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Great stuff 👍🏻
Yeah he's happy. 8/36 is good, obviously he's now one of the youngest in his Cat which at this age can be a factor. But he's not exactly lacking in size at 5'11
He raced on the Fury and did practice on both the Fury and the Privateer. He went slower on the Privateer despite us thinking he may go quicker. So he raced the big bike.
Long long weekend. Lucky we're not doing it next weekend too. Oh, well, errrrm yeah we are.
At least we have the one after off.... Oh.
Well that was slightly funny/interesting. Yesterday in practice the boy says to me "should the forks be the same height" well... There's a question, i have absolutely no idea. Looking at them, it could be argued that with the measuring point being the top of the right adjuster and the line on the other leg, maybe they were.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662773_a2839d4266_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662773_a2839d4266_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojdqG6 ]2023-02-27_07-10-00[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Last night we jumped on google and downloaded the RS Boxxer manual. The bike was setup how we bought it, so we assumed they were correct. The Axle fitted correctly etc. There were no tell-tale marks that the forks had moved in the triples... so the assumption was, it was correct.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713665257_a454f41ea8_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713665257_a454f41ea8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oj8jax ]2023-02-27_07-09-51[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662358_be504929bb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662358_be504929bb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojdqyW ]2023-02-27_07-09-47[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
The Boxxer manual shows the measurement for both the tops and the overall length between triples and neither of ours were correct. The legs should indeed be the same height. As you'd expect.... They are the same now. LOL. But just shows that you should never assume other people have done things correctly.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713706297_77aa06ffce_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713706297_77aa06ffce_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oj8wn8 ]2023-02-27_07-42-29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Suspension stripped out and sent to TFTuned for tweaking/tuning.
Race day report (dad perspective)
The day started pretty chilly but importantly dry.... We made a bit of a mistake arguably and got to the start for practice WAY early... He does like to be down first, but we took this to the extreme. He'd done a track walk the previous night and 1 descent... Why was it a mistake? well, he was freezing by the time he went off, which didn't help much. He came back from run 1 grumpy... but after run 4 he was getting his head around it. He'd got the top half right and wanted to session the bottom, luckily there was a nice drop-in point so did 5-6 runs, trying lines, popping or squashing different bits etc.. You could see who was quick and who was REALLY quick... The boy didn't look REALLY quick, but we'd discussed this and he was told not to pin it every time, just nice and easy yo save the legs, look at the lines, try this and that. Mrs Weeksy commented "he's not getting the power down through there" but i was OK with it.
Race run 1 didn't come until 1pm... and he was warm and happy by then, feeling good on the bike and content. Watching him coming down you can mostly see in his style how he's going and he was doing OK... He crossed the line in 7th and 4s off the leader. He's raced the leader a few times and on some tracks he's beaten him, on some he'll lose ground.. So 4s was OK... Time was a 1min 22 (just so you can gauge it).... Run 2 came about 3pm, everyone was getting a bit tired by then, the sun was low and the cold was back... It was cloudy, nice, cloudy, dark, nice...
He looked happy again on run 2, but was only 0.02 quicker, "missed half a dozen corners as i couldn't see"... the setting sun had caught him (and others out listening to them) and he'd lost a bit of time.. but i don't think it would have changed a heck of a lot... That's where he is at the moment in the world. But we all went home happy and completely tired, my calves are killing and aching from walking up the hill pushing the DH bike 8 times lol.
Next weekend is FoD, 100% race, a place he knows well of course and a track he'll have ridden and raced a fair bit. It's all the big boys out next weekend, including yesterdays winner, 2nd place and of course his team-mate Drew. So will be a tough day out, but if he can go well and finish happy, we'll take that. Not sure if we'll head over for practice on the Sat yet... i'm tried and need a rest LOL.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714837964_77997bf3d4_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714837964_77997bf3d4_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojejLC ]2023-02-27_11-42-16[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Great stuff - if I'm reading that scoreboard right - 8th out of 136? Damn good if it is!
