Carson Storch's Rocky Mountain Maiden - Red Bull Rampage 2016
At 23-years-old, Carson Storch is one of the youngest competitors at the Red Bull Rampage, despite the fact that this is his third time competing in the event. Last year's performance was cut short by a crash in practice - there's no doubt Carson will be looking for redemption this time around.
His weapon of choice for the near-vertical course is a Rocky Mountain Maiden, complete with a one of a kind paintjob from Painthouse Customs. The red, white, and blue pattern was inspired by the camouflage used by the US Navy during WWII.
The Maiden's fork and shock have been tuned to be extra stiff and progressive in order to withstand the massive drops and jumps that are on the menu.
Rocky designed the Maiden to be able to run 26” or 27.5” wheels while maintaining the same geometry thanks to a custom lower headset cup and two rear axle positions. Storch has chosen to go with 26” wheels, in this case a set of Hope wheels shod with Kenda Nexcavators, due to the fact that he's on the shorter side of the scale, and prefers the extra maneuverability the smaller wheels provide.
The go-to suspension setup for the huge hucks of Rampage is extra stiff and progressive, and Storch's setup is no exception. Both the Suntour RUX fork and the DVO Jade shock have been custom tuned to be able to handle the forces generated while coming in for a landing off a two-story drop.
Carson says he prefers the feel of an aluminum handlebar versus carbon for hard landings, and in this case has gone with Chromag's OSX 35 trimmed down to 787mm and rolled forward slightly to put his weight in the right position for the tricks he has in store for Friday's big show.
The lower headset cup adjusts the bike's geometry to work with 26" wheels.
There's not much pedaling required, which is why Storch is only running a few cogs on his Shimano cassette.
Chromag takes care of the handlebar, and Shimano provides the stoppers and shifter.
The Kenda Nexcavator's blocky tread pattern should help provide traction in the loose sand.
 | My time's spent fifty-fifty between DH and slope bikes. The last time I touched a slope bike was at speed and style for Whistler Crankworx. I've been on the big bike ever since for training and filming big mountain stuff with Freeride entertainment in the Yukon. My line here at Rampage has a bit of everything; steeps and exposure up top, big jumps and high speed lower down - a load of stuff I want to ride, so I'm happy with it. - Carson Storch |
MENTIONS: @RockyMountainBicycles / @carson-storch / @shimano / @SRSuntour / @Chromagbikes
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Galloping hard on the plains.
Chasing the redskins back to their holes,
Fighting them at their own game. [...]
*close tab*
done with pinkbike tonight
#26notdead !
Truth
Is it possible to buy the lower headset cup ?
Run, live to fly, fly to live. Aces high.
Feels like they had rampage in mind when writing that song
www.bmxcustomizer.com/design/235625
Maybe he feels the same.
(If you didn't know, you cannot get 185 post mount adapters, only 180. so when I switched from a bike with IS mounts to post mounts, the new rotor & bracket I had to buy was unexpected.)