Our athlete team is currently training for the 2014 race season. For mountain biking, YogaSlackers/GearJunkie athlete Chelsey Magness has a hot new bike.
Her Ellsworth hardtail 29er, based off the company’s Enlightenment 27.5 frame, was custom-built with input and collaboration with company founder Tony Ellsworth.
“We modified the Enlightenment 27.5 small frame to take the 29-inch wheels,” Ellsworth explained. “Time was spent to get those bigger wheels in a frame size that was designed to accommodate the smaller-diameter 27.5-inch wheels.”
By custom making the rear triangle, and with some modifications to the front end, the company was able to fit Chelsey, who is 5-feet, 1-inch tall, on the 29-inch wheels.
The carbon-frame bike got a custom look, which Ellsworth calls the “Namaste” paintjob. It fades from purple to pink and has YogaSlackers logos ghosted into the paint.
The company does these custom paintjobs for $750. Noted Ellsworth, “it’s done by hand, and each stage has to be hand-mixed.”
Chelsey’s bike has Stan’s Race Gold wheels and Racing Ralph tires. Pedals are from Crank Brothers, the company’s Eggbeater 11 model, which weigh just 174 grams/pair.
The component set is SRAM XX1, which saves weight and has performed without a hitch, Magness noted, including in the mud of Central American jungles where the team raced (and took first place!) in an event last month.
The end result is a completely original bike, both in look and build. The “Namaste” bike weighs just under 20 pounds and was created specifically for fast cross-country singletrack, gravel roads, and the kind of double-track routes often encountered on adventure races. —Stephen Regenold
