Santa Cruz 2008
- Thread starter GPERKINS
- Start date
Meh.......it's not like you're ever going to catch me on that nomad.
Actually I'm going to agree with this Joe character. For the majority of riding conditions wheelpath isn't as important as certain companies have marketed it to be. Look at a bike like the Intense M1, Yeti DH9,Turner DHR, and Sunday, they have been the most sought after downhill bikes for their time and not one shares a common rearward, s-shaped, or vertical, wheel path. They've all been top performers because of geometry, weight, construction and customer service. If one wheel path were so supreme, I don't think we'd see so many great bikes with such different wheel paths. It is a lot of marketing hocus-pocus with a few truths mixxed in. Overall I'd estimate a sucessful frame design is 50% engineering, 30% guessing and 20% luck, wheel path is composed mostly of the luck portion.
Wow....alot of bitching in this thread!! 
I like the 08 line. Even thou they will all sound like Rocking Chairs after 1 ride.
I like the 08 line. Even thou they will all sound like Rocking Chairs after 1 ride.
Hahaha, that's right. Wheel path may not matter, but nice bearings do!
On a serious note, didn't Santa Cruz switch bearing manufacturers for their linkages?
On a serious note, didn't Santa Cruz switch bearing manufacturers for their linkages?
They must have. The newer bearings (say last 4 months) have been problem free from all accounts. Prior to that, bearings were a big problem.
Hmmm that's cool. But all believe it when I don't hear it.
yeah just look at all those douchebags that think ellsworth is good because of instant center tracking whatever the f8ck thats supposed to mean.
A buddy of mine who races for Cannondale, and is a C'dale brand whore was telling me some stuff he heard through the team/rep that I had taken with a grain of salt until now(due to his whoredom). Basically, Cannondale had been apparently experimenting with a few multi-link designs, but found it not to be what they wanted, adding in there that the s-curve of vpp bikes wasn't a "big enough" to affect suspension performance. Now this dude from SC has somewhat confirmed it.
Exactly. I have no clue what the hell it is supposed to mean. Probably something that was made up way back when that has no affect on the suspension feel or performance.
Yeah, me too.
Back the thread at hand. My thoughts are the humps on the top tube of the V10 would be better replaced with regular tubing. I feel the same way about the nomad.
Seems to me that tubing design follows trends (the new superlight head tube / down, top tube junction looking suspiciously like specialized bikes) or companies set themselves outside the trend by designing something different (SC hump, new Scott design
lthumbsdown: , Intense monocoque etc).Im not a big 'stand over' guy. I don't really think about it when I'm riding, so whether the SC hump is functionally lacking is of no interest to me. Personally, I don't like the way it looks. I had a VPFree and liked the front triangle design/construct. If it had decent geometry I would have kept it.
So how will they ride? They will no doubt rock and roll.
Cross Bikes are cool.
Axle paths: having owned 7 suspension bikes of varying designs, I think it does matter. Am I fast enough for it to matter? No. Do I own a Sunday? Yes. Have I got faster since I got it? I like to think so.
Why aren't people building Nomads as 'mini DH' bikes? More importantly, why cant I buy a 6Point when I want one Mr NZ Iron Horse Distributor......I need to ride myself of my FSR trailbike or I'll die from not having a complete "stable" like Sams...Im so sad
Back to laughing out loud.
I like the 08 V-10. I've been racing a V-10 for 3 years and love it. Incidentally I also own an MKIII. I'm going to get a new DH frame this year, and am considering some other designs. The thing is, I am the kind of rider that prefers to plow over things, so I'm still kind of looking at a V-10/ M6/ Brooklyn/ Canfield/ Cove because they don't require as much finesse to make it down some of the stuff in the NE.
I was talking to FTW last year at Plattekill and he was talking about suspension design and axle path. He put it simply: compare it to pulling a wheelbarrow over and obstacle. If you have the handle low, the wheel basically moves vertically, if you have the handle up, it moves rearward also. The rearward path makes it over the obstacle easier, just try it.
I've never really cared about the marketing, but I know that I can plow over anything on my V-10 or the various Brooklyns I've ridden and my old M-1 and the 303 I had for a little while. The single pivots I've ridden skid over everything without a floating brake, and they lock up the suspension when pedalling if the pivot is high, except the Brooklyn for obvious reasons. That is more a result of my riding style and lack of skill than it is suspension design. The FSR designs are great also, active in all cases. I've never been happier with a trailbike than my MKIII and the DW suspension on it.
So...when it comes to suspension, ride as many bikes that you can, skip the crap on here and pick one that works for you.
I'm 5'5" and standover height is not really all that important. This was way too much typing.
I was talking to FTW last year at Plattekill and he was talking about suspension design and axle path. He put it simply: compare it to pulling a wheelbarrow over and obstacle. If you have the handle low, the wheel basically moves vertically, if you have the handle up, it moves rearward also. The rearward path makes it over the obstacle easier, just try it.
I've never really cared about the marketing, but I know that I can plow over anything on my V-10 or the various Brooklyns I've ridden and my old M-1 and the 303 I had for a little while. The single pivots I've ridden skid over everything without a floating brake, and they lock up the suspension when pedalling if the pivot is high, except the Brooklyn for obvious reasons. That is more a result of my riding style and lack of skill than it is suspension design. The FSR designs are great also, active in all cases. I've never been happier with a trailbike than my MKIII and the DW suspension on it.
So...when it comes to suspension, ride as many bikes that you can, skip the crap on here and pick one that works for you.
I'm 5'5" and standover height is not really all that important. This was way too much typing.