NILAI: Keirin specialist Shah Firdaus Sahrom is down to his last bike after losing two of his main bikes in heavy crashes over the past four weeks.
Shah crashed at both the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) here yesterday as well as the Hong Kong International Track Cup series at the end of last month.
The Muar-born rider is hoping to get new WX-R Vorteq custom bikes made for him in time for the Hangzhou Asian Games (Sept 23-Oct 8).
"Both bikes are smashed, total loss," said Shah yesterday.
"I actually wanted to keep the bike I used (for ACC) for the Asian Games because it is made of a slightly different material and feels different. Unfortunately, it is gone now.
"I had to use the prototype (bike) for the (ACC) keirin final which was actually the bike we had used for its launch a few years ago.
"It doesn't feel quite right and is a bit creaky.
"(Head coach) John Beasley said he will get new bikes made for me. I told him I want as many as possible because I do not want to take the risk (of running out)."
Despite suffering cuts and bruises from the crash, Shah was able to remount his broken bike during the ACC keirin semi-final and cross the line joint-third to make the final.
He went on to win bronze in the final using the prototype bike.
A quick search on the WX-R website shows that the publicly available version of the UK-made Vorteq frame retails for £25,000.
It is believed that the national team pays a much lower price for the bike.