WHO IS JAROSLAV KULHAVY?
This 28-year-old
racing machine from the Czech Republic won gold at the London 2012 Olympics in
the XC event and was overall UCI XC World Cup winner in 2011. Despite a string
of bad luck on the World Cup circuit this year, he took the UCI Marathon World
Champion and Czech national titles in 2014.
WHY IS THIS A SUPER BIKE?
- Custom blood
spatter/Czech national colours paint job on frame and fork
- Total lockout on
RockShox SID BlackBox Brain fork and Fox RAD Brain rear shock
- The freakiest saddle
position on the World Cup XC circuit
Jaroslav Kulhavy's weird and wonderful XC World Champs bike
Specialized's Epic World Cup is already the most focused
full-sus racer you can buy off the peg, but it still isn't extreme enough for
its fastest pilot. We chatted to Olympic gold medallist Jaroslav Kulhavy and
his crew about what makes this rig uniquely his.
Czech mate
The most obvious
difference is the paint job. While Jaro runs a stock stealth black S-Works
frame most of the year, Specialized created a custom finish for the Hafjell XC
World Championships based on the red, white and blue colours of the Czech flag.
Kulhavy's intentions
to set a murderous pace were signalled by extending the red elements into blood
spatter details across the frame and custom-painted RockShox SID Brain fork.
And that's not the only custom element of the front suspension.
The World Cup edition
Epic bikes all use a 95mm (3.7in) travel fork to slightly sharpen the steering
over previous Epics. They also have a firmer tuning range on the Brain inertia
valve that locks the compression damping until an impact knocks it open. Kulhavy's
fork - prepared for him by RockShox's elite BlackBox programme mechanics - goes
one stage further, with the small amount of free movement at the top of stroke
being removed to give a totally rigid locked setting. The same modification has
been made to the rear shock too, by Fox's RAD race programme engineers. Working
together, this gives Jaro full sprint commitment of the kind that saw him blast
past Nino Schurter in the final few metres at the 2012 Olympics.
Unlike most XC racers,
Jaro never rides a hardtail, because he finds the rigidity of the suspension
when locked out efficient enough. Given that he prefers to open gaps on other
racers on descents - as he did to win the 2014 Marathon World Champs in South
Africa - having instant suspension on tap is vital for his aggressive attacking
style.
Back to the old skool
Jaro's bike has some
distinctive contact point choices. The super-narrow 160g Specialized FACT
Carbon flat bar and 130mm stem form a true retro racer's cockpit - a quick spin
confirmed that the handling is wholly predatory. The low front end has also led
Jaro to adopt a radical seating position, with the saddle nose tilted down by
14 degrees. We had to ask him how he ended up with such a freakish set-up, and
the answer was pretty straightforward: "It gives the perfect climbing
position. I like to be comfortable when everyone else is hurting. I've used
this seat angle for as long as I can remember. I tried level but then I had
back problems so I just went back to what works for me."
While some racers are
fetishistic in their search for the lightest carbon upgrades to minimise mass,
the stop/go gear on Kulhavy's race bike is pretty practical. Jaro chooses SRAMGuide RSC four-pot brakes and adjustable levers rather than the minimalist Avid
Elixir XX race brake. For marathons, he takes advantage of the full Specialized
SWAT storage package rather than using his pockets. That leaves his bike
tipping the scales at a relatively heavy 11kg, but his super-light Roval
Control SL 29 carbon wheels and minimal-tread Renegade Control tyres keep
rotating weight low for maximum responsiveness.
It's obviously a
relationship that works too, because Kulhavy has confirmed he'll be racing for
Specialized again in 2015. Not on this bike though, because the one-off paint
job frame was only used for Hafjell and the Roc d'Azur season ender. According
to Specialized's European race truck chief Paddy McGuiness, "It's now just
for home or museum, or whatever he wants to do with it." In other words,
it's a true one-off superbike for a truly one-off superstar.
SWAT TEAM
Specialized’s SWAT
storage system fits a CO2 inflator, tyre levers and inner tube into a box below
the side-loading bottle cage. A mini-tool clips into the forward shock mount
and a chain tool is hidden in the headset cap.
BACK-END BRAIN
The Brain chamber next
to the rear axle contains a lockout valve that pops upwards to let the rear
suspension work as soon as the wheel gets bumped from below by the terrain. A
similar valve sits in the custom RockShox SID fork.
SINGLE-RING ONLY
Specialized claim
their S-Works Epic World Cup frame was the first production full-suspension
bike to be fully single-ring specific. There are no mounts or clearance for a
front derailleur, but that means there's space for a huge driveside chainstay
for extra-stiff power delivery.
CARBON CRANKS
The prototype
Specialized FACT Carbon cranks use a 104mm BCD SRAM X01 chainring rather than a
94mm BCD XX1 ring. Jaro's prepared to compromise weight slightly for cosmetics
though and uses an X01 cassette rather than an XX1 block for its all-black
finish.
PULL THE TRIGGER
Kulhavy won the 2011
XC World Championships on a handmade prototype set of Gripshift twist shifters
but now uses a conventional XX1 trigger shifter for his 1x11 set-up.
STEM SET-UP
The upside-down 130mm
stem looks like a 1990s throwback but isn't an unusual sight on the bikes of
top XC racers, especially if they're countering the effect of tall 29in wheels.
Jaro even removes the top cap of his headset to get another few millimetres'
drop and shave some grams too.
SHORT TRAVEL
The Epic S-Works and
Expert World Cup frames both use Specialized's highest-grade FACT 11m carbon
fibre, single-ring specific architecture and a mere 95mm of travel front and
rear for lower ride height and a tighter suspension feel.
