You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
not so much for the potential to scratch the stanchion, rather they are designed to be compressed rather than having 15kg of bike hanging off them, especially when it's an angled load.
It's a PITA to have to use the TT, it's not near the C of G so the stand tends to rotate if you work at the rear of the bike. So using the clamp would be a useful result.
I hang the bike from saddle with a dropper all the time. My Slayer has spent since it was bought hanging. Extended of course.
theotherjonv
Full Member
not so much for the potential to scratch the stanchion, rather they are designed to be compressed rather than having 15kg of bike hanging off them, especially when it’s an angled load.
I never used to do it but gradually accepting that it’s fine to do. They’re designed for 100+ kg riders slamming down on them at a fair angle, so should be fine
Mid way through a long riding week.
Weds night was 3 hours of coaching for the lad on the Privateer. Spent some time with Katy trying to dial in his rear shock, the Privateer responds differently due to the kinematics and we're still not quite there with it. So it looks like we'll have a TFtuned tech soon to help us.
Today was an uplift day with the Fury at FoD and 12 runs for practice for him.
Whilst that was going on I took the Privateer out for the morning to Shutcastle and Dowies. I really enjoyed the 141 and how it rides. The rear isn't as plush as the Slayer but it's more poppy and arguably the longer reach means it's a bit nicer in some ways. I don't think I'll be chopping in the Slayer for one but it was ace.
https://flic.kr/p/2oEt5pK
Tonight we're back home instead of in a tent, then up early for a Pearce uplift day at Hopton as race practice, from there it's straight to accommodation before Sat at BPW. Not sure we'll have much left in us after that.
The lad is really working hard on bike setup, fitness, practice, speed and techniques, hopefully it'll all pay off
“I liked it, but don’t think I’ll be chopping in the Slayer for one”
Famous last words from Weeksy. LOL.
They’re designed for 100+ kg riders slamming down on them at a fair angle, so should be fine
Yep, that was / is my worry - designed to be slammed down on, not having weight hung off them. But seems like they are OK with it as long as fully extended, shouldn't be done part extended.
<div class="bbp-reply-content">
Yep, that was / is my worry – designed to be slammed down on, not having weight hung off them. But seems like they are OK with it as long as fully extended, shouldn’t be done part extended.
</div>
been doing it for years, no problem yet. That's even on an un-serviced 2016 Reverb!! Always at full extension though as above
The boys studying their runs together at Hopton.
Bit of a weird day, he came in complaining of brake judder/warble, so I ended up taking both Hope floating rotors off and they'll be getting the bobbins cleaned and if acceptable will be sold along with 4 sets of V4 pads I have sitting here.
I always find brakes run best using the same make rotors
Been topping our spare brakes up today for our Northern Alps trip just in case.
Still persevering with one set of MT7s but if they don't get any better power wise they are coming off after the trip and replaced with Saints or Codes
I always find brakes run best using the same make rotors
That's exactly what it now has, SRAM brakes and rotors 👍
Are they the new CRC Codes you bought
That's correct yes. He loves them actually. Standard pads. Awesome
Run ours with Race Matrix
Yeah his Privateer has Race Matrix as we swapped them, I thought we'd start today with stock pads as he's not ridden sice we fitted, but he's happy so I left as they came. Race Matrix will go in next.
That's the next thing going in the MT7s they came with Galfer pads fitted which were rubbish. The Magura mechanic in Finale binned them and fitted Magura and gave them a bleed and they weren't much better. 18 Bikes have got them the best they've been but stopping power is no where near as good as the Codes or Saints or the Guide REs
They’re designed for 100+ kg riders slamming down on them at a fair angle, so should be fine
Yep, that was / is my worry – designed to be slammed down on, not having weight hung off them. But seems like they are OK with it as long as fully extended, shouldn’t be done part extended.
Due to seat tube angles, and your riding position not being perfectly straight, there will always be an angled force applied when compressed(ing). As mentioned above, weight shouldn't be an issue, take the Oneup ~200mm dropper for example, the angled force applied to that from a rider through every day use will be far greater than hanging a bike off it in a fixed position with the post at full extension,
Day 4 today of a long few days.
BPW today. Let's see what crazy comes as we've got loads of us out today.
That’s the next thing going in the MT7s they came with Galfer pads fitted which were rubbish.
