Red Bull Hardline Tasmania’s track is the toughest and gnarliest on the race calendar, combining the biggest jumps and wildest tech into a single run.
The world’s best racers have been getting to grips with the track this week, ahead of race day.
Hardline is an invitational event, but riders attending span the gravity-focused disciplines. Big names from slopestyle and freeride through to thoroughbred DH racers are all there, throwing down the gauntlet.
These include two-time winner Rónán Dunne, the legendary Gee Atherton, young talent Jackson Goldstone, first-timer Erice van Leuven and freerider Matt Jones, among a star-studded cast of other riders.
Riders and bikes have to work in symbiosis, so only the riders who are 100 per cent in tune with their bike and the track are going to win.
How to watch Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 2025
Red Bull Hardline Tasmania is free-to-watch on Red Bull TV.
The event is broadcast live on the channel on 8 February at 3am GMT / 4am CET and 7 February at 9pm US Central Time.
You can watch the event on Red Bull TV.
The most exciting bikes of Red Bull Hardline Tasmania 2025
These are some of the most eye-catching bikes and the riders who will be competing for honours at Hardline.
Gee Atherton’s prototype S.200 downhill bike
Gee Atherton is riding a freshly revealed Atherton Bikes prototype DH rig, announced hot on the heels of the brand's new A.200.G.
The S.200’s frame uses a lug-and-tube design like the A.200, but the lugs are CNC-machined, where material is removed from a block of alloy, rather than 3D printed like the brand’s A-series bikes.
This ‘subtractive’ manufacturing technique gives the bike its ‘S’ moniker, and the ‘additive’ manufacturing process its ‘A’ designation.
The alloy tubes on Gee’s prototype bike are bonded into the machined lugs, mirroring the A.200’s design.
While the A.200.G’s revolutionary gearbox design caused a bit of furore on the internet, the S.200 is fitted with a standard drivetrain.
Here, SRAM’s cable-operated X01 DH 7-speed derailleur is mated with FSA cranks and an MRP chain device.
Hayes Dominion A4 brakes clamp large 203mm rotors front and rear to help Gee slow down quickly.
Continental’s softest-compound, downhill-casing Kryptotal tyres, designed for mixed terrain, should be a perfect match for the dry conditions on the Tasmanian track.
Like the rest of Atherton’s subtractive-manufacturing bikes, the S.200 uses Dave Weagle’s DW-link suspension design.
Here, two co-rotating links offer up around 200mm of travel.
According to Gee, he’s riding a size seven out of 12 standard sizes, with a 470mm reach figure.
The S.200 is coming soon, with prices starting at £4,999.99 / $5,179.61 / €4,980.73 for full builds.
Rónán Dunne’s prototype Mondraker Summum
Fresh from a 2024 season with two World Cup wins and back-to-back Hardline wins in Tasmania and Wales, Dunne is clearly at home on his proto Mondraker Summum.
He’s proved that point by lapping New Zealand’s many DH tracks over and over in the DH racing off-season.
That means the flying Irishman’s setup is likely to remain unchanged for the event, but there’s still some interesting tech to be spotted on his rig.
Up-front, he’s running what looks like the biggest reach-extending headset cup, pushing the fork's steerer as close to the front of the head tube as possible.
Like the rest of the Mondraker team, Dunne is running a stock large frame, but because of the amount of adjustment available, it can be tuned for each rider’s specific needs.
He’s running mixed wheels – like many of the top racers – and has put his rear shock in the higher of two flip-chip positions, to compensate for any bottom-bracket height lost to the 27.5in rear hoop.
Elsewhere, in an unusual mix, SRAM’s X01 DH 7-speed drivetrain and Maven brakes are coupled with Fox’s 40 fork and DHX2 dampers.
At the rear, there’s an enormous amount of chain-slap damping thanks to a finned, rubberised guard. This is coupled with two looped chain guides attached to the chainstay. The chain runs through the loops, reducing the amount it can slap and move about.
Rónán, like a lot of racers, is obviously a fan of a quiet bike.
He’s running Maxxis tyres, with an Assegai up-front and a Minion DHR II out back – a popular combination.
Laurie Greenland’s Santa Cruz V10
British rider Laurie Greenland is now a stalwart on the Santa Cruz Syndicate team and has been riding a V10 for nearly three years.
That means his setup is already dialled.
For Hardline’s massive hits, he’s only added a bit of compression damping and extra spring pressure to the Fox 40 fork, and a bit of extra compression damping to the rear Fox DHX2 shock.
It’s decked out with the usual suspects, including Shimano’s 10-speed M820 Saint drivetrain, which was first launched in 2012. Its age doesn’t seem to be slowing Greenland down, however.
Santa Cruz’s house brands have helped with some of the parts, including the Reserve wheels and OneUp Components handlebar.
Greenland is running a mixed-wheel setup, made possible by the V10’s lower link and rear-axle flip chips.
