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Markus Stöckl Sets New Downhill Mountain Bike Speed Record At 167.6 km/h In Atacama Region Of Chile

Madness. Absolute madness.

Photos and video: Red Bull Content Pool

Markus Stöckl, manager of MS Racing, has set a new record by piloting a production downhill bike to 167.6kmh in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Stöckl has been setting records since 1999 but this is the fastest he’s ever gone using a bike you can buy on the shelves. He took his Mondraker Summum from 0-167.6 kmh in just eleven seconds as he screamed down a volcano in a specially designed suit. 

With the gravel slope of 45 degrees deemed the perfect angle for his record, the 43-year-old’s pulse hit the 170 beats per minute mark, the wind whistling past his ears on a 1,200-metre descent in a place 11,000 from his home.

This isn’t the fastest anyone has ever been downhill – Stockl himself hit 210 kmh (130mph) while riding on snow on an Intense M6 – but it is the highest on dirt. Eric Barone has also gone quicker but on a specially designed bike (223.2kmh/138.8mph).

Speaking emotionally moments after the finish and his latest record, he said: “I’m back on the mountain without a name in the middle of the desert. It’s tricky because it’s all rocky and loose at the start. It was such a long time and standing up there was like we already cried at the start. It was great fun.”

But for Stöckl, as thrilling as the successful record attempt was, it was just as much about the two years in its making.

“The whole project is an adventure,” he said. “This is the top bit of it but also travelling here with all the stuff and making our way through the middle of the desert.”

But perhaps the most notable part of the record attempt is that the bike is one that you or I could put together… albeit with some effort and expertise.

“It’s a standard mountain bike so there’s no part on the bike that you cannot buy,” he added. “Sure, it’s a high-end bike with the best parts of it but you can buy any part, nothing has been specially made.”

There’s no doubt this is rad, but there’s only one thing we can think of:

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