Brendan Fairclough's 2011 Specialized Demo 8 Race Bike: A closer Look!
Many pro riders have used the lull between World Cups to come to Whistler's CrankWorx to race and enjoy the mountain, including Team Monster Energy Specialized's Brendan Fairclough. We caught up with Brendan and got a personal tour of his 2011 Specialized Demo 8 race machine. Inside you can see all the photos, as well as listen to Fairclough talk about his bike setup and disdain for flat bars!
Read on...Brendan Fairclough's 2011 Demo 8 Race Bike
We sat down with Team Monster Energy Specialized rider Brendan Fairclough to get the lowdown on his brand new 2011 Demo 8 race bike. He rides a full production frame, the very same that regular folk like you and me will be able to buy come October, with only the addition of a few titanium shock bolts to shave a few grams. Brendan's bike certainly has some very special components on it though, including the slick black legged World Cup Boxxer and his custom SDG saddle. Last week you got to read about his 1 x 6 gearing that uses a 31 tooth chainring and an extra small 9 tooth cog, now you can hear what Brendan makes of this trick setup by listening to the audio below.
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We'll have more info on Specialized's 2011 Demo 8 coming up soon, including some riding impressions, but for now you can check out Curtis Keene's race bike for more info!
Are you lusting after Brendan's 2011 Demo 8? Tell us what you think about it below!
Read on...
We sat down with Team Monster Energy Specialized rider Brendan Fairclough to get the lowdown on his brand new 2011 Demo 8 race bike. He rides a full production frame, the very same that regular folk like you and me will be able to buy come October, with only the addition of a few titanium shock bolts to shave a few grams. Brendan's bike certainly has some very special components on it though, including the slick black legged World Cup Boxxer and his custom SDG saddle. Last week you got to read about his 1 x 6 gearing that uses a 31 tooth chainring and an extra small 9 tooth cog, now you can hear what Brendan makes of this trick setup by listening to the audio below.
Brendan's 2011 Specialized Demo in full race trim. He rides a standard production frame that you'll be able to purchase soon... But there is a good chance that his will go faster than yours!
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An impressive third place in Champery during some gnarly conditions proved what Brendan can do. There is more to come, but in the meantime we all enjoy watching him get more bent than a teenager taking his dad's Camero out for a joyride! In the audio Brendan tells us about his challenging season thus far. Listen up, being a top World Cup racer is not all unicorns and rainbows.
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During our Sea Otter coverage we showed you some prototype seats from SDG made especially for Sam and Brendan that featured rubber grippers molded into the seat to prevent sliding around when conditions are terrible. They didn't get a lot of love from the readers, but it sounds like Brendan has been loving his, even using it when the track is dry and dusty. Listen to the audio to hear Brendan talk about his very special seat
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Fairclough's '11 Demo only has six cogs out back, which isn't news... but the fact that the small cog only has 9 teeth is damn interesting. Last week you read all about his special 1 x 6 cassette and 31 tooth chainring, now you can listen to the audio as well.
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New on Fairclough's machine are these sick Renthal bars. Not only did they feel comfortable when I sat on the bike, I also found myself making involuntary moto sounds as I pedalled! We've got a set of these in the office, so stay tuned for a writeup, but in the meantime you can hear what Brendan thinks about them by listening to the audio below.
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I was amazed at just how stiff Brendan's suspension is on his race bike, I knew it had to be much
stiffer than a chump like me would ride, but I had no idea. The lines that top riders can take
and the speed at which they do it means that their suspension has to be run in a way to keep them
in control. Listen to the audio to hear his take on it.
stiffer than a chump like me would ride, but I had no idea. The lines that top riders can take
and the speed at which they do it means that their suspension has to be run in a way to keep them
in control. Listen to the audio to hear his take on it.
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A RockShox Vivid complements his custom Boxxer World Cup. A titanium spring and shock mounting bolts are used to lose some precious grams.
You and your gang may be trying to see who can get their bars the lowest, but Brendan is of the
opinion that enough is enough. His '11 Demo not only sports a proper riser bar, but also
a healthy amount of headset spacers under his crown. Then again, he is riding steeper, burlier,
and harder tracks a touch faster than you. Just a touch... Listen to the audio to hear what
the Monster Energy Specialized rider thinks about those fashionable flat bars.
opinion that enough is enough. His '11 Demo not only sports a proper riser bar, but also
a healthy amount of headset spacers under his crown. Then again, he is riding steeper, burlier,
and harder tracks a touch faster than you. Just a touch... Listen to the audio to hear what
the Monster Energy Specialized rider thinks about those fashionable flat bars.
