It wasn't to be Aaron Gwin's weekend, but he'll keep the Number One plate for next weekend - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Myriam Nicole's mechanic talks through the finer details of her Supreme DH with MBUK's Ed Thomsett - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
The linkage on the Commencal looks complex, but gives a high pivot placement without interference from the chain - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
Connor Fearon's Kona Operator can run 27.5in or 29in wheels - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
Propane's mechanic gives the final touches to one of its team bikes - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
The new 29er V10 is almost production ready — the linkages don't quite look finished — presumably riders are still fine-tuning their ride - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
This definitely isn't Shimano or SRAM, and Box deny it's theirs too — could Gwin's sponsor e*thirteen be working on mechs and shifters? It does pretty much everything else in a groupset - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Spank has moved its foam-filled alloy Vibrocore tech from bars to rims, to give a touch of damping to the rims for a more comfortable ride - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Myriam Nicole's Commencal Supreme DH V4.2 sits beside her mechanic, prepping her goggles. Nicole chose the 27.5in bike for Fort William, rather than the new 29er that Commencal also offers - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Loris Vergier runs a super tight cassette on his new 29er V10, as well as Minnaar's signature Assegai tyre - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Greg Williamson gets to ride one of the most exclusive bikes around — the UNNO Ever. He was testing some prototype Crank Bros wheels - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
TRP Quadiem brakes have a lot of machining to keep them cool - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Tracey Hannah's Polygon DH bike is still officially unreleased — expect news soon though - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The bike everyone wanted to get a proper shot of, but nobody was allowed to — Miranda Millers 29er Demo. It looks like quite the departure from the 27.5in bike - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Rachel Atherton's Red Bull helmet carries a GoPro under the peak to help her study the course, pre-race - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Cavalerie Bikes might not be a common sight, well, anywhere, but its Effigear driven bike with Gates' Carbon Drive keeps the weight low and central and the suspension free to move with little interference - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The Effigear system has nine gears and can be paired with a regular SRAM 9-speed shifter - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
With winning margins getting tighter with time, data acquisition is becoming increasingly important. Danny Hart's mechanic has worked with an engineer who used to work in F1 and Superbikes to develop a subtle system to gain ride info - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The system can tell the team all-sorts: brake pressure, fore to aft pitch thanks to suspension set up, the effect of braking on suspension, and the tilt of the bike in corners. There's on-off and start-stop buttons on a controller behind the number board - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Lachlan Blair 'The Mexican' is one of Scotland's top privateers, often seen slipping and sliding around with The Dudes of Hazzard. His Canyon Sender was being fettled in the Mavic pits, with his Mexican theme designed by himself - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Connor Fearon has a set of prototype HT flats. The platform was simply massive for a fully locked-in feel - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Scott Velosolutions is running legendary BOS suspension for 2018, with the upside down Obsys fork plugged in up front - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The Scott Velosolutions team is also running TRP brakes, with the Aaron Gwin signature G-Spec Quadiem brakes fettling speeds on course - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
This finned heat-sink on Katy Curd's bike is said to reduce shock temperature by 10-15% to keep things feeling consistent - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Brook MacDonald catches a word with Greg Minnaar and Fox's top Europe technician at the Fox pits after practice. Fox is on hand for its top riders with full tech support at every round - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
Brook MacDonald is one of numerous riders riding Maxxis' new Assegai rubber, designed with input from Minnaar - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The pit area of any world cup race is a great place to spy interesting new bits and pieces that might make their way to full-scale production, or have a little geek-out at how the pros set up their bikes.
We spent the weekend at Fort William in Scotland, watching one of the greatest shows on Earth (well, in DH racing at least), and took a bit of time out to nosey in and around the mechanics' area, where the bikes were being set up.
Loris Vergier's Santa Cruz V10 29er
The new 29er V10 is almost production ready — the linkages don't quite look finished — presumably riders are still fine-tuning their ride - James Blackwell / Immediate Media
One of the most anticipated bikes around has to be Santa Cruz's 29er V10. We've seen the bike now a number of times, but at Fort William the bike looked as close to production-ready as we've seen.
Loris Vergier piloted his bike to the second step on the podium, behind Amaury Pierron, also on a 29er, cementing the bigger wheel's place on the DH circuit.
Miranda Miller's prototype 29in Specialized Demo
The bike everyone wanted to get a proper shot of, but nobody was allowed to — Miranda Miller's 29er Demo. It looks like quite the departure from the 27.5 - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The other big bike news was that Miranda Miller's proto 29er Specialized made it out in to the open. Specialized's mechanics weren't keen on anyone getting too close, so you won't see many decent photos around.
It's obviously a far more complex linkage than the current Demo, and on closer inspection it looks like the pivot locations will have flip-chips in, or they aren't set in stone yet. Watch this space...
Data acquisition on Danny Hart's Saracen Myst
With winning margins getting tighter with time, data acquisition is becoming increasingly important. Danny Hart's mechanic has worked with an engineer who used to work in F1 and Superbikes to develop a subtle system to gain ride info - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
With speeds getting faster and winning margins smaller, knowing exactly what's happening under the rider is increasingly important.
While previous data logging tech has been pretty obvious with wires, control boards and suspension extension logging pistons clearly on show, the system developed for Danny Hart's Saracen Myst is far more subtle.
His mechanic hinted that it might be commercially available next year, but that might be a step too far for most punters!
Gwin's mysterious rear mech
This definitely isn't Shimano or SRAM, and Box deny it's theirs too. Could Gwin's sponsor e*thirteen be working on mechs and shifters? It does pretty much everything else in a groupset - Tom Marvin / Immediate Media
The YT Mob might run SRAM gears on most of its bikes, but the mech and shifter hanging off Aaron Gwin's Tues wasn't SRAM, nor was it Shimano. Even Box Components is on record saying it's not one of the company's.
YT has a strong partnership with e*thirteen though, and with cranks, cassettes, chainguides and wheels already in its product line up, perhaps we could see something coming from e*thirteen in the coming years?
Tom Marvin is MBUK’s YouTube presenter and podcaster, as well as a regular contributor to BikeRadar.
He writes mountain bike reviews for the site, while also testing components and kit.
His work as a presenter has seen him race pro riders, tackle World Cup downhill courses and attend international launch events.
He has been part of the MBUK and BikeRadar family for 11 years, contributing to all aspects of tech content, including a spell working heavily on Cycling Plus magazine.
In that time, he has tested hundreds of bikes and more than 1,000 products.
He has been mountain biking for 25 years, with cross-country (XC) and trail riding his speciality, although he’s more than happy dipping into the world of enduro whenever there’s a chance.
Tom’s photos of bikes and food covered in ketchup can be found on his Instagram account.
Height: 182cm
Bike size: Large
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