Nickster426
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About Me
Nick Ducharme is a long bike industry corporate monkey (most recently working as a suspension engineer/frame designer) but has since left that glorious lifestyle and started up his own MTB suspension maintenance and tuning operation in sunny Orange County, CA, Formula 4 Speed Suspension Personalization (www.f4ssuspension.com). Passing on prototype development and trips to Asia to join the elite crew that is the Vital Thrash Team. A former XC and DH racer now turned Enduro aficionado, he's the inaugural California Enduro Series expert champ shooting to retain that title for this year as well. Big miles and high speeds are more his thing than big air and high flying so his riding style is more engineer than flashy but that calculated and fearless approach has gotten results (and destroyed lots of tires). When not shredding in the hills he's elbow deep in motorcycle guts or a 350Z engine bay.
Member Summary
Comments: 3
Reviews: 4
Lives in:

Lake Forest, CA, USA

Member Since:
5/8/2014
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MikeMac Liked a comment about Feature Spy Shot: BH Lynx 8 Downhill Bike

8/19/2015 9:45am
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Knowing BH, I'd be VERY surprised if that bike wasn't designed from the ground up by their Foothill Ranch team (with Dave Weagle riding shotgun). Weagle designed their entire MTB line including the Lynx 6 (Vital has a review bike, but has yet to publish the review - Steve Wentz was the primary test rider). I've yet to see them use off the shelf anything on any of their bikes; road, CX or MTB.
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Nickster426 Added a comment about feature Spy Shot: BH Lynx 8 Downhill Bike

8/19/2015 9:09am
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I assure you that BH designs and develops all of their own bikes. BH international HQ is in Vittoria, Spain, but BH's research and development center is in Foothill Ranch, CA (Orange County) and all of their product comes out of that facility. This DH rig is, as Vital assumes, a test mule. A very figured out test mule, but a test mule none-the-less. Keep your eyes peeled for more good stuff coming from BH's MTB line up.
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bturman Liked a comment about video Video Comparison of RockShox Bottomless Tokens in a Pike Fork

6/23/2015 8:40am
original
It's true that lower travel Pikes need more tokens. There's a chart here that shows how many each fork can take: http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/How-To-Get-The-Most-Out-Of-Your… Don't be afraid to crank in that low-speed compression adjustment to help keep you higher in the travel. According to RockShox, "Low speed compression regulates oil flow in slow compression stroke speed scenarios such as rider weight shifts on the bike, and suspension compression during cornering or transitions." It also affects ride height, smoothness over small bumps, and traction. After getting the air spring dialed in, if you feel like you're riding low in the travel, try increasing...
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Nickster426 Added a comment about product review RAD Cage

8/21/2014 3:40pm
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The OneUp Cage has certainly borrowed from what the SRAM 11 speed Type 2 derailleurs are doing, but it brings that same functionality to the folks who already have or prefer Shimano 10 speed drivetrains with a single chainring.
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