We take a closer look at some of the top bikes at the start of the 2024 UCI Downhill World Cup

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Published: Tuesday, 07 May 2024 at 13:41 PM


The UCI Downhill World Cup kicked off this weekend at Fort William, Scotland, drawing in the fastest riders from around the world.

Specialized Gravity’s Loïc Bruni took the top step in the Elite Men’s race with a time of 4 minutes and 4 seconds, pipping Troy Brosnan by 1.8 seconds.

The Elite Women’s race was won by the YT Mob’s Vali Höll, who beat Nina Hoffmann by half a second, with a time of 4 minutes 41 seconds.

Against the odds, the sun beamed down making for dry conditions on the mountain, though strong winds caused a few issues.

We hit the pits to seek out the most intriguing bikes and the latest tech from the race. 

Here are our highlights.

Martin Maes’ Orbea Wild

Maes’ Orbea Wild is the first eMTB platform to be raced at a Downhill World Cup, finishing in 21st. – Nick Clark / Our Media

We didn’t expect to see an electric mountain bike at Fort William, let alone one without a motor or battery. But that’s exactly what Martin Maes was riding. 

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with shroud on BB area at Fort William
A black shroud covers the missing motor. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Maes’ modified Orbea Wild has no battery in the down tube and there’s a black cover over the bottom bracket area, where an ebike motor would usually be.

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with shroud on BB area at Fort William
There appears to be a regular threaded bottom bracket peeping through the cover. – Nick Clark / Our Media

It’s hard to speculate what might be hiding, but we’d guess there are extra weights in the bottom bracket to mimic the unsprung mass ratio of the motor-equipped bike.

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with Bosch mode selector at Fort William
The Bosch control unit on the top tube is a nice nod to the bike’s electric background. – Nick Clark / Our Media

A Bosch power button still features on the top tube, showing the bike’s previous intended use.

The bike is similar to the production Wild, with Orbea saying the head angle has been changed on the front triangle to accommodate a larger fork.

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with custom linkage at Fort William
Orbea says it has given the bike a custom linkage to make it compatible with the increased travel front and rear. – Nick Clark / Our Media

A custom linkage is also used to correct the bike’s geometry and increase the suspension travel from the standard bike.

Maes rode the bike with a mullet setup. This isn’t possible on a standard Wild, but his custom linkage makes it so. 

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with Fox DHX2 at Fort William
Most Fox-equipped bikes at Fort William were using the 50th-anniversary edition fork and shock. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Due to the large leverage ratio, Maes was running a 550lb coil on the rear shock, matched to 72psi in his 50th anniversary Fox Factory 40 fork.

Orbea Wild DH Prototype with extra chain protector at Fort William
A beefier chainstay protector than the production bike was used. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The bike had an aluminium frame. The rear chainstay sported a chunky, wraparound protector to silence the drivetrain through the many rock gardens at Fort William. 

Dakotah Norton’s Mondraker Summum

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun at Fort William
Dakotah Norton ended up in P4 on his Summum. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Dakotah Norton’s ape-hanger handlebar was the talk of the paddock, with 75mm of rise making for an extremely high front end on his Mondraker Summum.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with 75mm rise bar at Fort William
Riser bars are becoming more popular, but Norton’s are extreme. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The bar is made by Mondraker’s in-house component brand OnOff, but isn’t available to purchase.

