my first nomad v4 "C" cracked in multiple places from a weird landing; my second one, v4 "CC" is going on 3 years and has been good so far...
This is what's right with The Industry®
- Thread starter Jm_
- Start date
-
Two more days to enter the Secret Santa!
Entries must be in by midnight on November 29th. We're kicking off the 2024 Secret Santa! Exchange gifts with other monkeys - from beer and snacks, to bike gear, to custom machined holiday decorations and tools by our more talented members, there's something for everyone.
haven't watched the full 1st episode yet, but a new WC race review program from redbull (with warner / eliot / emily batty hosting). more race nerding can't be a bad thing:
https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/episodes/beyond-the-line-s1-e1
https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/episodes/beyond-the-line-s1-e1
Started watching it earlier but got a bit bored with all the chat about Emily's career... glad I went back. Rachel's interview was very enlightening. And Warner's presenting has matured immensely. WTF were those twats thinking replacing him with Cedric and Rik.
Rach mentioned hearing a spectator shout "go mum" during her race run affecting her mindset in Leogang but I had no idea she was suffering from PND. wow!
Rach mentioned hearing a spectator shout "go mum" during her race run affecting her mindset in Leogang but I had no idea she was suffering from PND. wow!
Fun to watch. My large Gambler w/coil and one insert is 3lbs lighter than the lightest bike. What other sport can a middle class person have better gear than the top pros?
Golf? Football? Rugby? Tennis? Athletics? Cricket? Boxing? etc etc.
Pretty much most traditional mainstream non motorised sports...
Hell... You could become world champion in certain sports for less than the cost of a DH tyre...
Pretty much most traditional mainstream non motorised sports...
Hell... You could become world champion in certain sports for less than the cost of a DH tyre...
Last edited:
Golf, probably not. The pros are on super expensive custom shafts and heads. Those other sports don't really rely on gear. I'm talking vehicles, things you ride to victory. Skis, boards, bikes, cars.
38-39 is a sweet spot that Jedi I had was good everywhere except rocks and chunk...sub 33 and it got its ass handed to it...if it was flowy it was good..
I keep my DH bikes at 38lbs now, less bullshit in rocks...park fine but tech and rocks no way...
Because I push my smaller bikes I try and keep em 33-34 it seems to be at the lightest I want to go for stuff...
Even off road race trucks class 1 , trophy are all hefty tons of power and push there way through stuff...ultra 4 same thing light rigs get kicked when it gets nasty. There's a balance even down to putting for gas and certain sections will be ran longer without refill on fuel to lighten it up for sprints and gas up for crappy sections...
Obviously too heavy and it has negative effects but there's a balance point for conditions and performance...lightest doesn't win in most cases..(unless your a marathon runner then, well they get weird looking)..
I keep my DH bikes at 38lbs now, less bullshit in rocks...park fine but tech and rocks no way...
Because I push my smaller bikes I try and keep em 33-34 it seems to be at the lightest I want to go for stuff...
Even off road race trucks class 1 , trophy are all hefty tons of power and push there way through stuff...ultra 4 same thing light rigs get kicked when it gets nasty. There's a balance even down to putting for gas and certain sections will be ran longer without refill on fuel to lighten it up for sprints and gas up for crappy sections...
Obviously too heavy and it has negative effects but there's a balance point for conditions and performance...lightest doesn't win in most cases..(unless your a marathon runner then, well they get weird looking)..
Last edited:
Man some of the stuff and technology for golf is pretty wild ..I don't golf but I watched a show on the tech and industry...that's a crazy aerospace driven sport with composites and aerodynamics...even the golf balls and design...actually appreciated the amount of tech and forward thinking they do in materials and data.
only you weren't.
Of course high performance motor vehicles are going to be way more expensive than high performance bicycles. FFS
Last edited:
Depends how wide your definition of "top pro" extends. Many golf pros use clubs which are well within the reach of middle aged middle class golfers. Similarly to many middle class middle aged road cyclists and mountain bikers
yeah. Shit budget car tyres. What's your point there?
a cheap bicycle tyre can still be found for around £5
#comparisonsRfun
Last edited:
I too was surprised at the weights.
My 276 DH bike, coil front and rear, Avy cartridge, all aluminum, DH Maxxgrip Assegai / DHR2 comes in at 38.3 pounds. To me this is a decent weight, 35-38 pounds, heavier feels tankish, and lighter feels a bit deflective. To each their own.
Given the amount of the pros adding weight to their bikes in that video one could argue the "better" part...
they are also adding esoteric stickers, so there‘s that
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/18936849/akrales_190801_3511_0243.jpg)
Rad Power Bikes is pulling out of Europe to focus on US e-bike sales
Rad Power Bikes is at a crossroads.
you can keep these POS for yourselfs
A 33 pound DH bike?
