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2022 Racing/Team Rumors

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
I wish I knew where it was, but I once found an elaborate document and work flow diagram of the allowed process for ordering a birthday cake for someone. :rofl:
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
that document is not the rules. that is a clarification guide ***only as it applies to road, cyclocross, and track**

here is the actual rule:

View attachment 170341


looks like there was a rule change this year. this clause is new I think:

"Any equipment in development phase and not yet available for sale (prototype) must be subject of an authorisation request to the UCI Equipment Unit before its use. "

so if I'm reading this correctly, as long as Neko and Frank make his frames available for sale publicly, and can produce one within 120 days, they're clear?
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
24,181
media blackout
so if I'm reading this correctly, as long as Neko and Frank make his frames available for sale publicly, and can produce one within 120 days, they're clear?
within 12 months of the date it is first raced. with the option of an extension.

and it sounds like he does plan on making at least one run of them, whenever he gets the design finalized.
 

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
410
400
I've always assumed the uci did not enforce the rule. Wasn't Norton on a proto hi- pivot Devinci? What about all of the Atherton bikes, I remember hearing warner mention there were 5 or 6 different versions that have been tested/raced? The dual shock Cannondale that Simmonds raced, the list goes on.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
A. if it’s not an olympic discipline the UCI gives no fucks about protos. At least Neko’s manager doesn’t think so, and he ran the HRC mtb program, but, also, i’m sure Neko will sell as many batches as Frank is willing to make, once the development cycle(which is the deliverable of this years program) runs it’s course.

B. If I am feeling bad about the future of humanity, I drive down to Kanuga and do a few laps, and my faith in the future is renewed. In the last year I never even bothered to ride anywhere else in Wnc or Upsate SC.
Everywhere needs a Kanuga.
 

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
16,622
12,911
Cackalacka du Nord
A. if it’s not an olympic discipline the UCI gives no fucks about protos. At least Neko’s manager doesn’t think so, and he ran the HRC mtb program, but, also, i’m sure Neko will sell as many batches as Frank is willing to make, once the development cycle(which is the deliverable of this years program) runs it’s course.

B. If I am feeling bad about the future of humanity, I drive down to Kanuga and do a few laps, and my faith in the future is renewed. In the last year I never even bothered to ride anywhere else in Wnc or Upsate SC.
Everywhere needs a Kanuga.
dang. i guess i need to get out there...all the charlotte bro-dudes are always there so i've generally avoided it. i always just go to wilsons
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
dang. i guess i need to get out there...all the charlotte bro-dudes are always there so i've generally avoided it. i always just go to wilsons
The parking lot at Kanuga just got a lot bigger. For the last 6 months or so it’s been getting tight, but the trail network separates people well. Only place that is ever full of people are the chill spots and the line up to drop into the blue flow that is closest to the parking lot.
Kanuga is magic because it’s not that tall(puny like mt. creek and highland, not bad company i suppose) and that means more laps per hour, and more time and energy to go back and try to improve or test.

Ebike folks already get an insane amount of laps in.
I can only imagine how many laps Neko and Luca get in when they are getting hauled up in the side by side. I’ve timed a few events there now, the secret side by side trail to the top gets you there PDQ. I have the most fun when i pedal up with friends or coworkers and stop and session rut sections and flat corners. There is evolving raw rut slalom at all times at Kanuga, why would i go anywhere else?!!
Trailcrew changes up alignments all the time to keep new ruts forming, and then they re-naturalize the old line. That’s what pay to play mtb should look like- more ruts for the people, sustainably!
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
A. if it’s not an olympic discipline the UCI gives no fucks about protos. At least Neko’s manager doesn’t think so, and he ran the HRC mtb program, but, also, i’m sure Neko will sell as many batches as Frank is willing to make, once the development cycle(which is the deliverable of this years program) runs it’s course.

B. If I am feeling bad about the future of humanity, I drive down to Kanuga and do a few laps, and my faith in the future is renewed. In the last year I never even bothered to ride anywhere else in Wnc or Upsate SC.
Everywhere needs a Kanuga.
I think the loophole is that you just cannot continue using the same prototype. If you make a new bike every year that you "plan on marketing" but it was not approved by the racers because it was bad, that would allow you to race another one for a year.
I heard that even on the road the rules get circumvented by making pro bikes available on an obscure website that has no direct link from the manufacturers main HP. When UCI askes for something they send them the link and say "see, available as custom order for 30,000 USD/frame". So you cannot find it and if you find it the price will scare most away. And if any nutjob really wants one then they just sell him the bike.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,225
20,003
Sleazattle
don't forget to apply the relevant standards
Ah yes. I love a good standard. Half the ones I work with are pretty logical and straight forward. Then there are the standards largely written by a company or consultent and written in a way that to comply you pretty much have to purhcase a companies product or hire a consultant.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Ah yes. I love a good standard. Half the ones I work with are pretty logical and straight forward. Then there are the standards largely written by a company or consultent and written in a way that to comply you pretty much have to purhcase a companies product or hire a consultant.
You live in a country who adopted the temperature scale invented by an alcoholic* who chose not one but two different substances to establish it, and then divided the interval in 180 parts. And you need to have a bachelor's degree to understand how many thumbs make a mile.


