Bike check: Fergus Ryan's 'Ferg's Flat White' Privateer 161 Gen 2
Hands-on with Fergus Ryan's custom Privateer enduro bike.
Saddleback's house show gives shops and the media an insight into what to expect for the year ahead while showing off some rather special bikes, some of which we're not allowed to discuss. However, the one mountain bike that stole the show was Fergus Ryan's 'Ferg's Flat White' custom Privateer 161 Gen 2. We caught up with the Privateer athlete to learn a little more about the bike.
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Long-time Privateer athlete, Fergus Ryan is known not only for his incredible ability to skillfully send a bike down a hill but also for his collaborations with sponsor, Ride Wrap, to create some rather special builds. Ferg's Flat White pushes the partnership one step further, having employed the world-renowned frame painting skill of Fat Creations to coat his Privateer 161 Gen 2 in a unique tan colour with metallic bronze accents.
2024 ferg privateer 161 ht.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Where Ride Wrap steps in is with the custom wrap that adorns the bike with that mega-cool coffee crema graphic that nods towards Ferg's love of caffeine. The super-cool part is that the wrap is clear but with that coffee swirls added to it, the wrap utilises the paint colour of the bike, making for an exceptionally clean look. We're told that this protective wrap will be available as part of Ride Wrap's Creator Protection range, so if you're keen for a coffee styled bike, you may well be able to pick up a frame protection kit for you own bike.
2024 ferg privateer 161 coffee.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Not only does the protective frame wrap come sorted with cool coffee graphics but it's littered with small mementos, such as coffee's chemical compound diagram and a clever 'cafe racer' name on the non-drive side chainstay. Of course, Ferg's name is printed atop the headtube.
2024 ferg privateer 161 fork.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Ferg's running a P2 size Gen 2 161 frame with a setup that's very enduro. However, we have seen the bike kitted with a dual crown fork, primed for the full-gas downhill tracks of Whistler Mountain Bike Park. For now though, this bike gets Fox's Podium 38 fork with 170mm of travel in that super blingy podium gold colour.
2024 ferg privateer 161 shock.jpg, by Liam Mercer
At the rear, there's a Fox DHX2 coil shock that's had a little of Sprung Suspension Workshop's magic worked into it.
2024 ferg privateer 161 bar.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Moving to the cockpit, Burgtech's Enduro Wide bars are present at a 760mm width and 30mm rise. That's bolted to a Burgtech 50mm stem in the Kash colourway. Stopping the bike is a pair of SRAM's recently released Maven brakes with a 220mm rotor up front, and 200mm disc at the rear, although Fergus says that he's also experimenting with a 200mm at the front and 180mm at the rear. That said, for big mountains, he says that the extra cooling of the larger rotors is helpful.
2024 ferg privateer 161 dropper.jpg, by Liam Mercer
Components from SRAM's AXS lineup are found on the bike, such as the Reverb AXS dropper in 170mm of drop and the XX1 AXS drivetrain 12-speed drivetrain. On top of that dropper is WTB's Silverado Carbon saddle.
2024 ferg privateer 161 wheel.jpg, by Liam Mercer
The bike then rolls on a pair of as yet unreleased wheels from Hunt's Proven range, which are already receiving high praise from the rider. The tyres they're wrapped with are also a little bit secret but from the looks of it, he's running a WTB Verdict at the front and a WTB Judge at the rear.
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