UK downhiller Harriet ‘Hattie’ Harnden simply gained her first Elite DH World Cup this weekend in Les Will get. And in doing so, on this gearbox, belt-drive Gamux Sego DH bike, she additionally managed to win an additional 100,000€ on the similar time.
We’ve been speaking concerning the Gates 100K Belted Purse for 3 seasons now. Curious to see how lengthy it will take till a gearbox bike and not using a chain would win a top-level downhill race, ever for the reason that UCI lastly gave belt-drives the OK again firstly of 2023?
Now we all know.
Mission completed.
So then, let’s take a better have a look at her bike. There are many cool particulars and customizations to nerd out on.
I wager Crankbrothers will even provide you with your personal ‘World Cup Winner‘ Mallet pedals. That’s, in case you win an Elite DH World Cup on them, too.
Hattie Harnden is coming for all of the wins!
Harnden’s carried out it. She gained a DH World Cup. And on the identical belt-drive bike she was racing final season, a motorbike that formally entered Gamux’s line-up simply earlier than Gates introduced the unique 100k Belted Purse again in 2024.
Up in opposition to the quickest girls in downhill racing, her decisive win reveals each her personal potential and flexibility.
For those who didn’t know, this 25-year-old rider two years in the past gained the UCI Enduro World Cup general & an Elite EWS race again in 2021. And earlier than that, she was twice the Elite British Cyclo-cross champion, in each 2020 & 2022.
Now, she’s solely been devoted to racing Elite DH for 2 full seasons.
Gamux Sego Pinion gearbox, Gates belt-drive DH race bike
The bike Harnden gained the Les Will get DH World Cup and Gates 100k Belted Purse on is a Gamux Sego, {custom} tuned for her. It’s a CNC-machined aluminum body that makes use of field part carbon tubes bonded into the entrance triangle for stiffness management. It’s a 200mm journey DH bike we’ve been following for years, first noticed as a belt-drive prototype three years in the past.
It isn’t Gamux’s newest bike.
That will be the wild U-shaped spar AON Racing prototype we noticed again in Might. We requested AON why Harnden remains to be racing the outdated body design – though clearly it’s not holding her again. They usually confirmed that they examined the brand new platform for her and “determined to stay with what we all know for her“.
Gamux CEO & body designer, Pascal Tinner confirmed that there was no technological cause for Hattie to not race the brand new evolution. It was only a easy matter that “she felt higher on this one“, a motorbike that she knew nicely and has been racing for 2 seasons now.
Pinion gearbox + Gates belt-drive FTW
Let’s name this one the cash shot. Talent is what gained Harnden her first World Cup. However this Pinion gearbox and Gates centerline belt drivetrain is what gained her an additional €100,000 in Les Will get.
The Sego incorporates a comparatively easy mid-high single-pivot suspension design with a 2-piece linkage to drive the rear shock. However with the belt setup, it nonetheless will get an loafer pulley to decouple the belt from suspension motion, and a tensioner behind the gearbox to maintain all the pieces taut.
A Sensible.Shift digital setup delivers fast, constant gear modifications to the magnesium housing of the light-weight Pinion C-line gearbox.
All the load on this bike is basically low, which can also be why it will get some tremendous quick 140mm North Shore Billet machined alloy Talon cranks to drive that gearbox.
Manitou shock tweak
Similar to we noticed final season, Harnden will get a custom-modified Manitou Mara Professional air shock. Initially developed for enduro, she doesn’t want the two-position distant for “Work & Social gathering” modes that’s customary on this shock, as an alternative sticking with its unrestricted & externally adjustable hi- & low-speed compression circuits.
Her race bike additionally acquired a recent coat of black duct tape on the perimeters of its downtube in Les Will get, protecting up the carbon bonded into the machined alloy body. I requested AON Racing if there was something particular occurring beneath the tape. However apparently, it’s simply there to maintain the end of the carbon tubes from getting scratched up by the gritty mud this previous weekend.
However past some duct tape, we had been extra inquisitive about what was zip-tied to the downtube…
Race day add-ons & different {custom} package
I requested AON if that was merely including weight to her body to tune the bike’s dealing with? If that’s the case, how heavy it was? And expressed shock that simply two plastic ties had been safe sufficient to outlive the brutality of a World Cup DH race.
AON Racing’s response was a easy, “No Remark.”
However it appears fairly clear that that is some sort of universal-fit added weight setup, proper? It appears like a folded & welded alloy field with a V-shape to suit in opposition to spherical body tubes, with an exterior bolt that presumably lets the staff safe weights inside to range how a lot added weight is desired.
As for these pedals…
Once I first spoke AON’s staff supervisor about getting images of Harnden’s Belted Purse-winning Gamux Sego, he stated the bike was nonetheless precisely as Hattie raced it, besides the pedals. He defined that some Crankbrothers guys came visiting proper after the race and swapped them.
