Words by Steve Jones. Photo by Ben Winder

Last year Charlie Hatton did a full season on the Lapierre DH Team. It was successful and he scooped up a series of wins. As 2013 slipped into ‘14 he was still posting fastest times of the day at the Mini DH at the Forest of Dean, but it was time to move on. Not that there was anything wrong with the French machine, for it proved faultless.

On paper there’s not a whole world of difference between the Team and the World Cup models, save for wheels and a Kashima coated fork. The Team still boasts a Fox Fit fork and has the benefit of what we believe to be the superior Shimano Zee over Saint in many departments, no more so than the slightly less aggressive Zee brakes which might benefit someone light of weight.

The boy seems well happy with the new wheels. “The first thing I noticed was how stable the GT was. It felt as If I could go a lot faster on straight and rough sections. I’m still getting used to the different cornering characteristic at the minute, it doesn’t pull out of the corners like the Lapierre and I kept running wide on the exits for a while. For a medium the GT feels really long, I’m guessing this is why it’s so stable. The weight of the Fury isn’t too bad either and it jumps and pulls up well, it’s easy to hop sections. You notice it pedals fast on flat sections. The bike is really great overall and can’t wait to ride it again.”

Charlie is set for a full national season of Youth races, it’ll be interesting to see how he goes on a bike that’s already won a hell of a lot of World Cups.