I found that race matrix pads in magura mt7 calipers make a huge racket. I've been using race matrix pads in all my brakes for years,so naturally went for them when I got some mt7 brakes,but the noise was unbearable. I since swapped back to the magura race pads and they're silent again
Well I guess now is as good a time as any. Last night I ordered next year's race bike
It'll be here end of Aug and then primarily used for testing and getting used to it this year. Theory then being we can decide if mullet or full 29 etc
Nice bike. For some reason I though that would be the one you went for.
Must be womens intuition 😉
Tonight after more beer.
The blue gt will stay for now as spare if he races on the Demo. But dunno yet
Another day done. BPW yesterday, I'm a bit tired now after 4 days on the road, even though I wasn't actually riding on Fri.
BPW was dry and dusty, Luke middle of summer dry. Trails were a bit marbley at places but essentially running superbly.
I barely saw the boy as he's all about sessioning the blacks and I'm a red kind of boy. But we both had lots of fun. Both bikes were perfect, although it seems I fitted an incorrect headset lower bearing in a rush at Rhyd Y Felin so he had a slight bit of play by time we got home. That's now been changed along with a new idler pulley on the front end.
New grips from DMR went on last night too in preparation for next race.
Got a few bits to do on both bikes today, along with a quick job on the 141. But nothing too complicated.
Yeah deffo today.
We've had a few instances of chain drop on the Fury. I thought I'd resolved it but yesterday it happened again.
I spoke to the GT Viris techs at Fort William and they get it too as has the factory GT team a fair bit.
On the new frame they run a second guide between chain ring and top idler. But it's not a part you can seem to buy.
Anyway, I was testing last night using a One Up guide mounted on the iscg points, which seems to potentially work. But I need to stick the back in the Privateer today. So it's 2 bolts.
I also fitted a larger idler pulley wheel which may mean it doesn't actually have clearance to drop anyway
Last job is to clean the Slayer which I didn't get to do last night.
Bit of music, bit of beer, sunshine, I'll be more than happy.
Weds night was 3 hours of coaching for the lad on the Privateer. Spent some time with Katy trying to dial in his rear shock, the Privateer responds differently due to the kinematics and we’re still not quite there with it. So it looks like we’ll have a TFtuned tech soon to help us.
Today was an uplift day with the Fury at FoD and 12 runs for practice for him.
Drop the shock out and see how much stiction is in the suspension. Had a 161 which was pretty badly bound up due to the spacers all being 0.1mm undersized, causing the bearings to be pinched. Getting the shock setup was impossible, once I remade the spacers, back end was way better.
Reference the GT dropping chains, wonder if you can fashion guide plates either side of the chainring, like an old mrp chain guide. Other thing to consider is running a longer mech if the chain growth is too much for the short cage ones.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949741788_2e4d9d6098_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949741788_2e4d9d6098_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oEZguy ]p5pb16513500[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Reference the GT dropping chains, wonder if you can fashion guide plates either side of the chainring, like an old mrp chain guide. Other thing to consider is running a longer mech if the chain growth is too much for the short cage ones.
The new Fury has the guide just by where the shock bolt is in the pic.... i can't see a pic online currently of the new frame/setup, but i was looking at it Thurs and chatting with GT guy about it. I think i'll be able to do something this week with the ISCG05 mounted one i've ordered.. I did notice we've got a 34T chainring on there, standard is 36T, i wonder if that will help too, so i may pick up a 36T. Maybe it gives it a better chainline from the idler to ring ? Mmmm dunno.
Obviously all of this only happens in proper extreme riding, yesterday when he was simulating race runs on Rim Dinger... When doing stuff all day Thurs and Fri it was OK.... It's also only short-term because it'll be getting sold later this year of course with the incoming Demo.
Drop the shock out and see how much stiction is in the suspension. Had a 161 which was pretty badly bound up due to the spacers all being 0.1mm undersized, causing the bearings to be pinched. Getting the shock setup was impossible, once I remade the spacers, back end was way better.
Interesting stuff, we're at Privateer later this month for 4 days, so will chat to them about that as well...
