New Bike Day.... the baby blue bouncer of travel !

[MingtheMerciless]

I remember a club racing Doctor saying his race fitness assessment for riders that had taken a fall in practice involved asking them to come and see him at the top of the race control tower. He would watch them drag themselves up the stairs in full leathers before asking them to a load of press-ups; was the WM’s assessment something similar

[weeksy]

I remember a club racing Doctor saying his race fitness assessment for riders that had taken a fall in practice involved asking them to come and see him at the top of the race control tower. He would watch them drag themselves up the stairs in full leathers before asking them to a load of press-ups; was the WM’s assessment something similar

I have no doubts he could race this weekend. Whilst he's clearly in a bit of pain, it's nothing that would stop him... but it's not the best idea.... Jumping up and down he probably couldn't manage that well... but then again, he doesn't have to. But it's still not the greatest idea to race.

[weeksy]

new jersey for the lad today for racing..

[weeksy]

Threads get a bit mixed up as my thoughts randomly flit from racing to bike setup.

this morning i've fitted his usual rubber, Maxxis Shorty on the front and a Maxxis DHF on the rear.. (and no F doesn't stand for front, it stands for Freeride lol).

Anyway, it's what he's used to, what he usually runs and he loves the feel and grip, so that's what we've gone for.

[lostboy]

this morning i've fitted his usual rubber, Maxxis Shorty on the front and a Maxxis DHF on the rear.. (and no F doesn't stand for front, it stands for Freeride lol).

If you say so.......... https://www.maxxis.com/uk/tyre/minion-dhf/

[weeksy]

still not convinced.... they never used to say that...

But either way, many people run either at both ends... I've got a DHR front and rear on the Trek.

[lostboy]

I'm not sure where you've got that idea from as it'ss always been the Downhill Front (DHF) and Downhill Rear (DHR) and they've been promoted as such since they were launched. But you're absolutely right (as I've said on here before) anyone can use what they like where they like if they feel it works for them. Clearly you're happy with your set up and James like his set up like that and that's fine.

[MingtheMerciless]

What ever works for you is best, I still hanker after the old Bontrager FR3, bloody hell did they roll well and have good edge grip but the mincing strip between upright and full lean was wider and more deadly than a HR2.

[weeksy]

As this is bike related i thought this the best place for it.

https://www.rsrbikeworks.co.uk/

Just booked a day with these guys for suspension setup. The guy who runs it is the team mechanic and suspension guy for the GT Factory DH Racing team and just back from the WC event at Lourdes. First day is just suspension settings due to weather that's coming in. Bit of bouncing, tweaking, sorting and setting up.
But after that we've got a day of full data-logging.
Attachment of Motion Instruments sensors to your bike and accurate measurement of sag front and rear. Alternatively, your bike can be delivered to me 24 hours before session for fitting of sensors. This will maximise riding time during the session

6 hours riding to get good sample data for analysis. The trail needs to be as long as possible. Shorter trails (less than a minute) may need multiple runs to gather meaningful data

Data is analysed by me, or can be done in conjunction with your mechanic if you have one

Settings changed, based on data and rider feedback after each run to improve setup

Best front and rear balance and rider-preferred settings obtained

Print out of settings and recommendations for different trail conditions (steep tracks, wet, cold, jumpy, etc)

Might as well get the bike set up to the best of our ability for the races this season, although sadly it won't be for this weekend at Rheola as he preferred doing it on better condition trails than it will be after the rain that's due. But that's ok, we're playing the long game here

[weeksy]

[weeksy]

Bike dropped off with RSR so he can fit all the telemetry kit today, set and checked sag etc, I had the preload adjuster wound too much so the lad only had about 12% sag on the rear. Lesson there for me.
Hopefully if the weather holds we'll have our setup session tomorrow afternoon and with luck the boy can be enjoying and learning too.

Also collected the T130 which was getting a new seatpost fitted as I took it to Rotec Cycles to get the reverb checked but it was only fit for the bin, so I got him to chuck a new post in instead. Only a Brand X one, but seems nice enough.

I'll be out on the Trek tomorrow while trying and failing to follow the lad when he's getting sorted

[weeksy]

Telemetry kit fitted.

2022-03-30_04-06-16 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

2022-03-30_04-06-21 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

The observant amongst you may notice the lower rise bars too as measurements implied they were too high for him with 40mm rise. So we've gone for 20mm rise Renthals.

[weeksy]

So then, they spent 4 hours changing, playing and riding. On run 9 he set it to something he expected the boy to not like and happily the boy didn't like it. So he was noticing etc.
He is also a coach so was showing the lad stuff on line choices etc.
We get graphs and pretty spreadsheets tomorrow.

[weeksy]

After chatting with people who've ridden the track it was decided that we'd finally break out the Assegai

2022-03-31_09-30-23 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

It'll go on for this weekend as apparently it's more suited to the rocky rooty nature, whereas the Shorty is more suited to the muddier tracks....

[weeksy]

This is just some of the screenshots. Some of the other ones contain data and figures he'd rather keep to himself so i've left those ones out.
data1 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

data2 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

data3 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

[weeksy]

One thing that was noticed on Sat at Rheloa was how tough the place was on hardware. So much so that i've just ordered a 2nd set of wheels for the DH bike.



There were many many people even just after practice with pranged rims, rims that needed fixing with a hammer etc.... So thought i better get a set ordered.

[weeksy]

Was sorting the above wheel config today... It all got a bit messy as i've got some wheels with center lock rotors, some with 6 bolts..

The front wheel was a bit graunchy, so thought i'd check and whip out the bearings. They were not to bad so they've been regreased inside and re-fitted, but i also got the bearing number 6904 and ordered up a new pair.

I then fitted the rear off this set above to the bike which is smooth as silk and nice.... That's a 6 bolt.... weird as the front in the pair is a centerlock lol.

I then took the other rear apart which was the one that came with the bike and went to remove/sort the bearings.... apart from the fact they're not a sealed bearing ! loose bearing type.... ewwwww. Not feeling that at all. I think i'll be giving that to my LBS mate to rebuild instead. I may even go nuts and think about a new rear wheel. But it does get a little complex as it's a 150mm hub width which isn't common.

[weeksy]

Weirdly the front wheel was flat as a pancake today.... It's a virtually brand new Assegai so whipped it off and the taping done by the previous owner was pretty crap. So it's re-taped and getting ready for fitting again.

[tricol]

I'm running an Assegai on the front of the Ripmo. It came with them front and back, but sorted a Minion DHR for the rear. Must admit, I think the Assegai is a slightly grippier option than a Minion DHF. Feels better on the side knobs, although they are heavy!

[weeksy]

I'm running an Assegai on the front of the Ripmo. It came with them front and back, but sorted a Minion DHR for the rear. Must admit, I think the Assegai is a slightly grippier option than a Minion DHF. Feels better on the side knobs, although they are heavy!

weight doesn't matter, it doesn't get pedalled uphill