It's time for some more Cape Epic tech. Part one looked at new tech trends at the pointy end of cross-country and marathon racing. Perhaps going a level geekier, this article covers four distinctly different topics: new stuff, differing ways to carry spares, random finds, and lastly, the tech used by a few riders with disabilities.
I can't wait, so I won't.
New tech found
As ever there were many new products to see around the pits of the Cape Epic. From special tyres to unreleased forks, new shoes, dropper posts, and brakes, there was lots to get excited about and some things just to take note of.
Also shown in part one, the most in-the-face product was the new RockShox Reverb AXS dropper with a new (improved?) battery placement, which has been in the wild for a while. The battery location is no longer at risk of touching a rear wheel on full bottom-out, apparently an issue for some smaller Enduro riders previously. I was told that the internals have been improved upon too, which will hopefully reduce excess play developing and servicing needs. While I thought there might be some thigh rub issues from the battery location, all riders I spoke with said they didn’t struggle with it, and I didn’t feel it when I sat on their bikes briefly either. The improvement we all want from RockShox here, though, is to have lessened the play that droppers develop through use. Let’s hope that’s the case.
To me, the most exciting new product was the SRAM Motive brakes, which use mineral oil instead of DOT fluid and more closely resemble the design of the Maven but put on a diet to be suitable for XC and marathon bikes. Riders were happy with their performance and feel too, highlighting their improvements on long descents especially. I’d written more, but the editors noted that I was too slow and that the brakes will already be public by the time this publishes (see more on the new Motive brake here).
On the left is the bike of Nino Schurter with silver Motive Ultimate brakes. Right is the bike of Alexis Skarda with the limited edition green brakes.
Specialized have just released its new Ares 2 road shoe and a mountain bike offering seems to be following soon. I first saw these shoes on Matt Beers’ feet late last year and yet still they aren’t released, so it should be imminent. Both he and Sofia Gomez Villafane were wearing them through the race, and the shoes seem to have adopted all of what we just saw from the Ares 2 road shoe. This includes the wide toe box area which is the most important improvement needed from the big S’s shoe range. I expect the price to be eye-watering.
The feet of Matt Beers show an unreleased Ares-type mountain bike shoe.
Since released, the new Fox 34 SL was found on the Wilier Urta Max SLR of Vittoria Wilier with the company's RAD (Racing Application Development) stickers. You can read Josh Weinberg’s early review of that 34 SL fork here. Meanwhile, Wilier continually knocks it out the park with their paint jobs and it was no different here on the Wilier Urta Max SLR.
Despite five of the top 10 teams being Shimano-sponsored, there was no sight of Shimano’s widely rumoured wireless XTR Di2. Instead, every Shimano team was still using the well-proven 12-speed mechanical system.
Bikes of Vittoria Wilier.
Keegan Swenson and Alexis Skarda, of the Santa Cruz Hitsquad, were notable exceptions to the 120 mm suspension trend I highlighted in part one. They both paired a 115 mm SiDLuxe rear shock to what looks to me like an unreleased RockShox SID SL Ultimate fork with 110 mm front travel.
Then we get into the other things I spotted around the traps. New wheels, new bikes, and plenty more.
Critical spares of the Cape Epic
Tool storage is always an important consideration for riders. The trails at Cape Epic have a habit of creating issues and as such the riders must plan for the worst. Not all frames have internal storage, and pocket space is needed for snacks, and so saddle bags proliferated the Pro field. Velominati be damned.
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