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Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/22/2017 12:56pm Good post although I'm not sure about your guitar analogy. Many riders tune their bikes/suspension to suit the course and conditions. A better analogy would be like your dropped D guitar being 12" longer, so maybe a guy with longer arms would find it easier to play that song. The only responses I think of to your final question are...
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Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/22/2017 1:37am Have any of you considered that by regulating certain things, other areas might benefit from more research and development? Teams will always choose the most cost effective way of making a bike (or car or whatever) perform better. Maybe instead of spending the next few seasons testing and developing new frames, geometry, forks etc to work with a 'faster' wheelsize...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/17/2017 1:46am There are regulations in every professional sport. They exist for the good of the sport, to preserve the heritage, to make sport fair and equal for every competitor. They could give Moto GP bikes more power but they don't. They could make F1 cars lighter but there is a minimum weight of car + driver. They could make tennis rackets...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/17/2017 12:30am The biggest point that people are making is that 29" is faster, and faster = progress. The sport should evolve, we shouldn't hold the sport back etc. It's a fair point to make but when do we draw the line? There are riders in the top 20 who aren't keen on the introduction of 29" wheels to DH. If we...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 1:11pm Some good points there Thom. Personally I don't see wheel size as an advancement in tech as such. More like a fundamental component that changes the appearance and characteristic of the bike. Other forms of tech have developed then reached an optimum, such as suspension travel, disc brakes and rotor size. I guess it might take a few seasons more...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 12:13pm Costs are all relative. £100 million to an F1 team or £10000 to a privateer trying to get to world cups is a lot of money. We've already seen two retirements from World Cup Racing this year by riders who should be in the prime of their career. The biggest is Bryceland who seems to be burned out and disillusioned...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 11:04am I understand your point of view. At MSA you could see the benefit that 29" would give you to gain an advantage over the other competitors. But if everyone was on 29" you wouldn't have that thought. You would just get on with trying to ride your bike to the best of your abilities. Once the whole field is...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 11:06am The sport is already bound by regulation. In 2009 the UCI banned the wearing of tight clothing ie. skinsuits. Why was this? Sam Hill could still drift his bike around turns in a skinsuit. But the regulation was applied to retain the image and marketability of the sport (created by Shaun Palmer). No other reason. You could say that the...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 7:19am You make some good points there. I understand what you are saying, but a downhill bike isn't an enduro bike. I'm 6ft 2" and I find my Enduro 29 to be a big bike to manoeuvre around. If it had up to 40mm more travel it would be like riding a horse. It will be interesting to see if your...
Oz_Taylor Started a new thread DISCUSS - 29ers in WC downhill?
1/16/2017 4:20am Over the last week we've seen some pretty strong comments from some WC downhill riders about the potential use of 29" wheels in World Cup competition. I've been thinking about this and the only positive thing I can think of at the moment is that 29" wheels might be faster on some tracks. In my opinion there are way more...
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Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
1/10/2017 11:19pm Wow really? Where is the factory? I always thought Öhlins stuff was manufactured in Sweden.
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
1/10/2017 11:10pm If they are using a modified or longer travel version of the internals from their RFX36 fork, they probably need a 36mm chassis to fit it inside. They already make a damper to fit a Boxxer, as used by Brayton last year. This is something new and is surely a development project until their own chassis is ready.
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
1/10/2017 2:42pm Well spotted on the X-Fusion fork chassis!
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
1/10/2017 10:51am Yes of course I would, that's why I said it's totally understandable. The question is whether or not the teams can generate more revenue by using lots of individual sponsors rather than one big one for all their kit. I'm not sure about performance benefits. I guess it's good to have a choice of parts, but SRAM stuff is good...
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
1/10/2017 7:35am It's usually a Fox/Shimano vs RockShox/SRAM split for many WC factory teams. The switch to Ohlins might have had some effect on the support or funding compared to running a complete SRAM setup. So much so that they are now looking other manufacturers for performance or to generate revenue. It seems to be the same for the Specialized Enduro boys...
Oz_Taylor Added a comment about feature Duncan Riffle's Downieville-winning Santa Cruz Tallboy with SRAM Eagle
1/9/2017 12:30am
Think he put his gf's jeans on by mistake
Votes:
This feature has 16 comments.
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
12/5/2016 7:40am Could be, but the topcap of the existing Boxxer cartridge has a bleed valve and adjustment screw on it. This cap is identical to the RFX36 cap, suggesting that the damper assembly is in the left fork leg (where the spring is in a Boxxer).
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
12/5/2016 3:45am It's not a Boxxer. Look at the gold topcap. Same as Öhlins RXF36. It wouldn't be too hard to make a dual crown fork using the RXF36 lowers. Stiff, light,160mm travel, 29" wheel downhill fork :-)
Oz_Taylor Added a reply to 2017 Racing Rumors
12/5/2016 1:00am
Interesting comment from Minnaar. Blenky joining Loic and Finn for 2017?
