[R]: Might be going out on a limb here, but, the iconic graphic scheme on this bike would have to be the most striking of any factory race bike to date, would you agree?
Totally, it was ‘factory AF’ as the cool kids say these days!
Speaking of ‘iconic’ take a look at those awesome wheels! The mighty Mavic ‘DeeMax’ ruled the roost for so many years.
The mighty Dee Max indeed. They were the epitome of factory and looked so good on any bike. That said like many of things of that era they had a week point. The Hubs were famous for dying really quickly. From cracked spoke flanges, to cracked hub bodies. If you look closely at old racing pics you will notice quite a few teams from that era ran the yellow rims with standard hubs.
What is your favourite detail on or about the FSR DH’s frame?
I love the whole bike! This was very high on my dream list of bikes solely because of Shaun Palmer. I never actually got to see one of these bikes in the flesh until I managed to find this one in Poland almost 3 years ago. I painstakingly sourced all the parts for this bike from all over the globe and almost everything on it is brand new, never been ridden.
How much travel did it pack?
7.5in in the rear and 7in up front.
Was this bike still in the generation that Specialized used to weld their team bikes over in the USA?
Yes it was. These frames were known for cracking on the top tube weld where the seat mast attaches. Most the team bikes had a small chunk of alloy welded over that section to beef it up.
