15 Privateer Bikes at Fort William World Cup 2024 - Pinkbike

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Our wander around the Fort William World Cup pits was rewarded with glimpses of the latest and greatest bikes and tech ridden by the world's fastest downhill mountain bikers. The likes of Greg Minnaar, Tahnee Seagrave, Nina Hoffmann and most all the other other factory team riders have the very best chance of success this weekend, with their own dedicated mechanic fettling their bike, a team manager keeping everyone on schedule... some even have a chef on site to ensure nutrition is on point, and a sports massage therapist knocking about ready to soothe away any aches and pains that make an unwelcome appearance. A lot of these riders have a spare bike, closely matched (if not identical) to their race bike, on hand when the metaphorical feces hits the fan and a replacement ride is needed at a moment's notice.

There is, however, a larger army of privateers (around 80) taking on all of these roles, in addition to their task of riding down Aonach Mòr as fast as is humanely possible. They aren't on the latest technology that money can buy, but you can be sure that many of these frames likely have several thousands more meters of descending under them than any factory team rider's bike kicking around the pits. Here's a quick look at the workhorses of Fort William's privateers. We asked each of them what their favorite thing about their bike is.