GT Press Camp 2008 (Bryn)
LIVIGNO, ITALY
Once a year, 
Bicycles puts on a press camp, basically an intro to all the new bikes for the following year, and a chance for the guys from the magazines from all over to ride the bikes.....
For this year, we went to Livigno, Italy, host town to the 2005 World Championships, to show what has got for 2009. Expanding their Carbon line-up, with the Carbon Force, And the all new Prototype Fury DH Machine we are set to turn some heads.
The Force is a 6 inch 'All Mountain' shredder, coming in at around 27 pounds, if i could only have one bike, the Carbon Force would be it for sure. I have never ridden a Carbon Mountain bike, so for me, it's all new. The best thing about the carbon is the smooth, consistent ride, just a really nice feel on the trail, and in turns, it's stiff, I was ripping around on one all week, I can't wait to get one.
The Biggest news for is the unveiling of their latest baby; The Carbon 'Fury', It will replace the existing DHi, as a world cup ready race machine. The release date for this bike has yet to be decided, as the guys at really want to do some quality testing before putting it out on the market, they are passionate about this project and want to have it ready for everyone to rip on.
I was lucky enough to be the first to ride the only 'Fury' in existence. I gotta tell you, at first, before I Even got to Livigno, I was a little skeptical about the thought of riding a full carbon Downhill bike. George Perry, and Robert Stemen are the head Engineers at getting this thing off the ground, and they explained to me the qualities of todays carbon fiber. To sum it up, it's some strong shit and this baby aint gonna break.
The ride is real similar to the carbon Force, just a nice supple feel over the bumps then stiff and super responsive in the turns, i love it! I should have a Prototype here in the next couple of weeks, can't wait. Look out for a bit more of an in depth review later.
One of the coolest things about the press camp for me was getting to hang out with Hans Rey. The guy has ridden for for over 2 decades, and here's an interesting fact, he has had almost 300 front covers of Magazines.. Wow, I really admire Hans' work ethic, he is so good to his sponsors. He's always lining up some crazy photo shoot, in some crazy location, and to get to ride, and shoot photo's with him last week was a real thrill.
Big Thanks to all the guys at the office, Peterman, Stemenator, George, Sarah, Jenny, Michael and PK.
BY BRYN
www.gtbicycles.com
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