36 mate... not 136.... (i think the 136 was number of racers on the day overall)
Still happy with that and a few decent riders in there, so yeah we're not grumbling... Obviously we'd like better and heck we're trying and trying to get better both as riders, trainers, racers... but it's a tough gig at times. fast boys are fast and hard to play with. He's still enjoying it though which is of course the most important bit.
We're taking a few days off the bikes this week now as TBH we're all a bit knackered at the moment, day after day, weekend after weekend. There's always something, either on the bike, the rider, the day to day... it's all a bit, well, hard lol.
I'm sure by Weds afternoon we'll both be dying to get back out there and play.
Hey Weeksy,
Really enjoy the thread and and the up & downs of DH racing which I can certainly relate too as my boy is massively into Cyclo Cross which takes up most weekends through winter, i'm just wondering if you have thought about taking a bike & turbo one for warming up on before DH runs and to help with keeping warm . we take one to every race along with 2 Cross Bikes & Turbo bike - just a thought but also appreciate you may not have space in the van
Great read as always Weeksy. And I know its just a photo, but he looks fast to me! There's more style in that one picture than I've had with 30 years riding!
Fair points Weeksy I wouldn't know about DH races and it was just comment based on your race report and your lad getting cold in the thread not sure i'd call it gimpy though but maybe it would be DH races - anyway all the best with it all
your lad getting cold
Yeah i think next time we'll just stop being a bit daft and go later to start... Practice was 3 hours from 9-12 and he actually stopped riding about 10.50.... so even if we'd have skipped run 1, he'd still have got in plenty and been warm before setting off... But it was a chilly wind and even if there were 15-20 people in the queue that's 5-6 mins waiting which can be long enough to get chilly. He had hand warmers, but they didn't really get hot enough until about an hour later lol.
standing around in the cold is no fun!especially when you are racing lol - I'll look forward to your next race report
standing around in the cold is no fun!especially when you are racing lol – I’ll look forward to your next race report
Yeah but as we know, it always happens. I was waiting with him and making sure he had his coat as long as possible, but it's stil freezing at the top at times.
Next report... won't be long 😀
Being a) a DHer and b) a teenager, I’m going to guess his top of the hill warmup consisted of . . . standing? Got keep those cool points, they’re easy to lose!
Being a) a DHer and b) a teenager, I’m going to guess his top of the hill warmup consisted of . . . standing?
We were doing reverse pedalling sprints/sessions with my holding the bike up... obviously there's no resistance as such... but mostly there's a very small area and a lot of people, you're then herded into the queue where sometimes it's 10 mins, sometimes it's 30 mins before you're off... but you can't do a lot about it, it depends on what happens half way down the hill at any given moment. It's not like a pro event where you have half a dozen riders all with turbos out the back of the uplift hut, that's just not the reality of small races. I'm sure we could deffo do things 'better' but it really is marginal unless we come up with some plan that makes it summer lol.
That reminds me of the time a certain rider had been doing a whole lot of backpedalling not realising his axle was backing out - you can guess what happened shortly after the start 🙂
Having been that DHer, underdressed, waiting for a red flag to clear, on many occasions I know just what its like. Not sure I learned to do something about it until about my last race . . .
Not sure I'd call warming up a cold day margin gains mind you, if you spend the first 30s+ of the track waking up cold stiff limbs then could could make a fair difference.
Not that it matters, as you say a turbo isn't happening at this level for many reasons. Some full length TLD coat is probably the most you'll get
We were out doing some testing today. I rode the purple DH bike. Jeepers it's that slowest rolling thing in the world.
It's got a Maxx Grip Assegai on it and a DH22 on the back. I could barely pedal.
We swapped bikes and it was the same in reverse for him. I'm not sure which makes the most difference but I wonder if the grip makes up for rolling speed. I think the answer is likely No! But it's an interesting one.
I don't think they'll both be staying on
If you are concerned the tyres are too slow rolling for a DH bike, then you're almost certainly on terrain that will be quicker on the trail bike.
DH bike will always benefit from DH tyres
Got to agree with that ^
Mmmm maybe.
As you may have seen, arguably this weekends trail just past was that. But he was quicker in testing on the DH (admittedly with quicker tyres on that one) than on the trail bike.
