Dolphin Team Xtreme

Nico received his Session 88 prototype in february and Sander, the Dolphin-Trek mechanic started work on the bike. A new bike means starting all over. What damper to use, which coil to put on the damper, how to tune the fork, how long should the stem be....etcetera. The initial setup is made...and testing can comence.

First reactions with regards to the Session 88 were extremely positive. The bike had shed over 3 kilos compared to last year's Session 10 and seemed up to the job, the braking worked fine and the suspension was balanced and progressive. The time had come to put the bike through its paces and Sander and Nico went off for a training and test session in southern France.

Peille was an excellent track to test both Nico and the bike. Peille is quite short, but extremely harsh and riders get pummeled on their way down. It certainly is not a place you want to crash down hard; rocks are sharp and unforgiving here. You might also want to chuck in some spare tyres and rims if you come to ride here. 

After a couple of runs, changes are made to fine tune the dampers and brakes and the pace is slowly picked up as Nico's confidence grows. The bike suits him well; he thoroughly enjoys it and loves the way it feels. In the mean time, Sander is working hard and fiddling with the setup to get it as good as can be for Nico. 

In two weeks time, Nico has made loads and loads of runs, testing his bike to the limit. Testing is about getting used to the bike, but also improving and getting feedback to the designers to make it even better. The Trek R&D guys use the rider's feedback to continuously improve the bike, seek out weak spots and finally...put a proven frame on the market for us to ride.