Take a look back with us on the KHS Pro MTB’s 2023 race season.
Category: Team
Steven Walton Wins the Big Mountain Enduro E-Bike Championship
Steven Walton is no stranger to hunting down titles in the Mountain Bike community. Steven has numerous regional and local titles and on top of that he has one major title to his name winning the 2020 USA Downhill National championship series.
It has been a three-year dry spell to claim another title and that streak is over with Steven Walton claiming his first 2023 E-bike National series title. Steven competed in the Big Mountain Enduro National series with racing over five major venues spread across America, competing against the best athletes in North America. KHS Pro MTB team and KHS Bicycles headquarters is very proud of Steven’s accomplishments and his continued success in this new growing MTB category.
Steven was on board his KHS 6555E bike that guided his way to victory, also equipped with the best co-sponsors in the business. KHS Pro MTB is super honored to have another title and the continued success heading into the 2024 season.
FOX US OPEN OF MOUNTAIN BIKING
The 2023 Fox US Open of MTB at Killington, VT is in the books! The race organizers did a great job putting together the most prestigious event in American Mountain Biking. Thank you, Clay Harper and Crew!
This was definitely a unique race for me, being the only KHS Pro MTB Team Racer in Vermont, with KHS Pro MTB Team Racer Nate Kitchen being sidelined with two broken arms due to a practice crash at his home and Shane Leslie racing the EDR Enduro in France. I enjoyed racing the 2023 US Open of Mountain Biking in Killington. With huge roots and slippery rocks scattered throughout the course, it made the race quite challenging. I was stoked to finish 5th in the Open E-Bike Enduro class against some stacked competition. Not my best result, but I’m happy to finish the season with all E-Bike results in the Top-5. Consistency is key.
I would like to give a huge thanks to KHS Bicycles and everyone else who supported the program! The entire team will be heading into the off-season to start preparations for 2024. We will be working hard throughout the Fall and Winter and have some exciting non-racing video content coming out. See you on the trails!
Cheers,
Steven Walton – Pro Athlete – KHS Pro MTB Team Racer
Big Bear, CA Gravity Fest / Strait Acres Slalom Event
The festival would take place in the Big Bear, California San Bernardino Mountain Range, which is known for some of the best mountain biking in North America. Shane Leslie would be competing in the Pro men’s Enduro category with some tough competition ahead. Shane would overcome all the presented stages and take the overall victory.
It was great to see Shane on the top spot of the podium and gather some more confidence heading into the back half of the season with some EWS rounds left on his schedule. The main highlight of the weekend was the Dual Slalom which brought some of the best racers around the world to compete for the top spots. It would be our Jr Pro Nate Kitchen who would be stepping up to the premier class and Steven Walton both athletes would be among the best to duel it out for the pristine Strait Acres event. Friday would be Slalom qualifying with everything trying to make the night show which was only the top 16.
Steven Walton would give it his best attempts to get in the final rounds, but would barely fall short at the end of the day qualifying 18th. Nate Kitchen would take his skills among the best…
(more…)
Final Big Mountain Enduro, Big Sky, Montana
“Big Sky was epic this year with some wild conditions in the mud. Day 1 was going well sitting just outside the top 5 until a big slide out at the end of stage 4. Day 2 went much better with a couple top 5 stage results and moving back up a bit on the overall. Can’t wait to keep building into the Morzine EDR next month.”
-Shane Leslie
“That’s a wrap on the 2023 Big Mountain Enduro! I’m extremely stoked to end the series with a hard fought win and claim the E-Bike Overall Title! Myself and 2nd place were swapping stage wins all weekend and after 8 stages of racing in the tough muddy conditions only 1.5 seconds separated us.
Thrilled with how my KHS 6555+ performed this weekend and super impressed with the durability of the bike and components throughout the entire season. We have a few more races coming up before the close of the year that I’m looking forward to and I’m already excited to start working towards more great E-Bike results at next year’s Big Mountain Enduro Series! Huge thank you to everyone at KHS, our team sponsors, our great distributors, and everyone else who supports us! This wouldn’t be…
(more…)
(more…)