On his second Enduro season, five-times Downhill-World-Champion Sam Hill took the overall victory in the Enduro World Series 2017 in a breathtaking final. At the last race of the EWS in Finale Ligure we managed to catch Sam on Finale’s beach and have a quick look at his work-horse, the Nukeproof Mega 275 Carbon.
Sam Hill’s winning Nukeproof Mega 275 Carbon. Since the fourth run of the EWS 2017 in Ireland Sam has been riding the new carbon version of the Nukeproof Mega 275. Sam’s bike is a frame-size M.
First off a little retrospective on Sam’s 2017 season racing for the Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic-Team: it’s the first time this year that Sam raced the entire Enduro World Series. In Wicklow/Ireland Sam rode the carbon version of the Nukeproof Mega 275 for the first time and came in second. At the sixth round in Aspen-USA he secured himself the top step of the podium and two weeks later he placed second in Whistler-Canada. He got to the final round in Finale with an advantage of 110 points over the season’s shooting star Adrian Dailly, who had won a total of 3 races in the season. Sam landed a 3rd place in the Finale Ligure race whilst Adrien only came in fourth, with a 20 second-gap.
Sam taking the outside line to keep momentum in the turn.
Sam also took his enduro bike on a trip to the downhill world champs in Cairns/Australia, where he managed 6th place.
Sam Hill sporting the number 13 on the trails of the EWS this year; clearly it was Sam’s lucky number! Sam had a couple of AVS-Handguards attached to his handlebar again this season.Sam’s cockpit consists of Nukeproof Horizon handlebars and grips – both in a special Sam-Hill-Edition— and a massive 50-mm Nukeproof Zero stem.The SRAM-shifter comes in the fancy BlackBox finish, only available for selected SRAM pro-riders. Sam relies on Nukeproof Horizon grips, obviously in the Sam Hill Signature-version.Sam runs his RockShox Super Deluxe RC 3 shock with 170 psi.You brake, you lose! Still, Sam uses 4-piston SRAM CODE RSC brakes with 200 mm rotors.After his 5 World-Champ titles Sam can now also get his 2017 EWS-overall victory-sticker on the seat-tube. Congratulations!The RockShox Lyrik with 170 mm travel and 90 psi air-pressure helped Sam to plough his way to the EWS 2017 overall-win.The Mavic Deemax Pro-rims with a prototype version of Mavic’s Charge-tires, which aren’t that different from the version we tested. They’re clearly experimenting with different rubber compounds.Sam also runs a Mavic Charge prototype at the back.For his drivetrain Sam trusts a SRAM X01 Eagle and a massive 10–50-tooth cassette. In the last run of the EWS in Finale Ligure Sam opted for a very small 32 t chainring.The hollow axle of the SRAM Eagle XO bottom bracket hides an All In Multitool. Sam runs 165 mm-length cranks, 5 mm shorter than on the stock bike. These give him more ground-clearance when pedalling.
Sam’s unique feature that distinguishes him from all his fellow pro-riders in the Enduro World Series: he uses flats instead of clipless pedals. Are you tempted now? Here you’ll find our comparison test of 8 flat pedals.Sam Hill bagged the overall victory of the EWS 2017 in a gripping finish.
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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!
