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The German manufacturer, Nicolai, boasts a long tradition in racing, in fact, the brand was born on the race track in 1995: Leigh Donovans’ World Championship-winning bike was originally hand-built by Kalle Nicolai for the U.S. brand Mongoose. This bike formed the foundation of the Nicolai brand and was recognized internationally as the Trombone. Over the next 20 years, Nicolai was a force to be reckoned with at national and international races with legendary teams such as KRC-Nicolai, SRAM-Nicolai, Gates-Nicolai, Conti-Nicolai and sponsoring individual athletes such as BMX world champion Yvan Lapraz and downhill pro, Benoit Coulanges. In recent years, however, Nicolai has been less visible between the tapes. In 2018, all resources were directed towards the company‘s move to a larger factory and the expansion of the new production facility – and shortly after came the lockdown. The beginning of the 2023 season now marks the end of the hiatus as the Nicolai Racing fueled by Fidlock enduro team puts Nicolai back on the starting line.

Nicolai Racing fueled by Fidlock. Three young riders bring considerable racing experience and achievements to the team: Lena Arndt, Marvin Kaufmann (aka Mupfen) and Tim Schüz. All three can reflect on their national and international racing experience and have already tasted the podium atmosphere, only feeding their appetite for more. Lena, Mupfen and Tim have been riding together as friends for years and now form a well-oiled team in which everyone brings their individual mix of skills and personalities.

Lena

Lena Arndt is a true force of nature. During her sports studies, the young teacher from Ruhr got hooked on mountain biking and now takes every opportunity to cruise southwards with her bike and campervan. Lena is always cheerful and fires people up with her good mood – provided that there‘s enough coffee and pizza on hand. Alongside her passion for racing, she also loves pushing her boundaries by exploring new riding territories. Even when Lena is not on the bike, you’ll still find her in the mountains: climbing and bouldering.

„My suspension is set rather hard, but I run less air pressure in my tires – but I‘m definitely not a setup nerd. My favorite trails are long, fast and rough and I don‘t really like to get on the bike for anything less than 1,000 meters of elevation.“

Mupfen

Marvin Kaufmann inherited his bike genes from his mother‘s milk. The man from the Oden Forest has crossed every discipline from XC to BMX and downhill. His riding style is therefore not only widely skilled and highly distinctive, but he‘s also damn fast. Mupfen brings the Scandinavian flick from rally driving to the enduro track and with his motivation and enthusiasm brings everyone together.

When he‘s not biking himself, the professional forester improves the lives of other riders by crafting dirt as a trail builder at the Bikepark Beerfelden.

„I‘m super stoked for my first opportunity to ride in a real team. I like my suspension soft with a decent amount of progression. I love riding in the wet and mud and the perfect trail for me is long, steep and technical.“

Tim

Tim Schüz found bikes at the age of 12 on a BMX and has now been on the MTB racetracks for 8 years. The 27-year-old engineer works at Nicolai and has already extensively tested the Nucleon 16 prototype, where the potential of the bike as a racing machine quickly became clear to him. When Tim is not riding, he optimizes his camper for the next bike trip and goes bouldering in the climbing gym for something different.

„I‘m highly motivated to race with such a fast new bike and such a cool team. I‘m looking forward to the deep and technical discussions about the Nucleon 16 at the races. Suspensionwise, I‘m riding on the firm side, with medium rebound.“

Team Bike: Nucleon 16 Supre

With the brand new Nucleon 16 Supre (of which the first production models are available at the time of the team launch), Nicolai provides the team with this technological leader and the most powerful enduro racing machine in their portfolio. With its revolutionary derailleur, the Supre Drive from Cedric Eveleigh‘s Canadian manufacturer LAL Bikes, the Nucleon combines the efficiency of a derailleur with the robustness of a gearbox bike, while eliminating the respective drawbacks. The Supre Drive‘s front-mounted chain tensioner allows for a high-pivot suspension chassis on the Nucleon 16. The suspension is designed solely for the desired performance in terms of anti-squat, anti-rise, wheel travel curve and progression: its kinematics are not subject to the constraints of regular derailleurs. By supporting his new team with this machine, Kalle Nicolai not only wants to demonstrate the performance of the Nucleon 16 under competitive conditions but also to make a statement to show the will to push boundaries, spread the joy of innovation and send a message: Nicolai is racing.

Sponsors

In addition to Nicolai, Fidlock signs in as the team’s co-sponsor providing its innovative mounting solutions, magnetic supports and water bottles. Fidlock not only provides the team with top equipment but also takes care of logistical support.

Fox Racing Shox supports the team with its top-of-the-line suspension components. These cuttingedge products are customized both to the requirement profile of the Nucleon 16 kinematics and to the individual needs of the riders.

In addition, the team is supplied with brakes, discs and pads from Trickstuff which are renowned as the best stoppers on the market. Another high-end, German-made highlight are the Race 30 wheels from Tune.

Cranks and cockpit are from Race Face, tires from Maxxis and dropper seatposts from Vecnum. SQ Lab takes care of the contact points with saddles and grips. LAL Bikes supports the team with its Supre Drive being used for the first time on a production bike with the Nucleon 16.

For stylish, high-quality race gear the team will rely on 100%. Shoes are provided by Ride Concepts and RISKiT supplies the team with everything they need for care, service and cleaning.

Tim Schüz from Nicolai Racing fueled by Fidlock is especially pleased that “the extensive support not only gives us equipment for our team to achieve its goals but simultaneously equips us with the components we all desire the most.” Like the German-crafted frame, many of the critical components are provided by German manufacturers making logistics, communication and rapid improvements and testing throughout the season easy. To finalize these racing weapons, each team rider has chosen their favorite color from the Nicolai Extra Love palette of anodized parts plus custom colourways painted in-house. Of course, the respective tuning parts are picked to match these: a stylish bike is a fast bike.

Races and Events Schedule

Nicolai Racing fueled by Fidlock will participate in the following races and events, among others, for the 2023 season:

• Full BC Enduro Tour
• Chili Enduro Series (selected rounds)
• Czech Enduro Series (selected rounds)
• German Championships Winterberg
• Dirt Masters Festival Winterberg
• Bike Festival Freiburg (tbc)
• Bike Festival Willingen

If you meet Nicolai Racing fueled by Fidlock at an event or race, feel free to talk to them, ask them your questions or let them show and explain the team bikes to you. Lena, Mupfen and Tim are always up for a tech talk, and at events, they‘ll be happy to take you out for a ride so you can try out the new Nucleon 16 Supre for yourself on the trail.