EWS Pro Bike Check: Antoine Caron’s Pivot Fireblade
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EWS Pro Bike Check: Antoine Caron’s Pivot Fireblade

June 29, 2017

Antoine Caron is a Canadian rider for the Pivot/Reynolds Enduro team, and Hannah caught up with him for a quick bike check at the Enduro Jura by Julbo. While his team mate Mason Bond was riding a Pivot Switchblade, Antoine was tackling the steep Jura descents on the longer travel Firebird. Let’s take a look.

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Antoine is 183cm/6′ tall and rides a large Firebird. He weighs 73kg/175lb.
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He runs a 27.5×2.5in Minion DHF front and rear, with the heavier Double Down casing and the softest 3C MaxxGrip compound for loads of traction in loose conditions, setup at 23psi front and 27psi rear for almost all of his rides.
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The grips are not sponsor correct, but he has a special dispensation to use these grips due to his fused wrist, which has a very limited range of movement.
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He found the bigger WTB grips had him more over the bars, but with his fused wrist he needs to ride with quite a straight arm – so he likes a thinner grip so he can hold onto the bars.
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Antoine reels off pressure stats like a second language, and even knows his team mate, Mason Bond’s stats better than Mason!
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The Boost 148x12mm thru-axle threads into a Shimano direct-mount derailleur hanger for the Di2 rear mech.
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The dropper is a 150mm travel Fox Transfer, instead of the 125mm factory spec.
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He has 220psi in the shock, plus 3 volume spacers. The set up is fairly heavy on low speed compression at 8 clicks from closed, with low speed rebound fairly slow at 9 clicks out from fully closed, but high speed rebound pretty open, 16 clicks from fully closed.
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The fork is set to 76psi with 3 blue volume spacers.
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He’s been working on a more dynamic riding style and for hopping around the low speed compression helps. This set up makes the bike feel good and poppy while still feeling responsive while pedalling.

Disclosure

Julbo and their UK distributor Lyon Outdoor paid for travel, accommodation and race entry costs for this trip.

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Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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