With the race season on hold, we’ve been left to trawl through the archives looking for our World Cup downhill fix. Here’s a look at ten downhill bikes from the past few seasons that are a bit unconventional or are just simply more exotic than the norm:

Cavalerie Falcon

This Cavalerie Falcon equipped with an Effigear gearbox was raced by AM Dorval’s junior Emilie Rilat in the 2018 season. It certainly stands out from the crowd in the World Cup pits, we took these shots in 2018 in Val di Sole and, while one did grace a tech randoms gallery, it never went much further than that. Here’s a little more in-depth look.

At the heart of the bike is a 9-speed Effigear gearbox.

We haven’t spotted another Cavalerie Falcon on the WC scene.

 

Kellys Noid 90

Kellys are no strangers to the World Cup circuit but their flagship downhill model, the Noid 90, is definitely a little more unconventional when compared to most of the other rigs in the WC pits. If you want to take an even closer look you can read our bike check of Rastislav Baranek’s Noid 90 29er.

When Rick Schubert shot these photos at a European DH Cup round in 2018, the team was currently testing a carbon version of the Think Link that was engineered by the technical university of Bratislava.

The Noid 90 seems to be an extremely versatile bike as there are two adjustment options, one on the chainstay and one at the rear shock, which alter the head angle and bottom bracket.

 

Cannondale prototype

This bike speaks for itself and caused quite the stir in the run-up to the 2019 season as we were teased with glimpses of a twin shocked Cannondale downhill bike being ridden by Matt Simmonds. The first round

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