Saturday, December 13, 2008

The Pedaler's smoking new ride

The very latest addition to the Mountain Pedaler stable is a sleek racing machine based around the El Fuego ('The Fire') frame. Although discontinued, Oliver was fortunate enough to pick up one of these few remaining race weapons and draped the frame in a suitably exotic build. The final weight? An astounding 9.9kg (21.8lb).
Highlights include Hope Mono Mini Pro brakes, a Middleburn RS8 ISIS crankset, the new Rock Shox SID fork and a KCNC Ti Pro Lite seatpost topped with a feathery Selle Italia SLR saddle.
One of the build goals was to keep the bike free from carbon, a material often overhyped and not entirely suited to the abuse dished out on race courses. Instead of resorting to the black stuff, rare earth metals made up a lot of the build, with titanium making appearances in the Crank Bros. pedals and bottom bracket, as well as bolts seatposts and skewers.
This XC weapon will roll on some of the lightest wheels available. Stans NoTubes ZTR Race 7000 rims were laced to A2Z superlight hubs with Wheelsmith XL-15 spokes for a total wheelset weight of only 1240 grams. Safe to say the bike floats up the hills, with the plush Ventana suspension making technical descents a breeze.

Spot this smoking rig at XC races around the country. Oliver plans to pilot it around race courses across NZ, and if its maiden 3rd placing in a quality Hanmer Hammerhead field is anything to go by, expect to see it shredding!

Mountain Pedaler out...