Bike Check: Rebecca Fahringer's "Super" Kona Major Jake
Kona, Maxxis, and Shimano help outfit Fahringer's 2020/21 Major Jake cyclocross bike.
After making her way into the sport of cyclocross with the Amy D. Development program, Rebecca Fahringer has found a good home alongside teammate Kerry Werner with the Kona Maxxis Shimano team that has supported their racing both domestically in North America and abroad in Europe. This season is Fahringer’s third with the team, and she is coming off her best campaign yet as a cyclocross pro after finishing 2nd at U.S. Nationals and 13th at Worlds a year ago.
When it comes to the team’s bikes, the team sponsors make it pretty easy to guess what the dynamic duo will be riding—Kona bikes, Maxxis tires, Shimano components.
During Fahringer’s first two years with the team, she rode Kona’s top-of-the-line Super Jake. Always fashion-forward and full of synergy, Kona has matched the team’s kits with the Super Jake’s colorways for that given year. Three years ago, Werner raced in a purplish kit that matched the black and purple colorway. Two years ago, Fahringer and Werner had yellow kits to match a new yellow-heavy colorway. And last year, the team kits featured a design Werner helped cook up to match the team’s bikes.
Kona did not offer the Super Jake for the 2021 model year—”Don't worry, the Major is still Super!” Fahringer explained—but it did give the Major Jake, now the higher-end of the two Jake models available, a snazzy gloss metallic green makeover that was just begging for the latest matchy-matchy kit. Our Euro Correspondent Ethan Glading caught up with Fahringer and her Major Jake last month at World Cup Namur. Unfortunately, the fashionista’s new kit arrived for the new year, so you can head over to her Instagram page to check out the new look.
Kona gave the Jake line a makeover for the 2018 model year with a slacker front and more BB drop than previous iterations of the bike. Although the Super Jake was the company’s flagship ‘cross bike, the Major Jake shared the same Race Lite Carbon frame and geometry.
Fahringer leveled up this year, moving to a 50cm frame after riding a 48 cm last season. Lest you be deceived by numbers, the 50cm Major Jake has a 53.1 cm top tube length. The front has a slack 70-degree head tube angle, which is not all that different from the Cannondale SuperX we recently wrote about.
“I'm a big girl now! I bumped up to a size 50. Yes, let that sink in. UP to a 50,” Fahringer explained in an email. “I have a lot more room to adjust the fit and more easily shoulder the bike with that slightly larger triangle. For reference, I am like 5'4.666667". If I try hard, I am totally 5'5".”
Professional bike racers often find themselves switching bikes as bike sponsors come and go, and in cyclocross, it’s even more challenging because those bike changes usually come on January 1 in the middle of the season and a month before Worlds. I asked Fahringer if there has been any benefit to riding the same Super slash Major bike each season.
“I think there is an advantage in that you don't need to adjust to the handling of a new geometry, and even worse, figure out all of the fit information which can take a whole season in itself, realistically,” she explained.
The 2021 Major Jake’s metallic green paint coating is highlighted by, according to Kona, “dark green and slime decals.”
Astute observers may notice the colorful handlebar tape on Fahringer’s bike and given Kona’s fashion-forward ethos thus conclude it too is a stock inclusion on the 2021 Major Jakes. Unfortunately, that is not quite so.
“I didn't get my Lizard Skins shipment in before I built the bike, so I just googled ‘cool bar tape’ and bought a roll of the stuff that looked coolest,” Fahringer admitted.
The “cool bar tape” is the 8 Days Handlebar Tape from Cycology.
One of the challenges for Shimano-sponsored cyclocross racers up until a few years ago was the company did not offer a clutch-based road derailleur. That changed in 2018 when the company unveiled the Ultegra RX805 clutch rear derailleur that Fahringer and Werner quickly adopted for the 2018/19 season. Last year, they followed suit by adopting the gravel-inspired Shimano GRX groupset for their cyclocross racing.
Similar to Clara Honsinger, Fahringer ran a double in 2019/20 but switched to a 1x front setup in 2020/21. The GRX rear derailleur is designed to work with either a 1x or 2x front, although due to the spacing on the GRX crankset, the 2x setup is only compatible with a GRX front derailleur and rings. Since the GRX 48/31t combo doesn’t exactly scream cyclocross gearing, Fahringer used an Ultegra crank to run 46/36t ‘cross rings last season.
This year, the 1x setup makes things a bit easier. Fahringer is running a single ring in the front on a GRX RX810-1 crankset with 170mm crank arms and the long-cage R817 Di2 rear derailleur.
Last year’s setup was not completely gone and forgotten, as she paired the right GRX crank arm with a left Ultegra crank arm with a Stages power meter, which she said she really likes for measuring power on her ‘cross bike.
