New Year and New Bikes for Shimano Motocross Athletes

In conjunction with Specialized Bicycles, Giant Bicycles, and Fox Racing Shox Shimano proudly supports several of the top Supercross and Motocross riders in the world.

As we get ready to kick off the 2020 cycing season, things are already in full swing for our Supercross athletes. Supercross is one of the most demanding, dangerous, and exciting sports out there. To be successful in supercross, you have to be prepared. Having the right equipment for both racing and trainning is crucial. 

 

Justin Brayton A1 SuperCross
Cooper Webb at Anaheim 1 SuperCross. Photo: VitalMX.com

 

Here at Shimano we are privileged to be able to work with some of best motorcycle racers on the planet. In conjunction with Specialized Bicycles, Giant Bicycles, and Fox Racing Shox we are able to provide top-notch training tools to several of the top Supercross and Motocross riders. Riders such as Justin Brayton, Chad Reed, Ken Roczen, Dylan Ferrandis, Dean Wilson, Marvin Musquin, Justin Bogle, Broc Tickle, Cooper Webb as well as several retired, but still active legends of the sport like Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Ward, Doug Henry, David Bailey, Micky Dymond, Ryan Hughes, Will Hahn and Jimmy Button are all a part of the Shimano Motocross Athlete program.

 

Justin Brayton with Joe Lawwill
Shimano Mountain Bike Sports Markeitng Manager, Joe Lawwill showing Justin Brayton his new 2020 Specialized Epic mountain bike equipped with 12-speed XTR at Anaheim 1 Supercross.

         

The riders we work with are all passionate cyclists and put in heavy miles on their bicycles during the year. Veteran rider, Justin Brayton, trains 5-6 days a week in the off-season and 3-4 days during the season. He is also known to throw down at local cross country events when his schedule allows. Also it’s not uncommon to see many of these guys showing up to local races and events like the “Over the Hump” Tuesday XC race series in Irvine, CA near Shimano's headquarters when riders are in town preparing for the outdoor season in May. These athletes have a lot on the line, racing in front of thousands of people in stadiums and many more watching on TV and they need to make sure they are prepared. This includes their race bikes and their training.

 

“I want Shimano on my bikes because I feel it’s the highest quality, most durable stuff on the market. I can’t be replacing my parts on my bike constantly cause it would interrupt training so I choose the best!” - Justin Brayton

 

Dean Wilson
Dean Wilson dialing in his motorcycle during practice at Anaheim 1. Photo: VitalMX.com

 

Several of the top motocross trainers like Aldon Baker, Gareth “Swanie” Swanepoel and Randy Lawrence all use cycling as a big part of their racer's training program. 

 

"Cycling is a much lower impact activity for these guys who are used to hitting 70 foot triple jumps and navigating nasty 100 yard whoop sections so the idea of riding motorcycles as your only training is not the best way to go." According to Swanie, he uses cycling for many different reasons, “our first phase is to build an endurance base. We do this mostly on road bikes. This helps gets the rider's fitness up to endure the long season, then we start to add more intensity and we normally start riding more mountain bikes. Our goal in this phase is to increase the riders Vo2 (max oxygen they can absorb while working out). Then finally we use the bicycles during the season for recovery training and to maintain the fitness of the rider. This all helps the riders perform better on the dirt bike.”

 

Cooper Webb with Specialized Road Bike
Coop Webb with his new Shimano DURA-ACE equipped Specialized Tarmac road bike.

         

Justin Brayton Specialized Bikes
Justin Brayton with his new Shimano equipped Specialized Epic mountain bike and Specialized Tarmac road bike. Photo: VitalMX.xom

        

Dean Wilson SuperCross
Dean Wilson with his new Shimano DURA-ACE equipped Specialized Tarmac. Photo: VitalMX.com