With the XC World Cup returning to the ever-popular Nové Město na Moravě observe this weekend, we caught up with Olympic champ & longtime Czech fav Jaroslav Kulhavý, and most significantly, the brand new Superior XF9.9 Group cross-country bike he’ll race within the XCM Marathon on Sunday. The 39-year-old Czech has racked up some spectacular wins over his profession, together with the important thing win right here on the first-ever XC World Cup in Nové Město again in 2019. We’ve additionally featured his bikes since 2014. So, it appeared like time to verify in a decade later…
2024 Superior XF 9.9 Group XC bike of Jaroslav Kulhavý
A real XC veteran, Jarda was the UCI Cross-Nation World Champion in 2011. He received Olympic XC Gold the subsequent 12 months 2012 in London. Then, wrapped up the cross-country disciplines with a UCI XC Marathon World Championship win in 2014 and a Cape Epic win in 2018. He could have mellowed a little bit bit in recent times, however Kulhavý remains to be preventing with the quickest marathon racers once more this season.
His newest race weapon of selection is the 2024 Superior XF 9.9 Group, the latest XC race bike from the biggest Czech bike producer.
The brand new XF – which we coated final summer time at Eurobike – is a light-weight, brief journey carbon XC bike with 110mm of journey entrance and rear and trendy lengthy, slack & low geometry.
Setup & Tech particulars
Kulhavy’s setup hasn’t modified all that a lot over time. Positive, his XF Group bike now options absolutely inner routing via the headset. And his drivetrain and dropper are wi-fi. However he hasn’t stopped working a high SRAM drivetrain, brakes, and dropper put up. And he’s nonetheless on a Specialised stem, now with a low-rise PRO bar.
Basic XC professional. He may not be on an enormous Manufacturing unit XC crew anymore, however Kulhavy remains to be rocking a top-shelf SRAM XX SL T-type transmission due to the brand new UDH-com Superior XF body. He places the ability down via Garmin powermeter pedals, too.
Nobody does slammed stems fairly like Kulhavy!
Massively lengthy, and further steep due to Specialised’s CLP system that turns this common -17° stem right into a -21° to get his bar down the place his versatile higher physique wants it.
And that saddle lean, too.
Whenever you go ultra-slammed, the Selle Italia Flite angles all the way down to match. I’d guess most of us couldn’t handle this setup, however Kulhavy has his match dialed, even a decade later.
A brand new little bit of tech are these Zleen tires on Thread carbon wheels. The tires had been developed with historical past of Czech tire making, however have been additional refined in recent times, now made in India. Phrase on the road is that after a gradual begin, Zleen has hit the mark with a fast-rolling however grippy Cheetah Professional tread and rubber compound. We’re curious to provide them a better look sooner or later.
As for the 1625g carbon body itself – designed in Czechia, manufactured in Portugal – we dipped into it final summer time. It’s an enormous replace for the Czech producer, as they rebranded with a extra simplified look to allow you to give attention to their bikes’ efficiency. Kulhavý says it’s “among the finest bikes I’ve ever ridden. It’s an enormous step ahead for the Superior model; that is them exhibiting everybody that their bikes can compete with the very best on this planet.”
Construct Specs
Body: Superior XF 9.9 Group
Fork: DT Swiss F232 One
Shock: DT Swiss R232 One
Drivetrain: SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS T-Sort
Tires: Zleen Cheetah Professional 29″ x 2.25″
Saddle: Selle Italia Flight
Seatpost: RockShox Reverb AXS
Stem: -17/21° Specialised
Headset: Acros built-in
Bar: PRO Koryak Low Rise
Prime cap & bolts: Carbon-Ti
Wheels: Thread
Pedals: Garmin Rally powermeter
SuperiorBikes.com