Mondraker says it hasn’t ruled out putting the bar into production and will decide depending on its reception.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with Fox Factory 40 fork at Fort William
Fox’s 50th-anniversary Factory 40 fork has gold uppers and lowers. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Norton’s Summum features the gold 50th anniversary 200mm Fox Factory 40 fork, paired with a DHX2 rear shock in the frame, which controls 203mm of travel.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with adjustable rear stiffness at Fort William
Moving the metal bridge affects the rigidity of the rear end. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Mounts on the rear triangle enable metal plates to be added for cross-bar support, so Norton can adjust the stiffness of the bike’s rear end.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with adjustable headset
Reach can be adjusted using a flip chip in the headset. – Nick Clark / Our Media

There are also many flip chips that enable Norton to adjust the BB height, reach, head angle, chainstay length and how progressive the rear shock curve is.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with e*thirteen Side Kick rear hub
We’ve yet to see e*thirteen’s Sidekick hub, but this one was stickered up at Fort William. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Norton is using e*thirteen’s unreleased Sidekick chain-decoupling hub. This is said to work in a similar fashion to Ochain’s Spider device, giving better articulation of the suspension by removing the influence of the chain.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with Shimano Saint derailleur at Fort William
Seven-speed derailleurs are very popular in downhill thanks to their compact size. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The bike has Shimano’s Saint drivetrain and Saint brakes – something we haven’t seen much of, with many riders choosing Shimano’s XTR brakes instead.

Dakota Norton's Mondraker Summun with Yoshimura prototype clipless pedals at Fort William
Norton appeared to be riding with a pair of prototype Yoshimura clipless pedals. – Nick Clark / Our Media

It also appeared Norton was using a pair of prototype pedals, with rumours suggesting these are test mules for Yoshimura’s first clipless mountain bike pedal. 

Matt Walker’s Saracen Myst

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst at Fort William
Walker’s Saracen Myst features an acid-trip colourway to match the team’s new kit. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Matt Walker was on board Saracen’s new Myst downhill bike, which launched only last week

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst with Fox DHX2 rear shock at Fort William
Fox’s DHX2 Factory rear shock sits in the frame. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The Myst’s rear shock has been relocated to the bottom of the frame and now dissects the seat tube.

Saracen says this lowers the centre of gravity, helping to increase cornering speed.

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst with Flip Chip at Fort William
The top shock mount features a flip chip. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Walker’s bike is nearly identical to the production model Myst. However, his bike features a flip chip in the top shock mount, allowing for adjustment of the leverage curve without needing to re-tune the shock.

The Madison Saracen mechanics say this is to cope with the varying tracks on the UCI Downhill World Cup calendar.

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst with Fox Factory 40 fork at Fort William
Walker’s Fox Factory 40 fork has 200mm of suspension travel. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Walker’s Myst is built with a 50th anniversary Fox DHX2 shock and a full Kashima-coloured Factory 40 fork at the front.

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst with Pro cockpit at Fort William
A Pro Tharsis stem is matched to a Tharsis handlebar. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Being sponsored by Shimano, Walker’s bike features a Pro finishing kit and a Saint drivetrain.

Matt Walker's Saracen Myst with Shimano XTR brakes at Fort William
Shimano’s XTR brakes are a common sight on downhill bikes. – Nick Clark / Our Media

But unlike Norton, Walker opted for Shimano’s XTR enduro brakes.

The bike sported DT Swiss FR 1500 wheels, with Norton running a Maxxis Minion DHR II on both the front and rear.

Charlie Hatton’s Atherton AM200

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 at Fort William
The reigning world champion used a limited-edition gold AM200. – Nick Clark / Our Media

After winning his first world championship in Fort William last year, Charlie Hatton’s Atherton AM200 features plenty of subtle rainbow embellishments to mark his success.

The AM200 uses an additive frame construction, with carbon fibre tubes glued to 3D-printed titanium lugs.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 at Fort William
Atherton’s design allows for precise geometry adjustments. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Many manufacturers, including Pivot and Specialized, have adopted a similar design for their downhill bikes because it speeds up research and development, and bikes can be made cheaper and quicker.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Fox Factory 40 fork at Fort William
The Fox Factory 40 fork matched the bike’s golden aura. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The bike is built with Fox’s 50th anniversary 40 Factory fork, with the gold-coloured lowers matching the Kashima-coated stanchions and the frame decals.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Fox DHX2 rear shock at Fort William
Hatton uses Crankbrothers DH Mallet pedals. – Nick Clark / Our Media

A DHX2 shock controls the Dave Weagle-engineered 6-bar linkage and gives the bike 200mm of rear suspension travel.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Hayes Dominion A4 brakes at Fort William
The Purple Hayes Dominion A4 brakes are one of the only contrasting colours on the bike. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Hatton uses limited-edition, purple Hayes Dominion A4 brakes and Galfer Shark rotors. 

