Race favorite Aaron Gwin (USA) saw his hopes of taking the World Title this year come to an end around 1min 20secs into his final race run in Leogang, when inexplicably his front brakes failed, resulting in a crash. Shortly after the crash Aaron pumped the brake to try and get some pressure going but it was insufficient to complete the course safely at speed, and he cruised to the line disappointed he was unable to throw down a full race run. After the brake failure, both brakes were sent to Shimano Japan and were thoroughly evaluated by their engineers, and in Norway the results of their findings were revealed to Aaron and his mechanic Monkey. Testing proto-type products, always to the limit and sometimes to failure, is part of the role of modern day professional downhill teams and riders. The timing couldn’t have been worse, but the feedback and information gleaned was extremely valuable and all part of the process.
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