Mountain Biking - Roel Paulissens Olympic Machine!

I found what looks to be the bike Roel paulissen will be riding in the olympics today, it looks amazing and only 8.8kg for a soft tail - http://www.cyclenoodle.com/Forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=23 - but is it worth the astronomical price tag that all the top end bikes seem to have crept up to these days?

the link is hosed up..

"The Belgian champion cross country and the World champion marathon Roel Paulissen has arrived safe and sound in China. Also he sent us some photos of his upgraded mountain bike with which he will try to conquer the Chinese soil.

"The current mountain bike weights 8.8 kg and the fork takes 1.04 kg of the total weight. On top of that, it is manufactured from a different kind of carbon and there is no coating on it all. In comparison with the bike I’ve ridden on the world championships it weights 200 grams less.”, said Paulissen.

Just like all Belgian athletes, Paulissen stays in the city of Yantai for the moment. It is located at a one hour and thirty minutes flight to Beijing. Yantai counts 6.5 million inhabitants at the eastern coast of China and is an important economic centre for the region. From Yantai, Paulissen is hoping to continue his season’s for his team Cannondale-Vredestein and putting down a splendid performance for Belgium.

"Tough trainings are not going to happen today or tomorrow, I still need to adapt a bit to the climate and time difference. Besides the Olympic track is not to be opened for training up until four days before the race. When the track is opened, I will move to Beijing together with the other Belgians mountain bike racers Sven Nys and Filip Meirhaeghe.”, concluded the in Italy living Belgian."

I think the Trek is his backup, but the Cannondale is gonna be his main ride.

THis Chinese course must be brutal if they are breaking out the full sussers! He He

I think the Trek is his backup, but the Cannondale is gonna be his main ride.

he is going to use a freeride bike as back up?

he is going to use a freeride bike as back up?

You should always have a backup that is more durable than your UberWeenieRide.

sorry link is now working...

http://www.cyclenoodle.com/Forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=23

What's with the Trek bike?

Can you even sit on that bike?