Racers Rides – Olie Burton
Name: Olie Burton
Sponsors: Norco, Fetish Bike Co, Schwalbe, One Industries, Gamut, Adidas Eyewear, Kore, Drift, Sun Ringle, 661, ODI, Sram
Racing Category: Elite men
Full Spec of bike: I’m running a custom Norco Aurum XL frame with 2013 colour scheme. Sun Ringle ADD Pro wheels running tubeless on Schwalbe rubber, mainly running Muddy Marys and Dirty Dans. I run a Kore Carbon T-Rail seatpost with a Kore Distance saddle. Also Kore Torsion bars and stem and Kore Torsion SX pedals. I run a Gamut P30 chain device with a 36 tooth chain ring but sometimes use the P40 with a 38 tooth for a fast track like South Africa. Sram XO 9 speed, old school I know but you can’t beat it! I run RockShox suspension front and rear with Boxxer teams up front and a Vivid rear shox and Avid Code breaks. ODI grips keep my hands firmly planted on the bars.
How much does it weigh? Its currently weighing in at 37.82Lbs I’m really happy with the weight of the bike even with the XL frame. I have tried to keep the weight down with parts as light as possible and have not found any compromise in strength with these parts. I have moved on to the Schwalbe tyres and Sun Ringle wheels this year. Because of this I have been able to start running tubeless. This has brought the weight down not to mention how good the grip is with Schwalbe rubber underneath me.
Have you done any mods to any part of it? I have been so impressed with my overall setup this year that I haven’t felt I needed to do any mods to get what I want. A few things which I have changed for this bit though is I started running a wider Kore Torsion bar at 790mm, I found this made the bike feel more stable on the high speed tracks. I have ran lower tyre pressures as well this year for more grip which running Schwalbe tubeless has allowed me to do. I still run 9speed on my bike with my 36t Gamut P30 up front. I don’t feel I need any more gears than this and prefer the bigger jumps in each gear that I get with this set up.
Your favourite part on the bike? I love every part of my bike but I think my favourite part had to be my Aurum frame. Being able to run a XL frame this year has been so good for me. A tall rider and racing World Cup tracks that size fits me so well and really makes the bike feel stable and allows me to go faster. Because of Norco’s Gravity Tune system the rear end stays in proportion to the front end of the bike which I feel if very important. I have also been very impressed with the suspension on the bike. The A.R.T system means here is always grip there when I need it and the bike tracks well on all the rough stuff. I just love it! This is the first year I have been using IDO grips. The rubber they use helped me with arm pump because of how soft it is and its supper grippy as well.
Where do you ride the bike the most? I mostly ride up in North Wales. A normal day will be uplifting in one of the guys trucks, smashing out runs in the mountains around home. when I’m training I try to get out on it at least twice a week I don’t really do much testing as I felt I had got a great setup when I went to Spain at the beginning of the year and have only done little changes since then.
