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https://www.ixsdownhillcup.com/en/race/ixs-dhc-6-2
So he's entered into the IXS Downhill Cup race in a few weeks time now. There's still some discussions with his mate on logistics, but i don't think i'll be booking my Tunnel just yet... However, you never know.
It'll be awesome for him to go racing in Europe again this year which is kinda funny as at the start of the year we didn't even think we'd race in Europe once, let alone twice. But if this is the way the sport is heading and it sure looks that way, then he better get used to the travel and driving as we'll potentially be doing it a bit more in the coming years.
He's already got some excellent racers from the UK entered, the 2 main ones being the guys in 3rd and 4th at weekend just gone, but i'm hoping he can use a quieter paddock and the fact they know eachother anyway to use their speed to jump on wheels and pick up some more speed from them. Especially as none of them have raced there before.
Unusual to have a day at home but today was it as no races on this weekend.
So did a few little jobs that I've just not seemed to get around to.
First up was replacing the gear outer. On the Session this is such a faff of a job. But last weekend when fitting the new cranks the Madison Saracen tech commented that the gear changes were crap. It wasn't that long since I did the inner so suspect was the outer.
I used a reverb double barb to join the old line to the new one but then found it's too big for the frame opening port by the headset/head tube.
So the works came out which means I can reverse feed it from just by the saddle opening on the top tube, that was ok.
It also meant I could check and grease/clean the headset at same time.
You then get to feeding it through into the chainstay, it's got a really goofy routing there with crazy bends in it, but this time I trimmed the old outer and used a long inner to join both parts together and then I could pull it through using the inner, worked a treat and took only a minute instead of 45 mins of swearing last time i did the outer.
New gear cable then fitted and indexed and it shifts lovely.
Last little job was a crappy rounded bolt that holds on the top idler guide.
The standard cover leaves a lot of space so I fitted this one but I've noticed last time I took it off that one of the bolts was crap. I wasn't sure I'd get it off easily but it went better than expected and is now replaced with a new m4x10.
I'm trying to get hold of the guy who makes them as a mate keeps dropping chains and wants one. We've not dropped ours. (Well kinda, when our idler teeth were knackered we did but that wasn't the fault of the cover).
Pads were checked and rotors cleaned and all headset parts put back and torqued.
Ready for racing next weekend ☺️
Bit of a Bellwald track/preview.
Obviously we've got Hopton this weekend before that.
Breakfast cider and a bit of spannering, what can go wrong?
Lol that was last night.
The morning pic is today though.
P6 in run 1, not awesome, not terribly bad.
Let's see what happens for run 2 but he ideally needs a better run for 3rd in the overall Pearce standings.
Well the craziest of crazy weekends was once again upon us. Hopton for Pearce.. The boy wasn't in the best mindset as the weekend before there he wasn't in love with the track. But after an evening of banter and a REALLLLLLLLY cold night in the tent on Friday we woke on Sat for practice day and he was happy all day, the bike was sweet, the track was sweet and everyone of him and his mates were having an ace time.
Until it went a little wrong. Isaac who he's going to Switzerland next weekend came in looking sorry for himself. He'd lost a chainstay/pivot bolt from the bike... Not only that but it had completely stripped the frame thread. That was game over completely..
So me and his dad discussed some plans, we had an option from a mate of borrowing their 2020 Session, great option but they have it for sale on PB and they were not feeling the love for taking it to Switzerland. In the meantime we found 2 cracks in the chainstay on the Fury... so it really was game over for the frame.
We moved onto "you can borrow my Status 160 for both Pearce and Switzerland" but it was a 3 hour drive and he wasn't feeling it for a 160 in Switzerland, so we thought "wonder if we could fit his Fox 40s"... So that was then the new plan A and B.
The boys then went nuts on Instagram/media and found a mate who would sell him a Fury frame !!! £300 but it was in Dyfi !!
