WINNING BIKE - Loic Bruni's Prototype Specialized Demo 31

.3 is all it took today and Loic did it aboard this Specialized Demo with 29-inch front wheel and 27.5-inch rear.

sspomer
6/9/2019 7:38pm
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Three World Cups down and two wins for Loic Bruni and his prototype Specialized Demo with mixed wheel size. Today the win came at the in Leogang, Austria, and all it took was .3 seconds to fend off the likes of Greg Minnaar and Troy Brosnan. A disappointing qualifier (nearly 4 seconds off the pace in 11th place with a 3:23) left Loic with pretty low morale on Saturday. Somehow, he managed to find an extra 7 seconds on the fast and tricky Leogang course to pull the win and slide into 2nd place overall, just 5 points behind Brosnan. With today's Top 3 only .7 apart total and running the full gamut of DH wheel sizes (Loic 69er, Greg 29er and Troy 27.5), it's pretty rad to see that, for the most part, the wheel size debate is dead.

Take a gander at his winning steed and enjoy a post-race interview with the current World Champ. -photos by @maddogboris

Loic's telemetry bike.

Loic's Demo at Leogang

Loic's Demo at Maribor

We'll see the #2 plate on his bike in Andorra a month from now.

Tracey and Loic's winning runs from Leogang.

Forum: Is the Mixed Wheel Size Here to Stay?

ALL THINGS LEOGANG WORLD CUP DH

Loic Bruni's Outspoken Interview Series

Related:
Crankbrothers
Joystick
Leogang, Austria
Loic Bruni
Winning Bike
Downhill
UCI Mountain Bike World Cup
Öhlins
Magura
DT Swiss
Specialized
31 comments

View replies to: WINNING BIKE - Loic Bruni's Prototype Specialized Demo

c50 bike basszilla
diatribe69
5 years ago
Remember the Big S Rule for Internet Forums: If an athlete loses on a Specialized bike, it was the bike's fault; if they win, you write, "It's always the rider, not the bike."
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Fariz
5 years ago
The new specialized demo 69er looks shorter in terms of wheelbase compared to danny hart’s saracen myst 69er.
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Kusa
5 years ago
It almost feel like that Demo is designed with that wheel size in mind while Saracen was butchered from original 29" so there is a bigger gap – wheelbase (visually).

Also some interesting info – wheel size X rider height

1st place – 29"/27.5" – 180cm (Loic)
2nd place – 29" – 190cm (Greg)
3rd place – 27.5" – 167cm (Troy)
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Fariz
5 years ago
I guess, bike companies should make DH bikes size according to rider's height and wheel size.

Size XS & S (front and rear 27.5) riders below 170cm
Size M (front 29, rear 27.5) riders between 170-180cm
Size L & XL (front and rear 29) riders above 180cm
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c50 bike basszilla
diatribe69
5 years ago
Haha, I was gonna say that, too! If you look closely, the Banshee has two wheels and the Specialized has...yep, two wheels. Copiers gonna copy.
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Mudmandh
5 years ago
I love any MTB bike or parts doesn't matter aluminium or carbon, I just don't understand that hate for carbon. I think only Commençal and Specialized are alu and all others top DH bikes on WC are Carbon or full Carbon. Amaury bike is alu with carbon rims, bars, crankset.. imagine how advanced is the alu on Loic bike... don't like carbon? just don't buy it.
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TEAMROBOT
5 years ago
I think the part that sucks is paying $600-1000 more for a carbon frame with no benefit. If you add up carbon handlebars, wheels, and cranks, too, you’re at about $2500-3000 extra for no benefit. And when I say “no benefit,” I mean to say World Cup guys are the biggest tweakers out there, and Loic would not be riding aluminum if he thought it was slower.
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nismo325
5 years ago
Do you really think loic can just tell specialized what to make his frame out of? LOL! he rides whatever spec gives him and i bet in a year or so this proto bike will be made from carbon too. Also carbon definietly has a weight and dampening advanteges or companies wouldn't invest. I get it you like ALU but lets look at actual facts instead of the ALU hype that seems to be the new trend lol
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TEAMROBOT
5 years ago
How that conversation with Spec went, "Loic, we want you to ride a carbon frame this year." "Cool, don't care." "Loic, we want you to ride an aluminum frame this year." "Cool, don't care." "Loic, we want you to ride 2.6" Butchers this year. Our marketing department is really pushing the mid-fat tire size." "I'll quit and ride for Trek if you make me ride that shit."
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TEAMROBOT
5 years ago
There are components and designs that give a real performance advantage. Carbon fiber is not one of them. Weight is clearly not a major concern for downhill racers in 2019, otherwise they wouldn't willfully be putting 300 gram pool noodles in their tires and riding aluminum parts.
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onenerdykid*
5 years ago
If you don't think a carbon version of this bike is in the works, you're most likely mistaken. When the Demo went from 26" to 650b (the bike Troy won Ft Bill on), it was made in aluminum first. I'd bet dollars to donuts that this bike will be commercially launched in carbon. These bikes are alu because they are early versions.
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hamncheez2003
5 years ago
Actually, thats exactly what Loic did last year. They had this prototype out already, and Miranda Miller raced on it. Loic refused to, and kept racing the older carbon one with the single sided seat tube. I guess over the winter he put some time on this frame and decided it was fast enough for him.
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Kusa
5 years ago
AL is here definitely for quicker testing. Same with Stump EVO which arrived first in AL to test the market. As for other parts, maybe just the preference of riders / what is available by their sponsors / what makes most sense for DH race. I can image that AL bars are here in case of crashing and still being able to get on bike and finish which would probably not happen with carbon bars.
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bman33
5 years ago
It's a prototype. Vast majority of manufacturers use Alloy for quick, cheap(ish) prototypes. Get he geo set, ordre up a $15k-$35k mold for the carbon. Each material has it's place and pros/cons.
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Sonofbovril2
5 years ago
31.8 Aluminium handlebar & DT Swiss EX471 - 25mm inner width Aluminium rims... SuperBruni doesn't need your new standards!
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c50 RideDontSlide
JCL
5 years ago
Straight pull spokes on the front for lateral compliance?
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loganskis
5 years ago
Specialized doesn’t make a 29” DH tire. Interesting to see what looks like a DHR2 out back as well.
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MPH24
5 years ago
Any word on tire width? I feel like last year he was running 2.3 or something on the narrower side like that
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matmattmatthew
5 years ago
In the butchers he was running 2.3. He said he prefers a narrower tire because it forces him to be more precise with his line choices. Not sure on the Maxxis widths.
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