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LIVE THREAD: Sea Otter Classic 2010!

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
hey you finally got a new watermark, and the pictures look fantastic as always. thanks for posting
 

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,659
492
Sea to Sky BC
slalom final was the sickness, mick's line off the berm drop was ridiculous and it let him put mucho power down coming off the drop into the final sprint....gwin had him till that point. 24 hours of driving has me back in whistler tonight....what a whirlwind trip
 

Transcend

My Nuts Are Flat
Apr 18, 2002
18,040
3
Towing the party line.
pretty sweet, especially when 2nd - 5th were less than a second apart, and times so tight that there are 15 people all on the same second throughout the result sheet.

great job seaotter :thumb:

at least the winner was far enough ahead that it was a non issue...
And fyi... Jared hit a random photographer on course and still won by 2 seconds.
 

rosenamedpoop

Turbo Monkey
Feb 27, 2004
1,284
0
just Santa Cruz...
Was there a reason most of the guys in DS were riding dual suspension? Trying to promote their sponsors' DS bikes? It seemed like in years past most were riding hardtails...
Hardtails are for 4x and dirtjumps... suspension tracks and turns better.

My guess is that guys running HTs for slalom already had them for 4x/DJ, and didn't have a special slalom bike for one event...



.
 

black noise

Turbo Monkey
Dec 31, 2004
1,032
0
Santa Cruz
Was there a reason most of the guys in DS were riding dual suspension? Trying to promote their sponsors' DS bikes? It seemed like in years past most were riding hardtails...
Except for the smooth, big berms, a suspension bike would do better on the corners. Also, the course was not smooth. Keeping your rear wheel stuck to the ground is a big advantage on the last straightaway.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
Apparently, J. Graves hit a photog while on his race run. Still won by 2 secs. Anybody can confirm that? Maybe Graves himself can help us?
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Hardtails are for 4x and dirtjumps... suspension tracks and turns better.

My guess is that guys running HTs for slalom already had them for 4x/DJ, and didn't have a special slalom bike for one event...



.
Except for the smooth, big berms, a suspension bike would do better on the corners. Also, the course was not smooth. Keeping your rear wheel stuck to the ground is a big advantage on the last straightaway.
I guess that makes sense, Its hard to tell how the terrain was from pics ;). I think it just looked weird because I'm used to seeing most of the 4x guys on hardtails. I really thought it was all marketing for the big companies, especially since SC just released their new DS frames.
 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
I really thought it was all marketing for the big companies, especially since SC just released their new DS frames.
And which frame would that be? The Nickel? I don't think it's a 4x frame "per say" like a Morewood Ndiza or a Yeti 4x. It's 5 inch trail frame without ICSG tabs (not critical, I know, but usually points out to what a bike is intended for). Maybe the team guys get to run a 4x optimized frame:confused:
 

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
And which frame would that be? The Nickel? I don't think it's a 4x frame "per say" like a Morewood Ndiza or a Yeti 4x. It's 5 inch trail frame without ICSG tabs (not critical, I know, but usually points out to what a bike is intended for). Maybe the team guys get to run a 4x optimized frame:confused:
Their Blur 4X didn't sport ISCG tabs either. It was also taller and longer than the nickle with the same head angle. The 4X didn't sell because of the name, but now that they're selling the same bike with a trail bike front it's no longer as capable of 4X racing? :confused: The tubes are a strange place.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
And which frame would that be? The Nickel? I don't think it's a 4x frame "per say" like a Morewood Ndiza or a Yeti 4x. It's 5 inch trail frame without ICSG tabs (not critical, I know, but usually points out to what a bike is intended for). Maybe the team guys get to run a 4x optimized frame:confused:
Every pic of Minnaar, Peat and Gracia from DS they were riding a Nickel. I know they were probably custom spec'd...

Gracia's

 

ZoRo

Turbo Monkey
Sep 28, 2004
1,224
11
MTL
From here: ''Interestingly, downhill world champion Steve Peat and his Santa Cruz Syndicate team-mate Greg Minnaar will use a hybrid bike at the dual slalom at this weekend's Sea Otter Classic. They will race Nickels with Butcher top tubes, lower bottom brackets and slacker head angles.''.

So not a "real" Nickel frameset. Odds to have SC build a dedicated 4x racer seem pretty low anyway.
 
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Bigdroptoflat

Monkey
Jan 24, 2008
118
0
Maryland
Full Suspension was the way to go, with all of the off camber gates at the top and bottom. I was riding a Yeti DJ on the course and at the bottom my rear-end was really chattering and hard to keep in control. There were also alot of soft spots and breaking bumps on the berms that made it hard to keep a hardtail under control

This was definately a true mountain bike style slalom, next year i'll bring a 4 or 5 inch bike
 

Uncle Cliffy

Turbo Monkey
Jan 28, 2008
4,490
42
Southern Oregon
Apparently, J. Graves hit a photog while on his race run. Still won by 2 secs. Anybody can confirm that? Maybe Graves himself can help us?
I don't know about him hitting anyone, but I was standing next to the jump section of the course. He took the line to the far right instead of the "poser" line. Less rollers and a bit faster. (Obviously.)

He blurred my vision. ;)
 

p-spec

Turbo Monkey
May 2, 2004
1,278
1
quebec
Transcend even says in a few pages earlier quoted angry boy about the timing techniques and quality.

He did apperently from transcend hit a photographer and still won with 2 seconds.
 

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
Wow, nice shots! Pretty Intense! :D
I like how Leigh wears Dainese ...ehem... I mean Fox kneeguards. ;)
Now show us some more pics of Matti's Tazer and that badass M1 tandem. :eek:
she forgot her fox kneecups at home, oops.

The Tazers looked so dope. I will have some more pics later, didnt shoot too much at otter as my grandpa back was blown up.