Kurtis Downs is a Nitro Circus athlete with a bunch of “worlds firsts” to his name, as well as, an X-games BMX Big Air medal. Fezzari knew a boundary-pushing rider needed a unique bike, and Ian McDonnell, one of Fezzari's lead techs, quickly jumped on the project. Ian grew up in New York racing BMX and also has a huge love for slopestyle mountain bikes. They took their 29er carbon Signal Peak, which gets 120mm of travel front and rear, and modified it into a slopestyle-esque bike for Kurtis. The Signal Peak geometry was the best suited (in Fezzari's current lineup) for this style of bike due to the 68-degree head tube angle and smaller wheelbase.
The most major mod was swapping the 29-inch wheels for 27.5-inch wheels. The stock BB drop with dual 29s is 35mm, and the new setup hits 28.4mm. Bottom bracket height was controlled with the addition of a 140mm travel RockShox Pike, which also slacked the bike from 68 to 67.1 degrees. A move to 165mm cranks keeps pedals out of harm's way. Spacing on the bottom bracket was changed to allow a snug preload on the bearings, keeping cranks level during tricks like tailwhips and no-foot cans.
Kurtis' bars were cut to a width of 770mm from 800mm and the seat post chopped to 200mm.
A 7-speed SRAM GX DH drivetrain on the bike uses a downtube-mounted shifter. The shifter won't get caught on Kurtis' pants during tuck no-handers and provides more space for getting hands back on the bars cleanly.
Brake reach is close to the grips for Kurtis’ smaller hands. Front brake cable routing is through the steer tube using a fork compression plug from a carbon road bike fork that is meant for internal routing. This allows the front brake cable to move freely through the inside of the steer tube as the fork is compressed.
Complete Bike Details
- Frame: Fezzari Signal Peak 120mm rear travel, carbon, 29er geometry custom-built with 27.5 wheels
- Rear Shock: Rockshox Monarch RT3
- Fork: Rockshox Pike Ultimate RC2 140mm
- Handlebar: DEITY Brendog Signature 31.8mm x 30mm Rise
- Stem: DEITY Copperhead 31.8mm x 35mm
- Grips: Lizard Skins Charger Lock-on
- Brakes: TRP Quadiums 180/180mm rotors
- Shifter: SRAM GX-DH 7 Speed Custom Downtube Mount
- Rear Derailleur: SRAM GX-DH 7 Speed
- Cranks: SRAM GX 165mm
- Pedals: Deity T-Mac
- Front Rim: ethirteen LG1R Enduro Race Carbon
- Rear Rim: ethirteen LG1R Enduro Race Carbon
- Front Tire: Teravail Honcho 2.4
- Rear Tire: Teravail Honcho 2.4
- Seatpost: Fezzari Cut Down - 200mm
Action and outdoor photos by Scooter Cooper
6/19/2020 7:47am
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