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Is DH hot again?

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,824
5,201
Australia
Get a lap on a new carbon Gambler.
I heard Udi made the trip? And rode a borrowed bike?
The internet celebrity known as Udi did recon for me on the practice day.

Send me a Gambler and I'll race it! I actually had a quick roll around on a couple of Carbon M29 Intenses. A lot has changed since I had a DH bike...
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,838
4,881
Champery, Switzerland
The internet celebrity known as Udi did recon for me on the practice day.

Send me a Gambler and I'll race it! I actually had a quick roll around on a couple of Carbon M29 Intenses. A lot has changed since I had a DH bike...
You can borrow mine for a few laps in Morgins and Châtel this summer. Isn’t there an EWS you want to do around here anyways?

@kidwoo Stayin classy!
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,657
1,143
La Verne
Whoa there. Peak light weight DH was the gen 5 V10. It was the moment Fox introduced the air 40, carbon frame production got good enough and carbon DH rims were just becoming available, while wheels were still small and reaches were still short. The year I was sponsored by the carbon rotor company my bike was 30.5lbs with 2.7" DHFs. While waiting for our starts at the top of the National Champs course in Angel Fire Gwin picked up my bike and couldn't believe it. He still beat me by 10 seconds and 15 places.

That was my last DH bike and the one I'm building this season is the current lightest frame (Gambler Tuned) so I'm curious how light it can be with 27 or mixed wheels. As I look over part weights everything seems either the same or heavier. The only place I see a potential improvement is Berd spokes but I don't want to use those on a DH wheelset.

Oh, those carbon rotors saved a 1/2lb over the already light Formula R1 rotors but didn't quite have as much bite. Once the company stopped making the special brake pads needed they became decorations.
I have a pet theory.....
That...

Ugh I feel dirty saying this.
The frame and cranks should maybe error on the stiffer side rather than lighter.
And the suspension and wheel components should be light as possible.
Maybe light bars and seat yo keep the COG down.
p4pb14787975.jpg


The best way to improve suspension action is to reduce unsprung mass,

This provides a more favorable rati of unsprung to spring mass

Another way to effect this ratioand get a better ride is to increase sprung mass, this however has a lot of bad side effects. Less grip (yes providing more load on a tire increaces traction but not more than the amount it takes to deal with that weight this is seen in tire load sensitivity charts), less flickability, less cool factor.

I dont think I'd go out of my way.... to add weight
But I'm thinking I'm going to ignore frame weight going forward, or put it at the bottom of the list. But weight weenie everything else.... except cranks.

I think an extra light frame with average components will be more skittish.

A heavy frame with extra light components will be more composed.

The heavy frame with light wheels may feel more flickable actually.
 

buckoW

Turbo Monkey
Mar 1, 2007
3,838
4,881
Champery, Switzerland
I have a pet theory.....
That...

Ugh I feel dirty saying this.
The frame and cranks should maybe error on the stiffer side rather than lighter.
And the suspension and wheel components should be light as possible.
Maybe light bars and seat yo keep the COG down.
View attachment 159504

The best way to improve suspension action is to reduce unsprung mass,

This provides a more favorable rati of unsprung to spring mass

Another way to effect this ratioand get a better ride is to increase sprung mass, this however has a lot of bad side effects. Less grip (yes providing more load on a tire increaces traction but not more than the amount it takes to deal with that weight this is seen in tire load sensitivity charts), less flickability, less cool factor.

I dont think I'd go out of my way.... to add weight
But I'm thinking I'm going to ignore frame weight going forward, or put it at the bottom of the list. But weight weenie everything else.... except cranks.

I think an extra light frame with average components will be more skittish.

A heavy frame with extra light components will be more composed.

The heavy frame with light wheels may feel more flickable actually.
What’s your take on inertia dampers?
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,657
1,143
La Verne
What’s your take on inertia dampers?
They are weird and/or I don't understand them
They seem like they would mimic stiction, and overstroking.

Now a Mass damper....
In the headtube and/or seat tube
That could be interesting
The frequency may be too low and or the amplitude may be too high for a device like that to function as intended.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
2,066
1,437
SWE
I hate integrated poop. I tape mine to the bb.

View attachment 159505
How much a piece?
By the look of it I would say around 500g

What did you find out?

For me, when riding trails, I kind of prefer how my suspensions work at the beginning of a ride when my 600ml-ish bottle is full. At the end of the ride I find my suspensions less forgiving. I don't know if it is because of my bottle being empty or me being tired... :D
 

Lelandjt

adorbs
Apr 4, 2008
2,636
997
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
But I'm thinking I'm going to ignore frame weight going forward, or put it at the bottom of the list. But weight weenie everything else.... except cranks.
Yes, when weight weenieing on a budget rotating weight, unsprung weight, and parts up high get priority. Remember though that part of frame weight is swingarm weight and part of that is unsprung.
When not on a budget, carbon the cranks. You can make back that lost stability by adding a stack of bracelets to both ankles.
Your thinking is the reason all DH bikes should have coil shocks and I love that Scott put all the effort into making a very light DH frame and then resisted the urge to put an air shock on it, rather a coil down low.
 
