MTB

Quiver: The Many Bikes of Manon Carpenter

The former downhill champion has a bike for every need

With many riders, their race bike stays in the shed and they spend most of their time jumping or trail riding like the rest of us. It’s time to see those workhorse machines.

For Manon Carpenter, those machines come in the form of a fleet of Radons (and a BSD BMX) that she uses to ride everything from park to dual to downhill. It’s been nearly a year since Manon announced her retirement from downhill racing but she’s come out the other side enjoying riding more than ever.

Manon is 5’9” and runs medium frames on all her bikes. She also runs 760mm bars on everything but the BMX. Since leaving racing, Manon has started riding flats again. She initially swapped over to learn one-foot tables, but liked the change so much that it has stuck. Let’s take a look at each of the bikes in detail:

Radon Slush

This is probably Manon’s favourite bike and judging from the session we had at Van Road (originally built by her Dad back in the day) she spends a lot of time on it. Manon first picked up this bike for the Dual Slalom race at Crankworx Les Gets last year, hence the Radon factory colours and her name on the top tube. Radon normally supplies the Slush as a frame only but Manon’s has been fitted with front and rear brakes and a modified 5-speed Saint cassette for racing. Manon predominantly uses it for dirt jumping (e.g the La Poma trip we featured in winter) but she has been known to take it to the park too.

Radon Jab

This is a brand new bike (Manon only had it delivered the day before we arrived) so Manon hasn’t really had time to get to grips with it yet.

The Jab is Radon’s brand new carbon, enduro bike and Manon’s is kitted out with a full Fox and Shimano Di2 build. It’s a full, murdered-out stealth look with a couple of sexy, cutaway details. We’re expecting more details from Radon when the bike gets fully released later this year.

Radon Swoop 200

This bike keeps all the parts from Manon’s race days but she’s had a frame swap so it’s not in the Factory Racing colours anymore. Manon runs it with a 375 spring in the rear.

Radon Slide 140

As with most people, the do-it-all trail bike is Manon’s most ridden. She’s had this bike coming on for 18 months now and it’s still running strong. Most people will point out the D.O.S.S seatpost but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

BSD Passenger

Manon’s retirement present from her dad was a BSD Passenger (the same bike as Kriss Kyle) so she could spend more time enjoying her home-from-home Cardiff Ramp World. Simple, clean and stunning, we’re big fans.