Bike
MTB
Check out Marine Cabirou's Scott Gambler race bike
Marine Cabirou's mechanic takes us around her Scott Gambler Tuned and talks us through this World Cup-winning set-up.
Marine Cabirou won the 2015 Junior Downhill World Championships in Vallnord, Andorra and has been rapidly working her way through the Elite ranks ever since. Finally, her hard work paid off in Val di Sole 2019, where she took her first Mercedes-Benz UCI Downhill World Cup win in emphatic style with one of the most memorable race runs in recent history. She absolutely demolished the competition, winning by nearly 12 seconds.
Cabirou knocked it out the park with an incredible 11s win
© Bartek Woliński
Marine’s mechanic at the Scott DH Factory team, Fred Brunel, talks us through her Scott Gambler Tuned race bike and set-up.
Set-up
The Scott Gambler Tuned that Marine rides is not only new to her for this year, but it is also completely new to market. Furthermore, the Scott DH Factory team is an entirely new set-up fronted by team manager Patrice Afflatet, who Marine has worked with since her Junior World title.
Scott Gambler Tuned is new to the market
© Bartek Woliński
Cabirou rides a Size M with 29in front and 27.5in rear wheels
© Bartek Woliński
Stopping power provided by TRP DHR with a 223mm Rotor
© Bartek Woliński
Always room for a custom decal
© Bartek Woliński
Sometimes it can take new teams a season or more to find their feet, particularly with all-new equipment. However, hard work during the off-season and a constant progression of the bike’s settings during the races has helped Fred and Marine get to winning speed quickly. Fred explains: “We had some intensive test sessions during winter, about two to three days every three weeks. We're always learning and improving things.”
Frame
At the heart of the bike is a brand-new Scott Gambler frame, which Marine runs with a 29in wheel at the front and a 27.5in wheel at the back. This is made possible by geometry and wheelbase adjustment chips in the frame.
Marine runs 27.5in wheel at the back
© Bartek Woliński
Chain stay length can be adjusted, independent of wheel-size choice
© Bartek Woliński
Settings on the shock mount help tailor the bike for different tracks
© Bartek Woliński
Nonetheless, the team has tried different possibilities and for certain courses Marine swaps to a bigger rear wheel: “Marine is using a 29/27.5in set-up most of the time, it suits her riding style. But she also did lots of tests in full 29 and used it for some races including Maribor and Fort William.”
Suspension
Marine Cabirou rode the all new Scott Gambler 900 Tuned to victory
© Bartek Woliński
Up front, a Fox 49 air-sprung fork takes care of the hits, while a Fox DH X2 shock does the work at the rear of the bike. Marine runs her suspension fairly firm, with 69psi and five tokens (which make the suspension ramp-up and become firmer near the end of its stroke) in the fork, but that varies depending on the course and especially the conditions.
Marine runs her suspension fairly firm, with 69psi and five tokens
© Bartek Woliński
The team gather data and feedback from off-season testing to help evaluate settings options when they arrive at each track. “In pre-season testing, and sometimes during the season, we use a LitPro device to [record] times and other data… Bike set-up is improving race after race, same for the rider, [the results come from] a combination of both. Marine has a pretty aggressive style with some good skills on technical sections, [this bike] helps to leverage her confidence in almost any situation"
Tyres
Marine runs a Maxxis Assegai on the front
© Bartek Woliński
The tyre set-up of choice for Marine is a Maxxis Assegai at the front and a Maxxis Minion DHR2 at the rear, in 2.4 or 2.5 (custom) sizing, depending on the race. These are run at a base setting of 23-24psi and they use a Fuk Flats foam tyre insert to help deflect big hits from the rim when the tyre bottoms-out on sharp edges.
Maxxis Minion DHR2 on the rear
© Bartek Woliński
Components
- Frame: Scott Gambler Tuned, Size M, 29in Front, 27.5in Rear (full 29 in select races)
- Fork: Fox 49
- Shock: Fox DH X2
- Crankset/bb: Race Face SIXC – 165mm
- Cassette: SRAM GX 7-speed (short/DH version)
- Dérailleur: TRP DH7
- Chain guide: Scott Gambler Special
- Shifter: TRP DH7 Prototype / XO
- Wheels: Mavic Deemax DH
- Brakes: TRP DHR, 223mm Rotor (both)
- Tyres: Maxxis Assegai / DHR2 in 2.40 or 2.50
- Bar/stem: Syncros 775mm, 20mm rise
- Grips: ODI Sensus
- Pedals: Crank Brothers Mallet DH
- Seatpost: Syncros Carbon
- Seat: Syncros Comox Carbon
- Other: Fuk-Flats Tyre Insert (mainly used in rear tyre)
