Sea To Sky Bike Check: Dean Tennant

We started the day off just as the sun was coming up. There were no clouds in the sky, so we ventured to the other side of the hill to block out the sun.

I’ve never understood how racers could table while clipped in. Don’t their knees start to ache?

Dean is rocking the 2015 Transition TR500. Fox Suspension, RaceFace, OneUp and Stop Components make up the majority of the build. At 6’2″, Dean opts for the XL frame.

Fox Float 40 27.5 keeps the front end plush, attached to 35mm RaceFace SixC bars.

800mm wide bars means Dean can stay stable at highway speeds. It also lets him punch some moss while turning.

Titanium spring on a Fox DHX RC4 help with some weight savings out back. The spring bearing replaces the preload ring, which lets the spring naturally rotate as it compresses.

Adjustability is a key feature on many DH rigs. The TR500 offers 200mm and 180mm of travel, as well as adjustable BB height and head angle.

RaceFace SixC cranks mount directly to a RaceFace ring using their clever Cinch mount. A Blackspire chain guide keeps the chain in line when things start to get rowdy.

You rarely see downhill racers sitting on their seat, but Dean needs one to pinch for suicide no-handers. RaceFace Atlas gets the job done.

Notice how he cut the bottom part of his SRAM XO shifter to let him slide between levers? An engineer-in-training, Dean found that he had to swing his thumb around the shifter, and he found a solution.

Duct tape behind the arch to keep excess mud out.

The integrated fork bumpers double as ports for the internal cable routing.

OneUp components’ DH Block turns his 10-speed SRAM X9 cassette into a 7-speed. The TR500 has the option of a long and short chainstay setting, but only the long setting is available for 27.5″ wheels. Dean has a combination of mastic tape and velcro to keep the chain slap to a bare minimum.

Schwalbe Magic Mary tires front and rear to keep him planted while reaching speeds high enough to get him a speeding ticket.

Stop Components rotors paired to Avid Codes help Dean slow down – if he ever needs to.

The Island seemed to have an abundance of moss.

Yes, I know portrait photos are hard to look at on the internet, but bear with me. The look in Dean’s eyes says it all.

“Foot on or foot off?” I always thought drifts looked more rad with the foot on.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, making it hard to shoot in the woods. We soldiered on, however, and we were rewarded with this frame of Dean sending the step-down hip. As Scott Secco would say, “Nuggeroni and cheeeese, dawwwwg!”