I do get your point though as we've discussed the DH/trail choice more than once.
We'll likely test the 141 again this weekend using the GoPro to time him, but I won't say I'll be shocked if he's quicker on the DH.
Had lots of not-fun last night trying to trace and chase a noise.
The new shock seemed to make a 'doink' noise quite often, not all the time, but a lot. So took it to RSR Bikeworks to get it checked who stripped it down and checked and confirmed it was OK... we had multiple bikes/frames there to use as checks. But even after checking the shock we were still getting a noise... Ended up removing the chain, the mech, still getting it and it transpired it was the rear Hope Pro4 wheel. Now i did notice it was a bit quiet, almost silent when running. But i then thought "meh, must have always been like that" But after fitting one of our spare wheels, the doink seemed to have disappeared along with another minor noise we had which was as though something was loose.
"mate, somethings loose here" he kept telling me, but i knew everything was tight and snug... However the wheel is being dropped off to Rotec Cycles today to get it looked at.. They're less than a year old, which isn't ideal, but he does obviously use them pretty hard.
The last thing RSR noticed was the idler pully bearing which seemed a bit grumbly... So he told me to whip it out and swap it, which i've now done, but got to wait for someone else to wake up at home as it involves opening the garage/van and i don't want to wake people up 😀
Will then hopefully be golden for the weekend.
However the wheel is being dropped off to Rotec Cycles today to get it looked at.. They’re less than a year old, which isn’t ideal, but he does obviously use them pretty hard.
Well the upshot of the day is... the spring and pawls were in 100 pieces 😀
So that's currently being rebuilt at Rotec... Depending on plans we may pick it up later and use at the weekend... but we've got enough either way.
It’s got a Maxx Grip Assegai on it and a DH22 on the back. I could barely pedal.
Always run a maxxgrip DD up front and a maxxterra DD out back, had a load of maxxgrip dd dhr's to kill off so they went on the back over winter.
The assegai is a slow roller, tend to only use it when its steep, prefer the DHR as it rolls faster and feels more precise on the front. At somewhere like FOD, its DHR's all the time, south wales or scotland steep stuff is assegai.
Yeah unless conditions change i think we'll have his MMs on for the weekend, they're what sit on the primary race bike, although due to the rear wheel change currently he's got a DHR on the back... but will depend if we pick the Pro4 up before the weekend.
The 2nd bike is obviously the same, so we can swap to whatever his preference is if we needed to run the purple bike. I imagine things like the DH22 are for the wetter/slippier tracks potentially, of which even with the roots maybe being wet, this weekend shouldn't be.
The reality is, all this stuff is probably over-thinking it to a great extent as i'm not sure he either cares or notices what's fitted to a bike on a given day.
All of that said... i'm wondering if i should fit a DH22 for extra grip on the Slayer for this race 😉
Testing the spare wheel along with dialling in the shock
Fab service from TFTuned and especially Ruth, getting his Privateer suspension sorted, tweaked and tuned. Along with a rebuild/service on his Bomber CR shock which was a bit on the yukky/broken side. All smooth as silk and installed in the bike for the weekend now.
Well the Bomber isn't, that's currently one of the spare shocks.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723386829_ab169362cb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723386829_ab169362cb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojZ93R ]2023-03-03_12-50-35[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
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Ruth @tftuned is a legend dude, so patient and knowledgeable
... too kind chaps 🙂 thank you ... I do also have a very knowledgable bunch of people around me!
Ruth @TFT
Proper proper laugh today photo and video shoot for the team. Details will be revealed in coming weeks 😂😂
Practice day all day for both me and them.
The boy came home very happy and feeling great on the 141, he was flying on it.
I had a big crash on the drop/step down. Pretty pathetic attempt in truth. I'd done 4 runs and not taken it, in run 5 I thought "go on then" but it was such a bloody poor attempt. Over the bars, under the bike, broken saddle, few bruises and aches, but went up for run 6&7 and went ok.
