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Fort William: Random Pit Pics Pt 1

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Jon has been wandering around the pits and expo area this morning looking for anything new and interesting to take pictures of. Here’s what he’s come up with so far…

Elite Women’s Qualifying has just finished – we’ll post up the results shortly but Rachel Atherton fastest down the hill so far. Mark is updating our Fort William World Cup Twitter feed live as we speak so you can see what’s happening in real time…

fort william 2011 downhill world cup (8) Scott ‘Boom Boom’ Beaumont will be racing 4X later today – here’s his rather special Rocky Mountain – look at the extended seat tube. Factory.

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Whassis? Big wheels? From Orange? It’s a ‘Strange’ stickered prototype test mule so it may or may not go into production. Either way the men from Halifax are experimenting with the wagon wheels…

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Here’s another one in white. Tapered headtube up front…

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…and a post mount rear brake – which is also something that will be a feature on the 2012 Orange Crush burly hardtail/trailbike.

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More trick bits – it’s an Cane Creek Double Barrel shock with an air can instead of a coil. Obviously a prototype at the moment but it could be interesting if the massively adjustable shock can shed enough weight to make it viable for lightweight rather than hard-hitting builds.

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It turns out the Patriot prototype we saw a while ago is going into production – here’s what it’ll look like…

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..this particular one has a few extras on it – mainly the Rock Shox Reverb seatpost and posher Fox 36 TALAS RC2 180mm travel forks. Paint scheme and decals look natty though.

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This is MTBCut.tv/Orange rider Fraser McGlone’s Orange 322 proto. First time we’ve seen one in the flesh…

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Here’s a close up of the pierced downtube – done so they can position the shock to get a more linear ratio.

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Mojo Suspension are here with the shiny new 2012 range of Kashima coated Fox forks and shocks…

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Here’s what we reckon is the slackest trail bike out there – it’s the personal bike of Chris Porter, head honcho at Mojo Suspension. 160mm travel at either end, around 30lbs and it’s a 63.5° head angle. Apparently you have to pay attention when you’re riding slowly – but then it’s not meant for pootling about on…

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Adjustable cups up front help to relax the Mondraker Zenith X along with a shorter shock which slackens further and lowers the BB too. Mojo Suspension can help you achieve a beautifully slack front end with a bit of shock length tweaking too should you wish…

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New protection brand Bluegrass have got their new body armour on display. This is their rather reasonably priced full facer…

fort william 2011 downhill world cup (3) ..they’ve also got a d3o magic foam protective top – this is the insert that looks like a giant panty liner.

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…and here’s Steve showing the top with the insert inserted.

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New knee pads too – these are the more affordable versions that use a hard insert in the knee. Expect to pay around £40.

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These are the flasher kneepads that use magic d30 instead of plastic to keep them flexible. The inner part of the knee (below) is made from grippy material to stop them slipping about when you’re trying to grip the saddle with your knees.

fort william 2011 downhill world cup (7) See?


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