Justin Raynes Pro level SOK SRAM

This guy is a pro-racer after my own heart.


Justin is an employee of Bikes Unlimited of Williamsburg, VA. After years on the race circuit with a Bianchi Oetzi, this year he added a 29er to his quiver of race bikes. A tool for every trade, a bike for every type of course.


The bike is roughly 50% stock, here is Justin's take on his race-ready 29er and a bit regarding his carbon hardtail Oetzi:

Here are a few pics of the bike and my setup. Hope you like the looks of the bike, what I like most is my gearing on my crank, I got TA specialty rings, and Blackspire. The 22-34-44 is too much to push on most MTB trail. Running those combos makes it feel a lot more like my carbon Oetzi. I got it weighing around 22.5 lbs depending on my tires and wheels. My Oetzi weighs 21 lbs, so I’ve got the 29er pretty light.

FRAME: 17.5 2009 Sok
FORK: Rock shox reba race, remote lockout
WHEELS: Mavic crossmax 29er(mainly for training and little races), SET #2-- American classic hubs, DT revolution spokes, aluminum nipples, No-tubes 355 rims(hand built by myself, only for racing)
CRANKS: Shimano XTR crank(picture shows a triple, I run a 2x9 setup with either, 28-40t or 26-38t depending on the climbing; this saves weight and the gearing works a lot better with the bigger wheels).
CASSETTE: SRAM 991 12-34
CHAIN: SRAM 991 hollow pin
FRT DER: sram X9
RR DER: sram xo
SHIFTERS: SRAM XO twist shifters
BRAKES: Magura Marta SL red
ROTORS: Magura SL
STEM: Truvativ team
HANDLEBAR: Truvativ Noir World Cup carbon
SEATPOST: Thompson setback
SADDLE: Selle Italia SLR Gel flow
GRIPS: ESI chunky
TIRES: Hutchinson Python, No-tubes Raven, Kenda Karmas & Smallblock eight (all run tubeless with Stan’s Sealant)
PEDALS: Time carbon/ti
OTHER ADDITIONS: Ti rotor bolts, red aluminum bottle and brake bolts, Elite cages(usually run one cage)

The Nokon cables are a classy touch for the twist shifters. That makes 2 of us that would choose twist shifters for a race machine.


There's no denying that Shimano's XTR crank is among the stiffest on the trail. There's no denying that Justin's wife's tat on her foot had to hurt like hell, ouch!

Thanks for the support Justin and best of legs in 2010!

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Will Mahler