I'll still be out in race tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be hitting the drop of despair. Lol
the drop of despair
The name of it tells you everything you need to know... 😂😂 It's rocks and drops that get me every time! That, and roots, mud, berms, flats, climbs...😳 Maybe I should just give up! Looking forward to reading the team updates. Go well tomorrow Team Weeksy!
Well today was, for me, the lads best ever race. The way Katy is bringing him on is just fantastic. She seems to know how to get into his brain, little ideas, thoughts , techniques that just make him faster.
Watching him a couple of times he's just flying.
He was down about 40th out of a pack of 62 in Youth and his team mate had come down in a 1.03 with a rival we know and have raced lots, Ed, sticking in a 1.02
The fastest youngster finished with a 55.6.
Weeksy08 put in a 58.5 which I'll be honest, almost brought me to tears. Just to see him put in a fast time, a happy run and see his attitude all weekend of excitement and joy just really made me well up with pride. He was at that stage in 6th. We think he got 11th or 12th. Will confirm when it's all official.
For info, Ben Deakin put in a low 57. Preston Williams was racing who races for specialized and is stupid quick and I think he was a 53s in Elites.
Run 2 I'll post a video up when we have it, but he crashed on a loamy left handed and lost 10s. But we can see how and why and it won't affect him.
His teammate put in a 59.8 to break the magic minute barrier on run 2.
Scarlett their 3rd teammate won the u16 girls cat.
We came home very happy.
For me, after the fail on drop of despair was a little down on myself and almost didn't race. Especially as practice is more serious and I didn't want to hold people up. But I went out and stuck the number on and raced it. It was hard for me in tech context and a year ago I'd not have ridden it. Whilst I wasn't fast or graceful, I finished
Well done for racing, especially after the crash.
Sounds like a great weekend for the team, nice to see Katy’s effort coming to fruition.
Thanks mate. Mrs Weeksy is properly frowning at the massive bruises that are now showing themselves lol.
But it's what we do. Sat was really interesting as they were all on their 141s. My lads and Drew's having just returned from tftuned. Weeksy08 said his felt out of balance early on but within a few rides it made sense and the flickable nature of the Enduro was showing itself as very capable on the race track. Nice.
Drew raced on both bikes today.
James only rode the GT, he was tempted for the Privateer for run 2 but decided against it.
In the future you’ll have forgotten all about the race but you’ll still have that photo and you look good in it - so that’s all that matters.
I don't like the bars hanging by their cables in the pic of the Privateer - I have, of all things, a wooden spoon in my toolkit. Screwed into the handle end is a plastic coated cup hook that I have squeezed into an eyelet with pliers, useful for pushing a rag or blue towel though, which you can then use for cleaning inside things (down seattubes, inside fork lowers, and so on.....
And then if you drop into the top of a headtube, the handle goes through but the spoon end won't. Put through the stem and then into the headtube and it holds it all in the right place and takes the stress off the cables and hoses.
They were bungeed to frame so not under load.
Great photo
Thanks @superstu he's a stylish lad.... but in truth, most of the buggers there are... It honestly astounds me the level these all ride at... Not just the youngsters but some of the oldies too... It's all mightily impressive (to me anyway).
It's all a bit quiet in the house this morning, everyone is fried from the weekend... but it's good training and fitness (although he did uplift 4 times yesterday). This week is due to be a quiet one and then BPW on the weekend for some fun with mates. (With something else top secret on Friday for him)
It's a little bit of calm for 2 weeks now as it's mothers day weekend the one after and whilst it's not been said we can't race, it would deffo be frowned upon, so we're keeping it clear to spend the time with the wife/mother.
We'll obviously be out playing, riding, messing inbetween though.
I'll be off into the garage later to clean, check, lube, sort all 3 bikes, along with hoovering and cleaning the van interior and load space... Happily though it's less messy than usual as it was pretty dry this weekend.
Well..... I think it's time to sack the mechanic 😀 😀
He comes in yesterday after riding up and down to test the bike "brakes feel a bit rubbish today"... I tested it too and yeah the rear was garbage.
However, he wasn't too unhappy, so we put it down to a bit of contamination on the pads and 'something to sort on Monday'.