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Hidden behind the modified guard is a 31 tooth ring that works with Brendan's 9 - 21 cassette (the 21 is locked out) to provide the appropriate gearing while having more clearance and still being able to hit 88 mph during race runs. There were many comments on the 1 x 6 story we ran last week that it must surely be a typo that the Specialized team bikes use 30 and 31 tooth rings with a standard 4 bolt 104 mm bcd crank - it wasn't a typo and they do run 30 and 31 tooth rings. But how?
Always a flat pedal rider, Brendan uses Crank Brother's pedals with some extra long pins in place to keep his feet in place.
We'll have more info on Specialized's 2011 Demo 8 coming up soon, including some riding impressions, but for now you can check out Curtis Keene's race bike for more info!
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I agree that a flat bar is stupid looking and I understand he doesn't really make much of a comment towards low bars, but there's a few things he's not mentioned. He's running a bike with a super short headtube (112mm), a zero stack headset (10mm overall) and the bars are only a 20mm rise. 15mm of spacers isn't all that mad either.
To put it into perspective he runs the bottom of his top crown 137mm from the race of his fork.
Whereas, say a Large V-10 with an average press fit headset and zero spacers would be 155mm measured the same way. So effectively using the same setup as him would require a flat bar to get that same bar height as Brendog. Whilst only being 2mm lower. In that light it seems silly for him to have a poke at it
Supporting what you say i also would like to say that the point to have those spacers under the upper crown, is to lift the upper crown clamps that holds the extensions of the fork, so we can hold the extensions from a longer and stronger length, giving us safer and stronger points to hold the fork from the bike, and that length neeed to be at least the length of the frame headtube thsi will be reducing the leverage forces that can break a frame or the extensions. And because of the horse-shoe shape especifically of this upper crown and a very short head tube with a zero stak at the bottom of the head tube, the distance in betwen the upper clamps and the lower clamp gets very short ( shorter than the length of the frame headtube. and we dont want this because it could became a very weak part of the bike when we want to do it stronger.
if they change the horse_shoe upper crown for a flat upper crowm without spacers and with the same direct mount and the same bars he will be riding tha same low. and that is already very low. and last thing those bars are almost flat bars. same as the atlas race face.
this are very studied technician set ups, but some people just judges of what they see, not understanding the great ingeniering behind all this. just one spacer and his ubication can do big diferences.
and becasue of the the lower gravity center and the whole length use of the extansions the geometry stills the same
its just awesome!
Athertons have been seen riding on different tires as their sponsors didn't make a tire suitable for the track. I've seen Sam Pilgrim riding a Dmr whilst sponsored by Diamondback/ashton...
But look at roadies, lower wider bar= more power and keeps your lungs more open. It's fact and it's been proven
More like an e*13 bashguard that was precisely cut down and chamfered on a lathe, then pocketed from the backside on a CNC mill so it will sit in the correct location for the "special" chain ring.
This stuff wasn't made by a monkey with a grinding wheel...
and i just realized that this is the third time i have used eye-gasm about bikes...
He says he wouldn't run anything less then a 30mm rise bar, when he is running a 20mm rise bar. www.renthalcycling.com/File/product_fatbar.aspx Unless he has a one off that is a higher rise at 750mm... doubt it, I bet he has the 20mm version....
Then he misunderstands the interviewer, thinking he's implying that kids run a bunch of spacers under there crown to raise there flat bar. The interviewer is talking about his set up and then Brandon goes on to knock "stupid kids" for running a bunch of spacers... doesn't look good...
I don't think flat bars are "cool" or a good thing either, but to each his own. I just think this looks bad on Brandon and maybe pinkbike should have left that part out. It all started when CK knocked flat bars last week and now it's the "cool" thing to do. Not a good look for a pro/s.
who's opinion could you trust more than a wc racer about what works well? there is a trend of flat bars and he's taking the time to point out how its lacking in function as well as goofy looking. cheers to him for being straight up, thats more useful than protecting peoples feelings.
He's also running about 15mm worth of spacers under his top crown and then knocking people for doing the same. Listen to the interview again.
Yeah I think it shows a lack of professionalism. But on the other end he's only a "professional" mountain biker.. so what do you expect. He does seem like a good kid overall.
Tim, I don't want him to do that. I want to hear what he thinks I just think it looked/sounded bad.
I personally love the candid feel to these sorts of interviews, especially when compared to soundbites that that are really just a sponsor prop list (although its good to say thanks!). I want to hear how a rider feels about something, not listen to him tiptoe around the subject and not be candid about it. I want to hear a pro's opinion, especially if he isn't hesitating to take the piss out of something.
About his take on flat bars, there is a bit of a misunderstanding. Brendan was referring to riders who have a stack of spacers under their crown, but are also rocking a flat bar, as well as the current trend to simply slam everything as low as possible just because. To each his own, I'm sure Brendan would agree with that, but it is important to think about your setup as well.