A few pics of the incoming bike... The lad is proper excited (as he rightfully should be of course 😀 )
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52948678507_ef76c11f83_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52948678507_ef76c11f83_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oETPq8 ]94523-30_DEMO-EXPERT-METDKNVY-DKNVY-HRVGLDMET_HERO (1)[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949657725_60185bf9db_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949657725_60185bf9db_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oEYQvc ]94523-30_DEMO-EXPERT-METDKNVY-DKNVY-HRVGLDMET_RDSQ[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949423654_d3a67148ca_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949423654_d3a67148ca_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oEXCVu ]94523-30_DEMO-EXPERT-METDKNVY-DKNVY-HRVGLDMET_FDSQ[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Have to say, for a narrow-wide, that Saint in the pic has very short teeth, dunno if the gt is running the same...
Compare to this off my son’s bike, teeth certainly look like they would hold the chain better, actually protrude through the other side!
Works Components btw
Mmmmm interesting....
What i do find weird is that the standard bikes don't even come with a NW chainring... but we've tried that too and dropped it still.
This is a pic of Ethans bike which was 'spotted' and put on Pinbike articles, the full unveiling is next week at DH WC so may be some clearer pics then...but if you squint you can see the chainguide about 2 o'clock
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949712450_2801400007_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52949712450_2801400007_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oEZ7LJ ]idler[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
But for me to do that, i can only use 1 of the ISCG05 mount points due to rotation/position of the mounts within the EThirteen LG1 setup. The question is, will be be secure enough with just 1... Mmmm dunno.
But maybe we throw on a 36T new NW Ring anyway.
edit. Bought one from Works Components... funnily enough i bought 2 headset bearings from them last night too, i like them, so may as well buy the Ring from them too.
👍
Re the warbling of brakes - di dyou check the pads? I find that if the surface of the pad overlaps the inside edge of the disc and contact the arms that the main contact are wears faster and as pads wear down little ridges form on the bits that contact the suport bits as the contact time is less. This then pulses the brakes as the pads get pushed out at every support. It's a simple enough job to file the ridge off the pad but it is a pita.
I did notice that the newest Shimano pads I just got have a chamfer on the inside, I assume for this very reason.
Re the warbling of brakes – di dyou check the pads?
The brakes were brand new and had done 0m before we got to Hopton, apart from bedding them in locally for 5 mins.
It seems it was fine for the first few runs, but went warbly and yukky after that. Soon as we swapped the rotors for some SRAM ones it was back to 100%. Was fine on Sat as well at BPW.
The Purple bike has been sold and collected this morning. Buyer VERY happy with it. So he's down to 1 bike until the Demo arrives. It's a bit of a risk, but it's what 99% of people racing non-pro do and even a fair few Pro riders only have 1 bike.. lol. We'll make sure we have some spares though that's for sure.
I'm still debating and waiting to see what happens with the blue bike now really. He'll keep running it until the Demo rocks up, but you never know, he may jump on it and love it instantly and then the blue one will be sold... Or we may keep the blue one as emergency spare for now... Maybe... Dunno really yet.
He’ll deffo be racing on a Fury for all races this season, that’s not changing for sure.
Bookmarked. 😂😂😂
When does the season end? It sort of seems a little premature to be looking at this now and if you have planted even the tiniest seed in his mind that his current bike is “too small” that’s potentially going to be what he latches on to if things aren’t going well. Why not just get the season done with the bikes you have and then regroup in the off season when you can buy a V10?
Bookmarked here too! You know full well once shiny shiny Demo arrives, the GT won't get a look in. Stop kidding yourself! 😂😎😂
It’s a bit of a risk, but it’s what 99% of people racing non-pro do and even a fair few Pro riders only have 1 bike.. lol.
I did wonder if getting used to the situation at all the races would’ve been an influence there
Well the simple fact is, the GTs are getting too small... so it was coming it just came a little sooner than potentially planned. But it'll come down mostly to which one he goes fastest on at the moment. We'll borrow the timing equipment from the coach and get some figures. But i can't see it arriving before say Aug 24th according to their dates. That takes us after Glencoe National and only leave Antur as far as Nationals go and a Pearce or 2.
I did wonder if getting used to the situation at all the races would’ve been an influence there
@mashr
It's all a learning curve for all of us, as a rider, team, mechanic, parent, child and family. We learn different things each week, month and race by race. We found as i stated at Fort William that race day doesn't even matter in some ways. You've picked up lots of runs from the practice days/sessions, the race is nice to finish of course, nice to do well, sure... but it's a small part of the weekend. As long as we have spare brakes, bars, mech, wheels, hell, we should be fine .... It's not impossible of course. But we've also found that the 'spare' bike became even more spare than we assumed, it became the bike we just took along because it was there, the bike never came out of the van, never had a purpose... Even if his other one had an issue, he'd stil rather risk the run on it...
