10 custom downhill bikes for 2018 World Championships
Drool-worthy world championship edition bikes from Lenzerheide, Switzerland
Custom one-off bikes has become a bit of a tradition at world championships, with teams assembling builds that reflect racers home country and personality. Downhill definitely does custom better than any other discipline, at 2018 has seen teams take worlds bikes to a new level in Lenzerheide.
Racers are all decked out and ready for Finals at 2018 UCI mountain bike world championships, and more riders than ever are set up with seriously drool-worthy worlds bikes. Here’s some of the best bikes you can spot on course this weekend in Switzerland.
Loic Bruni’s Specialized S-Works Demo 8. The 2015 and 2017 world champion landed in Switzerland to find this stunning gold and yellow Demo ready to carry him in his title defense in Lenzerheide. Bruni will be moving fast on course, but this shiny race rocket shouldn’t be hard to spot on course.
Mark Wallace’s Canada coloured Canyon Sender takes the traditional red and white colour scheme to a new level. The deep red fade looks incredible, and fast for Wallace’s run at the rainbow jersey on Sunday.
Miranda Miller already has one set of rainbow stripes to her name after 2017 worlds in Cairns. The Squamish world champion has dubbed her race rig the Canadian Cyclone. Scroll through for details, and for Miller’s inspiration for the unique aesthetic.
Henry Fitzgerald has a classic Canadiana red and white theme going on for his Norco Aurum HSP. The Vancouver brand’s presented the Vancouver-based rider with this special edition of its new downhill race bike for a very Canadian rider/bike combo.
Tahnee Seagrave and her brother Kaos both have very eye catching Transition TR 500’s painted by Impact Designs. Tahnee has gone for a sparkle blood splatter, while Kaos gets flouro pink and black. Watch the video above to see the paint shimmer, or look at Tahnee Seagrave’s Instagram feed for details, including her matching Fox Women’s DH kit.
Connor Fearon’s ride also sports custom paint by Impact Designs. The Australian’s World Champs edition Kona Operator CR 29 features a glistening gold and green take on Australia’s national colours. Fearon qualified near the front in Friday’s qualifiers, so the flashy bike must be fast.
Adam Brayton’s sponsor Hope Technology drilled down to the details for this world championships edition Scott Gambler. Paint is by Fat Creations, but there’s a host of Great Britain themed small parts provided by Hope that make this build truly custom.
For Emily Siegenthaler’s Pivot Phoenix DH Carbon, Fat Creations went for a more novel approach. The cartoon sketch runs throughout the frame, making for a playful bike that will still be blazing fast when Siegenthaler races on Sunday.
Valli Höll is racing her first world championships and, after the young Austrian dominated the Junior Women’s field all year, YT Mob have gone all out on her YT Tues DH. Scroll through the slide above for details, and Höll’s reaction to getting her first special world championships bike. Even pros get excited on new bike day!
Greg Minnaar has had his share of world championship bikes, often theme’d to match his home country of South Africa. While Minnaar’s been a bit quieter on the World Cup circuit this year, after suffering a broken arm in training for Fort Williams. The Santa Cruz Syndicate still went all out for this custom Santa Cruz V10. And why not? Minnaar has enough experience that he should never be counted out on race day.