I looked at it and whipped the pads out to sand them over and clean the rotor, as i was putting them back in i noticed there was something not quite right as the pads were not meshing with the rotor.
It then dawned on me that he'd been running a 180 rotor on the rear this week not a 203 lol. We had the Hope Pro4 off for repair and i didn't want to change anything as we'd set up the gears etc nicely. So we left the 'spare' wheel fitted.
Obviously it now has a 203mm fitted LOL.... but the Hope has gone back in this morning anyway 😀
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52729820498_2ecd3be244_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52729820498_2ecd3be244_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oky7yb ]2023-03-06_09-46-13[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
School boy error. We standardised across all the bikes to ensure that it couldn't go wrong. Saved on the amount of spares we needed to carry in the van
We standardised across all the bikes to ensure that it couldn’t go wrong
So had we 🙂
All his wheels are/were the same setup..... Well, right up until they were not 😀
That was the plan anyway. hahahahaha. I must have missed that wheel.
Playing with some setup stuff at lunchtime and i noticed that i REALLY dislike the chainline on this... I know i've mentioned it before but i was thinking "i'm sure the purple bike isn't this bad. There's 2 differences with the purple bike and this bike, 1 being the front chainring and the other the wheel.
I thought a bit more and i then released some of the tension on the chain tensioner at the front. It was pretty high/tight. That's made a MASSIVE difference to the chainine. Basically when in the biggest cog on the rear (28T) it's a wayward chainline, but you can't move it over as the chainguide spacering it out to the 83mm. 2 spacers on the non-driveside and none (apart from chainguide) on the drive-side. I can now spin the cranks nicely in the big cog.
My other thought is that potentially a smaller chainring on the front may give me a better feel even more so. I think it's got a 32T on the front of the purple bike and a 36T on the blue (current/main) bike. So i may come up with a plan and fit a smaller front chain-ring to the blue one. I'll chat with the lad a bit first on what gears he's using on the DH side of things as if he's hitting 9/10 all the time then we arguably don't really want to drop the front by 4T. But it's deffo nicer than it's been.
Rocking his new Crankbrothers shoes and pedals. Awesome surprise from the coach
Great photos 🙂
He does seem to have taken his position on the bike to another level from earlier pictures.
Maybe just as he grows and becomes more able to get the bike working under him, rather than being a passenger but, alas the positioning - thus pics - look very good indeed.
It's mostly down to Katy (and him). They're all little sponges and absorb the comments instantly. If only they could all do it with school!
But she's seeing them a LOT @ the moment and they all chat in WhatsApp too. It's all just picking up tint nuances in each of their riding, taking it, fixing it and improving it. Then the next, the next, the next.
Even yesterdays crash was brilliant as she was recording him from the side of the trail, then showing him how and why it went wrong, he got his rear kicked out on a root, to compensate he ended up pushing his weight back, which is of course the wrong thing as that unloads the front and as he tipped in the front was light and he slid out. It was then a lesson in how to fix that next time. It's just details details and more details. No 1 thing is the answer, it's little bits.
The level they race at is just bonkers close, the kids are stupid fast.
https://www.rootsandrain.com/event11138/2023-mar-5-100-mini-dh-2-forest-of-dean/results/
If you see the times you'll see how tight. He'd have got top 8 in u18 for example, he'd have won the grand vets, 4th in 19-29, got 2nd in 30-39 etc etc.
The youngsters are just rapid!
@Weeksy, which run is that new drop on? Can't decide if it's a goer for me but would like at least to have a look at it. Sending you a DM about a text I got from KC 🙂
It's on Cougar Roots... If you're going up the fire-road climb, it's 50m over on the left. It starts just by the mound which is on the top of Ski-run V2.... but instead of going down that way, it goes over more towards corkscrew direction, then comes back over the fire-road near Mr Rooty.... then down to almost the top of the jumps on GBU.
I love seeing his style on a bike. I'm obviously very biased, but he makes it look effortless
Weekend ended up being a bit quiet due to closures at bpw. But we may hit FoD tomorrow for some practice
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52743538290_fe20196435_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52743538290_fe20196435_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2omLqnQ ]2023-03-12_07-57-12[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
It appears Mrs Weeksy is giving the green light to race on mother's Day.