He’s upped the tyre pressures in the Maxxis Minion DHR II to 25psi at the front and 30psi at the rear, from his usual 23psi/27psi setup.
Gracey Hemstreet’s Norco prototype Downhill Sled
The official model name for Norco’s proto DH bike is yet to be revealed, but in the meantime the brand’s gone for a slang-heavy descriptor that encapsulates its performance perfectly; the Downhill Sled.
With a long-travel, high-pivot suspension design, the Norco uses an idler wheel to route the chain as close as possible to its main pivot point.
For Hemstreet, that means the bike has plenty of bump-absorbing rearward-arcing travel.
The bike’s kit is all sponsor-correct – which the rest of the team’s roster shares – including Fox suspension front and rear, and a TRP drivetrain and brakes.
If this bike being a prototype isn’t enough, Canadian rider Hemstreet has opted for a pink and white fade custom paintjob.
Inspired by the blocky colours of motocross, stencilled flames are emblazoned on the top tube.
The bike is certainly eye-catching.
Matt Jones’ Marin Quake
Slopestyle and freerider Matt Jones is better known for antics such as jumping over houses rather than tackling full-on DH tracks.
Clearly, the Brit got a taste for Hardline when he tackled the Tassie track in 2024.
This time, he’s back with the production version of Marin’s Quake, the brand’s first downhill bike in a long time.
It has 180mm of rear-wheel travel, delivered by a Horst-link suspension design.
Damper duties are taken care of by Öhlins. Up-front is the DH38 m.1 fork, paired with a TTX 22 M.2 coil-sprung rear shock.
Matt hasn't tinkered with his setup a great deal – he’s used to sending massive jumps – but has upped his tyre pressures to handle the big G-outs and heavy landings.
We’ve also got it on good authority he’s running prototype Halo wheels, but details are scarce.
Charlie Hatton’s Atherton Bikes A.200.G
Gearbox: check.
Belt drive: check.
High pivot: check.
Six-bar linkage: check.
Carbon fibre frame: check.
3D-printed lugs: check.
Charlie Hatton’s recently revealed A.200.G caused a fuss for a reason; it managed to check off every downhill rider’s most-wanted bits.
We’ve covered the bike in great detail on MBUK TV’s YouTube channel, but some details are worth going over again.
Hatton is running a 475mm reach, which equates to a size-large from other brands.
It’s fitted with Pinion’s C1.9 gearbox with Smart.Shift tech. Gears are changed electronically rather than via a cable.
The gearbox is attached to the rear wheel via a belt drive – instead of the traditional chain – from Gates, a brand synonymous with belts in the automotive industry and beyond.
Thanks to Dave Weagle’s DW6 six-bar high-pivot suspension design, the belt needs to run over an idler close to the main pivot’s location. This should help ‘decouple’ suspension and pedalling forces, while helping the rear wheel track the ground.
The A.200.G’s frame uses carbon tubes that are bonded into 3D-printed titanium lugs, using Atherton Bikes’ additive manufacturing process, unlike the subtractive process used on the S-series bike Gee is riding.
Jackson Goldstone’s Santa Cruz V10
Like his team-mate Laurie Greenland, Jackson Goldstone is riding Santa Cruz’s long-standing V10 downhill bike.
The two bikes unsurprisingly share components, including ENVE wheels, a Fox 40 fork and Shimano Saint M820 drivetrain.
Both riders have Ochain’s chainring chain damper, designed to eliminate the effects of pedal kickback during suspension compression.
But the eagle-eyed will spot a yet-to-be-released Fox shock on Goldstone’s bike.
This de-stickered Fox damper has a longer and thinner reservoir than the current-generation DHX2 fitted to Greenland’s bike.
If Fox, Goldstone and Santa Cruz are confident the unreleased damper can handle the hits of Hardline, it must be close to production.
According to Santa Cruz, Goldstone has slowed his fork and shock’s rebound down and added a bit of compression damping to handle Hardline's hits.
Goldstone has opted for Maxxis’ Minion DHR II on the rear and an Assegai up-front, also increasing air pressure by 2psi to reduce tyre roll in the turns.
Erice van Leuven’s Norco prototype Downhill Sled
Like Gracey Hemstreet, new signing to Norco’s Race Division Erice van Leuven's bike has a killer custom paintjob.
While their bikes and parts are identical, the custom colours couldn’t be further apart.
This one is inspired by van Leuven’s grandfather, who was New Zealand’s first jet pilot, back in 1945.
Flying the Gloster Meteor, van Leuven’s kit is an almost like-for-like replica of one of the iconic plane’s liveries.
Van Leuven, like Hemstreet, is among a cohort of female competitors at Hardline, tackling the same course as the men.
Pushing the level of women’s downhill, these racers – and their compatriots – are worthy of the flashy and sentimental paints their bikes sport.