Didn't we go through these shenanigans a decade ago and the results were conclusive, lighter doesn't equal better?
Bigger wheels add quite a lot of weight. Also newer longer bikes probably add a bit too. In 2010-2013 with super short bikes and small wheels you could easily build a 15.5-16.5kg bike on full on dh parts.
Disagree. Love the feel of a light bike. Quicker to do everything, just gotta be able to hold it steady. 33lbs doesn't feel "light" to me. That's plenty of inertia compare to my 20lb bike.A 33 pound DH bike?
Didn't we go through these shenanigans a decade ago and the results were conclusive, lighter doesn't equal better?
Last edited:
My last 26" DH bike was when I was spnsored by the carbon rotor company. It was 30.5lbs ready to race. While waiting for our starts at the top of Angelfire national champs course Gwin was drooling over it, before beating me by 10 seconds.
I like them light too but I'm under no delusion to the downsides.
Honestly think weight distribution can be more important than actual bike weight for a DH bike
They were talking about bike weights on Vital's B line podcast (or whatever they call it: https://www.vitalmtb.com/interstitial?destination=/features/vitals-b-practice-podcast-val-di-sole-world-cup-downhill)
At one point Dak was saying that Gwin had a preferred weight for his bike, I think it was 38 lbs. Something about balancing stability and agility. Also, some style of tracks are better for lighter bikes and vice versa.
At one point Dak was saying that Gwin had a preferred weight for his bike, I think it was 38 lbs. Something about balancing stability and agility. Also, some style of tracks are better for lighter bikes and vice versa.
Slightly unrelated, but he also makes it sound like his setup on that bike is a complete disaster due to not having enough time on "real" tracks before the start of the season. I think they got their updated frames pretty late, but you'd still think the team would manage to do a week in Europe before the world cups given that your entire job and career is based around like 6 or 7 races a year. The overall discussion about what he's chasing with the setup I thought was pretty interesting, but couldn't help but think that a top level racer should manage to be better prepared.
agreed. also, when he said there was nowhere in North America (though to be fair he may have said "the US"), I thought MSA is in NA... and really not that far from the US too...
Getting beaten by 10 seconds and not by more is an achievement.
Also yeah 30lbs with parts like carbon rotors. 35-36 was with stuff like big ass formula 220m front rotor, saint brakes, saint cranks etc.
Though I agree with you I never felt like going lighter had that many downsides. As Gary says. How the weight is distributed seems to matter more. Plus some light parts were not as stiff and imho that had a bigger effect even if your brain told you it was the weight and not noodle parts.
It's a common complaint from Dak, Gwin, and other US racers (Vital podcast dudes) that the US has no tracks that are as steep and rough as the courses in Europe. Both Dak and Gwin have cited that reason for relocating from their respective hometowns to Tennessee.
Yeah, all the more reason to go to a place that replicates the courses that you're going to be racing on. Easy for me to say, but if I were doing this for a living, I'd want multiple rounds of bike testing on representative terrain, lots of timing, race day simulations etc. even if I were paying my own way. Given the unbelievably long off season it sure seems like it should be possible.
Is there even mountain biking where Dak is from? Isn't he from southern Michigan or some odd place like that?
I've watched this now and if they continue, it'll be great, I'll watch.
One thing that seems apparent, is how disconnected Emily is from DH racing. Does she even know the names of the top riders? I mean she spent all those years at venues with both DH and XC, yet never watched or anything? Anyways...
I'll watch again too. I enjoyed the interviews more than the studio banter, which sounds like a slightly elevated version of "Shit mountain bikers say".
Lots of O-chains on the D
Isn’t that the status quo for Intense the last few years? Fiddlefuck with a bike design until right before the season starts and let the racers guinea pig it? That has got to be frustrating as hell.
Yes. But in that podcast he was specifically talking about how much work they put in testing in the US on the new bike and how well it was working, but none of it really paid off because the tracks were so different to what they actually race on.
There's a 250g difference between a 29" and 26" Maxxis DHF and thats the tyre alone let alone the heavier fork and rim etc. Plus you're basically riding a bike thats two sizes smaller if its more than 4 or 5 years old. Even shit like proper big rotors add a bit. No wonder weights on modern DH bikes *seem* unimpressive. They're actually doing pretty well realistically.
I'll say. The couple of times I've lined up against pros have had margins that made me consider competitive darts as a new hobby. If I got 10 seconds off Gwin's time it'd have to be a 30 second section of track or else it'd be my new go-to nostalgic heyday story to bore my kid with