Go ahead, convince me 50% of your standards make sense. I'm listening :busted:


* Fahrenheit's love for the booze surely had to do with him choosing alcohol for the zero point of his scale, amirite?
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
24,181
media blackout
You live in a country who adopted the temperature scale invented by an alcoholic* who chose not one but two different substances to establish it, and then divided the interval in 180 parts. And you need to have a bachelor's degree to understand how many thumbs make a mile.


Go ahead, convince me 50% of your standards make sense. I'm listening :busted:


* Fahrenheit's love for the booze surely had to do with him choosing alcohol for the zero point of his scale, amirite?

**when it's time to party we will party hard**
 

Avy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2006
1,119
373
I thought that sound was just (sad) rims smashing rocks. Having ridden those trails, Neko was doing some very naughty things in terms of speed and line choice with no regards to anything but fast. Awesome to see!
Check,I’m glad you heard it too. No one else said a word? I know nothing of those rim’s,but he was killin it.
Avy
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Steber's next venture: frame welding and Dobro guitar crafting school.
I think he is into e-motos right now and uses Intense just as a way to fund his real interest. See the podcast/interview I linked in the "Boo..." thread.
From what I gathered, he seems to be fabricating out of his garage because at Intense HQ they do not have any means to do so anymore. Also explains the weird for Intense CNC parts on the protos and tubesets that follow the last design concepts of their US-made bikes (leftover old stock?).
 

Avy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2006
1,119
373
I wish I knew where it was, but I once found an elaborate document and work flow diagram of the allowed process for ordering a birthday cake for someone. :rofl:
That was Funny Brother. It caught me off guard.
Avy
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
Google “fairing industrial” and you can buy all the aluminum M16 tubes you might fancy, whoever managesd Intense after DH bicycle race enthusiasts sold it did some dumb shit, like closing the production floor.

Let’s be real and call that out. l


Steber is THE MAN. IFR will win races again soon enough.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Uh, if this post from Vital is true, then Intense is done. In the old days everybody would buy and test Intense frames to see what they have going on and copy it. :eek:

PisgahGnarwrote:
Beat me to it! I came here with a screenshot too. Maybe Intense will figure things out this year. The other day Dak posted a ...more
If only… I’m not gonna say much but the bike gwin was on at windrock today was not a proto high pivot intense… #lookslikea.
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
996
973
Didn't Neko mention in one of the podcasts that before he left IFR that they had bought a bunch of other companies bikes to test?
Yep. And he said a couple times that neither him nor Aaron were getting on well with the proto.
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
This is possibly a stupid question, but if the prototype doesn't work for them, why don't they ride the DH frame that Intense actually sells?
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
This is possibly a stupid question, but if the prototype doesn't work for them, why don't they ride the DH frame that Intense actually sells?
Wasn't Neko switching to the M29 halfways through last year's season? I think only for national races.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Or maybe switch back to the prototype that Jack Moir had when he had a killer season? :boss:
Or is it the same as the "current" M29?
jack-moir-full-bike.jpeg
 

boogenman

Turbo Monkey
Nov 3, 2004
4,290
973
BUFFALO
Didn't Neko mention in one of the podcasts that before he left IFR that they had bought a bunch of other companies bikes to test?
Why not just copy the frame that actually works? Or is the VPP jargon actually just a bag of dicks moving around some poorly placed pivots?
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
Why not just copy the frame that actually works? Or is the VPP jargon actually just a bag of dicks moving around some poorly placed pivots?
There are a lot of different ways to accomplish similar things. As he said, it’s a game of tradeoffs. A big thing in mtb is to appear to be bleeding edge, that’s why we get a new suspension style every season. Not because it’s better, stronger, better packaging, more fault tolerant, easier to manufacture, easier to maintain, etc.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
There are a lot of different ways to accomplish similar things. As he said, it’s a game of tradeoffs. A big thing in mtb is to appear to be bleeding edge, that’s why we get a new suspension style every season. Not because it’s better, stronger, better packaging, more fault tolerant, easier to manufacture, easier to maintain, etc.
I mean, one thing that you can't blame Intense for is changing its suspension style a lot. They are using VPP since 2002-ish? And before they were using FSR, minus their full DH bikes in the early years, which were a single pivots with linkage-actuated shocks.
 

boogenman

Turbo Monkey
Nov 3, 2004
4,290
973
BUFFALO
There are a lot of different ways to accomplish similar things. As he said, it’s a game of tradeoffs. A big thing in mtb is to appear to be bleeding edge, that’s why we get a new suspension style every season. Not because it’s better, stronger, better packaging, more fault tolerant, easier to manufacture, easier to maintain, etc.
The best bikes I ever had were all FSR, can't go wrong with that shit. 2002 and 2003 Intense M1(FSR) were great, 2004 Iron Horse SGS was pretty good and my 2021 Guerilla Gravity Trail Pistol is awesome. I had a 2008 Intense M6 and it was a turd.
 
Feb 21, 2020
817
1,139
SoCo Western Slope
I agree that it is one of the better suspension systems; simple, easy to manipulate, active under braking, etc.
Just don't call it FSR, one of the worst acronyms in a long line of shitty Specialized acronyms.
Future Shock Rear? :thumbsdown:

Just call it Horst Link for the guy Specialized bought it from.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,141
El Lay
New Geometry with Diverse Downtube Proposals

I'm more interested in an I-shaped axle path... I heard that's why Jack did well that one time.