Jose Borges is arguably one of the underdogs of the Enduro World Series. And yet, the fast Portuguese BH team rider caused a stir by taking second place at the third race in Madeira. We took a closer look at his racing rig, a fully pimped BH Lynx 5.Jorge’s racing machine is a BH Lynx 5 with an XL carbon frame, 160/150 mm of travel and mullet wheel configuration (29″ front/ 27,5″ rear).
Jose Borges, aka „ZÉ Manel“ | Born: 1990 | Nationality: Portuguese | Height 183 cm | Weight 77 kg
An overview on Jose Borges’s race-season
Jose Borges finished the 2018 EWS season in 11th place overall – missing a spot in the top 10 by a hair’s breadth. However, in his third EWS season racing for the Miranda Team, he proved that he’s indeed capable of keeping up with the fastest guys in the World: in Madeira, “ZÉ Manel” recorded his so far biggest success, taking second place at the third EWS race. What came after, was just a streak of bad luck – something that most racers will go through at some point in their career. In Val di Fassa, Jose didn’t finish the race and in Whistler he wasn’t able to compete the last stage because of a crash. In Zermatt he withdrew from the Queens Stage with a wrist injury, which meant he couldn’t score any EWS points for three consecutive races. As a result, Jose had to settle with a 26th overall for the 2019 season – which must have been hard for him after such a great start. However, this was still enough to secure a spot in the top 10 of the team rankings, with the Miranda Racing Team taking a very respectable 7th overall. And if this and his second place at the Madeira race weren’t good enough, ZÉ Manel can be proud of getting his name into the “Kings of MEGAVALANCHE” list. Someone who manages to survive the mass-start carnage, make it through the first gravel turn unscarred, blast down a slippery ski-slope at full pelt before bombing through a technical rockgarden, and finally get at the bottom of the hill in one piece before anyone else gets there, well, that person deserves to wear the crown!
After racing on 29″ wheels for the entire 2018 season, Jose turned up this year’s Whistler stage with his current BH Lynx 5 Carbon mullet rig (29″/27,5″) and has been racing with this setup since.
Apart from giving the team its name, Portuguese crank manufacturer Miranda is also Jose Borges’ main sponsor. And of course, ZÉ Manel uses Miranda’s top-end crankset, the 170 mm carbon XMOD. This comes with a 34 t chainring and a 77designz chain guide.Jorge’s Bigfoot DRC aluminium rims are made by Italian manufacturer Damil Components. For the 2019 season, ZÉ Manel swapped his previous SRAM rear-derailleur with a Shimano XTR model. The chain is from Taiwanese manufacturer Taya, the cassette a 10-51 Shimano XTR.ZÉ Manel doesn’t like carbon handlebars. Instead he uses a 790 mm aluminium Renthal FatBar with 20 mm rise.After a perfect race, ZÉ Manel 2019 managed to get his name in the list of the “Kings of the MEGAVALANCHE”. However, the top tube of his Enduro Race “only” mentions his seven titles as Portuguese Downhill and Enduro Champion.A Garmin bike computer in the Miranda Racing Team look is attached to a 50 mm Renthal Aspex stem.On the front wheel, Jorge runs a Damil Components rim with a 29″ x 2.4″ Michelin Wild Enduro tire. This is still a prototype and features a new type of downhill casing. In Zermatt, ZÉ Manel also used a CushCore Pro Tire insert, both front and rear, to protect his rims. The front wheel was inflated at a pressure of 1.2 bar.In the rear wheel, another Michelin Wild Enduro prototype tire, which Jorge set up with 1,6 Bar and a Cuschcore for the Zermatt race. Go to our mountain bike tire group-test to find out everything about Michelin’s offerings for the trail and enduro segments.A 160 mm Formula Selva fork offers endless adjustment options and provides Jorge with a smooth ride. Formula’s CTS (Compression Tuning System) uses seven different valves to intervene on the fork’s behaviour. ZÉ Manel also used a Silver valve for maximum comfort and top sensitivity, adding two Neopos air-volume spacers. The fork was set up with 78 psi.
On his front wheel, Jorge decelerates with a Shimano XTR brakeand 203 mm GALFER rotor with Wave Fixed design. According to ZÉ Manel, GALFER’s rotor delivers a better and more aggressive bite than a standard Shimano XTR rotor. If you want to know more about GALFER products, you can read our endurance test of the new DB007W Wave rotor (223 mm) and G1652 brake pads.
ZÉ Manel keeps a CO2 cartridge under the top tube…… and has a toolbox on the down tube
The rear wheel is decelerated by a Spanish-Japanese braking combo. The Shimano XTR brake uses GALFER pads and bites on a 203 mm GALFER Wave Fixed rotor.We took a closer look at Jose’s bike with the mighty Matterhorn as backdrop.
We wish Jose Borges, aka “ZÉ Manel” lots of successful moments in the next season!
Did you enjoy this article? If so, we would be stoked if you decide to support us with a monthly contribution. By becoming a supporter of ENDURO, you will help secure a sustainable future for high-quality mountain bike journalism. Click here to learn more.
As the proud father of Robin and Max-Philip, Manne has been there from the start and is the wise elder of the editorial team. He won his first cycling race in elementary school at a school sports day. After less successful attempts at football, he found his passion for cycling via endurance racing in 1989! The world of racing still consumes him and no one in the team knows the EWS pros better than Manne. As a former head analyst of a state agency, he knows how to do proper research and finds exclusive news that no one else has. He supports his sons in day-to-day business dealings as the authorised signatory for 41 Publishing – viva la familia!
