Ken Block might be a better known in the world of cars, but the Gymkhana star is also quite in to his mountain biking – and has a killer Specialized Demo, custom painted by Tony Baumann. Check some of his work out on Instagram on the hashtag #maderadbytony

Living in Park City, his local trails include the outdoor mecca Park City Mountain Resort and the surrounding mountains. As you might imagine, Ken is into a lot of outdoor activities.

Ken Block recently visited the UK for an appearance at Santa Pod raceway, and hooked up with Steve Peat for a ride at one of Factory Jackson’s old stomping grounds. Our man Simon Nieborak shot this bike check with Ken at Aston Hill in Wendover.

When driving, Ken Block is all in your face. His cars are driven on the absolute limit, and usually way past sideways in a cloud of smoke with spitting, popping and turbos spooling up to the limit. Out of the car and he’s polite guy that loves being outdoors, and the lifestyle that goes with it. Mountain biking is just one of his loves. Photo | Simon Nieborak/Monster Energy

Unlike his insane cars, the only thing not stock on Ken Block’s Specialized Demo is the wild paint job. Specialized rarely do custom paint jobs – normally this sort of treatment is reserved for their top racers. Ken is worthy though. Photo | Simon Nieborak/Monster Energy

This is the full spec list on Ken Block’s Specialized Demo:

• Frame: S-Works Demo8 Carbon – 200mm travel
• Fork: Fox 40 Air – 200mm travel
• Shock: Ohlins TTX Coil
• Wheels: Roval Traverse SL Fattie 30mm wide Carbon 650b
• Front Tire: Specialized Butcher DH 650b
• Rear Tire: Specialized Slaughter DH 650b
• Drivetrain: Full Shimano Saint 1x, 170mm cranks, 200mm brakes
• Cockpit: Renthal DH Fatbar Carbon, Direct Mount Stem
• Grips: Specialized Sip Grips XL Cyan
• Saddle: Specialized Phenom 143mm Hollow-Ti rails
• Seatpost: Thomson Elite Alloy
• Pedals: Specialized Boomslang Platforms

Custom decals, a Renthal Integra direct mount stem and Shimano Saint transmission keep Ken rubber side down. Photo | Simon Nieborak/Monster Energy

Fox 40’s and a Renthal Carbon Fatbar keep the Specialized Demo under control. Photo | Simon Nieborak/Monster Energy

Check out Ken Block’s Instagram page – there are plenty of cool shots up there, including some of his day riding with Steve Peat…

#Flashback to last week to a downhill shred session at Aston Hill in England, with multiple World Champ rider @StevePeat right behind me. I don’t get nervous too often – but when there’s a 2-wheel world champ right on my rear wheel, I get more nervous than usual! Ha. That was fun. #iheartdownhilling #iamspecialized #legend

A photo posted by Ken Block (@kblock43) on Oct 31, 2015 at 11:09am PDT

It’s cool to see stars of other sports riding mountain bikes for fun, though we’re not sure how we feel about the one off fat bike side hack created for him by his friends at Specialized Bikes  – we’re equally drawn to it, and repulsed at the same time!

While the guys from Specialized Bicycles were out here in Utah last week, they gave me this AWESOME project bike they’ve been working on for a while: the #slidehack! Three wheels, electric power assist, and a HANDBRAKE. Yup, a custom handbrake that locks the sidehack wheel. How rad is that? Can’t wait to cruise down the Park City streets with my kids/dogs riding alongside me in this thing. Ha. THANK YOU Specialized! #iamspecialized #downhillwiththisthingmaybe A photo posted by Ken Block (@kblock43) on Sep 9, 2015 at 11:10am PDT

We loved the era when all the big name pro riders had custom paint jobs – we’d love to see more. What do you think of Ken Block’s Specialized Demo? 

Let us know below!

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