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Hey, I’m Ryan Burney. I’ve spent eight years as an engineer for full-suspension bikes, working on some fun projects, like developing the flex Horst link for the Cannondale Scalpel and being lead engineer for the latest GT Fury downhill bike. With over a decade of downhill racing under my belt (even made it to one World Cup—though I didn’t qualify so I stuck to engineering), I've had the pleasure of racing alongside the Vital crew, like Jason, Tanner, and Dak. Below is a photo of me, being slower than Dak. These days, I’m focused on my own projects, but I...

We all know the theory: lower tire pressures mean more grip, and higher pressures roll faster. But when it comes to real-world speed, which one really wins? I set out to answer this with 30 timed runs down the same track. ◾ The Experiment Two sets of tire pressures were chosen for my 88kg (194lbs) weight: 25/28 psi (front/rear) for the higher pressures and 18/20 psi (front/rear) for the lower pressures. These pressures maintain a consistent 0.9 front-to-rear ratio, with the high pressures aligning with recommendations such as those from E13 . After three warm-up laps, each tire pressure setup...