2012 team rumour and speculation
- Thread starter Straya
- Start date
Any updates on who Bulldog will race for next season? And is Ratboy still gonna be with the SCS?
Waiting until after the New Year when people can start [legally] talking....
How do you always make so much sense? I don't really have anything all that useful to add accept thank you for always being willing to share some suspension/frame knowledge. I feel like you and Steve M have made it fun and interesting to learn about supsension, which has previously seemed to be a bit of a black art to me.
Back to the thread at hand- I thought it was interesting that Sam Hill has to approve of the bike before he'll ride for a team.
Sam's other bike. Discuss.
Hill running TIME clip in pedals next season?
Finally gets a decent set of pedals then!Here it is Sam Hills new bike
Nobody talks about switch to Schwalbe tires. Suspension (RS Blackbox) is the same, also geometry of the bike is more or less the same, but rubber, as "contact" point, could be the biggest difference (and maybe for the better). What do you think?
Could be interesting, although Hill Billy to Muddy Mary isn't a massive change. It was also a forced change as there was no way he'd be rocking the Spec' tyres next season
Fall of MarZocchi...they lost their highest visibility race team on the WC circuit.
If it stays around the MS Mondraker team have been with Marzocchi for the last year.
http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Inside-Sam-Hills-Move-to-Team-CRCNukeproof.html
Honestly I thought the Specialized goodbye video sounded like a clingy girlfriend after a bad breakup, there was something just a little off about the whole thing - but it seemed like a good thought and nice thing to do.
I sensed a bit of bitterness in Sean Heimdal's words in this article though...
Honestly I thought the Specialized goodbye video sounded like a clingy girlfriend after a bad breakup, there was something just a little off about the whole thing - but it seemed like a good thought and nice thing to do.
I sensed a bit of bitterness in Sean Heimdal's words in this article though...
Looks like Sam saw some other benefits... perhaps due to better suspension kinematics.
I've read this sentence 8 times and still can't figure out what it means. It could just be the hangover though...
i got the sense he was gutted as well. dont wanna be a hater but i think sam is in the twilight of his career (not quite where Peaty is now) and with a new mouth to feed. I wouldn't be surprised (nor do i blame him) if money was a significant factor, barring any serious deficiencies in the CRC frame, in his switch. if i was in his shoes, i'd try to get the highest payout i could.
IMHO, nowadays shock tuning and geometry is can be easily dialed to taste that it mitigates any significant differences between suspension designs (SP vs FSR vs DWlink, etc). despite the hype, i personally don't think the pulse is any better than the Demo.
Reading the QnA's both from pb and vital, things are really interesting now. As with the statement above, its always getting paid the most, if you do this exclusively for a living. Who can do this stuff? Doing what you love, racing bikes, travel and having an absolute blast while doing it. Not very many... Getting the bills paid is what matters at the end of the day for these different breed of professional athletes. Go Sam, kill it next season.
Holy sh!t is Nigel Page a Chris Kovarik fanboi!!!
Sorry I was just stating to the person who said it was the fall of Marzocchi now the CRC team is on Sram/Rockshox.
I was stating they have another "highly Visible" team in the MS Mondraker team.
ahahaha what a twat.
Lol I wasnt sure if dude was trying to be funny or serious.
could be epic troll, i'd not thought of that.
maybe ive read too much mtbr recently.
Honestly... I think Schwalbe is just going to make a DHF/Butcher clone. Their mud spike will suffice, though, I bet.
I used to think the cloning was kinda lame (DHF copies specifically), but maybe as dh tires become refined, the more similar they become?
Am I wrong in thinking that moto tires have more or less converged on similar designs?
I'm sure finer details will still set the tires apart, but it'll be interesting if they all end up looking almost the same for each given application.
Am I wrong in thinking that moto tires have more or less converged on similar designs?
I'm sure finer details will still set the tires apart, but it'll be interesting if they all end up looking almost the same for each given application.
Ive been on the MM since early summer 2012 and its an outstanding tire. Prolly the best Ive ran so far. Bone dry to muddy/wet, it works. Hill I reckon will adjust pretty quick. Stoked for racing this year!
I figured this would be the place where people would be talking about Sam Hill and tires. I picked up on that team rumors cartoon of him a while back and thought to myself, he'll be on the Schwalbe Muddy Mary and people will talk about it because they aren't the Minion DHF, but didn't he win his first World Championships as a junior on Intense tires that were similar to the Muddy Mary? I think that he's on to something good here.
Last edited:
I think it's not going to matter. The internet's probably more worried than he is, and will certainly take longer to adjust.
That's incorrect, see post #963.
Shock tuning and geometry are not the same thing as frame kinematics. You cannot mitigate poor kinematics with shock tuning, all you can do is compensate for them which tends to negatively impact other facets of performance.
so which bike on the wc do you consider to have 'poor kinematics'?
Demo has no ramping at the end of the travel (really linear) and almost only forward travel.
Not sure about the Nukeproof.
Has it a high main pivot point?
What's interesting is, that the Nukeproof has a +10mm BB drop against a 0mm or -10mm drop on the carbon demo.
Also the CS length is a 435mm (nukeproof, shortest setting) vs. a 421mm on the demo.
The Sunday had a 438mm CS and 0mm BB drop.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
It would be interesting how much SAG he rides on the Nukeproof and he rode on the demo.
Not sure about the Nukeproof.
Has it a high main pivot point?
What's interesting is, that the Nukeproof has a +10mm BB drop against a 0mm or -10mm drop on the carbon demo.
Also the CS length is a 435mm (nukeproof, shortest setting) vs. a 421mm on the demo.
The Sunday had a 438mm CS and 0mm BB drop.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
It would be interesting how much SAG he rides on the Nukeproof and he rode on the demo.
This is sooo true.
Very diplomatic Udi 
I'd be interested in hearing which bike/shock combination you think is currently the closest to perfect discounting geo?
I'd be interested in hearing which bike/shock combination you think is currently the closest to perfect discounting geo?
who said the demo is the be all and end all of dh bike design. The nukeproof isnt a million miles apart from a Morewood Makulu in its design, which if im not mistaken is rated very highly. Just because the Nukeproof isnt a high end boutique brand doesnt mean its not a kick ass bike. As far as I know all the team riders opted to run the Scalps in the higher bb setting with a angleset to restore the head angle. They also had custom rear ends which were slightly shorter than the stock one on the scalp. All these tweaks were taken on board and implemented in the new pulse. The CRC riders got some pretty solid results on the bikes last season. Ok ill admit there was no WC wins or podiums but the riders they had wouldnt have been expected to be in the mix for that. There is no reason why with a rider of Sams ability that he cant put the bike on the top step of the podium. This time next year the 2014 bike tread will be full of Nukeproof Pulses