The concept of gravity
enduro is simple enough; you head out for a ride with your mates, have a chat
as you pedal up the hills, then race your buddies for bragging rights on the
descents—it’s simple enough and many of us have been doing it for years.
What's relatively new
for Aussie riders is the concept of racing this format. While we are steadily
getting a handle on it, the French have been racing this format for more than a
decade. And the biggest name in enduro racing is (arguably) Jerome Clementz.
The diminutive Frenchman has been winning enduro-style events since 2001 and
took the title in the inaugural Enduro World Series.
Over the years Jerome
has dialled his bike setup for enduro events and it features a few neat custom
tweaks. He’s also involved in product development for a number of sponsors and
his Cannondale was fitted with a number of prototype parts. At just on 13kg his
Jekyll is pretty light for a 160mm bike with a dropper post (especially when
you consider he’s running 1kg tyres), and this setup is reliable enough to run
all year round on any course. The only tweaks come with tyre/wheel selection
and chainring size.
With a 434mm reach,
the medium Jekyll is on the large side for Jerome’s 169cm height but he prefers
the roomier feel when running a relatively short 50mm stem. Naturally he uses
his own design Truvativ Clementz carbon bar—it measures 750mm wide.
RIDER BIO
Age 30
Born Buhl, France
Height 169cm
Weight 64kg
Main Sponsors Cannondale, SRAM, Troy Lee Designs
Career Highlights
- 2013 Enduro World
Series Winner
- Winner Megavalanche
(Alpes D’huez) in 2005, 2010 and 2013
- 6th European
Downhill Championship 2001
- 10th Junior Downhill
World Championship 2002
The Jekyll features two travel settings; 95mm or 160mm. These modes are usually swapped via a bar mounted lever but Clementz employs a left-hand grip shifter instead—he finds it easier to use. The Reverb dropper post lever is underneath on the left side of the handlebar and Jerome also runs his brake levers up a bit higher than most (i.e. not angled down as much); he feels this works better on steep descents.
At a glance they may look like Guide brakes but they are yet-to-be
named SRAM model that Jerome is testing. The four-piston calliper is different
to the current Guide and the lever blade is carbon. We can only guess at what
they are working on as Jerome wouldn’t let any secrets slip. Aside from that he
runs 180mm rotors all round and was using a pair of spacers under the front
calliper rather than the regular one-piece adaptor.
The XX1 cranks are fitted with SRAM’s new direct mount chainring. It
saves around 50g over the regular chainring/spider combo and Jerome says it’s a
bit stiffer too. It also makes chainring swaps much slower but that just keeps
the team mechanic entertained! He typically runs a 34 ring when there are XC
style liaison stages (like Mt Buller) and fits a 36-tooth chainring for events
with lift assistance.
The Michelin Wild Gripper tyres have a prototype compound; it’s meant
to deliver consistent performance whether it’s hot or cold. For reliability he
always runs downhill casing on his tyres. Most of the time Jerome uses the
alloy Roam 50 wheels with a 21mm internal rim width. Sometimes he opts for the
Rail front wheel (23mm internal) but prefers to have a skinnier rim on the
rear. “I’ve tried wider rims but they’re heavier and I feel they are less
precise for racing – for me the wider rims are more for trail riding and
comfort due to the larger air volume that they provide.”