The bike featured a SRAM X01 DH drivetrain with Ochain’s non-adjustable spider. 

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Ochain Spider at Fort William
A gold chain is used for extra bling. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Ochain’s system sees polymer inserts placed in a free-floating chainring that allows for a degree of slack before the pedals engage the drivetrain.

This is said to give a chainless feel to the bike and improve suspension kinematics by reducing pedal kickback.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Stans Flow EX3 rims at Fort William
The ‘W’ of the Flow EX3 wheels features a world champion colourway. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The bike has a Stan’s Flow EX3 wheelset with world-champion livery. Hatton ran Continental Kryptotal tyres.

Charlie Hatton's Atherton AM200 with Proxim saddle at Fort William
The Proxim 450 features Tirox titanium alloy saddle rails. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Finishing off the rainbow theme is a Proxim 450 saddle, sitting on top of an FSA K-force carbon fibre seatpost.

Joe Breeden Intense M1

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 at Fort William
Breeden’s Intense M1 was one of the only bikes to feature a shock lockout at Fort William. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Joe Breeden has made some rather unusual additions to his Intense M1, most notably a rear lockout.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with custom rear shock lockout at Fort William
A custom 3D-printed cage is clamped around the controls of the Öhlins TTX22 M.2 shock. – Nick Clark / Our Media

It’s uncommon to see left-hand shifters on mountain bikes these days, with the majority of people running 1x drivetrains.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with custom rear shock lockout at Fort William
A front derailleur shifter is used to actuate the lockout. – Nick Clark / Our Media

But the SLX shifter on Breeden’s M1 is part of a rear-shock lockout for the Öhlins TTX22 M.2 shock, created specifically for Breeden by J-Tech suspension tuning.

Breeden says he’s using a lockout because he wants something to stiffen the bike up on flat sections for more efficient sprinting.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with Öhlins DH38 M.1 at Fort William
The Öhlins DH38 M.1 has received a J-Tech tune. – Nick Clark / Our Media

An Öhlins DH38 M.1 fork supports the front of the bike, offering Breeden 200mm of travel.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with custom bar ends at Fort William
The saucers are made from a soft plastic and are easily manipulated. – Nick Clark / Our Media

The handlebar has more custom touches, with foam-backed, saucer-shaped plastic guards at the end of the grips.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with custom bar ends at Fort William
They appear to be clamped down by the end cap. – Nick Clark / Our Media

These appear to be home-grown tech and are likely to reduce fatigue, like flanged grips.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with lead weights on the downtube at Fort William
Downhill riders are known to add lead weights to their bikes to influence how they handle. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Lead weights have been riveted to the down tube. These are likely to lower the centre of gravity and increase the unsprung mass ratio.

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with Lewis LHT Ultimate brakes at Fort William
The Lewis LHT Ultimate brakes are made from titanium. – Nick Clark / Our Media

Breeden’s bike was fitted with Lewis LHT Ultimate titanium brakes and a TRP EVO 7 derailleur. The bike featured e*thirteen’s Helix GR crankset. 

Joe Breeden's Intense M1 with e*Thirteen Side Kick hub at Fort William
The e*thirteen Sidekick hub on Breeden’s bike was unstickered. – Nick Clark / Our Media

His wheels use e*thirteen Flux Carbon DH rims, with the rear laced to the brand’s yet-to-be-released Sidekick hub. 

These were booted in Continental Kryptotal tyres.