With the XC World Cup returning to the ever-popular Nové Město na Moravě monitor this weekend, we caught up with Olympic champ & longtime Czech fav Jaroslav Kulhavý, and most significantly, the brand new Superior XF9.9 Group cross-country bike he’ll race within the XCM Marathon on Sunday. The 39-year-old Czech has racked up some spectacular wins over his profession, together with the important thing win right here on the first-ever XC World Cup in Nové Město again in 2019. We’ve additionally featured his bikes since 2014. So, it appeared like time to examine in a decade later…
2024 Superior XF 9.9 Group XC bike of Jaroslav Kulhavý
A real XC veteran, Jarda was the UCI Cross-Nation World Champion in 2011. He gained Olympic XC Gold the subsequent yr 2012 in London. Then, wrapped up the cross-country disciplines with a UCI XC Marathon World Championship win in 2014 and a Cape Epic win in 2018. He could have mellowed just a little bit in recent times, however Kulhavý continues to be preventing with the quickest marathon racers once more this season.
His newest race weapon of selection is the 2024 Superior XF 9.9 Group, the latest XC race bike from the biggest Czech bike producer.
The brand new XF – which we lined final summer time at Eurobike – is a light-weight, brief journey carbon XC bike with 110mm of journey entrance and rear and trendy lengthy, slack & low geometry.
Setup & Tech particulars
Kulhavy’s setup hasn’t modified all that a lot through the years. Certain, his XF Group bike now options totally inside routing by the headset. And his drivetrain and dropper are wi-fi. However he hasn’t stopped working a high SRAM drivetrain, brakes, and dropper submit. And he’s nonetheless on a Specialised stem, now with a low-rise PRO bar.
Basic XC professional. He may not be on an enormous Manufacturing facility XC crew anymore, however Kulhavy continues to be rocking a top-shelf SRAM XX SL T-type transmission due to the brand new UDH-com Superior XF body. He places the ability down by Garmin powermeter pedals, too.
Nobody does slammed stems fairly like Kulhavy!
Massively lengthy, and further steep due to Specialised’s CLP system that turns this common -17° stem right into a -21° to get his bar down the place his versatile higher physique wants it.
And that saddle lean, too.
Whenever you go ultra-slammed, the Selle Italia Flite angles right down to match. I’d guess most of us couldn’t handle this setup, however Kulhavy has his match dialed, even a decade later.
A brand new little bit of tech are these Zleen tires on Thread carbon wheels. The tires have been developed with historical past of Czech tire making, however have been additional refined in recent times, now made in India. Phrase on the road is that after a gradual begin, Zleen has hit the mark with a fast-rolling however grippy Cheetah Professional tread and rubber compound. We’re curious to provide them a better look sooner or later.
As for the 1625g carbon body itself – designed in Czechia, manufactured in Portugal – we dipped into it final summer time. It’s an enormous replace for the Czech producer, as they rebranded with a extra simplified look to allow you to give attention to their bikes’ efficiency. Kulhavý says it’s “probably the greatest bikes I’ve ever ridden. It’s an enormous step ahead for the Superior model; that is them exhibiting everybody that their bikes can compete with the perfect on this planet.”
Construct Specs
- Body: Superior XF 9.9 Group
- Fork: DT Swiss F232 One
- Shock: DT Swiss R232 One
- Drivetrain: SRAM XX SL Eagle AXS T-Kind
- Tires: Zleen Cheetah Professional 29″ x 2.25″
- Saddle: Selle Italia Flight
- Seatpost: RockShox Reverb AXS
- Stem: -17/21° Specialised
- Headset: Acros built-in
- Bar: PRO Koryak Low Rise
- High cap & bolts: Carbon-Ti
- Wheels: Thread
- Pedals: Garmin Rally powermeter
