Wrapped around the lower slopes of Scotland's Ben Nevis at the end of October, the Relentless Exposure event lap is a serious block of climbing and big grin/big risk descending. I’m going to be racing around it eight times (that’s 88km / 54.5 miles with 2,760m / 9,056ft vertical) and mostly at night as part of two teams of four blokes old enough to know better. Sounds like the ideal place to let a couple of XC freaks out to play.
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- The course: A superb but very demanding 11km (6.8 mile), 345m (1,132ft) lap including elements of the World Cup XC course and even the last drop of the DH course. Ridden eight times over 24 hours
- Horse one: Cannondale Scalpel-Si Black Label with Lefty Carbon 2.0 100mm travel fork, Shimano XTR Di2 gears and brakes, Enve bar and Enve rims on Chris King hubs with Schwalbe Racing Ralph Evo Snakeskin 29x2.25in tyres
- Horse two: Open One+ with RockShox RS-1 120mm travel fork, SRAM Eagle XX1 gears, SRAM Level Ultimate brakes, USE Vyce bar/stem and custom DT Swiss X551 rim/SRAM hub wheels with WTB Ranger 27.5x2.8in tyres
- The equipment goals: Minimising cumulative fatigue and maximising speed on a brilliant but brutal, mostly rocky, wet and dark race lap
If using the term ‘freaks’ sounds like I’m being harsh, then the curious looks I was getting around the race paddock definitely confirmed that both arrows in my quiver were causing a stir, and marked me out as either very lucky or very rich.
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The Cannondale Scalpel-Si Black Label is an off-the-peg full-suspension XC bike — albeit a very high peg at £9,500 / $12,790. With Cannondale’s unique Lefty single-legged fork, and other eccentric aspects, it’s definitely a distinctively different option to the large number of super light, but essentially very similar carbon fibre, full suspension bikes available from mostly European brands. To add an extra comparative spark, it’s loaded with a full Shimano XTR Di2 electric shift suite.
The Open Pro+ has a 990g frame that would make an ideal basis for a conventional ultralight 29er hardtail. However, as it’s one of the few frames in that category that can also take a 27.5x3.0 plus tyre, I couldn’t resist experimenting to see how a bit of low-pressure pneumatic float would compare to ‘proper’ hydraulically-damped suspension and small volume 29er tyres. And what else could I use to help me soar through the Scottish mountains than SRAM’s XX1 golden Eagle transmission?
Full sus or full plus?
Tortoise and the hare
Final furlong
Lessons learned
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