use of Marzocchi forks |
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| The most unique bikes at the events were the Jezken bikes that the Panozzo brothers were riding. These are still at the prototype stage, but the feedback from the riders has been good. An internal gearbox reignites the old debate about the future of bikes. For now enjoy the photo as much as Liam is enjoying posing for it! |
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| Aden has been onboard a Commencal for a while now, these bikes certainly do stand out |
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| Cody rides a lot of Motorcross, this translates over to his bike set up and riding style |
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| This photo of Troy and his Specialized was taken before this round, you will notice that there have been a few changes such as the forks on the bike. |
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| This is Connor's first year aboard Kona, but he looks comfortable already |
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| Henry is waiting for his new Team DH bike, but for now he is making do with the A-line |
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| Another Commencal, this time Phil on his sponsored Commencal, you just can't miss these bikes when they ride past |
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