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I’m waiting for deore d2. My deore derailleur has got some pretty heavy miles on it and is a bit clunkier than it used to be. I’m hoping the price is right! Combine it with a cheaper wire less dropper. Refinish my headtube for a super clean look.
must have been me who spilled the beans. yes, DT is working on a sidekick style hub as i have been informed, but looking at how expensive that e13 sidekick hub is i think o-chain might be the better and service-friendlier option (no new wheel to lace up).
O-chain is certainly the trail-friendly choice with the option of external control over the float.
Do you have a feel of which bikes ran ochains & co and which didn't? I.e. were there teams where some riders did run it and some didn't or were there more situations where a certain bike was equipped with it across the whole team (or teams) while there were bikes that did not have it?
Also def a few people riding the hidden the hidden shakeweights / rimpact tmd - at least Troy, Craik, and Breeden that i know of
Weird shock I haven’t seen before on YT junior William Pugh’s bike (I think?), spotted at the top of qualifying yesterday and then in the pits today. When I asked about it at the pits they said they couldn’t talk about it. Looks like they borrowed the dials from a microscope or maybe a hunting scope.
Are there any infos on what Martin Maes is running for pedals?
Other random bits and bobs from yesterday:
1. Danny Hart-esque custom hub end cap to deal with brake/wheel/frame flex on an unknown to me Canyon junior men’s bike.
2. Close ups of Jordan Williams brakes on his ebike as he and Loic were track scouting dueing Q2. Probably nothing new to see here, but prove me wrong. I didn’t peel the tape off the lever but I did think about it.
3. The craziest cassette you’ll ever see on Benoit Colanges’ bike. Also, the whole Scott team is on Rimpact chain dampers, which was interesting.
Ordered myself a STFU for my trail bike. Because World Cup.
That Williams hub silencer looks cool.
I thought that shock had popped up in this thread but maybe it was Pinkbike. The speculation (note that it's only speculation) was Bilstein.
Agreed, it’s super hard to tell what you can’t see with mass dampers. Saw lots of number plates with a big vertical fold/bulge in the middle, so I couldn’t actually spot a TMD but it looked like it would be there. I didn’t include those as a TMD bike in my final count.
Similarly, added mass is almost impossible to tell from your eyeballs on an Orbea or Scott. I remember a few years back Brendan was stuffing lead weights in his crank spindles. Hard to see that with your eyeballs.
As mentioned by someone else, same with the new DT hub internals from WRP. Saw a lot of DT hubs yesterday, but who knows what’s in them?
I didn’t see any particular pattern in who was running PK devices, like low pivot or high pivot. I was surprised that none of the Giant Factory riders had one, because I think of Maestro/DW Link bikes as traditionally having higher AS levels. Wondering if that was a choice by the riders, but because zero of them had it, I wonder if the higher ups at Giant or Shimano told the riders no, or if they just can’t because they are on the old Saint crank. I did see a rider with XT cranks on their DH race bike specifically so they could mount a PK device, which was interesting.
I'm also interested to see some words, mostly on the EXT Vecta.
I'm going to alter both front and rear for the next season, and I want most bang for the buck without going all out. So far I'm thinking about the EXT Vecta shock + an Avalanche Hybrid Coil/Air Open Bath Cartridge Damper System in the fork + burnishing the bushings in my Fox 36 grip2.
It will still be a fair bit of money in total, and I feel this is the most sensible high performance combo for me personally. I just have no desire to buy a brand new fork that isn't something like the top USD forks because I see that Avalanche upgrade as a better performance upgrade for the money given there's no performance hindering damages to my existing fork, so why not invest in upgrades instead. It's not a cheap upgrade, but I'd rather own that solution than a brand new other fork that I would have to put more money into to make ok.
About the Push VTX I'm sure they make very good products, but I do have people where I live who will service EXT products as well as they sell them, so it's mostly a practical aspect for me.
CG > Today’s commentary clownshow
production privee teasing something new on their instagram
currently they're only listing the shan 5, which uses a different layout, on their website
Love my Avy hybrid coil/air Zeb but you need to be brutally honest with him about your terrain, skill level and speed. And also get it done sooner rather than later, he seems to get sick every winter and the wait times go out to 3 months.
Next time add a clipboard and a safety vest to look official and you'll hardly get a second look.
