Fancy a bit of tech talk with one of the most tech-savvy mountain bike racers of all time? Well it’s finally here, the part 2 of my conversation with Fabien Barel. Last time we spoke (listen to part 1 here) we covered the more emotional and psychological side of mountain biking, so this time I thought we should get technical. Fabien has always been a rider who likes to get into the detail of things, and so when you ask his opinion on something, you know that it’s been well researched and thought out. We talk about how far ahead of the game they were with the Sunn team in the 90s, and why that level of technological progression wasn’t seen for a good while during the 2000s. We get Fabien’s thoughts on longer geometry, mixed wheel size bikes, and tyre insert too. So if you want some technical insight then you need to hit play and give this episode a listen.

You can follow Fabien on Instagram @fabienbarel

This episode of the podcast is supported by PNW Components. I’ve been using a PNW dropper post and their fabulous Loam Lever remote for a year and they have been absolutely faultless, which makes them the only dropper set up I’ve ever had that hasn’t caused me any issues at all in that time period! They have recently launched their new Rainier dropper which has lots of adjustability and a shorter overall length, allowing you to maximise your drop. Check out what they have to offer at www.pnwcomponents.com and for you lucky Downtime listeners you get 15% off during May using the code ‘pnwdowntime‘ at the checkout.

This episode is also supported by Misspent Summers. This awesome crew are producing the amazing Hurly Burly and World Stage books, documenting the racing that we all love. They also sell some lovely merch, are adding a photography and print store to their website, and have some great free zines that you can print out and read for free. Check out all they have to offer over at misspentsummers.com and as a Downtime listener, you get 15% off everything in their store until 20th May. All you need to do is enter the code ‘downtime15‘ at the checkout.

We are going LIVE again on Wednesday 6th May with Cy Turner from Cotic Bikes. You can watch the chat and ask your own questions by heading to youtube.com/downtimemountainbikepodcast at 8pm BST. You can catch up on previous LIVE episodes there too, so make sure you get subscribed to our YouTube channel to keep up to date.

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