Connor Fearon Wins Round 4 on a 20-Year-Old Iron Horse — Willunga Goes Off

Sometimes a race result lands and you have to read it twice. Round 4 of the 2026 Australian National DH series went down at Willunga over the weekend, and Connor Fearon — Aussie DH royalty, World Cup veteran, all-round legend — won the elite men's race on a 20-year-old Iron Horse Sunday.

Wait. A 20-year-old bike?

Yes. An Iron Horse Sunday — the bike Sam Hill rode to multiple World Cup wins back when downhill racing meant 26-inch wheels, single-crown forks were rare, and "modern geometry" was still being figured out.

Iron Horse the brand is long dead. Sunday frames have a cult following among DH nerds for the DW-Link suspension platform, but they're collector items now — most of them sit on garage walls. Not in the start gate of a national-round elite men's DH race.

Fearon, never one for the obvious, dragged one out of his shed and sent it. And won.

What this actually means

It would be easy to write this off as a pro mucking around. Don't. There are three serious lessons here that apply to anyone who rides a mountain bike:

1. The rider matters more than the bike. Always has, always will. A multi-time World Cup elite rider on a 20-year-old DH bike is still faster than 99% of riders on the latest carbon wonder. Skill, fitness, and line choice trump component spec every single time.
2. Older bikes still rip. Modern bikes are better — slacker, longer, more capable. But the gains are incremental, not transformational. A well-maintained DH bike from 2005 will still descend faster than 80% of current riders can ride it.
3. Stop blaming your bike. If you're not winning your local Superflow on your $8,000 carbon enduro rig, the problem isn't the bike. Spend the money on a skills clinic instead. Or ride more. Or get a coach.

Willunga — properly underrated

For anyone who hasn't ridden Willunga in the South Australian hills — fix that. The DH track has the kind of natural terrain the rest of the country can only dream about. Loose over hardpack, rocky chunder sections, fast wide-open ridge lines, and just enough exposure to keep your heart rate up. It's a track that rewards committed riding and punishes sandbagging.

Round 4 conditions were classic Adelaide autumn — cool mornings, dust by lunchtime, golden hour finals runs. Fearon's winning run looked smooth enough to be slow, but the splits don't lie.

The Aussie DH scene right now

The 2026 National DH series has been one of the most stacked seasons in recent memory. Strong elite men's and women's fields, depth in the U19 and U17 categories, and the kind of racing that makes you want to grab a full-face and head to the nearest bike park.

One round to go after Willunga, and the title race is wide open.

For those of us riding at home

You don't need a $9K bike to have fun. You need:

• A bike that's properly set up — sag dialled, cockpit at the right width, brakes bedded in
• Cockpit parts that match how you actually ride — wider bars and sticky grips trump frame upgrades every time
• Tyres with grip — the single most undervalued upgrade on any bike
• Time on the bike — riding more makes you faster than spending more

Sort the cockpit before you sort the bike. A wider WAKE Alloy Riser Bar, sticky Bucklos Lock-On Grips, and a set of ENLEE Enduro Flat Pedals sharpens any bike — old or new. That's the Connor Fearon move.

Round 5 is coming. Watch this space.

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