Looking Ahead – Fort William
Fort William 2017
Fort William, Scotland home of the brave, the Nevis range, the brutal track, the bike breaker, body basher, the mind-messer, this is one hell of a place and we all know it!! Fort William doesn’t need an introduction at all, as many of us know it is one of or thee toughest tracks on the UCI World Cup circuit.
The permanent Nevis Range Downhill track has received some upgrades over the years, For 2017 there will be some new sections and changes to add interest and excitement for both riders and spectators, mainly below the deer fence, sorry no pictures as your have to wait and see.
Just to add to the build up as there’s more happening at this years Fort William World Cup as more and more new prototype bikes roll on out from their pro pits…
Last weekend saw the second round of the HSBC-UK British Downhill Series held at this amazing venue, this is by far is the most popular BDS race of the season as it’s been called a “miniworldcup” and a ”testing” for full time photographers and media squids (that’s what they called themselves haha). Walking around the pits there wasn’t to much going on the normal bike prep and so on. Practice saw some interesting things like Bruni and its Telemetry equipment bike, 29er Demo? na no way!!
Good to see Loic on track and testing, looking good as always and could be a danger man this season!!
Another strong contender for the Junior field, Finn Iles looking very fast and strong on this brutal track!!
All rounder and the whip master, Kaos Seagrave of FMD Racing, looking good and definitely one to watch as he moves up and up.
Well what can I say, unbeaten last year and holding onto them World Champ stripes, this young lady has been around many of gnarly tracks and with lots still to give, Keep an eye out this season but and I say but!! There’s Tahnee Seagrave very close behind and on the hunt!!
New team, new bikes , and with a fresh set of eye’s Mannon is very keen to make her mark on the top spot!! What I love about this is they are all mates off the track and then the switch is turned up for race day, EPIC!!
Millie Is a fast gnarly chic, apart of the Atherton Academy this Norwegian rocket is the future and one to watch out for at the world cups!!
Henry and George Kerr were looking on point aboard their Dirt Team Propain bikes getting ready for the World Cup, keep and eye out for them boys along with Phil Atwill a great team and always pump out some banging edits.
Another danger man for the rest of the field is Mr Brayton, grabbing a 4th last year he can turn it on for sure, looking strong and focused at the BDS weekend, could he be on that podium again??
The 29er……
It’s been a long time coming and we all thought it would never be, so as a racer and let’s put ourselves in their shoes. The aim of the game in Downhill racing is to go fast right? Right so big wheels means faster rolling, bigger foot print on the ground therefore providing more grip better roll over on rocks roots and off camber sections everything that would be on the menu at any UCI World Cup track and pretty much any track so to speak.
Danny’s words from what I heard was It’s a race bike that needs to go fast, get off the internet and ride ya bike!! He’s right!!. These 29ers run less travel than their 27.5 friends, so that’s less drag for better pedal efficiency so the riders energy isn’t put through what would be a 210mm travel 27.5 give or take.
If you look at what the field are running on the EWS and the track/stages they are hitting it’s pretty gnarly stuff, I can see the appeal for the big wheel but with what these racers put the wheels through how will they hold up on the circuit? Tyre choice? Only time will tell but for now most of the big boys are testing their prototype machines, lets see what it bring in a few weeks, stay tuned.
Words and Pics – Brett ‘Tree’ Shelfer