Page 36 - Bespoke Issue

Stöckl rode the slope eight times to work out the optimum lines and get a taste of the speed he’d be running at before attempting the record breaking run.
“When you’re cycling above 160kph each and every extra kilometre per hour requires an enormous effort. This force has an impact on the bike and the entire body”
On the actual record breaking run it took Max 11 seconds and 650m to reach his top speed of 167.6kph, which is not bad for 42-year-old bloke who isn’t even considered a professional athlete.
After the run Stöckl said. “It was so exhausting, even though the ride only lasted for 20 seconds. I just can’t express the feeling in words. Even if you know it is only going to be 10 or 15 kph quicker than the last training run – standing up on the summit of the mountain, looking down and feeling the adrenaline was a very moving moment!”
So, Chilean mountains on gravel nailed; then what do you do next? Obviously you’d want to try it on snow? Well you would, wouldn’t you? The notorious Austrian downhill ski course of Hahnenkamm would be an obvious choice... if you were a completely insane Austrian mountain biker...
For this next stunt Stöckl would return to his native mountains, once again in his Redbull red shinny airbag suit, now 43 years old he once again elected for pretty standard production equipment.
“My goal is do to everything with a regular bike that everybody can buy,” he explained “It’s a pure way of riding, It is not especially purpose built so
everybody could go to the bike shop and do it. Not too many people are doing it, though: You have to like it and go for it!”
For this latest effort Max used a Mondraker Carbon Pro Team frame with cross-country wheels and downhill tyres with metal studs embedded in them for the icy terrain. The XMC 1200 lightweight rims were chosen to compensate for the weight of the 15mm metal studs. The tyres were Maxxis Minion SS downhill versions on a 27.5 inch rims size and 2.5inch wide and the stopping power was provided by Shimano disk brakes.
The Hahnenkamm run is regarded as brutal on skis, so it would be even worse on a bike, even with Max’s preparation for the off camber and completely icy ground, he still thinks they underestimated it. He did seven runs in total, with a few dicey mishaps and one pretty hefty crash in the deeper snow, which certainly left him a bit sore the following day.
Max explained “My back wheel wiped out, had a high sider and ipped to the other side. I had impact on my shoulders, but it wasn’t too bad. But we have some learnings for a future attempt. We know what we need to change and push the edge further.”
Max Stöckl set out once again to do something nobody had ever done before, cycling the course ahead of the 78th running of the famous Hahnenkamm downhill ski race, certainly ticked that box. Although reaching speeds of 106kph must have seemed fairly pedestrian compared to his previous record speed runs, he admitted to enjoying himself a hell of a lot.
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