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	Photos ©: Steve Medcroft

Shimano XT Crankset

Shimano XTR derailleur

If this were a full-suspension bike

Shimano's DX SPD pedal.

An Easton Carbon Monkey Lite bar

Llanes also doesn't like full lock-on grips

Tara runs an 80mm Fox RLT F80

Llanes says she runs the lightest wheels

Can't get enough of that Saint.

Small but perfectly formed

By Steve Medcroft

The athlete tent at the Jeep King of the Mountain finale in the Poconos mountain resorts of Central Pennsylvania was a candy store for mountain cross and free-rider bike lovers. Imagine having at your feet the bikes of Michael Prokop, Wade Bootes, Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl.

But with all that bike candy, one bike stood out in particular. Painted in the theme of the U.S. flag, Tara Llanes' Giant STP1 is a pure example of a mountain-cross machine; stiff geometry, clean lines, and component choices that try to balance the durability needed with shoulder-to shoulder mountains cross and the lightness needed for elite-level sprinting.

The STP1 she rode in the Poconos KOM is one of two mountain-cross bikes Tara Llanes (Giant Pearl Izumi) rides. "Jeff Lonosky (freeride pioneer, Giant's traveling stunt and trials rider and former trials World Champion) helped design this frame last year," she said. "It has phenomenal geometry for what we do. It's made from aluminum, is super stiff and not flexy. The rear end is a little bit shorter than normal to keep it stiff. The bottom bracket is a good height; fairly low."

At 5'4" Llanes runs the smallest frame Giant makes. "I think its extra small. They made a batch for the Asian market and I got one." Meaning, the frame is not custom built for Llanes; it's a Giant off-the-shelf production model. "There's nothing changed about the frame," she says.

There is a lot changed about the components and wheels though. Llanes says she focused on weight in her bike setup for 2005. "I run the lightest cross-country wheels Shimano makes (XTR Tubeless). I run all Shimano components; XT Deore cranks and the XT shifter. Shimano DX pedals." For stopping power, Llanes says she sacrificed a little in weight and sticks with Shimano's durable Saint hydraulic disc brake setup.

"I run all Easton carbon components too." Like Easton's new Havoc carbon stem. She chose Easton's Monkey Lite XT bar but modifies the stock width. "I cut them down and inch or so because my shoulders aren't super wide."

On the front end, Llanes runs Fox's F80 fork. "Most girls run the other fork, the RLC, on which you get like 80 to100 mil but I kind of think that in what we do, in mountain cross, 80mm is enough." She runs the air pressure higher than recommendation. "It's not locked out but I run it fairly stiff."

Llanes keeps the whole thing rolling with just a single chainring up front and a nine-speed Shimano XT cassette in the rear. "It's a 36-tooth chainring with an 11 - 25 cogset. Out of the gate, I probably change gears three times on the way down (a King of the Mountain run) so this setup has the range I need." To finish out the drivetrain, Llanes uses E.thirteen's Single Ring Security chain guide to keep the chain in line.

Photos

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Steve Medcroft

• Tara Llanes Giant STP Hardtail - painted in honor of her U.S. National Mountain-Cross Championship.
• Shimano XT Crankset with only the middle ring (a 36 tooth) and what Llanes says is a bulletproof chain guide system.
• Shimano XTR derailleur and Shimano's ultra-durable Saint hydraulic disc brake setup. Llanes runs 11-25.
• If this were a full-suspension bike a seat set this far back and dropped this low would probably bottom out on the rear tire.
• Shimano's DX SPD pedal.
• An Easton Carbon Monkey Lite bar with XT rear shifter, XT hydraulic levers and Easton stem. Tara says she cuts the bar down a few centimeters from stick.
• Llanes also doesn't like full lock-on grips preferring instead these file-pattern, soft-rubber numbers.
• Tara runs an 80mm Fox RLT F80 instead of the Fox Float seen on other Fox-sponsored rider's bikes. She's a short rider on the smallest frame Giant makes for women and says she just doesn't need the travel to get the same effect.
• A closer look at the Saint caliper and disc.
• Llanes says she runs the lightest wheels Shimano offers, the M965 XTR pair. She runs tubeless most of the time although she had a tube in this rear wheel at the Jeep KOM finale after flatting a few days before.
• Can't get enough of that Saint. Built more durable (which comes with a weight compromise) Llanes says that even though she's focused on getting her bike lighter this year, stopping power is one area she can't compromise.