07/25/2026
If ya keep an ear to the ground in the mountain bike world, then maybe you’re aware that the Specialized Gravity Racing team has been on a tear this World Cup downhill season aboard Specialized’s newly released Demo 11 DH race bike.
After being raced in various prototype renditions on the World Cup circuit over the past three years, the now-available production version has won the last four World Cup rounds in a row. Finn Iles took rounds 3 and 4, followed by his teammate Jordan Williams winning the next two.
And they’ve done all of this practically without the most decorated rider on the team, Loic Bruni. The six-time World Champion and four-time World Cup overall champion nearly won the opening round, finishing second, then injured his wrist in practice at round two. He underwent surgery and has been sidelined ever since.
In November 2023, Specialized brought me in to film an R&D test session for its Demo 11 bike development video, which was released earlier this year. To maximize our coverage during a very short shoot window, I brought my pal from the Bike Mag days, Satchel Cronk, along to help capture additional footage. I also snuck in a bit of photography, some of which is shown here.
The test session documented the first time Specialized Gravity Racing’s riders, managers, and mechanics had ever seen or ridden this version of the bike, featuring the multi-chain, high-pivot-style gearbox concept that Specialized would later name the HighGear OBB linkage for the production model.
Finn Iles made the trip from Canada, and Jordan Williams flew over from the UK. We were told Bruni had unfortunately been forced to cancel his travels from France after suffering an injury while riding at home shortly before the trip.
Finn Iles puttiing the new Demo 11 DH race bike to work in Auburn, CA.
Inside Specialized’s mountain bike division development center in Auburn, CA.
A closer look at an early prototype unique HighGear + OBB linkage concept built into a carbon-lugged frame.
The Demo 11 HighGear system uses three chains, though not all shown here.
Primary Chain: This chain connects the crankset to a jackshaft, which is a k
