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Edited Date/Time
9/24/2018 12:50am
Fun question regarding what has to be some soul crushing moments for Richie. How many times has he flatted over the last 10-15 EWS rounds? It has to be more than any other competitor.
I believe he's running DH casing + CushCore. While that would stop just about any mortal from flatting, its not enough for Thor himself.
How would you fix this problem?
Can some of the stats nerds tell me exactly how many times he's flatted the last couple seasons? Anyone know what percentage of those was on a coil? (I have a theory around this one!)
Considering he's one of 10ish guys to actually go for a win, I'd see if Cushcore can't make him a custom insert, or hell, stack two of them. Can Maxxis do some sort of special Richie-only casing that is like 1600 grams? Is there something that could be glued on the inside of the tire? I've heard of a mountain bike bib-mouse - could he run this?
Ultimately, what we are asking here is what is the most flat proof system you can possibly think of? One, in theory, Two, in reality (like what could we go buy to fix this).
Ready? Go.
I believe he's running DH casing + CushCore. While that would stop just about any mortal from flatting, its not enough for Thor himself.
How would you fix this problem?
Can some of the stats nerds tell me exactly how many times he's flatted the last couple seasons? Anyone know what percentage of those was on a coil? (I have a theory around this one!)
Considering he's one of 10ish guys to actually go for a win, I'd see if Cushcore can't make him a custom insert, or hell, stack two of them. Can Maxxis do some sort of special Richie-only casing that is like 1600 grams? Is there something that could be glued on the inside of the tire? I've heard of a mountain bike bib-mouse - could he run this?
Ultimately, what we are asking here is what is the most flat proof system you can possibly think of? One, in theory, Two, in reality (like what could we go buy to fix this).
Ready? Go.
doing a QUICK cruise of richie's insta - https://www.instagram.com/richie_rude1/ - looks like he's been on an air shock since like june of 2017 until whistler this past weekend. don't hold me to this as fact.
This fits an air shock well, as one can use tokens to get the bike to ramp up as much or as little as they want. Allowing the rider to fine tune how they are using the bike's travel.
With a coil, you really can't alter this curve, and are relying on damping, specifically HSC damping to keep your bike from bottoming as the bike is linear, as well as the coil spring. This means for a given force, you are going to use more travel with a coil (assuming starting spring rate is the same) than you would an air shock, especially late into the shock's travel.
For most mortals, this isn't a huge deal. But for guys like Richie, or even heavy guys like me, its a big deal as the forces put through the system become exponential (big guys smashing) at speed.
There are other properties of an air spring that also help keep the system from blowing through its travel (an air spring is semi speed sensitive, as well as position sensitive - coils are not)
With the coil, you can find the end of the system in certain situations, and this puts additional stress on the wheel, tire, etc.
I've run coils on linear setups like that Yeti. It felt awesome. The grip was great. But I did flat every single race I did. (and I'm not richie...clearly)
I think a cush core with some kind of hard plastic hula hoop core (foam around it) would be interesting. Kind of like the THE Eliminator rim. Could probably prototype with some PEX tubing from your local Home Depot Racing store.
Unfortunately I think the real answer is:
-stronger/heavier rim to prevent dents/damage from leaking
-stronger/heavier tire to not get cut by super strong rim
-stronger/heavier cush core
-40 psi
so is there really no foam that has a density to make a tire feel "normal enough" yet not require air? basically a foam-filled tire that can never flat? i know they exist for kids bikes and commuters, but i assume the issue is feel/handling/weight?
Would it be possible to have a pourus enough foam that you can still fill with air and adjust psi for feel? Then if you do flat, have a foam density baseline feel of 22 psi or whatever. Sealant throws a big wrench in that plan but I feel like that's the ideal setup
http://www.mrwolf.bike/smartmousse/
On a seperate note, do you feel more protected with a DD cushcore rather then a straight up DH tire?
Not sure which is better- DD+Cushcore vs DH tire. I usually choose based on traction. DH tire has more grip & rolls slower, DD tires are usually faster rolling.
Also think about repairing vs run flat. You can run flat on cush core decently, but pulling it apart on the trail to put a tube in is really hard. I ran DD+Cushcore for mega avalanche to be able to roll fast and run flat if needed (I did run flat for about 15 min during qualifying).
Fun to watch, though. Keep up those hulk-smash videos!
That Mr. Wolf Smartmousse looks pretty interesting, anyone have more info?
What I can interject with is what i know from endurance racing. The best endurance racing drivers know how to extract 98-99% from the vehicles capabilities without putting the car at 99-100% of what it can stand mechanically. In the track world, we describe it as mechanical empathy.
For example... If a car is capable of a 1:30 lap time on a given course... the best and most sought after drivers will be capable of doing a 1:29 - 1:29.5 without bouncing the car off curbs, short shifting by 200rpm on the back straight, coasting into 1-2 braking zones on track and maintaining minimum corner speed instead of charging into the braking zone hard. This sort of driving is what defines the difference between a good racer and a great racer.
This is what I think defines the difference between enduro and downhill racing. In downhill, flatout is the only option. It's an all in sport where the top 10 are separated typically by 1-5 seconds. It is by definition a sprint race. In contrast, enduro is very obviously, a game of endurance.
I think the big change over for enduro and by extension, for Rude in the last 2 years is that the competition, bike development and courses are forcing enduro to transition from a game of endurance into being a long distance sprint race. I think no one can deny Rude's ability to smash terrain with reckless abandon, but maybe the missing component is being able to achieve that 95-99% speed with 90% effort.
Maybe it's because he feels he's trying to bust a slump and he's over riding the terrain. Maybe the competition has grown in the last two years such that Rude feels he has to be at 100% to maintain a gap to competitors. Maybe it's just absolute, bad luck. It's tough to tell because there are so many variables.
What isn't tough to tell is that enduro is an ever shifting landscape and the last two years have had even more variables thrown into the mix then any I can remember in years previous EWS and UCI DH. I think the pace that the riders are holding themselves to my mean that some riding styles need to be adjusted in the name of finding consistency.
Either way, flats suck and they ruin racing just like crashes ruin racing on the automotive side. Some times you're the hammer, and some times, you're the nail
Regarding the moto mouse: It's available, but at least for outdoor nationals, it is one of their last resorts. Maybe only 1 or 2 tracks that the pro teams run them as they all prefer the feel of a standard air setup. At least the last time I was following the series that was the case.
Also regarding the air spring being "somewhat speed sensitive", could you clarify farther? Not sure I understand how the physics behind this would work.
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