I thought I saw on here that the DT sidekick internals will be able to be swapped into current hubs like the WRP ones.
I see that he offers the FvAT/HSB option to this solution, but it says it's currently not available as a self-install kit.
Do you have this in your fork, and if so, is it really needed(I'm a trail rider where the speed is slow most of the time, but also don't want to be negatively surprised when the front is pointing down again)?
I live abroad so I won't send the whole fork over there to have him install it because it will just add a lot more money to the total making it a no go.
Lastly, is the hybrid coil/air solution really a set and forget solution in practice(less maintenance)?
It's been mentioned here couple of times, robots need better database lol. And it's Bilstein, I guess it was only matter of time since their partner company H&R started to sell SLS shock springs few months ago 🤷🏻
I have it and I like it for those awkward huck to flat moments and a little extra headroom for making a mistake at speed. For something that would’ve been a harsh bottom out before I still have 5-10mm of travel to play with. His setup rewards riding hard and fast, it’s not so comfy for general riding in my experience.
Included with the parts was a setup sheet with the base settings as well as advice on setup based on changes in temperature, riding in the wet, as well as what to do for arm pump or front end nervousness.
Personally I prefer a little faster rebound, otherwise everything else setting wise is the same for me from what he suggested. I’m not a racer.
Like I said, be honest about what you want and how you ride and you should be pretty good straight away.
Heard about an updated transition spur recently, similar design language as the new sentinel, still has a flex stay and seems to be 120/120. No word on release date.
I did evaluate Smashpot as it is fairly inexpensive for an even bigger change, but my impression is that you end up with too big of a change in geo most of the time and that is a downside. I like the front to be as tall as possible especially when it is steep and I'm riding down, I just want the functionality of soaking up hits to be a lot smoother. I'm sure Smashpot is very comfy, but that doesn't automatically mean it's the best solution.
I just felt that it's either Smashpot or Avalanche hybrid air/coil solution as the compromise and that the latter must be a lot better than stock if it's tuned and set up for what I personally ride the most.
It also has to be said that I will change out an air shock in the rear for a much better shock which is coil, so the total change front to back will make more sense and be more noticeable.
I had a Smashpot in the same Zeb before. I was in between spring rates and the 2.1 Ultimate damper wasn’t up to the task. I also had several issues with the Smashpot itself (v1) including top out noise. The last straw was me breaking it on day 1 of a week long riding trip to NC and having to buy a new fork to salvage the trip. I would always recommend damper over coil conversion if you are doing only one. Especially for someone who is sensitive to ride height like we are.
Craig will sell you anything you want but ... there's a reason why the vast majority of his fork hybrid conversions are 38s and Zebs. I would not do it (36) again. Skip FvAT/HSB, it's just an expensive gimmick IMO. And I had to DIY re-valve mine, because ...
Honestly, I'd recommend to just buy a new fork with a good chassis and competent damper that would not require custom tuning off the bat.
Smashpot V2 + a riser bar to counter diving 👌
Why must this be so hard... I'll start with the EXT coil shock at least just to see if I could live with that balance(coil rear + air front) or if I still want coil up front as well. Smashpot might be better solution if I just test only a change in the rear first. Then I might know better if I could deal with the downsides of coil fork to gain the upsides. I'll just have to start with one change at a time.
I ride natural, very rocky and techy terrain, so a lot of rock crawling, so I'd rather have a magic carpet ride for the most part because I just don't ride flow nor any bikepark stuff. If I have to pedal a few extra pounds so be it.
Have you considered the Push 9.1? Btw. 36 with Avy hybrid coil setup is as heavy as the 9.1.
That's not how the FvAt/HSB works. It is a massively pre-loaded blow-out valve which, in theory, allows for firmer HSC valving, therefore giving you both better chassis stability and ability to absorb big impacts. What you're describing is ABS, anti bottom-out gizmo.
Push 9.1 is 2000$. I'm trying to find the most bang for buck combo(front + rear suspension) and not the best performing fork money no object.
From his website:
Firm for Progressive Blow-off , is better for big hits
Medium for linear Blow-off, is better for square edged, when doing medium drops
Soft for regressive Blow-off, is better for getting full stroke with no harshness when drops are not a concern.
The only point of the blow-off valving is the firmer HSC stack.