{"id":300586,"date":"2025-07-29T07:13:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T07:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300586\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T07:13:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T07:13:23","slug":"asa-vermettes-winning-bike-for-red-bull-hardline-shows-looks-dont-matter-its-tech-that-counts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/300586\/","title":{"rendered":"Asa Vermette’s winning bike for Red Bull Hardline shows looks don’t matter, it’s tech that counts"},"content":{"rendered":"

After finishing in second place at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania earlier this year, Asa Vermette took the top spot at Red Bull Hardline in Wales on this hand-built Frameworks DH bike<\/p>\n

The victory made Vermette the youngest rider to win mountain biking’s toughest race \u2013\u00a0stripping Jackson Goldstone of the title.<\/p>\n

After seeding first in qualifying, the American showed no signs of pressure and put together a near-flawless race run on Sunday.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Vermette before the race to check out his setup and find out what preparations he’d made for the race.<\/p>\n

Frameworks DH
\n\"AsaFrameworks bikes are made in Canada. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Frameworks is the brainchild of ex-racer Neko Mulally, who now manages the Frameworks Racing team Vermette rides for.<\/p>\n

Vermette rides a size-large frame, and the bike features an aluminium front triangle and a composite rear end \u2013\u00a0the opposite of how many manufacturers sell their bikes.<\/p>\n

\"AsaVermette used a front mudguard to keep his goggles clean. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Up front, Vermette used a Fox Factory 40 fork and a Fox DHX2 Float shock in the frame to absorb the heavy compressions on the course.<\/p>\n

\"AsaVermette chose to run an air shock instead of a coil. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

He ran 285psi in the rear and 95psi in the fork, along with six volume spacers.<\/p>\n

Vermette says he increased the pressure of his tyres to around 28psi in order to keep the bike tracking under compression and reduce squirrelling on take-offs.<\/p>\n

He didn’t go with tyre inserts because he says they don\u2019t feel as natural as he\u2019d like.<\/p>\n

\"AsaNo inserts, no problem for Vermette. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

For grip, Vermette used Continental Kryptotal tyres wrapped around ENVE wheels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Asa5Dev cranks are connected to the Ochain. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

In the middle of the bike was an Ochain<\/a> device to compensate for pedal kickback, which helped make it more planted on rough sections of trail.<\/p>\n

Unlike some riders, Vermette didn’t opt for any bottom bracket weights, saying he didn\u2019t want any extra load dragging the bike down on long jumps.<\/p>\n

\"AsaMany riders have been seen using TRP’s DH-R Evo. Nick Clark \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Vermette used TRP DH-R Evo brakes, alongside the brand’s Evo 7 DH drivetrain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After finishing in second place at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania earlier this year, Asa Vermette took the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-300586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114935287599692703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}