It’s a trap, don’t bite!!! 😂 You’re supposed to answer with ‘no no, it’s much more important to be at home with you’!
Way too late. He's in and entered.
Trap failed 🤣
Got some new brakes arriving this week for one of his, but still debating which bike they end up on. A mate has a set of Tech3/V4s that his boy isn't keen on, preferring Shimanos. So we said we'd take them. But whether we fit them to the Privateer or whether they go on the 2nd Fury, i'm not sure yet. The Privateer is being used plenty by the boy and the 2nd Fury never comes out to play as it's primary function is as a spare bike... But you'd assume there'll be stages of the season when he comes down a hill and wants bike #2 in a DH weekend for some reason or another. Tricky little debate... but a nice debate to have of course 🙂
Will be curious to see what course this weekends race is on and what he rides on it... He's not massively keen on Elephant Man which it potentially could be, however last race on that course he went pretty well with a 6th place so he can't dislike it THAT much 😀
Also - the photos are fab. Looks like the boy is doing great. Keep it up Team @weeksy
Nah! Based on the other thread, she’ll be off ragging a moto around a track somewhere spaffing @weeksy’s credit card so he cant buy a HT
NAh, she's going to come over and watch/join too. Which may of course mean i can enter as well 😀 but i've got 2 Enduro races the week after, so may give this one a miss.
Also – the photos are fab. Looks like the boy is doing great.
Thank you !!! It's a lot lot harder than you'd think to get decent pics. Sadly the camera we've been borrowing for the last 6 weeks is going back to it's owner this week, which is a shame but we're debating whether we buy one. Obviously on race day there's a load of camera guys who are a lot lot better than we'll ever be at taking pics.. but on days out, we kinda need some content. I don't post all of his pics as he throws them on Insta usually, but i like putting the odd one up.
I'll dig out another later, which is like the one above but he's staring straight at the camera instead of the trail.. cocky little bugger.
Also just ordred this helmet
[img] 
[/img]
to make some of the sponsorship agreements a little simpler in terms of pics and vids.
along with one of these
[img] 
[/img]
It's never ending at times. 😀
How much messing with the Privateer are you allowed to do? Wasn’t sure if the spec was being (kinda) mandated to you or not
As long as it doesn't detract from the overall aesthetics and as long as it goes back to stock at the end of the year, we're OK to swap and do things.
cocky bugger.
As long as it doesn’t detract from the overall aesthetics and as long as it goes back to stock at the end of the year, we’re OK to swap and do things.
that’s pretty handy
Chatted with the lad and we're going to fit the new Hopes to the Privateer. Depending on the course this weekend he may even race it on Sunday... (Although won't do the brakes 5 mins before race so they can wait till Monday)
Been a quiet one this week but we may get out for a play today/tomorrow if the weather holds.
https://youtube.com/shorts/GCeSo0-g-7E?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
https://youtube.com/shorts/BQ6qrxdKhL4?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
Some riding on the DH bike for the boy on Weds and yesterday was out on the Privateer all afternoon/evening. Getting some last minute training/practice for the weekend. Course announced this morning is Elephant Man. Which is good and bad, but mostly good. It's not a course he loves, but he secured a 6/24 last time on this course/organiser so clearly he's got decent pace here on his good day. I also think he's riding better/faster than then. So we'll see.
My job as always is to get him to the start line on Sunday with a working bike and working limbs... What happens after that is out of my hands and completely in his hands.
One of the big things for weekend may come down to tyre choice this weekend, it's been raining a fair bit, so not sure yet how the conditions will play out, but we'll be taking multiple wheels/tyre combos just in case he wants something a bit grippier on there.
Tyres will be interesting - FOD was dry as a bone but then we’ve had stacks of rain. Even Risca was a bit slippery last weekend and it’s rained pretty much solidly since then.
You’ve got a magic Mary or shorty front haven’t you?
MM, Shorty, DH22, Assegai for the front.
For the rear, pretty much the same but add in a DHR or a Disector.
