A broken arm slowed Jaroslav Kulhavy down at the start of the season. In Albstadt, he was able to ride again thanks to a carbon track and finished fifth straight away. Many see him as the favourite on the relatively flat course in Rio. The world champion is not asking himself which bike he will be using at the start line. He will ride a fully. As always.
How Jaroslav Kulhavy rides the Specialized Epic
Jaroslav Kulhavy is an exceptional talent. The 1.87 metre tall rider stands out physically compared to his smaller and significantly lighter rivals.
But the really unusual thing is its riding position. A 130 millimetre stem, a seatpost with a 40 millimetre offset and a saddle that points towards the ground - unrideable for us. The Czech rider's strange riding position helped him win Olympic gold in London, which is why we are careful not to be know-it-alls. Specialized team colleague Christoph Sauser helped us out with his identically constructed bike, but with a normal riding position, during the test in Albstadt.
Kulhavy's bike is the highest on our scales. The bike weighs 10.6 kilos with power meter in size L. The Epic challenges us directly with the Red Bull Climb. The combination of high weight and 36 mm chainring tortured the muscle fibres of our not-so-trained legs on the uphill. However, when we entered Devils Corner, the first key technical section, the agony of the climb was forgotten.
The reason: the suspension ironed out the bumps like a flow trail without us unlocking it. Specialized's Brain system automatically locks out the suspension elements when pedalling. As soon as a bump from the ground shakes the bike, the Brain makes the full suspension travel available. A pleasant solution, completely without cables or electronics.
Tyres with extremely good wet grip and self-damping increase the feeling of safety downhill. The Epic prefers fast straights to the twisty parts of the course. Even though many Olympians will rely on hardtails in view of the flat course in Rio, the Kulhavy/Epic team is definitely a top favourite in the battle for gold.
What Kulhavy's team mechanic says
"Many riders switch between hardtail and fully depending on the route. Jaro doesn't, he always rides his Epic. That saves us a lot of work, because we only have to get one bike ready for competition. His quirk: he always determines the air pressure in the tyres by feel, only in the rarest of cases does the digital tester replace Jaro's thumb."
The complete test story on the Olympic bikes of Fumic, Schurter & Co. can be found in BIKE 9/2016.
The complete issue
can also be read in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or the issue in the DK-Shop reorder:
