Stefan Westerveld from the german Kona Gduro Team spends most of the year riding and racing high alpine trails in the Alps with his Process 29er. His local backyard trails are flatter and more mellow, so sometimes he needs something with a bit less suspension.
Additionally, he found himself entering multiple-hour XC team races like the famous 12-hour race in Kühlsheim. So the goal was to find an XC race bike that can handle some serious trail riding as well as withstand some impacts. His team had already tested the Hei Hei in 2016 with a 120mm fork on alpine trails in Serfaus and they were surprised at how good the 100mm of rear travel eliminated most of the bumps on the rocky singletrack.
They decided to roll with the 2017 Hei Hei Race DL because of its lighter wheels and added a little bit of trail bike flavor. This was not too hard. The Reba can easily adjust to 120mm with another air shaft and the Debonair upgrade kit makes it a true trail fork. Naturally, Stefan added a dropper post to the setup for the steep descents. As this should be his go-to bike for trail riding and XC racing he replaced the cockpit with a Newmen 31.2 stem in 50mm and a PRO carbon handlebar. For the drivetrain he splurged on a SRAM Descendant carbon crankset and a SRAM 10-42 11speed freewheel with an Absolute Black oval chainring. The Shifter is an SRAM XO1 Gripshift with an XO1 R/D.
They decided to roll with the 2017 Hei Hei Race DL because of its lighter wheels and added a little bit of trail bike flavor. This was not too hard. The Reba can easily adjust to 120mm with another air shaft and the Debonair upgrade kit makes it a true trail fork. Naturally, Stefan added a dropper post to the setup for the steep descents. As this should be his go-to bike for trail riding and XC racing he replaced the cockpit with a Newmen 31.2 stem in 50mm and a PRO carbon handlebar. For the drivetrain he splurged on a SRAM Descendant carbon crankset and a SRAM 10-42 11speed freewheel with an Absolute Black oval chainring. The Shifter is an SRAM XO1 Gripshift with an XO1 R/D.
For the longer descents, he decided to put on some reliable four-piston brakes instead of XC specific brakes and ended up with SRAM’s Guide Ultimate. The sublabel Vant of Alex Global Technologies provided him with one of their new B25 carbon wheelsets. Combined with Schwalbe’s Nobby Nic in the back and a Hans Dampf in the front the bike is still very light—under 12kg without pedals and can take some serious trail riding.
Stefan is absolutely thrilled with the setup. This baby climbs like a mountain goat and descends like a hunting cougar. This is the bike he can take out of his garage at any time whether it is a long-distance XC ride or a backyard trail lap. What’s next: With additional small changes on the post, saddle and screws 10.5kg should be possible without sacrificing any decent performance in the XC setup. Maybe a new PIKE Ultimate will be added for a more confident ride in the steeps.
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