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Also enduro mag have a recent big group test including lab data
That's exactly why we bought the Hopes as our mate at Rotec.bike supplies them, loves and recommends them too. So we jumped on them, but they didn't work out. He'd already read a lot of reports and chatted to others in LBS work/pro-pits who've been having issues with Mavens, which wiped them out along with the Loam Wolf reviews.
I'd be tempted by a set of Hayes Dominions, but weirdly (well, not in my opinion, but in many opinions) he LOVES the Code RSC and i'm loath to spend money on more brakes to try and not get on with. There's a lot of factors with brakes for us when racing if he has issues, like spares, bleed times, setup times, etc. We can't have a set of brake that takes 45 mins to get perfect when he's only got 10 mins before the race. This is where the RSCs just work for us.
The plan was/is still to try different things over winter, but obviously that's slightly scuppered at the moment as he's Roadie only for another couple of weeks yet.
Why not stop farting about and stick with the brakes he likes and work? Lots of procrastinating for zero gain
What an utterly daft statement. That's like saying he should always run the same tyres, the same pressures, the same settings on forks/shocks. This is 100% what winter is for, for testing, trying, setting up, making the rider or the bike better.
We've run Assegais this year, DHRs, Magic Mary, Argotal, Kryptotal and Hydrotal, for varying conditions and seeing if one of the other became preferred for him. Out of interest the Argotal on the front and Kryptotal on the back is the answer for him.
Over the season you try different grips, different rise bars, different width bars, different pressures in the forks, different rebound etc... It's all a bit of a try and see if you prefer this
If we can even gain 1s on a DH run by changing 'something' then that's potentially half a dozen places in a race run at his level. Yes it's actually that close in many races.
It's not like we're throwing his favoured set of brakes in the bin, with the Hopes he was back on the SRAMs very quickly with minimal loss of track time. So there's really nothing to lose. If the Code RSC were winning every field test out there, then maybe you'd have a point. But they're not, they near the bottom in terms of performance. If he can brake fractionally harder, fractionally later, then why wouldn't we ?
I'm not saying brakes can or will turn him from top 10 in Nationals to podiums, but at the National Champs, 1.5s quicker would have taken him into the Top5.
If you say so then that must be right - I bet he will be running rsc's as that's what kids are like. Logic out the window, stubborn, know what they like, regardless of marginal gains.
Testing is one thing as long as it's thorough and analysed, riding a at of brakes that aren't even bedded in and then getting them off the bike asap isn't testing it's a stubborn kind knowing what he wants.
Lol ok sweetheart ?
I'm pretty sure I agreed with the people who said it wasn't a proper testing. Not sure what else you want me to say here
Some things on bikes he cares about, some things less so. On the 141 he goes equally well on whatever rubber we fit, on the DH bike his saddle has to be mm perfect height. His brake ever positions are measured to precision and he's really fussy, but suspension and even tyre pressures he can take or leave.
We try stuff and I know with him whether it's worth continuing with testing or not. Last winter we did 3 months on different pedals, eventually going back to CB Mallets, but he tested a lot, swapping between both on given days. We've done testing with different wheels, bigger and smaller rotors
Nothing would be lovely
Lol the format of the thread hasn't changed for 3+ years mate, if you're not enjoying it don't open it. But I'll keep writing it as some seem to enjoy the journey.
But it's easy enough to ignore and not open it.
Why not stop farting about and stick with the brakes he likes and work? Lots of procrastinating for zero gain
Marginal gains. Ask any race team in any sport.
Bit more power, bit more confidence to brake later, bit less fatigue...
suspension and even tyre pressures he can take or leave
That sounds like an unexplored area of optimisation, leaving gains on the table. Get bracketing.
That sounds like an unexplored area of optimisation
I presume weeksy means they've been through a process of optimising suspension and tyres and it didn't really make any difference to the boys speed?
I certainly remember them strapping loads of suspension datalogging kit to the bike.
It's definitely worth trying new components, even if they don't result in an improvement, at least you know what works then, and you're not left thinking what if...
I'd be interested to hear which one component change had the biggest positive effect on his speed, I'm guessing chnaging frame, but then after that what was the next largest impact?
Also what change has had the most detrimental impact to speed so far?
