Right after their races on Saturday and Sunday, we took a detailed look at the race winning bikes of World Champions Annika Langvad and Nino Schurter, with a full break down and actual weights of both. But even besides the prototype bikes from Mondraker & MMR and prototype tires from Continental & Michelin, there were plenty of other fast pro bikes with unique setups to see. We’ll do three roundup posts today for a detailed look at the other bikes that racers rode to the podia. Maybe the most tricked out bike we saw was the carbon prototype full suspension bike from Korean bike company WiaWis that German champ Sabine Spitz rode to a second place in the elite women’s race. Even beyond the frame, Spitz’s bike was full of customization. Plus we also take a look at third place finisher Linda Indergand’s Focus O1E which we also hung on our scale to check out its actual race weight…
Sabine Spitz – WiaWis full-suspension prototype
WIAWIS (Winning in Action, Winning in Spirit) is a new bike brand from South Korea that recently sprouted out of the archery giant Win&Win. They’ve taken carbon manufacturing experience and mixed it with bike design to over just a few years fill out a pretty complete bike line. Spitz started working with them last year and rode their carbon hardtail in last year’s Olympics.
Spitz just started racing the new cross-country full-suspension bike with its single-pivot suspension design with a linkage driven shock, and it seems to be treating her well with her best World Cup finish since she won a round back in 2013 in Andorra. What we do know about the carbon bike is that it employs flexing seatstays, a machined aluminum upper link, a Boost spaced rear end, and a tapered headtube with full internal cable routing.
The carbon bike uses large pivot hardware and aluminum inserts at the pivots and bottom brackets. It has a removable high direct mount front derailleur mount that Spitz had set up with a Ceetec chain guide that needed a bit of modification to clear the driveside swingarm’s main pivot. A light 19g Wasserträger Uni bottle cage from Tune handled hydration.
Trick German carbon and customization starts off with a set of light THM Clavicula M3 Boost cranks that get Spitz’s signature scrawled on in gold. Then a pair of titanium Crankbrother’s Eggbeater 11 pedals lay down the power.
More customization in the wheelset. Sptiz gets special Tune Prince & Princess hubs with Boost spacing and her own crown logo and name laser etched on them. Those hubs then get laced to superlight Bike Ahead carbon rims to make up a one-off Tune Black Burner Skyline 29er wheelset, wrapped in the newest Addix Schwalbe tires in a Rocket Ron front, Thunder Burt rear pairing.
With a bit of drivetrain sponsor freedom, Spitz was racing an XTR shadow+ rear derailleur (with masked out logos) on a SRAM XX-1 X-dome 10-42 cassette.
Spitz rolled forward propelled by a tiny 28T SRAM X-Sync chain ring and an X11SL gold chain from sponsor KMC. Some green alloy chainring bolts from Tune carry over a custom look. The new WiaWis frame has been used for training and the Cape Epic race so far, and its chainstay protector has certainly gotten some abuse, likely having chainsuck on a larger chainring before the World Cup.
That Tune green ano extends to the stem that then clamps carbon from another German weight weenie company, this time in a Schmolke flat carbon handlebar. Spitz rode this bike to a 3rd overall (and won the last stage) at the Cape Epic 2017 and it still bore the race tracking sticker. Spitz headed home soon after her Saturday race, so we didn’t get a chance to weight the bike, although we’re sure it was one of the lighter full suspension setups at the race. Next Spitz and the WiaWis head off to Albstadt for another shot at round 2 of the World Cup.
Linda Indergand – Focus O1E
While Spitz’s bike was all about custom, Swiss racer Linda Indergand who came in third rode a much more stock version of the Focus O1E introduced last summer.
The Focus O1E was setup with a RockShox SID WC and Monarch XX shock with hydraulic lockout. Her bike even sticks with a stock red paint job, just getting a name decal on the toptube to mark it as Linda’s. It does add a KS Lev CI stealth dropper seatpost to better attack the steep up & downs of the Nové Město course.
Component-wise Indergand’s O1E uses a full SRAM XX1 Eagle groupset and Level Ultimate brakes. Apparently she didn’t have a motor installed, but the UCI double checked before and after the race, just to be sure.
For wheels Indergand was riding a new DT Swiss carbon wheelset labeled as XMC1200 30, which suggests according to DT’s MTB labeling methods a really wide (for XC racing) 30mm internal width rim profile!
Of course the tires on her bike are the prototype design of the Continental Race King tread that we looked at earlier in the week.
All in, Indergand’s Focus O1E weighed 10.71kg (23.61lb) on our scale, ready to race with Ritchey WCS HT M1 XC pedals, a carbon cage, and a stock mount for her Garmin.
