{"id":7011,"date":"2019-03-26T15:06:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T13:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/?p=7011"},"modified":"2019-12-30T08:37:10","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T06:37:10","slug":"bike-check-kross-mtb-racing-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/bike-check-kross-mtb-racing-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Check: Kross MTB Racing Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Kross\nRacing Team is debatably one of the most successful mountain bike racing teams\nof the decade. They\u2019ve conquered many UCI XC world cup courses, and between\nMaja Wloszczowska and former team\nmember Jolande Neff, have a few world titles added to their team name. For the\n2019 season, the team now consists of 4 very competitive riders. Namely, Sergio\nMantecon, Ondrej Cink, Maja Wloszczowska and another with which we are all too\nfamiliar; Ariane Luthi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kross Racing Team\u2019s focus has been set on the 2019 cross-country race season, Tokyo Olympics, and the 2019 Absa Cape Epic. We were fortunate enough to catch up a bit with the team at the 2019 Cape Epic. Having chatted to Jacques, the team\u2019s assistant mechanic, we managed to pull some insight out from the full-on race bikes that the team is piloting. Jacques clearly remarked, that the team mechanic\u2019s goal is to get these Kross racing machines, as light as possible, and as fast as possible. So, without any further delay lets take a closer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Bikes:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The riders are all riding Kross Earth Team Editions \u2013 a completely carbon\nfibre, full-suspension, XC race bike with 100mm of rear suspension travel. On\nthe rear-wheel of the bike, Kross have used Boost axles and hubs, and upfront\nDT Swiss has made the same provision for the fork\u2019s axle to be wider. This\npretty much ensures that the riders always get the require amount of stiffness\nfrom the wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since one of the team\u2019s main sponsors are DT Swiss, the bikes are\ncurrently all kitted out with DT Swiss shocks and wheel-sets. Upfront they have\nDT Swiss OPM O.D.L 100 Race fork with 100mm of travel, and on the rear shock, a\nDT Swiss R535 ONE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another main sponsor the Kross Racing Team, is Shimano. So, the team\u2019s\nbikes are all kitted out with Shimano\u2019s XTR drivetrain. In terms of gear range,\nthe riders are using the 1×12 setup, however each rider\u2019s chainring size\nupfront differs. Maja is using a 32t chainring while Ariane is smashing it out\non a 34t. For the men, the chainrings can range anywhere between 34t and 38t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n