Reece Wilson’s World Champion bike is an understated beauty

The only thing nearly as cool as winning a world championship is riding the custom bike. World champions have shown off some truly impressive, one-of-a-kind rides in the past (we’re obviously partial to Mads Pedersen’s), and almost all of them have been prominently emblazoned with the illustrious five rainbow stripes.

However, after Reece Wilson won the 2020 downhill world championship in Austria this past October, Trek decided to do something different with his Session. Instead of shouting Wilson’s win, the bike more subtly places the world champion stripes just below the seatpost. The rest of the bike is covered in a glitter-flecked off-white.

Trek product designer Brian Lindstrom says the understated look is deliberate.

“For the UCI World Champ bike, the goal was to have a subtle bike design that Reece could really enjoy up close while working with the bold World Champ kit he will be wearing,” Lindstrom says, “as opposed to creating something that would compete with the boldness of the kit.”

In other words, because Wilson will be wearing the rainbow stripes, there was no reason to overdo a good thing. Instead, his Session is clean — a projection of mountain biking royalty as opposed to a statement.

The new bike is only the second bit of good news for Wilson and Trek this week. Wilson will be competing for championships under the Trek banner for the foreseeable future after recently re-signing with the team.

“I’m thrilled to have re-signed with Trek,” Wilson said. “The team is a tight family who do a great job of making the riders feel special while providing a structure for great performance. I’m excited to build on the recipe this winter and see where I can go.”

Wilson, from Scotland, is just 24 years old, and also had a top 10 finish in last year’s World Cup event in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Stay tuned for more updates from the DH team, as roster and team info are launched in the coming months!