EWS Bike Check: Matti Lehikoinen's Nukeproof Mega AM
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Matti Lehikoinen is one of Finland's fastest exports, especially when talking about two wheels, and it's not a stretch to say that his career on the World Cup circuit should have and would have been a lot brighter than it was had a handful of serious injuries hadn't kept him on the sidelines so often. Lehikoinen made a number of impressive comebacks over the years, but ended up called time on serious racing back in 2012... or so everyone thought. The Nukeproof rider will be back to racing at the highest level, but this time it will be aboard shorter travel bikes as he contests a number of Enduro World Series events, including round two in County Wicklow, Ireland.
His weapon for this weekend's race is Nukeproof's aluminum Mega AM that sports 160mm of travel, with his bike running suspension from RockShox. With a history of racing World Cup downhills it is no surprise that Matti hits things hard and fast, and his suspension is set up accordingly. Air pressure in his Pike has been set to 90 PSI, which is quite a bit more than what's recommended for Matti's weight, and the Monarch Plus shock has been tuned to match the front of the bike.
The rest of the part spec isn't completely out of the norm, with Matti telling us that he prefers to run large rotors with his Guide brakes in order to have maximum stopping power - some racers are dropping down in rotor size, but not Lehikoinen. He's also rolling on a set of Mavic's new Crossmax XL wheels shod with the French company's rubber, which isn't that unexpected given that Mavic is one of the Finnish rider's sponsors, but a closer look at the back wheel shows that his bike has been built up with SRAM's new pinned GX cassette rather than the ultra-trick XX1 unit you would expect to see. This is because Matti is a development rider for SRAM, which means that his bike is serving as a rolling test bed for bits and pieces that the company either was working on or is still working on.
The rest of the part spec isn't completely out of the norm, with Matti telling us that he prefers to run large rotors with his Guide brakes in order to have maximum stopping power - some racers are dropping down in rotor size, but not Lehikoinen. He's also rolling on a set of Mavic's new Crossmax XL wheels shod with the French company's rubber, which isn't that unexpected given that Mavic is one of the Finnish rider's sponsors, but a closer look at the back wheel shows that his bike has been built up with SRAM's new pinned GX cassette rather than the ultra-trick XX1 unit you would expect to see. This is because Matti is a development rider for SRAM, which means that his bike is serving as a rolling test bed for bits and pieces that the company either was working on or is still working on.
Matti's bike is using RockShox's Monarch Plus rather than a Vivid Air.
The standalone Reverb remote lets him run it up against the grip, whereas sharing the same mount with the brake would position it too far away.
Pie plate-sized 200mm rotors help slow things down.
Handlebar width is a pretty standard 760mm, as is the 50mm long stem and stack of spacers under it to raise grip height higher up off the deck, and the Reverb is controlled via a remote on a standalone clamp that allows him to get it right up against the grip. There's an interesting Suunto GPS watch strapped to his handlebar that lets him analyze his rides and races to see where he's making up or losing time, and he also uses it to keep track of his heart rate and elevation gain while training.
There's a good chance that the handlebar height on his 160mm travel Mega AM is pretty close to what he prefers on his downhill bike.
Matti runs pedals from Time.
A pinned GX 11-speed cassette is employed in the name of testing rather than a lighter XX1 block.
Matti is running a 34 tooth chain ring and has removed the lower roller from his bike's chain guide for smoother running.
MENTIONS: @SramMedia
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3focus opening seggie + Matti: www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8EDOGiVk0Q
BE: Before enduro.
Anyway, great to see a guy from the Finnish flatlands at the EWS!
...and No, those are not Time, but Mavic (yes, they relabel time and sell as theirs).
It would be ok if he has BOTH suspensions are set up equally, and i copy / paste...
Air pressure in his Pike has been set to 90 PSI, which is quite a bit more than what's recommended for Matti's weight, and the Monarch Plus shock has been tuned to match the front of the bike.
Some great replies above thanks all and I think everyone is correct here. My opinion is that the ability to pump the trail at high speed is the major factor why the top guys run hard suspension. Another reason would be to stop weight transfer to the front when pinned down steep terrain. And also the other factors mentioned above, higher speeds and forces needing to be absorbed/controlled.
Is it an article or a Sram avertising?
The other part of your comment, everything is a plot of our own brains against us!
Discuss!
What I meant was more the way the bike is set up, subtle nuances like the stand alone dropper remote and things like that. I already know which components (mostly) I'll be using but it's those little tweaks I like to see. Even how far forward they've managed to get the saddle, how high the bars are, tyre pressure etc.