Morning gang... well it's a few minor tech questions that i'm 99% sure both answers are yes to... but wanted to confirm
The GT has the new Code RSCs installed currently, the new Demo comes with Code RS's.. I assume i can just whip off the levers and swap them over ? With calipers being the same?
Question 2 is on the Forks. Both come with Boxxers, the new Demo comes with the Debonair damper, the red forks on the GT have the Charger 2.1 installed, would that be an easy swap ? (I get the impression he'd like to keep the colours on the new Demo, but would be nice to have what i think is the better damper?)
Other than that, i think we're golden... Well, we will be in 78 days anyway. LOL.
Reading Specializeds website they do talk about rear shock compatibility and the fact their shocks are tuned accordingly for the specific machine, which i get, but i'm still hoping he can get his Fox X2 dialled in on the Demo as he really likes it.
We need to consider what to do on wheels as we only have a spare front when it's fitted to a bike, which obviously will be sold with the blue bike... So i think i'll pick up a set of used Pro4's over winter for it... but that's not a massive rush as we have a spare rear in 148*12.
This weekend we're at Windhill on Sat for a day with Greg at TFTuned setting up the Privateer. We're then onto FoD on Sunday for MIJ race... we were not going to race the smaller races, but as we're at Windhill we're not going there then to north Wales on Sun for example, so the boy fancies a bit of a race at FoD for a laugh. Some decent riders signed up so will be a good little race for him to play.
Question 2 is on the Forks. Both come with Boxxers, the new Demo comes with the Debonair damper, the red forks on the GT have the Charger 2.1 installed, would that be an easy swap ? (I get the impression he’d like to keep the colours on the new Demo, but would be nice to have what i think is the better damper?)
debonair refers to the air spring - not the damper
debonair refers to the air spring – not the damper
Ah right... i'll look into that closer to the time then
We need to consider what to do on wheels as we only have a spare front when it’s fitted to a bike, which obviously will be sold with the blue bike
Was looking round this morning and bought a Nukeproof front in 110*20 for £90. That means that we've got a spare wheel for any accidents/breaks at the moment, plus i can keep the Hopes when we sell the bike and fit the black spare wheels for the new owner when selling the Fury in a few months. He/We do like the Pro4s so makes sense to keep them really.
Next up is the search for new tyres for the rear... He goes through them at quite a rate at the moment. We fitted a new Shorty in Maxxgrip not that long ago and it's deffo past it's best... We've got spare tyres of course, but not as many as we used to as i gave 5-6 away he didn't like, mostly Michelin DH22s.
For the rear its worth considering MaxxGrip for races only, MaxxTerra (or dual compound) for everything else, should help cut the tyre bill a bit
Mmmmmm that's far from a terrible idea actually. Part of me wonders if he'd even notice/care lol. Although last week we were doing some suspension stuff on the Fury and he was being tested blind, he was noticing really quite small differences in setup, way more so than i expected. But yeah it's a pretty decent thought matey.
He's allowed to notice, just a practice setup and a race setup. No fun (for you, he'll be having a great time) in shredding a £75+ tyre within a couple of uplift days when not chasing a result
Pair of race wheels with new/newish tyres and then a spare set for getting the last of the knobbles off. When he has to pay for tyres he wont wear them out as quick with skidding and schralping !
LOL he doesn't do either... Honest... he just works them pretty hard. But yeah i completely get the idea 🙂
Just working my way through the bearing list, mech hanger, rear mech etc.. If running 1 bike i want a fair few bits of safety margin next year.
Anyway... leaving shortly, another 3 hour session in FoD tonight... funny part is, it takes longer to drive there and back each Wed than he can actually get coached for 😀
Abigales race tyres are handed down to the rest of the family to get some extra wear out of them. It was great when we were all on 29 but with the Turbo Levos now mullet had to buy some new ones for the rear. I seem to remember a bit back giving away all our 27.5 ones thinking we would never need them.
YEah we give them to the lads mates as we picked up plenty of rubber FoC from our GT mech mate. But they were not things the boy wanted. But as i say, we're running a little short now. However he is spending a fair bit of time on the Privateer at the moment.
