Hailing from Whistler, BC, Jesse Melamed has been steadily working his way up the EWS rankings, and a 9th place finish last weekend showed that he's starting the season with plenty of speed. When race day arrives in Peebles, Scotland, he'll be aboard a size small Rocky Mountain Altitude Rally Edition with 150mm of rear travel.
The full carbon bike is equipped with FOX's latest Float X , which features the new EVOL air can that's designed to create a more supple feel in the initial part of the shock's stroke. A handlebar mounted remote allows for it to be switched between three low speed compression settings on-the-fly.
In its slackest stock setting, the Altitude has a 66.2 degree head angle with a 160mm fork, but Jesse's running a 170mm FOX 36 to slacken things out even further.
Shimano's XTR Di2 electronic shifting system is becoming increasingly common on the race circuit. A single wire takes the place of the traditional, contamination-prone cable, running from the derailleur to a down tube mounted battery and then to the shifter on the handlebar.
The Di2's battery is housed in this unit, which has a claimed weight of 58 grams. Running out of juice during a ride is unlikely, as the system is designed to go hundreds of miles between charges.
The low profile levers for the XTR Di2 rear derailleur are on the right side of the bar, situated just underneath the remote for the rear shock.
A small screen displays the rear derailleur's position on the 11-40t cassette, the bike's shift mode, as well as how much battery life is remaining.
Having small hands means Jesse can get away with cutting his grips down, and then scooting the rest of his controls further outboard on the handlebar.
Maxxis' Highroller II is mounted to a set of Stan's Arch EX rims front and rear. Those rims are lighter duty than what you'd typically see on an enduro racer's bike, but running tires with a DH casing helps provide a little more protection.
Am I the only one who thinks the display screen seems irrelevant?.... It's like the index display on a cable shifter..... Who uses those anymore? The only thing that seems to make sense is battery life indicator.... They could easily integrate that in to the shifter, displayed like cell phone battery life..... Other than that di2 seems pretty badass! I never thought I'd say that....
Totally agree. I feel my gears.. I don't look back to check which one I'm haha! Di2 looks very slick, I will wait until the tech has been around a bit and trickled down to better prices.
It [display] is when running a 1x, but you cannot eliminate it.It affords the ability to customize shift modes and suspension settings. I'm certain Fairwheel or someone will hack it soon. People that worry about the Di2 charge should worry about their phones for Strava, because Di2 will FAR outlast any other electronic that most seem to not be able to go without.
I agree, who needs to know which gear you're in? It either feels too hard or too easy, or sometimes just right if you're lucky maybe, and you just shift accordingly.
Not really irrelevant. I don't use the needle display because it interferes with getting the correct brake lever position, otherwise I would definitely use it. The display's in a good spot with di2, so it seems nice to me.
Why even mess with wires? Couldn't they just use Bluetooth or WiFi for Di2? I would bet that in 10 years, our bikes will not have cables or wires of any kind. That would be sick.
@twinsdad The display doubles as the junction box, which is necessary for the system. It's what ties all the components together. @b1k35c13nt15t Yea people shouldn't worry about the battery. I haven't charged it once since I left Canada 2 weeks ago and I have been riding every day and I still have full battery.
im surprised shimano hasnt made a "race" version of di2. no gear indicator required. smaller/light battery that only lasts say only 1 day of racing. just to keep things in a tighter package.
@MTT77 Hey Mike, I would be glad to come to Idaho to show exactly what I know about Bluetooth. I could also show you what I know about Wifi from where I am. Don't confuse yourself on the internet. Have a great day.
@Youarewelcome: I'm no expert in Bluetooth, but I do know how to use google. Try looking up "Bluetooth Di2". Your comment was extremely rude. There are intelligent and unintelligent people in every country. Who pissed in your cereal is morning?
Top 10 finish on the EWS and you're ridiculing him for the size of bike he rides. Classy.
Better get your mommy and daddy issues sorted out there, kiddo.
@mikekazimer Do you know if he is riding those egg beater pedals in the race? or was he just using them in training to save weight and will use the Mallets to race?
@nwarren You are correct, I have been using the Eggbeaters in practice to try and conserve as much energy as possible. I have a set of Mallets that I may use for the race if it rains a lot more. As of now I will keep the Eggbeaters for the race.
Climbing with a 66 deg HA and 170mm fork when you are 5'6" and below is kind of a drag...but if you are an enduro pro you suck it up and deal with it. Sweet bike.
with people worrying about the battery dying while out, you can just charge it with a portable power bank as it uses a standard mini/micro-USB cable, now the thing would be is if you can use it while charging, as it would suck being stuck waiting for it to charge.
I love Shimano, and though I think XTR M9000 has it's fair share of flaws (no 10t cog- which is way more important than 42, no narrow/wide ring, stupid bcd, too much emphasis on di2 with 2x setup, etc- I haven't ridden it though), I have to say that handlebar is the cleanest setup I have ever seen with a shifter, brake lever and shock lockout. All three units are on point with design.
"a 66.2 degree head angle.. ...but Jesse's running a 170mm FOX 36 to slacken things out even further"
Really? Sounds like the sort of thing a rookie would do (since it will hike the bb) especially in the age of adjustments. What's wrong with an angleset? I suspect he wanted more travel, which is why he has.. more travel.
also cheering up my buddy José Borges which did 19 lasy week with a flat on one stage, i think was the fastest privateer
Like old school dynamo lights?
@b1k35c13nt15t Yea people shouldn't worry about the battery. I haven't charged it once since I left Canada 2 weeks ago and I have been riding every day and I still have full battery.
Link to the wireless SRAM road system spyshots -- pelotonmagazine.com/goods/sram-wireless-what-we-know-so-far
Thank you,
YouAreWelcome
Sorry, couldn't resist
performancegearresearch.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/2015-rocky-mountain-altitude-790-msl-rally-edition-review
Really? Sounds like the sort of thing a rookie would do (since it will hike the bb) especially in the age of adjustments. What's wrong with an angleset? I suspect he wanted more travel, which is why he has.. more travel.