Team Rider Bike Check - James Heaton

 

James is riding a 19.5” Trek Remedy 29 carbon, that has been custom built by the BikePark Wales workshop with a selection the best Fox, Shimano and Enve kit. This year James will be competing in the Downieville Classic,  a 29 mile XC race followed by a 15 mile DH race all of which must be raced on the same bike with no changes made!

For this race James has set about creating the ultimate do it all bike and we think that he has hit the nail on the head.

One of the most interesting modifications is the rear shock. Rather than the stock 197 x 54 shock length James is using a shorter 190 x 50 shock to reduce the rear travel from 140mm to 128mm. This results in a head angle of 66 degrees and lower the BB making it feel very close to James’s other bike, a Trek Slash.

With the lower BB James has fitted slightly shorter 170 mm cranks to give good clearance as well as making it a little easier to hold a higher cadence that suits him.

James has chosen to ride 29” Enve M50 wheels over 27.5” as he feels that the speed they can carry makes them great for endurance riding and he likes how solid and agile they make the bike feel.

The drive chain is taken care of with a 1 x 11 Shimano XTR groupset with a 32T front chain ring and a 11 - 40T cassette. James commented that the gearing is a little low and “encourages you to go slow on the climbs!” so he is planning to fit a slightly larger 34T chaining, ok for some!

Up front James is running a Fox 34 140 mm fitted with the Fox Fit 4 damper. To rub more salt into the wounds of us more mortal riders  he also mentioned “I don’t use lockout or climb mode at all to be honest”

For the bar and stem James has used a carbon Enve 50mm stem and an Enve 800mm carbon downhill bar, helping to give the stability and agility that James likes.

Overall James comented “ I honestly think the bike is fantastic. Its nice and light at 27lbs, its got enough travel for anything that I ride, and its so stiff and agile with the ENVE M50 wheels i don’t feel like it lacks in any area.”