So a plan was hatched, they'd pick up the frame on Sunday at 9am, i'd strip their broken Fury while they were collecting it and have all the bits ready.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54029525787_40132a6682_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54029525787_40132a6682_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2qjprE4 ]IMG-20240929-WA0000[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
They got back at 11.52 and i started work... It needed the shock, BB, headset, gears, brakes, chain, shifting etc... Then of course forks, wheels, seat.
His race run 2 was at 1.15 he had to leave to go up.... at 1.14 i'd finished the bike and sent him up for his race run. It was honestly bonkers getting it built in time, the headset wasn't quite 100% as the frame had offset cups fitted which took taller bearings i didn't have, i kinda made it work with some improvising.
While i was doing all the stripping i of course also had to concentrate on my boy and getting his bike race ready and out for it, as well as re-taping a tubeless setup for another mate who's wheel wasn't holding air. My boy came down in Run1 with a P6. He was a little unhappy as he really wants top 5s in Pearce now, so 6th wasn't quite there. His run was scrappy but sort of OK.
So our mate came down in P36 on his newly built bike, it's lower than you'd expect by 5-6 places for him, but it was completely new with a dodgy headset and he hadn't practiced at all today, so him and his dad were actually really pleased.
The boy was coming for his 2nd run and another mate had gone quicker on run 2 after stacking it on run 1, even though James went 2s quicker on run 2 he ended the race in P8.... again, a little disappointing but shows how far he's come to be disappointed with nicely inside the top 10 at a Pearce.
We suspected the results between him and some competitors went well, but in the end he finished P5 in the overall series results.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54029525697_c9104976c4_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54029525697_c9104976c4_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2qjprCv ]IMG-20240929-WA0005[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
It'll be interesting when they put it online to see how far from P3 he was.
Back at the bikes and van i stripped the headset on the Fury and knocked out the headset cups and replaced them with standard offset cups that run the stock Fury bearings, which i had 4 of in spares 😀
His bike is perfect and ready to go.
I've got to investigate the Session headset as it still troubles me just a bit as it's never quite 100% for week after week, sometimes feeling a bit sluggish... weird.
His bearings have been GREAT for months on the Session now, but the bottom pivot ones have given up the ghost and developed a bit of play, but that's 30 mins work tomorrow evening to get that done. The Session will then be cleaned and he'll be sent off for IXS in Switzerland.
He's very excited that he picked up £35 in cash for P5 overall... his first prize money...
I need a lie down in a dark room.
Great result and team work. Well done
Well done - sounds like a crazy weekend!
Great work… but you know you love it 🙂
Can the mods change the thread title to “Ongoing trials and tribulations of a DH mechanic Dad?”
I do love it... of course i do 🙂 Sometimes it gets a little insane though for sure, this weekend was particularly nuts though. But it's deffo a thread about the boy rather than me
Just seen the final series standings
3rd. 520points
4th. 514 points
5th. 512 points.
Now that was tight for him !!!! But he gave his all 🙂
I'm not sure why the oppo whip is a big thing, but he does like an oppo whip
So we're onto Switzerland !! https://www.ixsdownhillcup.com/en/race/ixs-dhc-6-2
Assuming it works, there'll be live timing on there... With the boy being a teenage boy, he'll probably message his mates instead of me mostly lol. So no idea how much i'll get from him while he's away.
the Session has been stripped, cleaned, rebuilt. Little jobs for this week were
Replacing headset components to give slightly more clearance as he was getting a bit of drag from the dirt/dust cap.
Replacing main pivot bearings.
New 220mm HS2 Front rotor on the Pro5 wheel
Full bolt check on everything (loose cassette tool rear pivot spacer sorted)
Brake bleed on the spare Code RSCs for the spares box
Full check of spares, kit, etc
All in all, not too much in truth, the bike has been running sweetly lately and everything is golden. He's got just about every spare possible apart from cranks and shifter (waiting for both to arrive). He's got spare every item of riding kit, so really he's all good.
It's going to be an adventure that's for sure.
Well the day never quite worked out correctly, they were supposed to get there for 12 but ended up being closer to 2. So they've missed the track-walk and the first 2 hours of practice, but have 4 hours left for today to work out where the track goes.