We were out last night and i was out riding with another parent but i knew where the boys would be heading with Katy... They were on 'Seths Corners' at FoD practicing... Jeepers they looked fast ! Well, until Seth himself came down and did the same corners.. now that boy is RAPID !!!! Which is no shock as he's an Elite and WC racer lol... but he's fast as heck.
I was on the Liv... God i don't like 99% of that bike... the 1% i do like is the fact it has a motor. The red at FoD is a bit climby and i welcomed the power... but FFS everything else about the thing is horrific lol.
Well that's good, i've just found 2 brand new Shorty in 27.5 for the rear languishing in the van in the red box... I'd forgotten about those 😀
Day at Tirpentwys today for the lads. Absolutely awesome apparently. My boy still can't quite 'let it go' fully on the Enduro bike compared to the DH bike. But not really sure why. He seems to just not let go of the brakes quite as early.
He was riding both bikes and did about 20 runs in total I think. Me and the other lads dad were uplifting them.
Chilling and some pool action in the garden and BBQ, then up early again for race day at FoD. Let's see what happens here.
Awesome!! Well done…
👏🏻 😎 Well done team 🚴🏻
Well done. Good result 👏 👍
He had a bit of a scrappy run apparently but obviously wasn't terrible. The plan was to do run 1 on the Fury and run 2 on the Privateer 141 but it didn't work out as they only got 1 run each. But sometimes that works out good, sometimes bad.
But of course, he'll take the podium
Tired now, beer time
Been a quiet week on the cycling, bit of a rest/recovery sort of thing for the week. It's been pretty intense in the past few months, so a rest was welcome for both of us.
We're heading to Tiverton tomorrow morning for a weekend at Southern Enduro. Got the full team racing including the boss. The boy is still a DH racer but at times we have a bit of a play in Enduro land. It was a slightly complex one for us this weekend as it clashes with the Llangollen Gravity race which would have been decent pratice for the National DH at Llangollen in a few weeks time, but the lad was given the choice and wanted to do team stuff instead of just practicing the DH track. I thought that was exceptionally good of him to put the team ahead of just himself.
Both the bikes are ready to roll, we've still been playing with the pressures/settings on the 141 as we're not quite there yet, but some changes from the boss a few weeks ago and a bit of dropping of pressures from me and we're getting his bike closer to where he wants it. It's now got some Race Matrix Uberbike pads in there and a slightly different bleed to try and get the lever throw/position closer to his RSCs, but obviously we can't quite get them 100% the same due to lever design. In the ideal world we'd have the same on both, but with them being a chunk of change along with the cost of the incoming Specialized Demo i just can't justify the extra expense currently.
It's been interesting chatting with him in the past few weeks with things like the Lenzerheide and Leogang stuff on along with some other stuff on Redbull TV and the Enduro series coverage. I've been subtly quizzing as to whether he still wants purely a DH Race future and the answer is 100% yes. We were watching Cam McCaull and Gee Atherton on a prog who were doing pure Freeride stuff, but it didn't seem to grab him.
It's also been interesting to see the different paths the team are taking this year after all starting with the same goals of racing Pearce and Nationals, the boy is the only one now who'll be competing in the Nationals for the rest of the season and potentially onwards from there.
I know it's come up a few times in other posts about financing all of this and if i'm completely honest, i block 99% of the thoughts out.. but yeah at times it can be a bit on the tough side, but we're doing OK and can continue as we are for the forseeable future if that's what he wants and where he wants to go with it all. IF the time comes where we head out of the UK to race, well that's a whole different level of funding and we'd need to work out a few plans and priorities there, but i don't see that being next season (unless we did a 1 off race) so we'll worry about it if it even comes about.
The one thing we could really do with most is a tyre sponsor, we'd like to experiment more with rubber choices, compounds, treads etc on both bikes, but there's only so much you can do when they're £60-80 a throw. But other than that, we're happy, enjoying it all and having lots of laughs.. It's been challenging with some of the weather, locations and mostly the bloody mud this year... but we're in a bit of a sweet spot currently with BBQ, camping, laughs, beers... So we're both happy 🙂
Just so you know, it's not all seriousness.
We left early to head to Tiverton, stopping at Weston Super mare for ice cream and walks by the seaside.
