Air up front on the Float 40’s, they are out of the box believe it or not then just with my own clicks on the compression and rebound. Coil on the back with the Fox DHX RC4 which has the same tune that comes on a production Orange 322, again just with my own clicks to fine tune it.
What about tyres?Schwalbe Magic Marys is all I’ve used all winter and will be for most of the season. They are really a good do–it–all tyre which is ideal because the more time you spend on a tyre the more you know the edge of it.
What do you feel is the most important part on your bike?I don’t think there is one part that I feel is most important, it all has to work together. I think brakes are really important though because I like to brake late and hard and without them working properly I would find myself dragging my brakes in corners and not flowing losing speed the whole way down. I think tyres are another very important piece of kit, after all they are the only thing making contact with the ground. Frame design and geometry has to be right and I’m happy to be on board a design that is very stiff, light and in conjunction with my suspension makes for a smooth run down the hill keeping my wheels tracking as I go through corners yet still able to hold me up on the heavy hits as well.
Do you go in for Titanium bolts?Some bits yep, but other parts strength is more important.
Did you go through many parts? You must have bust some stuff up?I have in my time but not so much recently. Had a big crash and did some stuff the other day.
If you could change one thing about the bike what would it be?There’s very little I’d change to be honest. The team has been really lucky with sponsors this year, they are all brands and products I would pick myself. Between myself and Ben (Reid, team manager) we have a few ideas we’d like to try and the boys at Orange seem pretty up for them so we’ll see what happens over the season. Other than that sometimes I wish my bike had a throttle so I could send bigger jumps and roost more turns!
SPECFrame: Orange 322, Large
Shock: Fox DHX RC4
Fork: Fox Float 40
Bars: Renthal FatBar 30mm rise
Stem: Renthal Prototype, 50mm
Grips: Renthal Lock–Ons (Kevlar)
Headset: Works Components
Shifter: SRAM X0
Derailleur: SRAM X0
Brakes: SRAM X0 Trail levers/Code callipers
Seatpost: Thomson
Saddle: Dirty Zero Team
Crank: Truvativ descendant, 165mm
BB: Truvativ
Ring: Gamut, 36t
Chain Guide: Gamut P30
Cassette: SRAM 11–23t
Chain: SRAM
Pedals: Cranks Bros
Wheelset: DT Swiss Spline EX1750
Tyres: Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.35
Tubes: Tubeless
Extras: Mucky Nutz fender
Wheelbase: 1215mm
Chainstay: 445mm
Headangle: 63º
Weight: 35.8lbs
Bar width: 660mm
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