Due to being late they only got 3 runs of practice, course was hard apparently and he's not quite got to grips with it yet.
Practice 10-12 local time tomorrow and seeding then from 12.30 onwards.
https://youtube.com/shorts/hU6qF_PQOdM?si=ekLZPOMkVIcEtSWl
Oh this is fun.
"Cased a rock gap and lost all air."
It appears a spike has come loose and pierced the tape. As well as a small dink in the rim.
So he's now going to retape the rim and fit tyre tubeless.
Well, maybe lol
Ah damn. It's only 2 above 0 there and tape won't stick as too cold. So he's going to run the Hope Pro5 wheel with a Kryptotal SSDH on for seeding run and then tape wheel tonight in hotel after leaving wheel and tape by radiator first.
Seeding run 1pm UK. I'm hoping for live timing here
https://www.ixsdownhillcup.com/ergebnisse/livetiming
Took the Zx6 for a blast to the pub, live timing and football, with a sneaky beer too
Down safe. That was honestly horrendous tobe here and not there. My hands were shaking as I was watching live timing
26/36. It's a bloody tough sport and bloody tough class that's for sure.
His run was seemingly OK and he's happy. They're now raiding my spares boxes for a Chainguide for a new friend lol. They're also raiding my toolbox for crank pullers.
The boys are up on track walk to see what they can learn/find for tomorrow. Answer, i dunno. I think his run was about right for where he is in the world of Youth racers. I'm pleased, he seems happy enough if slightly disappointed, but this isn't FoD, this is next level up, and next level and next again, this is European racing, not people who are novices.
Oops, hope he’s ok!
Yeah that was yesterday practice, all good thanks buddy.
In that case, great picture!
Did exactly the same thing in his race run, so will be somewhere near last.
Showed a great attitude though after the race
"Stacked it in roots, same place, don't care though, went soooo fast after that to the bottom ?? "
That's more important than the result sometimes
Agreed. Main thing is he got back up and finished.
It's all experience at that level
Excellent service by SRAM via blazing bikes, got a new set of X01 cranks in the post today. Of course you could argue they should never have failed.
They've gone straight into eBay to fund a new set of Saints.
The boy is racing Rogate world championships this weekend (hey, it's not my name lol)
Not sure yet if I'm taking him or mrs Weeksy as I'm down with man flu.
Well Sunday was a bit of a day as usual. Rogate events can be a bit weird as they're really short at times, but then again yesterday you had 3 World Cup riders racing, along with 3 out of the fastest 4 in National Enduro racers in Youth along with people like Lucas Craik (Ethans brother) and Luca Thurlow (WC Racer), it's a 'locals place' and the MB Cyclery kids are devstatingly quick. It's a weird sandy terrain which can be hard to get used to the grip levels etc.
Morning practice is timed and the boy came in with 5th in practice with the main contingent ahead of him being the MB Cyclery locals as we'd expect. Most of them are expecting to go to World Cups in Enduro next year and as i say, they're just fassssssssst. He's raced a few of them at various events before and both have been super quick..
The biggest problem we had though was with the Privateer 141 and it's sizing. I love this thing as a bike, he's had it 2 years now and we've done 1 headset change and 1 bearing, other than that, it's not been touched. But in the last 6 months it hasn't actually done much at all in the way of riding. Mostly because it's a P2 size (Medium) and that's quite simply just too small for him, so he's clambering all over the bike and perched in the wrong position.
Before his race run i had one of his mates Ed coming over to chat, their freehub was making VERY weird noises, so i stripped the hub in the back of the van but couldn't diagnose it so ended up throwing our spare wheel in his bike for race runs... Which would have been OK, if it wasn't for the fact he's running full 27.5 whoops. So he ended up racing on a reverse mullet with a 29er on the rear. But he got down both run and set times, so all good. Day saved 🙂
Both runs for the lad went mostly OK, i was watching from various places and was glad i'd not done what i'd thought about and entered it... I'm not sure i was getting down 1 section at all... let alone with me still attached to the bike !! He made a mistake gapping a root on run 2 which slowed his time, but ended up (we think) with P6 which isn't bad, isn't amazing, but the guys who were quicker were the guys we'd expect to be quicker and are far from slow lads.
