Jack Moir Trying Size Large Rear End on XL Capra

Plot twist: tall racer guy prefers short chainstays. Did not see that coming.

I'm down with it. My homemade XXL DH bike with 240mm travel has 416mm chain stays. Roomy where I need it and turns on a dime. I am stuck in the past with twenty six inch wheels though. I don't think it would be possible with anything bigger. Sad.

Gary does what Gary wants. 

Swanging off it.

No surprise, it's like he is riding a unicycle sometimes he's so far off the back, the front half of the bike is there for show it seems.

Good point. We call that move "The Rob Warner." Rob used to set his forks up with extra soft springs, I think because he didn't bother putting any weight on them in the first place. Tall guy + small bike = functionally a unicycle.

Without a high(-ish) pivot I think anything getting close to 420 mm with a 29er rear wheel is a major achievement (or front triangle massaging) situation.

Regarding riding style, I'd say Moir knows how to handle a bike. EWS champ? Meh... Irrelevant.

In all seriousness, talking about hanging off the rear, any time someone mentions that I instantly remember Chris Kovarik (in person from Maribor to be honest) who looked like he was surfing off the rear of the bike. True, different times, different bikes, but yeah. Crazy Australians :D

Very interesting indeed. I guess a large part of it is also being fit enough to weight the front properly even with a very short rear end. When I put the +8 reach adjuster cup on my bike it made it very stable in a straight line but I was blowing corner due to not weighting the front properly (to do so I had to put a lot more physical effort into riding). He is always being unconventional about his bikes but I'd say it works quite well for him. 

I always wondered if pros in disciplines like EWS actually want a bike that is less "stable" than consumers.

They benefit from the manoeuvrability of having an "unbalanced" bike while being able to handle it through rough stuff due to fitness and skill.  Most consumers make the opposite trade-off because it allows them to feel better going faster over rough stuff.  Personally I've found I prefer a longer rear-end and a shorter front-end, though overall wheelbase stays shorter than what other 190cm people are riding.

I imagine this is a big part of why YT wanted Moi Moi on their team, to tinker with their bikes.

spot on, they are simply stronger, fitter and have more skill to ride that smaller, less stable bike.

My current bike has a 462 CS and 1340 Wheelbase, it's like God mode cheat code for mountain biking for my skill level and old age, I just have to do 3 point turns sometimes lol

Mr. Moi Moi is a surfer. He probably surfed before he ever rode a bike. Probably slashed a turn on a wave before he ever slashed a berm. One does not slash a turn on a wave from the middle of the board. I've lived with surfers most of my life. So I at least think that I know. I'd say Jack should try out a medium too while he's there.

I do like to think about how other sports influence riding styles.  Personally I grew up skiing, and always was encouraged to be "in the middle of the camber" so I'm used to being in the middle of my "traction points".

Since, I've preferred a more balanced and centred position on the bike.

If a rider has no other sport's influence, how do they ride?  If a child is never spoken to, what language would they speak?

Was just wondering why he is on an XL Capra front triangle now while he was on a size M Canyon Strive last year. Turns out they are about the same reach!

interestingly, kasper (who is a slayer of corners) - and ~ 6" shorter than jack - is running a medium frame with xl stays. 

horses for courses, etc

Based on what @LookinForIt  said, that might actually say something about what people prefer based on their other sports. I'm pretty sure Kasper spent a lot of time ski racing before starting to compete in enduro.

Kinda surprising they're not doing timed runs (or did I miss that??). "Feels better" and "faster" are not always the same thing.

I think these tests were to generally set the bike apart. Its overall characteristics. E.g. less or more suspension progression. And the exact suspension setup will be before each competition.
It is very possible that they were riding for time