Hmmmm deffo the frame yes from the GT to the Session was night and day for him.
Second to that was Air Shocks on both the session and the Fury, but more so on Fury as we barely rode air on the Session. The GT though he rode for ages on multiple coils and then in a discussion with Rich Simpson he was telling the boy how Ethan much preferred the X2 shock on his Fury. Rich also had one there and that went on and (after setting up) went instantly quicker. Went went straight to an air shock on the Session but he has tried coil from his mates bike and instantly went for air again.
The second question is really hard to answer as that's more 'him' than it is a particular component. He can be flying one day and rubbish the next with nothing having changed. A vast chunk of that is belief and confidence, he is finishing top 10 in nationals now but still believes the lads in 20th are quicker than him. Then some days he'll be on a particular track and come down with "I'm going to win this" , he doesn't often, but those days he goes well generally.
We've had days he comes down either almost or actually in tears and "can't ride the bike" at 10am, but then by 3pm I'm greeted with a beaming smile and "I'm flying today"
If I could unlock that we'd be onto a winner.
His massive weakness (IMO) is reading tracks. He takes longer than his peers to learn how to go fast on a particular track and even though he knows the way down, still can't quite get up to speed. It something we've tried to work on with the coach and something we'll be working on more over winter.
Sorry that doesn't quite answer your question but is about the best answers I could think of.
Thanks weeksy, interesting stuff
If buying a win isn't working and it's about unlocking pshyche then I genuinely suggest getting in touch with sally
https://ironsallycoaching.com/
Lol come on, have a word, buying a win. Seriously.
Trying different brakes is buying a win, lol. Jeez.
He wins races, podiums races and does top 10s in Nationals because of his riding. If we were buying wins he'd be running Trickstuff and the highest end suspension out there, but he's not, he's running a stock Session we bought in a sale. It's a great bike and he loves it, but 'buying a win' please.
He's had a sports psychologist this year but thanks for the suggestion. As far as inspirational coaches goes then we're both massively attached to Katy Curd, she's been quite frankly incredible for him as a rider, coach, friend and mentor. The amount of time, energy and effort she's put into him (and others) is nothing short of immense.
We are both 100% convinced he wouldn't be at the level he is currently without her.
Buying/tryingparts to make marginal gains then ....
I suggested Sally as she is a winner, she's someone who has achieved, she has a fantastic mindset. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Bigham#:~:text=She%20won%20in%20the%20British,ranked%20second%20in%20the%20world.
But I appreciate that you have Katy and you have your affiliation.
Buying/tryingparts to make marginal gains then ….
I think it's time to step away from the internet fella, or at the very least this thread. You're being rude and it's not a good look.
You are completely missing the point but ok I'll do as you say
It doesn't feel like I am. If you're not, then feel free to clear it up. I'll happily apologise if I'm taking it wrong but how it sounds is that you think we're just throwing money at it to buy wins instead of using hard work.
He's sitting there with a broken arm and planning a 100 mile road ride on Sat just to keep up his fitness because he's not allowed on dirt.
We're trying parts simply because there's no reason not to. I'm waiting for a pair of the new Schwalbe tyres to arrive to try for examole, because they may be better. Or they may not and they'll come off again.
Sat was FoD with team mate Katie and our buddy Isaac.
Isaac was on my Trek Fuel as his van was dead and couldn't get his bike, but both of them were hauling and enjoying their day, Katie looked great as well.w
Sun brought a DNS from Katie but James and Isaac were out racing
The boy only took 2 practice runs as he knows the track well and wanted to check out conditions.
He has a decent run and came down with 3/81
Top performance that, awesome!
Run 2 had dried a little and changed conditions a bit but not much. The boy felt good but there were top national racers both ahead of him and behind him.
The kid in 5th came down and went 1st, he races for Specialized development team, then the guy in 4th went 2nd. So the boy was sitting in 5th now as he came down.
He smashed his time from run 1 and went 2nd, 0.04 behind the leader.
Kid in P2 crashes so he's still in P2, then the leader came down (races for commencal) he went P1.
So in the end he finished P3.
Awesome.
