Spotted: Danny Hart is Testing a High Pivot Cube Downhill Bike
Danny Hart is ramping up his off season program with a testing camp in southern Europe and is riding what looks to be a new race machine from Cube.
Danny joined the Cube team at the start of last year and was racing on a modified mullet version of its Two15 downhill bike. It didn't take long for Danny to get up to speed on that bike and he was knocking on the door of the podium all season with a trio sixth place finishes across the year.
However, downhill is a never ending quest for speed so it's no surprise that Danny is hoping to wring those extra milliseconds out of the Two15 platform by keeping the developments rolling. It looks like the plan to do that this year is to create a high pivot version. Danny teased what looks like a new aluminium prototype of the bike on his Instagram yesterday:
 | Having a mega time out here in the south of France with my team testing some stuff for the upcoming race season! Can’t beat a good bit of sunshine! |
Danny's prototype (left) vs the current production model (right).
Although we don't currently have a clear shot of the bike, we can see that compared to the current version of the bike, the chainstay now meets the seat tube above the chainring. This can only mean one thing - Cube is joining the high pivot trend. It's tough to tell too much more from a grainy Instagram shot but it looks like there have also been tweaks made to the lower shock mount and the headtube junction.
Will this bike ever be raced or manufactured? It's probably too early to say at the moment. Last year we saw Loic Bruni testing on a high pivot bike that never materialized and it could be just that Danny is simply comparing the two platforms at this point, especially as this bike appears to be made from aluminium, not carbon, which would require a far greater commitment. If we do ever get to see this bike in person at a World Cup, we'll be sure to get some clearer shots and details.
We've reached out to Cube for more information and will update this piece if they comment.
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Who knew a Balfa BB7 was so cutting edge.
The shop I worked at in high School sold both AMP research and Girvin Pro Flex bikes. My first big sale back in the day was to a guy who bought matching Pro Flexes and Thule roof rack, I don't recall the number but it was more than a $3k sale. I put the rack on the roof of his Saab 9000, clamped the bikes down and waved goodbye. The next day he comes back with two ruined Pro Flexes, a ruined Thule rack and two gigantic dents in the roof of his Saab. Apparently his garage was damaged as well, but I never saw that.