I would expect we'll take a MM/Shorty combo on one set and maybe a DH22 front on the spare wheel for the front in case he wants more grip.
In reality, i'm honestly not sure the boy cares, he just goes out and rides hard, currently on the back of the Privateer 141 i notice last night when washing it he's got i think a Dissector or whatever it is, it's not terribly grippy put it that way. Yesterday was slimy out on the local woods but he didn't complain about it, he just gets on and goes. I think the tyre choices are more me justifying my job in the team than him actually wanting it 😀
Bit gutted i didn't enter, if i'd known earlier it was Elephant Man i'd have jumped in potentially... but the funds just ain't really there at the moment, plus i'm racing enduro twice next week.
Edit.
He's just got up and i asked him
"Do you actually care what tyres are on for the weekend"
"No, not really... doesn't matter"
Makes me job either a lot easier or harder, depending on how you look at the world 😀
He might not care but it probably makes a difference to his race pace though.
Dissector is ok - speed matters less on the play bike for the woods!
Which enduros are you racing next week?
It's a very good point.... it may well do indeed.
I've got Haibike Enduro at BPW on Weds and then the Southern Enduro at Newnham in Plymouth way on Sunday along with the boy for his first proper race on the Privateer. In a slightly harsh turn of events with him being 15 at some stage of this year, he's now racing in the U18... I'm sure they used to have U16 with Southern, but seems it's U18s now. But i'm expecting him and Drew his team-mate to do OK.
I'm having a bit of a crisis of confidence/ability at the moment. Not in terms of my riding as that's as good/bad as it gets, but more in terms of self-belief and whether i should be out there with a race number on. It's bonkers because when i ride with mates, i'm in the higher of the group, or riding at BPW i'm catching rather than being caught... But then when i go racing, i'm so so far off the pace it's ridiculous. I've got some coaching with Katy coming up, but i don't think she can find me THAT much time lol
no pressure on the lad, but i predict a podium this weekend 🙂
Oh and tell him to get involved with tyre testing and choice, it could be the difference between winning and losing. I do get it, when i was racing (cars) i never used to adjust my suspension for track conditions, was very much just run what i brung. I am pretty sure it cost me a few places in a few races 😛
I’m having a bit of a crisis of confidence/ability at the moment. Not in terms of my riding as that’s as good/bad as it gets, but more in terms of self-belief and whether i should be out there with a race number on. It’s bonkers because when i ride with mates, i’m in the higher of the group, or riding at BPW i’m catching rather than being caught… But then when i go racing, i’m so so far off the pace it’s ridiculous. I’ve got some coaching with Katy coming up, but i don’t think she can find me THAT much time lol
I wouldn’t worry about it - just get out there and enjoy the closed trails. I’d imagine I’d be much the same - I don’t get caught at BPW etc and the only people who tend to pass me uphill whilst at Cwmcarn and the like tend to have motors on their bikes. I bet if I went racing I’d be right down the bottom of the time sheets on either XC / Enduro / DH.
I bet Katy can find you a stack of time - get her to send you some before / after videos of the cornering and then just concentrate on each change she makes. I haven’t had a coaching session for coming up 2 years and am still working on the things I was told to. Probably overdue another coaching session - might have to setup one to concentrate on jumps / drops / steep chutes this year as those are the 3 main things letting me down at the moment.
I wouldn't overthink the tyre choice too much.
We spent alot of time in the EWS team pits looking at tyre choices and came to the conclusion that they seem to stick to the same tyres in all the conditions.
We may have swapped Abigales out if it was really bad for a Hillbilly on the front but settled on what worked best for her which were Butcher BlakDmd 2.6 front 2.3 rear.
Won't have to worry for 18 months as she has just had her first ride in NZ after arriving Wednesday night
She has gone out with the new Butcher Grid Gravity fitted and BlkDmds for spares.
Good luck for the weekend 👍
@tracey hope she has an absolute blast out there !!!!
@v7fmp it's a tough field with some proper quick lads out there... I think top 8 would be about nice. Higher than that would be a bonus.
