Fabien Barel and Tracy Moseley return to Kona for 2006

2005 was a pretty good year for the Kona Les Gets Factory Team. OK, we’re downplaying that a bit. With Fabien Barel being the World, European and French DH Champion and Tracy Moseley ending the season with the number one spot in the UCI rankings, it’s been an excellent year.

It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that there aren’t any changes to the clearly not broken team line-up. Barel and Moseley return alongside XC racers Barry Wicks, Ryan Trebon and Kris Sneddon, with Kamil Tatarkovic racing 4X. Other team sponsors include Marzocchi, Maxxis, Hayes, Sun-Ringle, Shimano, Fox Racing Shox, Race Face, Verge, WTB, Paligap, Heinz, E13 and Sombrio, so the riders’ shock, brake, tyre, fork, wheel, component, clothing and, er, baked bean needs will be amply catered for.

Scott Beaumont and a new bike

Meanwhile, Scott Beaumont, who used to ride Kona bikes through a deal with UK Kona importer Paligap, has signed with Silverfish to ride Rocky Mountain bikes in 2006. He’ll be racing the RMX, Switch, Slayer and Flow bikes in DH and 4X events including the World Cup series, UK National series and selected other things. Scott fills a little bit of a gap in the Rocky Mountain rider lineup – the RM world team is big in XC and freeride, so Scott’s presence under the UK banner adds DH and 4X into the mix.

Watch out for the Rocky Mountain UK team truck at all the major DH and 4X events in 2006, starting with the first 4X National of the year in Sheffield on 5 March. And since we listed all of the Kona team’s other sponsors, Scott can also count Trixter, Oakley, USE, Hayes, Sun Ringle, Tioga, Fox Shox, Mojo, The PPC, 661, Race Face, Rich Art Concepts, MRP, Isostar, Dakine and JJB Fitness amongst his other deals, thus keeping him well stocked with bike parts, exercise bikes, glasses, suspension tuning, funky custom paint jobs, energy stuff, whatever it is that The PPC does and, presumably, football shirts.