In hindsight i wonder if he'd have been quicker on the more familiar and suited Session, but i offered him it the night before to put in the van and he said no. So he got what we took.
It was good to catch up with mates though, even though i really wasn't on form as i've been struggling with the man-flu currently and mostly just felt sorry for myself all day. It won me a few sympathy votes though 😀
Is the large Privateer not the obvious thing? Or are they no longer part of the team package?
Just nuts - particularly as he was the test dummy!
Someone has to be *smileys*
His mate hit it later and was a squeaky bum moment
Well sadly the boy has finally killed his Bontrager DH rim, considering the impacts, crashes, cases and landings, it's done bloody well. But it's flat spotted in quite a big area and can't be tweaked out. So we're looking and debating a new rim.
https://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/bontrager-rim-line-dh-30-tlr-29-mtb-rim-p91253/s250510?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=bontrager-rim-line-dh-30-tlr-29-quot-quot-mtb-rim-black-anthracite-colour-black-anthracite-holes-32-574681&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmt24BhDPARIsAJFYKk1dB3udXgGmGDjjpJN3hGTNZrigKbCd9LWD_BPEsrLS3BJ0J94oweEaAgCmEALw_wcB
In truth i think we're likely to buy the same one, this has lasted us 18 months now and 30+ races with weekend after weekend of abuse so makes sense to go with the same again. He has of course got a Hope Pro5 Fortus30 as a spare wheel along with a 27.5 Nukeproof for mullet stuff, so we're doing OK, it's mostly just this one that needs replacing.
We spent all day on Sat with a new media guy creating content for Insta/YT/Sponsors and seeing the quality we're really really happy with his work. I'll post up the video that was made later on today, but if i upload it to YT now i'll get strung up by the boy 🙂
As always, winter here is bringing a LOT of complexities, especially with moving up to Juniors next year and the potential for more EU/somewhere racing for him, but for now it's business as usual and after a few days off we're heading up to Dyfi next week for a few days so his mate can test his new Session out for 2025 and get used to it. It'll then be seeing what the weather does a couple of weeks later and possibly heading up to fort William, but that needs some research.
@weeksy I think the Nevis gondola uplift finishes 31st October, but have also seen a post saying it's operating all year......
Thanks mate. If it can't happen that's ok it's no biggy. Was just because Mrs Weeksy is away in Nov so was thinking what we'd do
I’m a serial rim-killer (overly optimistic about my ability to gap rocky stuff) and went through 4 in as many months at the start of the year. After a recommendation from a BPW coach I swapped to a DT FR541. It’s done nearly 6 months now and is somehow still straight(ish) despite my eye for gaps not getting any better!
Thanks all, i ended up going for a Bontrager Line DH 30 which is the stock rim, the reason being that this one really did brilliantly and the price wasn't too bad. It stood up to a lot of abuse over the last 18 months for sure.
I also ordered a set of Hope Tech4 V4 to try. I get them for decent money off my LBS mate so worst case scenario he doesn't like them and i'll just sell them on. (Or fit them to my Orbea).
Just waiting for the Tech4 V4s to arrive at Rotec and they'll be getting configured to the right length in his workshop.
Plan currently is to leave the Code RSC on for the first couple of runs at Dyfi this Thurs, then at lunch swap to the Tech4 V4 and using the power of timing see which is faster (and which set he prefers). As much as i like the idea of the Hopes from a lot of different reasons, they've got to give a bit 'more' in some way really otherwise there's not a lot of point swapping.
Chatting with Rotec he's often astounded how little problems we seem to have with the RSCs as he gets plenty of Codes in the workshop with issues, but ours have honestly been golden. We've not had any fade/issues, we've had a service kit once. If i'm being really picky the pivot bolt has come loose 3 times in the last few years but not for a fair few months now, however it's literally a 10s check every few weeks to make sure it's OK.
But if we can get even 1s per race from a set of more powerful brakes, that's a game changer over winter.
Morning at Rotec.bike for me getting this done
He's just had 2 days riding Dyfi and was flying
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DB0pHf8uHTd/?igsh=MW1tbXA2eTJmMHRmcw==
Literally.
I still wonder if we can get a little more by having better brakes, not much, but tiny bits matter
The Hope Tech4 will be tested tomorrow at Stile Cop race and he can decide if they stay or if he goes with CodeRSC. I don't mind which he chooses to be honest. In some ways I'd prefer the Codes as I know everything about them in terms of bleed, setup, foibles etc. but if the Hopes help then I will keep them on it.
Get a care package from an STWer too ??
Hopes are very nice.
We'll be up Stile Cop tomorrow too.
Yeah saw you guys on the list. We'll catch up tomorrow mate. I'll buy you a crap coffee ?
Awesome - will never turn down a crap coffee lol
Missed you today sorry.
Last run of practice the boy caught a root in the back on the root section, spat him into the berm and has probably broken his wrist. We'll know more tomorrow after x-ray but it's looking pretty likely.
Not quite the result we wanted from the day but we'll be back soon
To top it all off he hated the Hopes, so now I've got to sell a set of Tech4V4 that have done 300m lol.
He doesn't like the way they braked in terms of nothing, nothing, nothing, wham.
I expect with enough time and effort we could dual then how he likes, but in truth he simply wouldn't entertain the idea. As soon as we fitted the RSC back on he was happy.
Expensive lesson lol.
Hope his wrist is ok, bad injury for a teenage lad that ?
Were they even bedded in at 300m
I doubt it, but I ain't changing his mind.
Not sure on break as local A&E doesn't x-ray all weekend
Can do them either. We deliberately left them outside as I suspected he'd want to go back to the RSC. But over winter we're trying different little things, tyres, brakes, mullet, pedals, obviously that's gone out of the window but I can't resolve that lol
On Thurs and Fri he did 16 timed runs at Dyfi, with 8 on 29/29 and 8 on mullet.
Interestingly there was 0.5s difference between both setups on one track and 0.2s on another. I thought Race Track would be a bigger gap in favour of 29/29 and I thought El Hippo would be a mullet track
He doesn’t like the way they braked in terms of nothing, nothing, nothing, wham.
this seems to be the polar opposite of what most people (fans and detractors alike) say about Hopes.
but the most important thing is a setup he’s comfortable and happy with. Sounds like that’s the sram.
fingers crossed for the wrist - what kind of a+e doesn’t do X-rays on the weekend? I would have thought that sporting misadventures were a high cause of walk-ins with possible broken bones, possibly matched only by fri/sat night drunken idiocy.
what kind of a+e doesn’t do X-rays on the weekend?
I think it's more because it's a minor injury place, we could have gone to Reading and sat there for 5 hours, but local place we can book appointment in morning, then be in and out. He's not in masses of pain but it needs checking to be sure.
this seems to be the polar opposite of what most people (fans and detractors alike) say about Hopes.
I'm not going to argue, I've read the same but as you say, if he likes to RSC then that's what he gets. With the Galfer green pads they're pretty sweet and we know them really well etc.
Yeah, very odd indeed that they're not doing an x ray on a weekend. Hopefully that's a good sign that they don't think it's broken, and/or on the worst scale of a break. Fingers crossed for him.
@weeksy that sucks - healing vibes to the lad.
We didn't race today, she wasn't feeling it this morning as she was concerned about those roots after doing a couple of runs yesterday. She's off to Florida in a few weeks and didn't want risk it.
It's so greasy up there at the moment - would be better if it was properly wet.
Having broken lots of bones, the wrist was by far and away the most painful. Hope it’s not as serious as feared. Fact he isn’t in masses of pain is promising.
Bad news on the wrist....
