We’re bringing back a WTB favorite and for good reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2009 WTB’s Moto tire was shelved due to production complications at the factory. Not content to let it sit there collecting dust, we set resident Mountain Bike Hall of Fame designer Mark Slate to work, re-designing the Moto to give it a fresh look and feel. Now after three years, the Moto is back and ready to ride again.

Photo: Milliman

The Moto was the first tire to win the Downieville All-Mountain race in 2005, under employee-rider Jason Moeschler. Seven years later,the Moto is still Jason’s go-to tire for almost every ride. Here he is above putting the new Moto prototypes through their paces at “The Ranch” last April, just like the good ‘ol days.

Welcome home old friend.

The new Moto is available in 26” 2.1, 26” 2.3, and 29” 1.9 at your local bike shop.

Like the famous saying in the movie The Field of Dreams, “if you build it they will come”, the 2011 motto for the Downieville Classic was, “if we remove the snow they will come.” That is exactly what happened thanks to the massive effort led by the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship and the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Kenny Burt on his way to taking third place in the Downhill. Photo: D.Zaffke

Kenny Burt WTB/IBIS led the charge to the podium taking 3rd in the Downhill and fourth in the All Mountain category. WTB/Cannondale’s Ben Cruz took 5th in the Downhill, Max Houtzager WTB/ Whole Athlete / Specialized won second place in the Jr. Men All Mountain category, and WTB/Giant/Northstars Lizzy English took 1st place in the Women’s All Mountain category.

Max Houtzager pushing through the infamous “Waterfall”- Photo:D.Zaffke

We are also happy to report that all of the WTB Racers were riding the new WTB TCS system with no flats! Weirwolfs / Wolverines and Strykers were the top tire and wheel combinations for this years Downieville Classic.

WTB athlete “Blind “Bobby congratulates Ben Cruz on his all out effort in the XC race.- Photo L.Moeschler

Marketing Manager Chris Schierholtz and WTB Logistics Manager Fast Freddy “Trailboss” Falk moments before their Downhill run.- Photo L.Moeschler

Friendly reminder, if you are not a member of the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship you should. Click here, it’s just that easy. We also have race reports coming in from Mark and Jason’s BC Epic Race and the race scene in Europe, stay tunned…

Jason Moeschler blasting down Third Divide Trail. Photo by Forrest Arakawa

The Downieville Classic once again secured its prominence as the premier All Mountain race in America. Spectators were treated to a dramatic competition with the most talent-stacked field in Downieville history. “We have more world champion racers here than any other race in the States,” said the race organizer, Wayne Hoffman.

The biggest battle of the weekend was between Olympic-rider/Super D National Champ Adam Craig (Giant) and Jason Moeschler (WTB/Santa Cruz). Moeschler has won Downieville’s prestigious All Mountain stage race three times; he grew up in the nearby town of Nevada City, California; he helps maintain and build Downieville’s trails; and he has a full time office job at WTB. Craig came to the small Sierra town without the local knowledge (it was his, in fact, his first time racing in Downieville), but the demanding course perfectly suits Craig’s bike-handling skills and horsepower.

Read more here.

      
      
Photos by Forrest Arakawa

This year’s Downieville Classic saw some big changes. The event became the inaugural All-Mountain World Championships, the XC course gained two more miles of ripping singletrack and, for the first time in years, Team WTB didn’t dominate everything.

The weekend started with a completely sold-out field of 800 riders departing Sierra City, California for the point-to-point XC race. Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/WTB) and Ross Schnell (Trek) were the first two riders to crest the 3,000-foot climb. At the Downieville Classic, however, the race is won and lost on the rugged descent in to downtown Downieville. The first victim of the rough landscape was Sheppard, who sliced a rear tire while trailing Jason Moeschler (Team WTB/Santa Cruz) through the infamous “Babyheads” section.

“I passed Sheppard just before we dropped in to Babyheads,” said Moeschler. “I showed him all of my best lines through the rocks and I guess he flatted.” Moeschler expected to catch Schnell in a similar fashion, but the Trek rider hit the finish line first, with a 2:30-minute gap over Moeschler. Mark Weir (Team WTB/Santa Cruz) crossed the line a minute later in third. WTB teammates Moeschler and Weir spent Saturday evening strategizing how to capture the All-Mountain title.

Caption: WTB’s OEM sales manager Tom DeLacy. Jason Moeschler on the green machine. Moeschler and friends on the patio above the madness downtown

“Schnell proved his strength in the XC,” Weir stated. “I’m normally really careful and conservative in my race run. This year I knew I couldn’t afford to be conservative. It had to be all or nothing.”

Click here to read the complete report.

Poison Oak Productions, the two-person crew that put out the film Singletrack Minds, is finishing up a powerful documentary about mountain bike racer Bobby McMullen. Jason Watkins and Wendy Todd of Poison Oak invited a few of us to a private screening at Pixar Animation Studios last week and we were simply blown away.

The film documents Bobby’s 2007 race season—including injuries and break-ups—with the climax at the Downieville Classic. Bobby is one of the most colorful personalities that WTB sponsors, a damn good bike racer and he can talk trash with the best of them. Another notable point is that Bobby is blind. This film does an excellent job capturing his incredible spirit. Although his vision is impaired, Bobby has more focus and determination than any other athlete we know.

We’re confident that this film will not only be a smashing success among cyclists, but a hit among non-riders as well. Click the picture above to watch the trailer.

It’s been an incredibly successful year for WTB’s racers. WTB-sponsored riders Sam Hill and Sabrina Jonnier (Team Monster-Iron Horse) have been absolutely killing it on the world cup DH circuit. Both riders clenched the overall world cup series titles as well as the prestigious titles of male and female downhill world champion. The two riders have been nearly unbeatable for two years.

WTB staffer and team rider Mark Weir has been no slouch this year either. Weir just returned from a few weeks of shredding the European Alps. Weir is a truly multi-faceted athlete. He’s making major progress getting the school board interested in funding pumptracks, he’s getting USA Cycling to actually start listening about course design and he’s been winning races left and right. Weir and WTB Team rider Jason Moeschler destroyed the Downieville Classic this year. Between the two of them, they claimed victory in just about every race in the region. XC, DH, Super D, you name it, these guys are out there representing with more pro victories than we can list here.

Check out this video of Weir in his backyard: