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Gwin Wins Sea Otter DH Aboard Enduro 29er

Oct 20, 2009
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<p>Riding the new 29" Specialized Enduro Carbon, Aaron Gwin (USA) took home the win this weekend at the 2013 Sea Otter Classic downhill with a time of 2:00.227. The win capped off a successful weekend by the Downhill Specialized Racing team members. Mitch Ropelato was 4th in the Dual Slalom and 18th in the downhill, while Australian Troy Brosnan rolled 7s and had the best Sea Otter DH finish of his career in 7th place. He also wound up in 7th in the dual slalom after being taken out of contention by Ropelato. Specialized Racing Enduro athlete Anneke Beerten got 3rd in the women’s DH finals.</p><p>
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The Sea Otter downhill hasn't changed in quite a few years, but the recent sunny weather and hundreds of riders crushed the extremely dry track into a fine talc powder that took many riders down to the ground in the off camber corners. Tire and wheel choices were key, and a fine balance between traction and rolling resistance made the right choice critical. Luckily, the Specialized Racing athletes had plenty of both to choose from. Gwin and Ropelato were on 29" wheeled S-Works Enduro Carbons. Brosnan elected to ride a 26" version of the same platform.</p><p>
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Gwin was stoked on his win. "I really enjoyed riding the Enduro 29er this weekend. The course at Sea Otter is fast with a good amount of peddling and I just felt like it might be the right bike for the job. This was my first weekend on the bike and I was definitely impressed. I’ll be riding that thing a ton when I’m training back home."</p><p>
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Brosnan had this to say about his day: "My downhill run was sick. I tried to pedal as much as I could and tucked into the big rolling hills. I had a fair bit left at he bottom to sprint at the line. I couldn't have gone much faster. I chose to ride my Enduro because it's a lot lighter than a normal Dh bike. I stuck with the normal 26" wheels because I felt more comfortable riding on those wheels. The bike looks sick!"</p><p>
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The young Australian came into the event wanting to focus on slalom, and was on a brand new bike for the occasion. "My Enduro SX was really good. The new frame feels great. Slalom started out nice, I had a few good runs and qualified right up there. When it came down to the tighter runs at the end I had to go up against Mitch and we had a wild battle, and he edged me out to move on."</p><p>
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The team now heads to Washington state for what will be an incredibly deep field at the Northwest Cup event at Dry Hill, in Port Angeles.</p>

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