Jess Stone: Trek Gravity Girls Session 88, Remedy and Ticket Bike Check
May 26th, 2011
By Factory Jackson in Tech
Jess Stone is a racer on the move and someone who doesn’t take set backs lying down. After a bad crash at the first round of the World Cup in South Africa, sustaining a nasty separated shoulder, Jess is already on the road to recovery and back on the bike, preparing for the remaining six rounds of the 2011 World Cup series. Factory Jackson caught up with Jess on a windy day in Malvern, UK to check out here her very special 2011 Team Bikes.
In this Bike Check we get to see 3 fresh out of the box, custom painted Trek’s, all decked out in the signature white and green of the Trek Gravity Girls team. The ‘Session’ is of course Jess’ primary race bike and with the awesome and incredibly versatile ‘Remedy’ for training and the fun and ready for anything ‘Ticket’; Jess has got the right tools to get the job done. These bikes are all one of a kind and come of the same production line as all the factory Trek bikes that go to everyone from the Aaron Gwin to Brandon Semenuk and Cam McCaul. Trek understand that attention to detail can help their riders stand out from the crowd and Jess’ bikes are no exception. Continue reading and check out the video….
Words: Olly Forster
Photos and Video: Alex Tyler
The production colours are pretty sweet on the 2011 Trek Session, but the Gravity Girls Team have certainly got a real head turner with this custom green and white beauty. New for 2011, the redesigned Session 88 frame was wind tunnel tested to reduce drag and shave as much time off your race run as possible, while still keeping things rigid, burly and of course, looking sweet!
Not only is the finish on the frame custom, but the Fox 40 RC2’s also get the ‘Gravity Girls’ treatment with custom graphics to match the frame. Sporting Titanium springs and 203mm of travel, Jess puts her suspension in the capable hands of the Fox Racing Shox technicians to do there thing at the various stops on this years World Cup tour.
Some like it high, some like it low and Jess certainly like to keep her cockpit as low as possible. Sporting the lowest direct mount stem on the market, the Race Face Atlas and some low rise Bontrager Big Earl bars, all help Jess get her desired position on the bike.
Braking and shifting comes courtesy of Sram in the form of some Avid Elixir Carbon brakes and matched with some dialed XO shifting.
Out back, the rear suspension duties are handled by the awesome Fox RC-4 shock attached to the Session’s Evo link. The Session, like all of Trek’s full suspension bikes runs on the ABP system – ‘Active Braking Pivot’. This keeps the suspension active while using the brakes over the rough stuff. Yes that is a stick poking out of the Saint cranks!
Bontrager Big Earl wheels are super light and strong to handle the worst the World Cups can throw at you.
Jess runs the MRP G2 SL chainguide up front with the almost industry standard Shimano Saint cranks and a 36 Tooth ring.
The Trek Remedy 9.8 in custom Gravity Girls colours and I can tell you, there aren’t many of these around! The Remedy is one of the best training tools for the downhill racer out there, light wight OCLV frame and sporting 150mm of travel – this beauty can ascend up any hill and descend like its on rails! Jess is pretty stoked on this and I don’t blame here!
OCLV main frame and seatstay combined with 150mm of travel and some great geometry make this a reall ‘all mountain machine’. The dropper post is the must have component on any trail bike and Jess is running the Crank Brothers Joplin post here.
The Evo link on the Remedy is made from Magnesium to further reduce weight and the rear shock is a custom Fox RP-23 DRCV.
The tapered ‘E2’ headtube keeps everything nice and stiff up front and coupled with the Fox 32 Talas Fit RL’s, taking care of the suspension duties.
Even the Fox 32’s have had the custom treatment – very factory! These are fully adjustable from 120 to 150mm of travel and have the QR15 axel up front to keep things as stiff and as light as possible.
Super light! The wheels on the Remedy are the all singing, all dancing DT Swiss M1800’s with a 142 x 12 rear axel and QR15 front.
More carbon here with the Bontrager Race Lite Carbon bars matched with the Bontrager Rhythm lock-on grips.
Jess knew she was getting a custom team DH bike and possibly a Remedy too, but the custom Gravity Girls Ticket was a real surprise!
Designed with the help from two of the biggest names in the big wheeled freestyle world, Brandon Semenuk and Cam McCaul, the Ticket Signature is a top of the line aggressive hardtail that would be at home on any thing from the slopestyle course to the 4X race track and anything in between. Featuring totally adjustable dropouts that can accommodate both a geared and singlespeed set up on the 135 x 10 horizontal, sliding system.
These bikes arrived after Jess’ injury and are still pretty fresh out the box, but I guarantee they’ll be getting a lot of use as you read this.
It’s all about the little touches that make ‘team’ bikes special and custom frames and matching forks are just one of them. Nice graphics match the Fox 831’s to the Ticket frame perfectly. Featuring a QR15 axel and 100mm of travel, the 831 was designed with help from Dan Atherton and Jared Graves for all disciplines that require a tough single crown fork for aggressive riding. Jess is running the Bontrager Cousin Earl tyres on the Ticket, which are like big BMX tyres and perfect for the pump track and dirt jumps.
So there you have it, 3 special bikes for one of the top female downhill racers out there. Jess has achieved a great deal in this sport in a short space of time and has her eyes firmly set on rising through the ranks and following in her closes friend and fellow Trek athlete’s footsteps, Tracey Moseley. We all know she has what it takes to get there and we’ll be with her all the way, here on Factory Jackson. For more on Jess Stone, Trek Gravity Girls team, and all things Trek, check out:
And be sure to read the interview we did with Jess late last year – Here!
