Pro Bike Check: Marcus Klausmann’s Enduro Prototype from Ghost
A few months back we had the opportunity to shoot Marcus Klausmann and his latest Ghost prototype, and at the recent enduro race in Riva he tore its latest evolution down the track – revealing some exciting news about the new bike. Keep reading to find out more.
As standard, the Path will launch onto the market in various models, each of which is ‘more than slightly’ race-orientated with 170mm forks. But even creating one new range isn’t enough for Ghost, who have given virtually their entire back catalogue an overhaul. The former Riot will soon only be available as a long-travel ride, with a setup primed for racing. The facelift given to the ARM series has resulted in the Slammer (130mm travel), Slammer X (150mm travel) and the Framer (160mm travel) – these are intended to be affordable trail and touring bikes for ambitious amateurs.
Marcus presents us with a bike that’s screaming ‘race-ready’, evident from the high performance parts. Traction comes courtesy of the 36 Float RC2 forks and the Float X shock from FOX Racing Shox, while the highly coveted, racing-orientated SRAM XX1 groupset takes care of the transmission. The chain is kept in place by an E.13 XCX+ Direct Mount chain guide. Just like the suspension, the D.O.S.S seat post hails from FOX Racing Shox.
You can’t help but notice the SRM PowerMeter, mounted inside the spider between the cranks and the chain rings, which provides detailed stats on power exertion and wattage. The size of the chainrings is set to vary, explains Klausmann: “Depending on the course I change the size of the chain rings. For enduro races that climb a lot – like this one in Riva del Garda – I use a 32-toothed chain ring, but for flatter routes I’d prefer a 34-toothed one.”
As one of Schwalbe’s developers, Marcus naturally rides Schwalbe tyres, with a Schwalbe Magic Mary on the front and a fast rolling Rock Razor at the rear. Both are tubeless in the SuperGravity variant, and have a width of 2.35”.
The cockpit comprises of personalized Sixpack bars, attached to a 50mm Tune Geiles Teil 4.0 stem. Aside from the centrally-positioned bike computer, the distinctively flat Magura MT7 brake levers catch your eye and Marcus comments: “The positioning of your brake levers is really a personal choice – I find it best when they’re flatter, even if this doesn’t necessarily reflect the norm.”
After presenting this specific bike to us, Marcus revealed some further details concerning Ghost’s upcoming product shake-up, which is due to be launched at their own in-house fair halfway through the season.
Words: Martin Stöckl Pictures: Christoph Bayer