Posts Tagged ‘titec’
XTERRA World Champs 2010- Race report
I have never felt so emotional at a finish line before.
To understand the significance of this win, you have to walk the last 10 XTERRA Worlds years in my shoes:
My 1st win in 2001 was really a life changing experience– Not only did I discover and win this amazing XTERRA thing on a beautiful Hawaiian island, but I became a real, professional triathlete. Ned Overend liked what he saw during the season and gave me a brand new Specialized dual suspension bike the week before Worlds- FOR FREE ek se^! No more borrowing bikes! Overnight, I actually made money from the sport. Good money. (in my eyes anyway) It was my 10th season as a pro, but I still lived pretty much hand to mouth up until then. (Lived with my parents while in South Africa, drove my dads old Cressida etc) But the day after the race I signed with an agent (Scott Fairchild) and within weeks the space on my kit was sold out. (In fact, they asked me to wear jammers instead of speedos, “because we’ll have more space to sell.” I think they were just relieved to get me out of Speedos…
The sweetest bike of all. 2009 Specialized Epic S-works
The 2009 Specialized Epic S-works.
The press has hyped the bike up and Susi won the XC World Champs on it, but DANG, I was especially surprised by: a) the suspension and b) the weight. And, yes, it is a really pretty bike.
As you can see in the background, I tested the bike on a not-so-old lava flow at Edison snow park outside Bend, to see how the new Specialized Armadillo Elite (Fast Trak 2.00) tires would hold up through the sharp lava. I ran into big lumps of sharp lava as hard as I could (to test the tires for tire cut resistance) but every time the suspension just ate up the much anticipated jolt. When the suspension is not active, bike is 100% rigid- unlike anything I’ve felt since… well, since my Tarmac road bike. The New Epic’s suspension is definitely a few cuts above the “old” Epic. And I’m sure many cuts above anything else out there.
The new (and only) Specialized Stumpjumper 29er built for racing.
My 29er race bike…
This puppy has been specially built for me by the engineers at Specialized. (thanks Jason!) To save weight, the BB has been replaced with a large diameter shell to fit the Specialized Carbon road cranks. (Which I’m running 2×9) And most of the paint has been left off. In my opinion, the silver looks a lot faster than the green and brown on the standard bike. (the stock bike weighs in at 28lbs) specialized.com.
This one weighs in just below 25lbs (11.3kg) (give or take- will update) vs my 26 inch Carbon Epic 23.7lb. (10.7kg) Nice.