She explained the switch to 1x, “I have been single ring curious for a few years now, and I decided if ever there was a season to just jump in and try something new, it was this one. I do miss the 2x for training, and sometimes for the lack of thinking about anything before a race, but the 1x is clean and simple.”
Also like Honsinger, Fahringer faced a decision about gearing. Last year, she ran the 46/36t front rings with an 11-32t rear cassette. With the GRX front crank supporting either a 40t or 42t front ring, she was afraid she’d be cranking on that 40-32 combo up the steep hills of courses such as Namur. Fortunately, a little birdie informed her a better, spinnier future was available.
“Barry Wicks came to my rescue when he assured me that GRX was compatible with Shimano's XTR lineup, so I am on a GRX 40t chain ring in the front and an 11-40t in the back. The gearing is DOPE!! I swap to an 11-32t for a flatter course or a muddy course where I won't ride the climbs anyway. It also gives me a tighter gearing ratio. But who needs tight gearing when you can Jolanda Neff spin-to-win up a long, slogging climb, then have the energy to drop a few cogs and drop some ladies over the top!?”
The Di2 R815 level of the GRX groupset also features redesigned shift-brake levers that riders have been raving about thanks to their powerful control and revamped ergo design. Fahringer pairs hers with the GRX flat-mount hydraulic disc calipers for braking.
While Maxxis is big in the mountain biking—and thus tubeless—game, Fahringer has kept it cyclocross traditional by running the company’s tubular tires with Shimano tubular rims. Although her GRX gruppo stands in for Shimano’s top-end Dura-Ace, she is rolling with Shimano’s high-end line with Dura-Ace R9170-C40 carbon tubular rims.
When we saw Fahringer’s bike, she had 700c x 33mm Maxxis All Terrane tubulars mounted up.
The rest of Fahringer’s setup includes a few other subtle switches from past seasons. In previous cyclocross campaigns, she ran a 40cm Pro Vibe handlebar, but this year, she also leveled up her bar width.
“When I first started race cyclocross, I was on borrowed, begged, and stolen equipment. So a lot of my bike sizing came from this original configuration,” she explained. “I had been on 40cm bars for years, then this summer we ran out of 40cm bars when building up my gravel bike and had to throw some 42s on. It felt weird at first, but then I got on my old Jake and tried to sprint and was like ‘I CAN'T USE MY LUNGS.’ So I swapped to the 42s. It also inspires me to ‘be bigger’ during the race and better guard my space. Or at least that's what I tell myself.”
Also new for the new season is a switch to a bar-end Di2 junction box from the under-stem model. “I sometimes grab the bike by the stem and knock it off of its mount,” she explained about the switch. “What’s worse. last year I tripped going up the flyover at Worlds, snagged all of my wires, and unplugged them. The bar-end box is cleaner and so far I have had no issues.”
Rounding out Fahringer’s contact points are a WTB Alvarado saddle with Ti rails, and the Shimano XTR M9100 pedals designed for better mud shedding that were released a few years ago.
Fahringer’s Major Jake will continue to get friendly with the Belgian mud this season as its rider gears up to represent Team USA for the 5th time at the Oostende World Championships at the end of the month. Although this season has been a challenging one for Fahringer, we here at the Bulletin are GoFahr fans and hope to see her end the season on a major super note.
For more on Fahringer’s Major Jake, check out the specs below.
Rebecca Fahringer’s Kona Major Jake Specs
Frame: Kona Major Jake, 50cm frame, Kona Race Lite carbon, 12mm thru-axle
Fork: Kona, carbon, 12mm thru-axle
Brakes: Shimano GRX RX810 flat-mount disc
Rotors: Shimano Dura-Ace SM-RT900
Shifters: Shimano GRX RX815 shift-brake levers
Crankset: Shimano GRX RX810-1, 170mm crank arms
Chain Ring: Shimano GRX 40t
Chain Guide: Wolf Tooth Gnarwolf
Rear Derailleur: Shimano GRX RX817 Di2, long-cage
Cassette: Shimano XTR M9000 11-40t
Chain: Shimano
Wheels: Shimano Dura-Ace WH-R9170-C40-TU carbon tubulars
Tires: Maxxis tubulars, 700c x 33mm
Handlebar: Pro Vibe, 42cm
Bar Tape: “Cool bar tape,” aka Cycology 8 Days Handlebar Tape
Stem: Pro Vibe, alloy
Seat Post: Pro Vibe, carbon, zero offset
Saddle: WTB Silverado, Ti rails
Pedals: Shimano XTR M9100 SPD
More Info: konaworld.com