Then headed to random pub in middle of nowhere as Sat Nav took us on weird back route to site..
Looks like a grand day out, good luck for the race!
What’s the benefit of heading abroad ?
In my sport (skiing) it was just that the higher ranked competitions were abroad.
I assume in mtb it’s the quality of the tracks rather than the level of competition?
Sort of comes back to an older post of mine that lack of clear pathway makes it hard
A week over there of lift assisted trails and he can ride more in a week than in a month over here, longer and more gnarly trails will give him an immense boost of skills in a short length of time.
trouble is his uk trails may well bore him upon his return
My lad's at Tiverton with his Exeter Uni mates too. Number 302 in U21s if you spot him 🙂 First race on his Meta SX... Says he's gonna come last, but I think he'll do ok.
Take him to Morzine with a friend.
Set up in the Campsite in Montriond (that way it is always a downhill roll/pedal back at the end of the day. And a bit more chilled/cheaper than staying in Morzine.
Day 1 stick them on the Pleney lift.
Day 2 same, but Les Gets,
Day 3 Super Morzine
Day 4 Pre la Joux/Chatel
Give him a bumbag to put a snack, euros, pump, tool, tube, phone, etc
Meet him somewhere for lunch each day to check in/make sure he actually eats
BBQ every night.
Repeat until time to drive the van home.
Let him smash out as many laps as he wants. Take a day off by the Lake or do something else as a recovery day. It’ll be the best holiday he ever has and you’ll get to ride with other parents/STW users as well as with him.
If you think how much DH he gets in at BPW, imagine what he’ll get out there. And it’ll help him get used to the longer tracks that you don’t get at FOD, BPW, etc.
Hows it gone today 🤔
Great weekend. Back pack mediocrity for me. Although if you count dnf I was 5/9.
The boy didn't really get Enduro again as a format, he doesn't like racing semi blind with just 1 run in practice. Due to a cassette issue, he had to race mullet which didn't help as he's never had the Privateer setup mullet and it's not designed for it. Plus the missed practice time as it went wrong and it was 20 mins push back up to top. So a little bit disappointed from his perspective. He finished 16/30 which didn't make him happy.
Take him to Morzine with a friend
Just a sec, I'll go grab a spare £2000 from behind the sofa, then take 2 weeks off work and he can miss the rest of the season races lol.
I don't mean to sound flippant, but some things I simply cannot do, despite them being cool.
What’s the benefit of heading abroad ?
For us it'll be simply for the experience, the laughs, adventures etc. Sure it'll be ace on a new track, but it's as much about dad and not time as much as anything else
Genuine question, as I’ve raced enduro but not DH
The boy didn’t really get Enduro again as a format, he doesn’t like racing semi blind with just 1 run in practice
in the enduro races I’ve done you normally have a couple of hours to practice what you want, which doesn’t give a huge amount when you have four stages but can get a couple of runs in (I’m normally too unfit to do more than a single run 😂). When you rock up at a DH how many practice runs do you get? In my head as there is only one course and all fields practicing you wouldn’t get a huge number of runs but I’m completely ignorant hence asking the question
Not seen many videos but imagine it was really dry today. Hosepipe ban since April for Devon.
Also surprised the fields were so small. Men's 40-49 seemed to have by far the most competitive and biggest field. See Matt Lakin won, shame he isn't still racing his rigid dirtbomb 😆
how is one run of enduro practice any different to downhill races? I’ve not done a downhill race to compare so don’t really know how they are different? Do ypu usually get a lot more time to practice at your boys DH races?
He only got to ride 2.5 of the 4 trails
On a DH weekend he'll get 7-8 runs on the Sat and 3-4 practice on Sunday. So yeah a fair bit more time.
I think it’s practice between the tapes and with race pressure so he will learn from it. Main thing is you had a decent weekend and at least it was dry again!
We had an awesome weekend mate yes. It was honestly right up there in terms of best weekends.
I'm soooooooo knackered now. These races honestly kill me and despite appearances, I'm trying hard!
Since your boy seems to be ending up firmly in the DH camp, how's this going to work out with Privateer and Katy Curd? Presumably she provides some or all of the coaching time through the team, and obviously you've got the Privateer, so what's your thoughts on how things might look next year- still with the development team?
