The downhill race bike that spends more time airborne and flying sideways than any other
WHO IS BRENDAN FAIRCLOUG?
This 28-year-old from Surrey is one of the most naturally talented riders on the circuit. When he hit the scene in the early 2000s, it wasn’t long before his winning ways earned him a place on Steve Peat’s Royal/Orange team. He’s since gone on to ride for some of the biggest outfits in the business and be mentored by two of the fastest riders ever, Greg Minnaar and Sam Hill. It’s Brendan’s fluid style that’s made him such a crowd favourite. With unique line choices and some of the best whips in the business, everyone sits up and takes notice when he’s coming down the hill.
WHY THIS IS A SUPERBIKE?
Differs from the production Gambler in terms of geometry, rear triangle material and suspension
With a team Gstaad-Scott paint job and factory Fox suspension, it looks rad
It’s covered in Brendan’s signature parts
It was early in 2012 that Scott unveiled the latest incarnation of their Gambler DH bike, at the same time as signing Brendan Fairclough as the principle rider on their Scott11 team. The deal and the rejuvenated Gambler gave the young Brit the perfect opportunity to take centre stage, after leaving Specialized and stepping out of the shadow of his world-beating teammate Sam Hill.
Made for the steeps
The relaunched Gambler was somewhat revolutionary in terms of its length and slack angles. The design was very much influenced by the savagely steep terrain surrounding Scott’s Swiss HQ, with the engineers wanting to make a bike that could dominate on the toughest tracks in the world. The shape of the frame has remained largely unchanged, but today’s Gambler is the result of several years of refinement and testing.
Even so, Brendan’s bike is notably different from the production model, in both geometry and construction. He’s riding an XL frame, which has a 15mm longer reach than the large size available in shops (there’s no production XL frame), and its 6061 aluminium front end is coupled with a carbon fibre, not alloy, rear triangle.
The Gambler is notable for the amount of adjustability it offers. ‘Flip chips’ in the frame allow the chainstay length and bottom bracket height to be changed, which means Brendan and his mechanic Ben Vergnaud can adapt the bike to suit the track. When we saw it, it was in the ‘long’ chainstay setting (435mm), with the shock raised to give a taller 353mm BB height. The head angle can be adjusted by a degree, but Brendan runs it in the stock 63-degree setting.
He uses Fox’s 40 Float RC2 fork but prefers the sensitivity of a coil-sprung rear shock, opting for the Fox DHX2. As a flat pedal rider, suspension that’s sensitive in the first part of the travel helps him keep his feet where he wants them – firmly on his signature ‘Brendog’ DMR Vault pedals. For this reason, Brendan also runs a slightly slower than normal rebound tune. His suspension set-up is otherwise fairly firm, with only about 20 per cent sag. This stops the front end of the bike diving in big compressions and suits his ‘hanging off the back’ riding style.
Watching Brendan ride, you can see how often he picks the bike up, hopping between parts of the track and finding backsides to generate speed from. This suits a suspension set-up that ramps up as it goes through the stroke. Scott found they couldn’t achieve the right progressivity using a coil shock on the stock bike, so Brendan’s Gambler has a custom linkage and shorter shock.
Hail Mary
Traction is provided by Schwalbe Magic Mary tyres, seated tubeless on Syncros DH1.5 rims. These are wide (30mm front, 25mm rear), to give a better tyre profile and improved grip. For the Leogang World Cup, Brendan switched to 25mm rims to increase rolling speed on the flatter middle section of the track. The rims are laced to the hubs with bladed spokes, which are more prone to snapping but give the wheel a small amount of flex, improving traction.
Brendan runs a Shimano Saint drivetrain and brakes. The Japanese brand don’t make a DH-specific cassette so he uses a 10-speed XTR block slimmed down to seven cogs. The 10-26t range (slightly wider than normally favoured) helps him put the power down out of tight turns. Up front is a signature bar and grip combo – a Deity Blacklabel handlebar and a pair of DMR Death Grips, which Brendan helped to design. His 30mm rise bar is yet to be released but will be part of a replica series from Deity that’ll also feature a low-rise bar, as preferred by his teammate Neko Mulally, who likes a lower front end.
They may not be set up the same, but what Neko and Brendan’s bikes do share is the orange and black paint job of team Gstaad-Scott. Match this with Brendan’s Troy Lee Designs kit and custom-painted D3 helmet and you’ve got a pretty awesome looking set-up. Chances are when you see the duo on track, they’ll be floating sideways through the air at 100mph.
Price: $7648 (stock Scott Gambler 710 complete bike)
CUSTOM LINK
Look closely at the suspension linkage on Brendan’s Gambler and you can see that the upper link is much shorter than that of the production bike. With a shorter shock fitted, this gives a more progressive leverage curve.
CARBON CURVES
Brendan and Neko’s Gamblers run a team-only carbon rear triangle. Don’t expect to see this in the shops soon – 2017 production bikes will still be full-alloy.
GETTA GRIP
The single lockring design of Brendan’s signature DMR Death Grips lets him hang onto the very tips of the handlebar. He runs a mismatched set – orange on one side and camo on the other. Maybe it’s to help him know which is left and right when he’s hanging a whip out past 90 degrees?
SAINTED
Four-piston Shimano Saint brakes with 203mm rotors let Brendan scrub off speed late into the turns. Pedal power is transferred through a Saint crankset, with an e*thirteen LG1 chain device to stop any mechanical mishaps.
SUBTLE BLING
Brendan’s signature Deity Blacklabel bar is bolted through a matching Deity Locust direct-mount stem. Rainbow ti bolts on the stem, cranks and brake callipers keep things light and add a touch of cool.