And that ends 2024 for racing it seems. We did have an option for a small race next weekend but his preference seems to be to go do some tech laps elsewhere and not racing this one. I completely get that and i'm happy with it as it means a more relaxing weekend for me too 😀
2024 highlights...
Well, he's managed to stick it on the podium 6 times
He's managed to race the European Championships
He raced in Europe multiple times
He's stuck it in the top 10 in a National
He's finished top 5 in the overall at Pearce.
Final placing in the UK rankings is 16th overall.
I'm not really sure how we top that... but you can bet your arse we'll try our best as a team and a family to do so 🙂
There's stuff in the background we can't talk about, but 2025 is going to be exciting that's for sure. When he moves to 25 he moves to 'junior' that's the 17-18 class which has all the fast lads from last years juniors who've gained experience on the big stages, so he's going in as a small fish again (as every 2 year cycle).
We've had SO much support in 2024 from various suppliers, bike companies and of course his coach, it's been an amazing year.
On that note we had a new arrival this weekend
Which quickly turned into this
So the spec is 2024 Canyon Sender CFR (Large)
Rockshox Boxxer Ultimate forks.
Rockshox Super Deluxe DH shock 250x75
SRAM X01 crankset
SRAM X01 7 speed DH mech
SRAM 7 speed DH cassette
SRAM X01 7 speed DH shifter
SRAM Code RSC brakes front and rear
Hope Pro5 Fortus 30 wheels
Continental Kryptotal 29x2.40 Supersoft DH
DMR O'Dub bars 35dia
Burgtec 35dia stem
DMR Deathgrip2s
DMR saddle
DMR Vault pedals
There's 2 phases to the plan at the moment, 1 is that i'll run it at places like Dyfi/Hopton/Antur and the boy will put in some runs on it to see which he prefers over winter.
Yes he's in Junior next year. It's often a strange Cat as youth is stacked with numbers but then when they get to Junior the numbers drop dramatically. I don't know if it's beer, girls, uni, school or just get bored with it. I'm really hoping this bunch stick in juniors though next year and make it awesome for us all.
Either way, we're still going racing until he tells me differently.
I took really like the Canyon and building this one hasn't changed that much. Apart from the rubbish plastic Acros headset which is no longer in there. The rest though is lovely. It has reach adjust headset cups, +8 -8 and 0 as well as chainstay length adjust and progression change for the shock.
Although weirdly none of these change allow it to be run mullet, that requires new hardware. But he'll run 29/29 as that's his preference anyway.
I can't wait to give it a run or 4 at FoD this weekend before he gets his grubby paws on it, although we've got Dyfi and Hopton in Dec and I'll be riding either the Canyon or Session then too.
We'll see if I grow a pair and race it too.
Apart from the rubbish plastic Acros headset which is no longer in there
That nasty little compression ring was the first thing to go when we had our Sender! Btw the -8 headset cups won't work with Boxxers.
Preferred set up here was 0 headset, with a 350 spring and the shock in the low setting, long flip chip out back (mullet model). Rider weighs 56kg.
Preferred set up here was 0 headset, with a 350 spring and the shock in the low setting, long flip chip out back (mullet model). Rider weighs 56kg
I've currently got it set at 0 headset as we can't run -8
500 spring for me
Short chainstay
Shock in high.
There's not a massive logic other than the high setting seems to suit coils best and the chainstay is the same as the Session (1mm). The 450 spring gave him 20% sag so the 400 for him should work at the weekend well. Obviously with this setup/adjustment it's going to take a little bit of getting used to and adjusting. But he doesn't HAVE to use this bike, the Session is staying and can/will be used any time he wants it. It can happily be his primary bike without worry. So we'll see how it progresses.
Apart from the rubbish plastic Acros headset which is no longer in there
One of the worst pieces of shit I've ever come across. I thought it was a joke when I saw it for the first time, I actually burst out laughing I couldn't control it. Up there with them wire frame jockey wheels that last about about two pedal strokes before they fold in half, an absolute piss take of the highest order, ****ers!
Anyway well done to younger Weeks, he's done gud. You've obviously put a lot of effort and money into making sure it went off as well as possible. He's a lucky lad to have a parent so committed to his success!
Thanks all... it's been a blast this year and will hopefully continue to be so. Thanks for the kind words, we'll keep doing our best.
