#91 TAHNÉE SEAGRAVE’S TRANSITION TR11
The DH race bike that may spell an end to the era of Atherton dominance
We never like to see a rider crash, but one positive did come out of Rachel Atherton’ s shoulderdislocating tumble at Fort William last year – it blew the door wide open for the rest of the women’s World Cup field. One rider who stepped through that door in commanding fashion was British young gun Tahnée Seagrave. At the start of last season, the 22-year-old didn’t have a World Cup win to her name, but by the end of the year, she’d chalked up three victories, three more podiums and came ever so close at the World Champs. Talent and hard work were clearly big factors in her success, but confidence and familiarity with her bike played a role too.
Tahnée has been riding bikes from Washington State-based Transition for a good while now, and at Fort William last year, she debuted their sleek new full-carbon TR11. For 2018 she’s back on that bike again, only this time in the pink and black regalia of new headline sponsors Muc-Off. The TR11 is Transition’s first dedicated 650b downhill bike (its predecessor the TR500 was designed around 26in wheels but compatible with the mid-size hoops) and has a longer reach and lower bottom bracket, in line with modern geometry trends. It’s also got a new four-bar linkage rear end – although Transition’s marketing manager, Lars Sternberg, was keen to point out that “the playful and progressive nature of our previous single-pivot bikes is still there”.
Sorted set-up
While the TR11 shares its ‘GiddyUp’ suspension platform with the US brand’s trail bikes, the shock is orientated diagonally rather than vertically, because a thoroughbred downhill steed requires less of a pedalling platform and more progression. This suits Tahnée, who says she likes her suspension to ‘pop’. “I don’t like the feeling of being glued to the ground,” she explains, “And that means having things set up pretty fast. My set-up will change a bit to suit a track, but generally I run a 475lb coil and 60psi in my fork, with four volume spacers.”
As part of Fox’s RAD (Racing and Development) programme, which is reserved for the upper echelon of racers, Tahnée DHX2 shock and 40 fork have been shim-stacked and tuned to perfectly match her riding style and preference, after hours of pre-season testing. (1) Tahnée generally prefers to stick with what she knows, rather than having to constantly adapt to changes. She always runs the same 20mm-rise PRO Tharsis 9.8 bar, cut down to 760mm, and matching 45mm stem, but will micro-adjust fork crown height to suit different tracks. (2) “I’m not too keen on adding spacers, though, because I don’t feel as in contact with the bike,” she says. “We’ve used angled headsets in the past too, but I like to keep the changes subtle. Subtle but noticeable!” The exception to this was at last year’s World Champs in Cairns, when she ran a much stiffer set-up and a shock lockout for the heinous finish sprint. “That ended up cursing me, though,” she complains. “I got my trousers caught on it during my run!”
Neither sharp nor squidgy
Technology hasn’t always been a hindrance for Tahnée. At the World Cup finals in Val di Sole, Italy, last year, it was the pinch-flat-resisting Schwalbe Procore system in her rear tyre that saved her run and helped her to the top spot. Being small in stature and only weighing 60kg, she gets away with running incredibly low pressures in her Schwalbe Magic Mary tyres – low 20s and sometimes even less.
As a Shimano-sponsored rider, Tahnée runs a full Saint drivetrain, including crankset, chain device and brakes (3). Finishing kit is supplied by Ergon, from their gravity-specific range. She runs the GD1 grips and SMD2 saddle, both in shocking pink. Securing her feet to the pedals while she’s barrelling through the rocks at Mach 10 are a set of Crankbrothers Mallet DH clipless pedals.
We ask Tahnée if there are any aspects of bike set-up that she’s especially particular about. “Not really,” she says, “But I am quite weird and precise with my brakes. I don’t like them sharp but there’s a fine line before they get squidgy. I feel sorry for my mechanic, Matt – he has it hard sometimes! You can’t buy the time, love and effort he puts into my bike to make it race ready and perfect for me.”
This talk of time and love hints at the camaraderie involved when you’re riding on a small team alongside your brother and run by your dad. Tahnée’s affection for this bike isn’t just due to the way it rides, it’s also because of the strong relationships she’s built up with the sponsors whose parts hang off it. “I’m living the dream and I wouldn’t change anything,” she says. It’s quite apt then, that before the team changed their name to Transition Muc-Off Factory Racing, they were called FMD (Follow My Dream).