I initially suspected that perhaps Harnden was racing with some prototype pedals or had damaged one within the race, however the actuality is way cooler.
As a substitute, instantly after confirming her win, Crankbrothers race help gave her a recent set of Mallet DH pedals that say, “I Gained A World Cup Right this moment”.
Extra custom-made Manitou suspension
Rounding out Harnden’s Gamux Sego suspension setup is a hybrid Manitou Dorado Professional & Professional fork. Word the EXP decal on the machined alloy uppers subsequent to her race quantity, not carbon tubes just like the lighter, higher-spec Professional mannequin. However it nonetheless will get the top-tier internals, and the extra extensively machined shiny silver crowns from the Professional stage? Curious.
Additionally, not the piggy-back prototype we noticed her teammates on earlier this season, or one of many all-silver prototypes they had been racing this weekend – similar-looking to the Nicolai-only Dorado Professional Silver we discovered about final week.
However the entrance finish additionally provides an attention-grabbing view of her upright cockpit!
Unconventional quick Attain, excessive Stack cockpit setup
Like her teammates, Harnden’s Gamux Sego is about up with an extra-high bar place, and a reversed stem to shorten attain. Though she runs the adjustable headset in its more-forward, longer body Attain place.
Her cockpit combines a 50mm hi-rise Ergotec handlebar and a Burgtec direct mount stem, mounted backwards. The staff describes the stem place as: +70mm Stack and -10mm Offset.
Harnden explains that the extra upright, rearward place on the bike means much less weight on her arms and improved capability to shift her weight over the entrance OR rear wheel, relying on what the scenario requires.
“Coincidently, this reduces weight on my arms, which means much less fatigue on them. The extra upright place additionally provides you rather more area to maneuver and manoeuvre the bike together with your legs and arms being extra straight, moderately than squatted and stretched out from a traditional setup. I’ve additionally seen much less leg fatigue, as my legs aren’t continuously very squatted.
This has different, smaller knock on results, like with the ability to search for and [ahead] extra simply and in a position to drop your ankles/[heels] extra simply. All in all, it places you in a way more upright place by way of the center of the bike. It actually took me abruptly but additionally made extra sense the extra I thought of it.”
The final attention-grabbing little bit of her cockpit past these elegant purple Hayes Dominion brakes… A set of prototype shock-absorbing RevGrips with built-in bar ends. Similar to we noticed on her teammates’ bikes, these promise to maintain her arms from slipping off the bars on the roughest DH monitor, with out having to carry on for pricey life. They appear fairly well-finished, so we solely marvel how lengthy till RevGrips provides them to the general public.
Lastly, a fast have a look at her rolling inventory.
Carbon Reynolds Blacklabel 309/307 DH Professional carbon wheels laced to 6-pawl 8° participating Ringlé Bubba hubs, curiously with no logos on the rear carbon rim. Wrapped with Schwalbe Soiled Dan Gravity Professional tires, and saved sealed with OKO Magic Milk.
I requested about what tire casing (for ex.: bias-ply or radial) Harnden was racing. And was advised that AON is a part of Schwalbe’s “steady growth with race groups” so that they couldn’t share any particulars on tires.
Gates 100K Belted Purse has been claimed
So, is that the face of a professional downhiller that simply realized she not solely gained her first UCI DH World Cup, but additionally an additional €100,000 bonus from Gates’ 100K Belted Purse?
Yeah, Hattie Harnden was fairly thrilled to have gained her first World Cup.
However the Gates race help staff appeared fairly excited, too. Even when it was a reasonably costly day on the workplace for them. It’s good to see that they had been prepared at hand over the prize. And hopefully there isn’t actually €100,000 in money in that field, and a few safer digital transfers have since been made.
That stated, Gates have gotten a number of publicity out of the 100K Belted Purse over these three seasons, with out having needed to pay out but. But now, they’ve the proof in a top-level race win. Gates can put aside any remaining doubt. Belt-drives clearly are actually a viable resolution for gravity racing on the highest stage. So, it looks like they most likely acquired their cash’s price.
What subsequent?
I’d guess we most likely must get used to Hattie successful. And doubtless extra belt-drive bikes, too!
There have been a number of within the high 5 this season, for each males & girls, and each in quallies and race day finals. In a time when important numbers of top-level DH racers are including weight to fine-tune suspension, dealing with & grip, the advantages of gearbox gravity race bike design is changing into extra apparent.
4 high groups are at present racing DH on gearbox bikes. That’s not going to vary now that the 100,000€ bonus has been claimed. The truth is, we wouldn’t be stunned to see much more gearbox bikes by subsequent season!
For now although, it appears AON Racing is main the cost.
AONracing.com