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Lelandjt

adorbs
Apr 4, 2008
2,636
997
Breckenridge, CO/Lahaina,HI
What’s your take on inertia dampers?
I watched a video about when a F1 team installed inertia dampers in the car's nose and it worked really well, then got banned. I still don't understand it. Good luck convincing Scott to go down that path. Maybe if you make them out of carbon and use several cables to connect them to the handlebar...
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,657
1,143
La Verne
I watched a video about when a F1 team installed inertia dampers in the car's nose and it worked really well, then got banned. I still don't understand it. Good luck convincing Scott to go down that path. Maybe if you make them out of carbon and use several cables to connect them to the handlebar...
That's the mass damper.

Inertia damper is different
 

englertracing

you owe me a sandwich
Mar 5, 2012
1,657
1,143
La Verne
Yes, when weight weenieing on a budget rotating weight, unsprung weight, and parts up high get priority. Remember though that part of frame weight is swingarm weight and part of that is unsprung.
When not on a budget, carbon the cranks. You can make back that lost stability by adding a stack of bracelets to both ankles.
Your thinking is the reason all DH bikes should have coil shocks and I love that Scott put all the effort into making a very light DH frame and then resisted the urge to put an air shock on it, rather a coil down low.
Anklets lol?
I went the cheap carbon crank way
I bought 30mm sram xx1 cranks in a narrow q factor nobody wanted and bought the narrowest width rf spindle I could fit in my frames.
I did this on the trail and dh bike.

I think the pedals possibly twist down at high load.
Once in a while I question if I wouldn't be better off and safer with some xt, or saints or something more burly than xx1.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,824
5,201
Australia
You can borrow mine for a few laps in Morgins and Châtel this summer. Isn’t there an EWS you want to do around here anyways?
You'd probably have to cut down your seat mast, plus I'd need a step to get on the thing. Unless your gangly stringbean body has gotten a lot shorter?

I'm being polite by only typing these words and not different words.
Have you ridden a 29er DH bike? Its easy to see why courses look the way they do now.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Have you ridden a 29er DH bike? Its easy to see why courses look the way they do now.
You mean the lifeless character-free rolling machines of tomorrow??

Absolutely. Normal public trails too for that matter.


That's why I bought a dirtbike. It makes shit bike trails interesting. And shit bike trails are popping up everywhere!
 
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toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,824
5,201
Australia
You mean the lifeless character-free rolling machines of tomorrow??
I'll grant they're fucken fast. But bloody hell its more fun running the 27.5 wheels. If 27.5 parts disappear I'm gonna buy an e-moped, de-restrict it and then use it to rip up the lawns of the industry CEOs
 

StiHacka

Compensating for something
Jan 4, 2013
21,560
12,508
In hell. Welcome!
I'll grant they're fucken fast. But bloody hell its more fun running the 27.5 wheels. If 27.5 parts disappear I'm gonna buy an e-moped, de-restrict it and then use it to rip up the lawns of the industry CEOs
Happy to report that 29 frames are *very* fun with 27.5 wheels.
 

Floor Tom

Monkey
Sep 28, 2009
288
55
New Zealand
Have you ridden a 29er DH bike? Its easy to see why courses look the way they do now.

Have they really changed that much in the last 5 years or so? Local tracks don't seem to have changed much here and the world cup tracks certainly haven't changed dramatically since 29ers became a thing.

Dunno, maybe I don't see it because 29er dh bikes have been a long time coming for me, they're is no way I'd go back to smaller wheels, not a popular point of view round these parts I'm sure but there we go.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Maybe I'm oblivious but what has changed all that much? Most of the venues are the same and the tracks haven't been drastically altered have they?
regular camera coverage is a big part of it as well but in short, more leogang, less val di sole/schladming

More long fast relatively smooth straightaways, less sustained chunk, older courses getting neutered more and opened up a lot more than they used to be.....

More dumb tabletop/jumpy bike park shit

It's definitely a thing.
 

Floor Tom

Monkey
Sep 28, 2009
288
55
New Zealand
I'd agree that the trend in mtb parks has been towards flow tracks and more groomed tracks but I'd argue that is due to the increased adoption of mountain biking and more beginner /intermediate riders than it is to do with downhill bikes having 29" wheels.

In your examples you list Schladming, a track that everyone still wants to come back to the schedule, including the riders, even with their 29ers. Leogang, a track that has been slated for being too 'bike park' since it was introduced (back when everyone was on 26" wheels) and Val Di Sol, a track that is still on the circuit and is generally well liked (though to me it looks a bit tired these days, go watch the classic Sam Hill run, the track looks much smoother, faster and to be honest better).
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
88,636
26,882
media blackout
regular camera coverage is a big part of it as well but in short, more leogang, less val di sole/schladming

More long fast relatively smooth straightaways, less sustained chunk, older courses getting neutered more and opened up a lot more than they used to be.....

More dumb tabletop/jumpy bike park shit

It's definitely a thing.
the redbull factor is definitely a thing.

also, look at les gets from 2019. that's a far cry from what that venue was known for in days of yore
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
LOL Watch SOMEONE ELSE on that 'classic schaldming run'

The reason it's classic is because sam hill didn't ride it like anyone else.

I referred to racing, you mentioned bike parks.......that's the other part of it. When you want to plan a race it's too easy to stroll up to ready made courses made for losers (which also coincidentally gravitate towards bigger wheels because riding is hard).

Not nearly enough roping off shit and letting it bed in through practice.



I really do just call mountainbikes rolling machines now. You can just sit there and have things happen. Other than cornering and not being a total dwid on a jump there's not that much involved anymore. Bikes are so much more capable than they've ever been and mountainbikING is lamer than it's ever been before. And that's with the full knowledge of the history of spandex.
 
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