Fabien Barel won the world championships in 2004 (Les Gets) and 2005 (Livigno) on board a Kona Stab Supreme. But this was no ordinary Kona.
This bike was heavily modified by Fabien’s mechanic, Paul Walton. The most significant change was that the linkage plates were reversed – to make the BB much lower, this also helped to extend the wheelbase to almost 1200mm and slacken the head angle to about 62 degrees. Much lower and slacker than any previous race bike. The result was super stable freight train of a bike that was perfect for the high speed courses in Les Gets and Livigno. The bike was also fairly heavy at 19kg.
Other changes were – the modified shock mount, to make the suspension more progressive and the floating brake arm was repositioned to make the brake much more sympathetic to suspension movement.
2005 Downhill World Championships. Livigno, Italy
1. Fabien Barel (Fra) Kona Les Gets 3m54.77s
2. Sam Hill (Aus) Iron Horse-Mad Catz +0.77s
3. Greg Minnaar (RSA) G-Cross Honda +3.02s
| Frame: | Kona Stab Supreme 200mm travel, custom geometry |
| Rear Shock: | Fox DHX 350lb spring |
| Fork: | Marzocchi 888 coil. 200mm travel |
| Pedals: | Shimano |
| Grips: | Race Face |
| Cranks: | Shimano Saint |
| Chainring: | E-Thirteen 36T |
| Chain Device: | E-Thirteen |
| Rear Mech: | Shimano XT |
| Cassette: | Shimano 9-speed |
| Brakes: | Hayes |
| Handlebars: | Race Face 720mm |
| Stem: | Race Face 50mm |
| Seatpost: | Race Face |
| Saddle: | WTB |
| Hubs: | Sun RIngle |
| Rims: | 26″ Sun RIngle MTX |
| Tyres: | 26″ Nokian Gazzaloddi |
| Other: | Custom floating brake arm, shock mount and linkage plates |
| Weight: | 19kg |
