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.
See the full Tara Llanes Giant STP pro bike article here.