Thanks all for the thoughts and words.
There's a silver lining in the fact I now get the Session for BPW on the 16th lol.
Well the Hopes are sold and boxed up, so that's done and dusted until we try a new set of 'something' next lol. Just waiting for an appointment for this morning and we'll see where we go from there.
The boy had a chat with Katy last night and that seems to have cheered him up, she's a really positive influence on him and helps in more ways than she thinks 🙂
Bike will be stripped down today and Forks and Shock will be sent off to Ruth and the crew at TFTuned for servicing. It'll also get a full once-over and maybe a slightly longer gear outer as i cut that a smidgen short lol.
@dirkpitt74 they are worrying with a fair few horror stories.
We do have an option with another company for sponsorship on their brakes, but I worry we'll be in a position where he hates them and that really complicates the world
Actually paying for stuff does give you a lot more flexibility. There's no point getting free stuff that you hate.
Actually paying for stuff does give you a lot more flexibility. There’s no point getting free stuff that you hate.
Yeah absolutely that, it's great getting free stuff and we've been amazingly lucky that everything we've had he loves, but brakes he's deffo very picky with and something obviously really important to have correct and happy.
We lost £30 on the Hopes which I'm completely fine with, it was worth that to find out the answer with them.
Re the Hopes, it's hardly testing them if you ride them for 300m, proper performance testing needs to be done over a period of time, against the clock etc, but I know you know that and am surprised that you've given up on it so soon.
We do have an option with another company for sponsorship on their brakes, but I worry we’ll be in a position where he hates them and that really complicates the world
Lewis? They seem to be having a sponsorship push at the moment, that would really get STW frothing!
Anyhow, good luck at the hospital, at least it's come in the off season.
the boy has a 'buckle fracture' as he's young the bones bend/distort rather than breaking. 3 weeks out of action in a split, no plaster.... That's not a bad result all things considered.
Lewis? They seem to be having a sponsorship push at the moment, that would really get STW frothing!
Can't really get into who, but i doubt anything we do would have much reaction on STW 😀
it’s hardly testing them if you ride them for 300m, proper performance testing needs to be done over a period of time, against the clock etc, but I know you know that and am surprised that you’ve given up on it so soon.
I agree, but sometimes with riders you just 'know' when they're instantly 'out'. We've had it with various riders and things in the last few years within the team and outside of the team, things like DH casing over an Exo casing, 1 run and out.... Crankbrothers vs Shimano pedals, 1 run and out. (Neither were my lad). But we can sit there and debate with the particular rider all day that they're wrong... but it's them on the bike and them having to put down the laps at race speed.
Not much going on at the moment really, the boy has been resting his Radius apart from some roadie riding, which weirdly he really really seems to enjoy. He's been doing 50km rides mostly and getting a decent pace on.
We did go see Gee Atherton doing his talk which was cool, made even cooler as he won himself a pair of tyres.
Krypto Enduro soft, so they'll go nicely on something next year, although it may be my bike lol.
@weeksy, saw these and thought of you…
https://www.onyerbike.com/components/brakes/sram-disc-brake-maven-ultimate-stealth__19517
Thanks mate. Very nice thought but we already have a set of brakes being shipped soon from someone to demo over winter. I'm hoping they'll work out but can't get into too much details at the moment.
I sometimes wonder if I come over as a bit ridiculous with some of the things I can't always mention but honestly you wouldn't believe how complicated it can get with sponsors, potential sponsors, incoming, outgoing, product development etc etc. I sometimes ha e to really hold my tongue as a sponsor can get grumpy (rightly so) if you get timings and announcements wrong.
Add to this I was told I'm on a last warning from STW and I don't know if I've been forgiven for that lol.
I remember suggesting brake experimentation a few months back.
As it happens I was calculating hydraulic leverage ratios for top brakes last week. The other part of total leverage is lever length, and of course there's more to it than just leverage.
Also enduro mag have a recent big group test including lab data https://enduro-mtb.com/en/best-mtb-disc-brake-can-buy/