For some reason, from what you have previously said, I'd thought that Privateer had a DH bike in the pipeline or development, and would stay with the squad, but I'm not sure where you see things going from here, especially in terms of development and coaching.
Well that's getting a bit deep and personal 😀 but obviously the thread is here for some of that so i'll reply.
We've considered this scenario a LOT mate yes, i mean a heck of a lot. We class the coaching as 100% our priority and the team as the priority over everything at the moment. This weekend we had 2 options, 1 Llangollen DH race (where he's racing in 3 weeks) and 2 was the Southern with the team. He/we chose the Southern we're part of Katys team and having them all together at a meeting isn't always possible, so we took advantage of it to get togehter and the weekend banter was briliant.
The simplest answer to your question is, we'll race in the team for as long as Katy wants him. (i know i say WE a lot, but honestly unless you live through all this you can't quite grasp how much of a joint effort it is, both me and him are just as important to it all..honestly). He'll do the Southerns, the Welsh, the whatever Enduros but his priorty really is DH. Katy knew this before taking the riders on and nothing on our side has changed. But the answer is, i can't answer it in many ways. So many things are factors in this with team, sponsors, kit, bikes... That it's really out of our hands and purely in hers and theirs as to whether we're in the team next year. But for our perspective, yeah we'd love to be. The boy gets on with her brilliantly and she's such an infectuous personality of enthusiasm, but obviously along with that she's got knowledge that is top-class, she can see things, pick up things and analyse things so so well.. Obviously then she has to get that information over to the riders and they have to put that into place, but again, that all seems to flow really well between them.
Regarding bike choices, well as you've seen we've gone for the Specialized Demo. I can't get into any other discussions on what may or may not be being developed, but still, we've gone for the Demo for next season and beyond either way. There's many many reasons for that but a lot of it comes down to proven race technology/development, warranty, support, parts etc. When you see the pro riders, the Specialized is right at the top of the game. Sure, i understand he's not... But the bike itself is a completely race ready machine in any guise/spec. It's the right size for where he'll be for at least a couple of years in terms of height, maybe even longer.
We do chat in the van a lot about stuff and he's still 100% up for racing DH and seeing where (if anywhere) that can take him. So we keep plugging away at it, keep trying to find speed, trying to find skills and trying to find smiles.
He only got to ride 2.5 of the 4 trails
How long did the mechanical take to sort?? I managed 6 runs before racing yesterday & I wasn’t pushing (mostly because the transition was like the M25 in rush hour).
That’s the beauty of Enduro racing IMO, you are never going to have a perfect run (also the case racing DH as well) but thats the same for everyone.
Personally having done both, I think racing enduro has an awful lot of translatable attributes to DH in that it teaches you to think on the fly a lot more. I couldn’t tell you how many DH races I did where by finish of practice, one seeding run then 250 riders down a track have obliterated a line I was taking & caused me issues in the middle of my one & only race run of the weekend.
Plus, time on the bike, literally doesn’t compare.
How long did the mechanical take to sort?? I managed 6 runs before racing yesterday & I wasn’t pushing (mostly because the transition was like the M25 in rush hour).
A while, mostly because he was at the bottom so had to walk back to the top, then replace it, set up the gears, brakes etc... It wasn't helped by the fact i had no idea he'd had an issue as we were at different parts of the track when he had the issue so he was doing it with the help of the other parents rather than me. So he just didn't quite get as much practice as he'd have liked. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying he'd have done a lot better, but he'd have been a little happier.
Sounds like a top weekend, I see the boss lead by example 🙂
I can empathise with his dislike of the format. I perform much better(which is still rubbish) in the mash up format than the single run format. So when he is racing DH he gets to work out exactly what he needs to do on that one track, multiple times, like the mash up format but with only 1 effort that matters.
16/30 is still pretty damn good when you consider the speed of those in his age group. Plus you had fun, and got to see the boss attempt to hula with inserts. So a win there as well.
Shame to miss so much of practise - sounds like he needs a spare bike 😀
In seriousness, if you are going to be racing too, is he 1) at least vaguely mechanically competent and 2) does he have a spare key to the van to sort basic things by himself?
Not even getting a single run on some of the trails would be a huge disadvantage at his high level I'd imagine. If you want to nerd out, how did he do on the 2 stages he did get practise on?
As Hobnob describes, getting good at enduro will be a good skill for DH racing especially in adverse weather.