Feature

Sam Hill’s ‘Day of the Dead’ Nukeproof Mega 275c : The world’s fastest enduro bike

02.11.2018
by

Today marks the date of the Mexican ‘Día de los Muertos’ festival, the ‘Day of the Dead’. The dusty streets bustle with macabre skulls and skeletons as crowds of revellers honour the deceased. As such it seems a good time to showcase 2 x EWS Champion Sam Hill’s insane Day of the Dead Nukeproof Mega 275c, officially the fastest enduro bike in the world and certainly the coolest paint job we have seen in our office.

Sam Hill’s medium Nukeproof Mega 275c is the fastest bike in enduro, and has a custom paint job that demands attention.

Sam Hill needs no introduction, fact, he has earned his place in the gallery of mountain bike legends. Multiple UCI World Downhill Champion, multiple UCI Elite Men’s Downhill World Cup and now 2x Enduro World Series Champion. Created as a gift to Sam Hill from the Nukeproof team, this custom Nukeproof Mega 275c is custom as hell. The hand-painted paint job was inspired by Sam’s shin tattoos and love of the ‘Day of the Dead’ style. The paintwork was painstakingly done by Elite Refinishing in Belfast and looks insane, and we are sure this level of skilled work does not come cheap. A fitting bike for a champion.

How’s this for a cool family portrait, the Hill clan.
This is internal cable routing that we actually like!
Scotch 2228 tape keeps everything silent
The detail in the paint job is insane you could look at it for hours and keep finding cool stuff

Standing at 1.75 m tall and weighing in at 75 kg, Sam choses to ride a medium Nukeproof Mega 275c, with a 435 mm reach Sam certainly points a middle finger up at the ‘long is fast’ mentality. The rest of the geometry screams race though, a 180 mm fork, 64 ish head angle and 165 mm rear travel. The carbon frame is totally stock, just pulled from the production line before painting so the custom paint job could be performed on the raw frame.

Even though Nukeproof have a 29” bike, Sam prefers the 27.5” tyred 275c
Sam runs a SRAM X01 Eagle drivetrain, with a 165 mm crank and 32 tooth chainring.
Small touches are everywhere, even the signature Sam Hill Nukeproof Horizon pedals have some custom lazer etching.

Sam Hill’s Suspension Settings

Sam’s bike runs a stock RockShox Lyrik RC2, but uprated to 180 mm of travel, paired with a RockShox Super Deluxe on the rear. Being about the same weight as Sam, it would have been a crime not to jump on his bike and bounce around the car park. Expecting an iron-firm setup we were very surprised to see Sam runs a very plush setup, with the HSC and LSC run fully open on the fork and shock. Sam runs 85 psi in the 180 mm RockShox Lyrik RC2, with no tokens and runs -8 clicks rebound damping. All the internals of the RockShox Lyrik RC2 fork are standard, however, they feel incredibly smooth with almost no friction. Investigating further when we fully extended the forks hard there was an unusual noise and we suspect that some internal parts may have been removed in pursuit of increased performance, but Nukeproof would neither confirm nor deny ;>) (we could tell you but then we would have to kill you). The rear RockShox Super Deluxe shock is running 175 psi with no volume reducers and a custom larger negative chamber aircan. The rear rebound is set at -5 clicks. The setup is very different to many EWS racers but we cannot argue that it works well for Sam.

While having standard internals, the RockShox Super Deluxe shock has a custom larger negative air chamber
Sam runs 85 psi in the 180 mm RockShox Lyrik RC2, with no tokens and runs -8 clicks rebound damping
Sam runs the standard 27.5 offset on the 180 mm Lyrik fork, but we suspect the insides have been tuned a little for maximum smoothness.

Sam Hill’s tyre choice

Sam has become synonymous with Michelin tyres, working closely with them to develop new compounds and tread patterns. On the Mavic Deemax Elite wheelset, Sam is running some prototype Michelin DH22 tyres, with a full DH casing for maximum security and protection from punctures. The compound feels very soft, so Sam occasionally runs the Michelin Wild Enduro for increased rolling speed. Sam runs 23 Psi in the front and 28 Psi in the rear, with no inserts, trusting to Muc-Off sealant for quick puncture protection. Sam has a One-Up components tool in his steerer tube with a tubeless repair strip locked and loaded.

Sam works closely with Michelin as they develop the re-introduced DH22 tyre.

Does Sam Hill need brakes?

You would be forgiven in thinking that for someone who rides as fast as Sam Hill, brakes are as much use an ejector seat in a helicopter, but he has some big stoppers. Sam runs 200 mm rotors front and back for his SRAM Code RSC brakes, running sintered pads front and back. Sam runs a medium throw on the levers, from 5.5 cm to 3 cm for the bite point and his levers moderately flat on the bars.

Sam runs sintered pads in his SRAM Code RSC brakes, with big 200 mm rotors on the front and back.

Sam runs his brake levers moderately flat, pulling from 5.5 cm to 3 cm at the bite point.

The rest of the setup

Looking over the rest of the bike Sam runs a SRAM Eagle XO1 drivetrain with a 32 tooth chainring paired with short 165 mm cranks, and he of course uses the Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hill Signature edition pedals. Where ever cables run close to the frame, Sam uses rubber Scotch 2228 tape to deaden the noise. Sam runs a Nukeproof Carbon Bar cut down to 750 mm, with a 25 mm rise, 10 mm of spacers and his own signature 50 mm stem. Staying true to his moto roots, Sam runs AVS handguards with custom Yosemite Sam logos, and custom ‘Sam Hill’ grips with a very soft compound, we will likely see these in production soon.

Sam has a One-Up Components EDC tool hidden inside the steerer, with a tubeless repair plug pre-loaded
Sam runs a new-style Reverb remote under the left grip, and has his brakes set moto-style with the front brake on the right.
Sam’s bars are cut down to 750 mm, and he runs the polarsing AVS hand guards.
Sam is running a prototype grip with a very soft compound, fast wear but maximum grip

We chucked Sam’s bike on the scales and it weighed in at 16.1 kg with the DH tyres, EDC tool, ABS guards and pedals.

Happy day of the dead everyone!

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