@joebristol i honestly think i'll be one of her more challenging clients. I struggle massively with coaching and struggle to do what people say. The lad just goes "sure, i'll do that".. I think "sure, i'll do that" and then do the exact same thing i've been doing.
Is there any mud left on elephant man, last time I rode it was pretty deficient in the dirt department!
Be careful with swapping between different brands, they have a very different feel to them. I struggle to swap away from Maxxis, as have got accustomted to how they feel. Tried the spesh grid gravity in t9 recently (hillbilly and cannibal), whilst there was great mechanical grip, there was too much feedback and couldnt gauge what the grip level was when on harder surfaces.
Is there any mud left on elephant man
Not a lot in truth no, it could be argued something too draggy will slow them on the jumps and pedally section at the top. Possibly nearer the bottom, but the fast kids don't take the 'normal' lines down that end. It's amusing to watch, coming to the rock garden on the left hander, they take it as wide as it allows, then pop out of the drainage high up and skip half the issues on the next bit by going 3' higher, then basically jump half the bottom rock garden and pin it off the last drop.
From looking what's fitted he's got
MM Front in Gravity compound
DHF on the back in Max Terra.
On the Spares he's got a
DH22 on the front in silly soft/grippy
MM in gravtiy on the rear.
We've then got various spares we can/could take, but it's likely to remain what we have on the wheels.
In a slightly harsh turn of events with him being 15 at some stage of this year, he’s now racing in the U18… I’m sure they used to have U16 with Southern, but seems it’s U18s now. But i’m expecting him and Drew his team-mate to do OK
My son always gets caught by this as well. he turns 15 2 weeks before the end of the year, and quite a few races this year that puts him in U18. Hes only just turned 14 and is just barely 5' tall - far smaller than most of his mates who are still in U15. I still think he'll give most of the U18s a run for their money but it does look a bit ridiculous when you see him compared to a load of 17 year olds...
obviously it'll play in my boys favour next year as he'll be in the older of the 15-16s when it gets to the later half of next year.. He's a decent height at 5'10 though and pretty strong, so it's not really his build holding him back in any way or his actual strength. It's possibly if anything, maybe experience... but we can't really use that these days as he's racing a lot.
It's all good though and all good fun... I'm looking forward to the weekend lots.
Loving the photos and videos weeksy. Great attitude from weeksy jr too. He knows he has the pace to do damage and that will help him relax and develop. I dont really follow all the tech talk but i love seeing a developing athlete and this thread has it in abundance.
He knows he has the pace to do damage
You say that... but he's very self deprecating and humble about it... He often thinks he'll finish way lower than he ends up. I do sometimes wonder if he does actually believe that or think "yeah i'm fast".. inside his head... I'd love to get into it and find out that bit.
I think his self-belief is gradually increasing though as time and races move by. But the fact is, some people are still a million miles ahead.
https://www.rootsandrain.com/rider117242/stan-nisbet/results/
This kid for example, raced last year in National DH.... won every single race including the national champs... Now he's proper proper fast. But we're getting better and better as a rider, person and of course a team with the events we do.
https://youtube.com/shorts/7M6GR62SSeM?si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE
I don't post a lot of his vids as they're a bit 'samey' in some ways "kid going fast...." basically.
I'll try and get some this weekend though
From looking what’s fitted he’s got
MM Front in Gravity compound
DHF on the back in Max Terra.On the Spares he’s got a
DH22 on the front in silly soft/grippy
MM in gravtiy on the rear.
You're mixing up compounds and casings terminology here.
Compound describe how grippy a tyre is, casings describe how tough (and heavy) a tyre is.
Schwalbe tyres have 3 casings in increasing toughness, they might have some really lightweight casings too but I don't pay much attention to those
-super trail
-super gravity
-super downhill
And a few compounds (again there might be more)
- soft
- ultra soft
so you could have a super gravity tyre in either soft or ultra soft compound , ie a tyre of the same toughness but different grip properties
Maxxis have the following casings
-exo
-exo+
-doubledown
-downhill
And the following compounds
- maxxspeed
- maxxterra
- maxxgrip
Not all combinations ofcasing and compound are available.