14 Slalom Bikes of Sea Otter 2017

The slalom at Sea Otter is easily the event that everyone wants to see. Like years past, the spectators filled in the area for all of the action and riders from multiple backgrounds battled in the near perfect berms. The bikes ridden were an interesting mix of regular trail bikes, hardtails, and customized (read lowered to the floor) 29ers and in the end, it was the regular, well-selected trail bike that took the win in each, the Pro Men and Pro Women's events.



Mitch Ropelato – Santa Cruz 5010cc (Pro Men Winner)

Mitch Ropelato and his sanded Santa Cruz 5010. Rockshox and SRAM running gear, Fabric seat, Roval wheels and a Specialized Butcher up front with a Ground Control out back. Nothing special was done to his bike for the slalom.





Jill Kintner – Norco Optic 7 (Pro Women Winner)

Jill Kintner wins again. She looked so strong on her Norco Optic 7 and really wasn't challenged until the finals. Her Optic was a size small, with 120mm rear, 130mm front. Like Mitch, nothing special was done to her bike in order to help her win.

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The Plus Thirteen



Martin Maes – GT Distortion

Martin Maes was looking to three-peat this Sea Otter aboard his GT Distortion. Martin said he loves the 26" wheeled bike, going as far as to say that it's one of his favorite bikes that he's ridden.





Kyle Strait – Commencal Absolut SX

Kyle Strait and his signature Commencal Absolut SX. Despite being "26 for life", Lyle was running a 275 Pike set to 100mm with a 27.5 front wheel, so that he could run a new tire that isn't available in 26", yet. Kyle also runs a 780mm bar for slalom, compared to his usual 755mm bar that he has on this bike. He ran his Rockshox suspension a little softer than it is usually setup as well.





Anneke Beerten – GT Distortion

Anneke Beerten was running a GT Distortion, which is the brand's 26" wheeled whip, ridden on slopestyle course the world over by Tyler McCaul. Aside from Kialani Hines, Anneke was the only racer in the women's field to be riding aboard a 26" wheel. She went on to take a hard-fought third place.





Kialani Hines – Norco Rampage

Kialani Hines killed it at the pumptrack last night and continued her momentum in the slalom. She started out on her Norco Range, but switched back to her Norco Rampage hardtail, noting that it felt more comfortable on the track. She looked super comfortable too but couldn't hold onto the speed of the top women.





Jared Graves – Specialized Camber (minified)

Jared Graves is here at Sea Otter with one bike—the Camber. The 29" inch trail bike is being customized to suit each event, but he is riding the same frame. For slalom, Jared had 27.5" wheels put on, left the 140mm 29" fork up front, had a SRAM X01 DH cassette/derailleur put on, and there is a custom Ohlins rear shock, tweaked to fit on the Camber frame. Jared was finding the front to be a touch on the high side, but it wasn't enough to bother him to change it.





Bernard Kerr – Pivot Switchblade 27.5 Plus-Minus

Bernard Kerr was riding the Pivot Switchblade. The 135mm bike can be changed between 29 and 27.5+, but Bernard was running regular 27.5, which we guesstimate would lower the bike up to another ~6mm. He was also running Shimano Di2, in addition to his usual mix of Reynolds carbon wheels and Fox suspension.





Bryn Atkinson – Norco Optic 7

Bryn Atkinson was ripping about on his Norco Optic 7. He was also one of the few to ride his trail bike as is, though does have the option to select a shorter travel bike from his stable. The frame was a size medium, and the Optic has 120mm of travel in the rear, and 130mm up front.





Cody Kelly – Yeti SB4.425c

Cody Kelly was looking set to put on a show after qualifying in second behind Ropelato. Unfortunately, he looked to have a little trouble when the racing began, with two consecutive runs that contained some mistakes. He did have one of the more customized rides of the field, though. Cody's Yeti SB4.5c's 29" wheels were replaced with the smaller 27.5" wheels and his 130mm 29" fork was swapped with of the 140mm 27.5" variety. However, he did stick with the same size large frame that he normally rides.





Iago Garay – Santa Cruz 5010cc

Iago is beginning to form a bit of a habit of showing up in these checks on borrowed bikes. This time, team manager and Santa Cruz bikes Doer-of-things, Allan Cooke. Minus the DH cassette and lack of dropper, the bike is the regular trail bike and Iago hadn't done much in the way of special customizations for the race.





Kyle Warner – Marin Hawk Hill

Kyle Warner just scraped into the main event by qualifying in the final position spot. He was riding his Marin Hawk Hill in a size medium. Kyle noted that he changes between a medium and a large depending on the trails he's riding. The bike has 135mm of travel and Kyle is a big fan of it. Up front, he was running an SR Suntour Auron and during practice was pushing his WTB tires into drifts through all of the flat corners on the lower portion of the course as he looked to find where the limits of traction were.





Rachel Strait – GT Sensor

Rachel Strait was riding her regular GT Sensor. It's the exact bike that she raced the enduro on and she didn't make any changes to the setup at all.





Steve Peat – Santa Cruz 5010cc

Peaty had a crack at slalom, but unfortunately, we didn't get to see the legend in the main event with him unable to make the cut. He was riding the Santa Cruz 5010 with the usual mix of Fox suspension, Enve wheels, and Shimano drivetrain and brakes.





Martin Söderström – Specialized Enduro SX

Martin Söderström was another rider that we would have liked to see in the main event, but it wasn't his day. Despite not making the cut to the round of 16 he was still in high spirits. He was riding the Specialized Enduro SX, fitted with some Novatec Factor carbon hoops and running gear from Rockshox and SRAM.

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