Baybutt Memorial Gravity Race – More Gnar Than Speed
Thu 4th Aug, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
Are you up for hurtling downhill as fast as you can on a bike made from spares? The Baybutt Memorial Gravity Race brings chainless, 26-inch-wheeled, gravity-fed madness on a stick to Sheffield for a pretty-much-anything-goes approach to road DH, with a few obscure rules thrown in for good measure. The This Is Sheffield crew told us how it is.
“The Grav bikes are judged on four parameters: Aero, Mass, Radness and Effort. What racers turn up with is a spectrum from Baybutt’s masterpiece down to a DH bike with the chain off and literally everything in between. This year I was aboard the Phast Phalus which featured an air penetrating penis and air bag balls combo; Shane turned up with a trike with a beer barrel strapped to the back; Camus had 7kg of water bottles taped to his frame; and Chay had a 50kg digger tooth welded inside the main triangle of his Cotic. Madness.”
“When the invitations go out they stipulate a few rules: Chainless, 26” max wheel diameter (no roadies), as much protective equipment as possible and that scrutineering will take place. An overcomplicated and heavily unfair scoring system is then used to calculate who wins. Fastest run and fastest speed only make up a small proportion of the total Gnar points on offer and effort is heavily rewarded.”
Head over to This Is Sheffield for more deets on this mad bonkers event.
