Plus Nino Schurter’s stunning custom Spark

By Tom Law

Published: Tuesday, 13 June 2023 at 12:00 am

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The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is finally in full swing, with the action kicking off last weekend in Lenzerheide.

While it was impossible not to be drawn into the action-packed record-breaking racing, we were, of course, most interested in the exciting new tech on show in the pits.

The World Cup circuit is the perfect place for brands looking to test their latest and greatest wares.

We’ve already brought you the best downhill tech from Lenzerheide. Now we have the juicy details on Nino Schurter’s winning Scott Spark, prototype electronic RockShox suspension components, more fresh rubber than you can shake a carbon wheel at and much more.

Nino Schurter’s record-breaking Scott Spark

Schurter won at Lenzerheide, bettering Julien Absalon as the most successful XCO World Cup winner of all time with his 34th title.

He did so aboard this stunning Scott Spark, fitted with an unreleased RockShox SID fork. This features a new, more sculpted crown and steerer.

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Schurter’s fork was also fitted with a prototype Flight Attendant system.

Flight Attendant is RockShox’s electronically controlled automatic suspension system that debuted in 2021 on the brand’s trail and enduro forks and shocks.

With a win already under its belt, we reckon a Flight Attendant-equipped SID is close to production.

Piotr Staron / Getty Images

As a side note, the Spark’s hidden shock design means nobody knows what is hidden away in the frame.

Given the lack of Scott’s usual TwinLoc remote on the handlebar and the inclusion of a regular Reverb AXS dropper post remote in its place, we think there’s a good chance there’s a Flight Attendant-equipped RockShox shock hidden in the frame.

Piotr Staron / Getty Images

Schurter’s bike rolled on a pair of Syncros Silverton 1.0S carbon wheels.

The 1.0S wheels are around 70g heavier than the brand’s one-piece Syncros SL wheels.

Could Schurter have opted for these regular carbon wheels to provide a touch more compliance and grip?

Fresh rubber from Schwalbe and Specialized

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Alan Hatherly and other riders in the Cannondale team ran an almost completely unmarked Schwalbe ‘First Ride’ tyre with a new tread pattern.

The tread itself features alternating rows of small blocky knobs, with a slightly more aggressive side knob.

Unlike the unreleased gravity-focused tyres we’ve seen recently from Schwalbe – which have had the name hot patches marked out to mask their identity – these have no name markings at all, so their identity remains a mystery.

The Specialized Captain also made a return at Lenzerheide.

Named after Specialized legend Ned Overend, the Captain first appeared around 2010, but has been oddly absent from its range for a number of years.

Like its German counterpart, the new Captain features a low-profile, tightly spaced blocky tread pattern with chunkier side knobs for cornering grip. The tyre uses Specialized’s T7/T5 dual-compound design, which is intended to offer better speed in a straight line and improved grip when cornering.

We don’t know what width the Specialized riders were running, but given broader trends, it’s likely to be in the 2.3 to 2.4in range.

More prototype suspension

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Schurter’s Flight Attendant-equipped Spark may have hogged the limelight, but there was plenty of other suspension tech to be found in the pits.

New versions of the RockShox SID appeared on a number of bikes in both the men’s and women’s fields. Some of these appeared to feature a new version of the RockShox Charger Race Day damper. Assuming this follows standard RockShox naming conventions, we guess it will be called the Charger Race Day 2.

Naturally, the new forks were hooked up to a remote lockout, with both the Canyon Collective and Trek Factory Racing teams using a new, slimmer version of RockShox’s TwistLoc remote.

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XC riders are notorious weight weenies, with Trek’s mechanics taking this to the extreme. They fitted Nokon-style multi-link cable outers to their riders’ bikes to save a few grams over a traditional outer cable.

It was also interesting to see a number of riders choosing to use the standard RockShox Reverb AXS remote controller, rather than the newer, dual-button SRAM AXS pods.

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Elsewhere in the pits, we saw a prototype Manitou XC fork.

The brand recently revamped its Mattoc Trail fork and it seems the existing R7 XC fork could be in line for similar treatment.

The stanchions look to be bigger than the current R7’s 32mm, but keep the polished silver crown, steerer and the brand’s signature reverse-arch design.

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While not unreleased, Jordan Sarrou piloted Öhlins’ new RXC34 m.1 fork to a strong third-place finish.

Henrique Avancini’s Caloi Elite Carbon FS

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Last, but by no means least, is Henrique Avancini’s Caloi full-suspension bike, which sported some very interesting hoops.

His Ninefold Yarrow SL wheels have a fairly standard 30mm internal width, but the spokes are made from Dyneema by the American company, Berd

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They are said to be 15 times stronger than steel spokes, yet weigh around 150-200g for a complete set on a pair of wheels. Light and strong – the perfect XC combo.

The fabric can also be coloured with a special dye. Alongside the standard white colour, Avancini had a blue and red spoke on either side of his tubeless valves.

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