It’s fair to say that Lewis Buchanan has already left his mark on enduro racing despite 2016 being his inaugural season in the sport. Some would say it was a risky move for BMC to pick up Lewis having little experience in the discipline, but that risk is paying off handsomely with the young Scot turning plenty of heads and already ruffling the feathers of some household names. As Lewis lives just down the road from our UK office in the Tweed Valley, we thought it would be rude not to go catch up with Lew and have a closer look at the BMC Trailfox that he has taken to a 13th and 7th place in the first two rounds of the Enduro World Series, keep an eye out for an interview over the coming weeks!
Lewis runs a BMC Trailfox in size Large, which is kitted out in a wild race ready spec!
The build comes in at a total of 13.61 kg. The geometry is all stock with Lewis running no anglesets or different hardware on the shock. The head angle comes in at 67°.There are a few different touches to the stock frame like the down tube protector, Lewis likes his bike to be as quiet as possible so has taken the effort to put plastic clips on the cables and has even foam wrapped his Di2 battery so it doesn’t rattle in the downtube.
Upfront is a set of Factory Fox 36 forks with 160 mm travel which have been meticulously set up to Lewis’ preference after a pre season testing session with FOX.On the back is a FOX Factory Series DHX2 coil shock which has a climb switch and is fitted with a 450 lbs spring.
Asking Lewis about his suspension setup he said: “I like my rear end fairly soft but to not blow through the travel. I am very picky about how sensitive I like the first quarter of the stroke to be. I like it to be as sensitive as possible, so on the little bumps it soaks them up. Basically if I can take one finger and point it down on my saddle and push down, my shock should move; its that sensitive and supple. The front end is a bit more stiff, but not that stiff that it will bottom out. I will always tend to take the rubber ring almost to the max on a race weekend.”
A T3 cockpit with 760mm bars are matched up with their 55mm stem with a 10 degree angle.Lewis changes his stack height on his BMC Trailfox according to terrain, for his trails at home he removes a spacer from below his stem to lower the front end.The shifting is taken care of by Shimano’s XTR Di2 with the digital display tucked away by the stem.Lewis has opted for the Shimano XTR stoppers instead of the slightly more powerful and heavier Saint brakes.203 mm Shimano Ice tech rotors both front and rear increase stopping power but help dispel heat on long descents.A full 1×11 Shimano XTR drivetrain gives Lew the range he needs for steep climbs and flat out descents.The Shimano XTR cranks are 175mm in length, have a 34t chainring and a Shimano SAINT SM-CD50 chain device for extra security. XTR SPD clips are light, reliable and have great performance.The BMC Trailfox runs on 29″ wheels, Lew has opted for an XTR wheelset.Continental ‘Der Baron’ tyres are used front and back but with different compounds and pressures. A soft compound up front with 22.5 psi and a harder compound on the rear with 25 psi.We will have an interview with Lewis over the coming weeks, so be sure to look out for that!
You can keep up to date with Lewis’ racing by liking his Facebook Page. For more information on the bike head to the BMC website.
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