Well for a number of reasons, the Canyon that came in is going straight back out. Long story...but doesn't matter 🙂
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54208404158_a28486b0a6_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54208404158_a28486b0a6_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2qAdeXU ]fuelex8xt_23_36348_a_primary[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Just ordered up one of these... It made sense to go a little heavier but have more bounce, better bounce and a little stronger in terms of frame etc.
It's a 64.5deg head angle and he's gone for ML rather than L due to the extended reach on the Gen6, this one is 470mm reach which is the same as a Gen5 Large and 470 is about industry standard in Large.
He's been riding my 2020 Fuel lately and absolutley loving it, but we couldn't get a Gen5 with the right spec/price/availability, we tried 4 different Ebay bikes but only one person replied, despite me messaging them on Fri/Sat... Slightly bizarre if you ask me, but hey ho.
So just waiting for the shop to build and then we're collecting it.
None of it really matters, but it's all interesting to read!
but it’s all interesting to read!
Thank you... there's still a tonne of intersting things going on in the background but as always, some of it we can't get into. But there's a few things happening that'll keep 2025 interesting for us both.
We've been eyeing up a bit of IXS racing, there's a back to back weekender at Willingen and Winterberg which as it crosses half-term may be an option. But there's a chance we'll just end up at Bellwald as an end-of-season bash again as he had with his mate this year.
We're both looking forward to the new Trek coming in and apart from the brakes being swapped for something he wants, it'll be used as stock.
What was the story with the Canyon?
Nothing too deep matey, it all stemmed from some discussions with a few people and came up as a deal we couldn't resist... but then decisions changed for him and he's racing the Session.
The Canyon does look like a lovely bike - if I were in the market for a DH bike, it would definitely be in the list.
stealth ad.
It's on Ebay.... i'd take £2700. It's basically brand new 🙂
So was the canyon to replace the session or compliment it?
Where does the trek fit in, where the old (assume too small judging by the fast our lads grow) privateer was for trail fun?
1. Canyon was going to replace it, but sizing didn't work out
2. Correct, the Privateer is too small for him, so has gone back to where it came from. Shame though as he had some epic days on it and in 2 years we changed 1 bearing and it's still immaculate. Trek will be his day to day riding bike.
The privateers are great bikes
Absolutely, the 141 was a cracking thing, it's been to Dyfi, bpw, Morzine, hit road gaps, raced enduros and DHs and never missed a beat. The only reason I've not kept it is because it's a bit slack and heavy for my riding, otherwise he'd have had my Fuel and I'd have kept that. Certain tracks he was only 1/10th slower on it than his Session.
But it's always nice to get a new bike and he loves Trek (as do I), as well as that it matches his teammates Fuel and the have matching Sessions lol, mostly through coincidence than planning.
The new 'Continental Series' has now been announced. This is what the UCI are considering to be the Gateway into World Cups.
There's 2 events in Europe in the DHI cat
Portugal - Santiago de Besteiros - 4th April to 6th April. (This is also an IXS round)
France - Les Menuires - 22nd to 24th August.
If i'm being completely honest, i'm not seeing year 1 of Junior as being a realistic option for him as he needs to find speed, experience and knowledge before being ready to even think about WCs. It's more likely that an IXS round and the European Champs round would be more of an option. It's great having 'dreams' and goals to hit, but i don't want to wipe out the fun factor by having him drag his bike down in 50th+ place every weekend. You've got to take the smaller stuff and get faster before thinking bigger IMO.
There's an IXS in Fort William (along with a National and the National Champs) which could be a good option for him.
But that's the information as we have it 🙂
I have this image of Weeksy’s garage wall akin to a Police incident room, with calendars, photos of bikes and a map of Europe all dotted with pins with strands of thread between them.
Lol you wouldn't be a million miles off in some ways.
I've been looking into time and cost to drive to Portugal, ferry to Portugal and how we can integrate a family trip with Les Menuires. Along with 3 trips to Fort William and everything else we've got going on.
If I actually sat back and looked at all of this from the outside I'd probably put me in a straight jacket.
But when you're doing it, it sort of makes sense. The reward and feeling when at Rhyd Y Felin for example and he snapped his cranks, to then finish the weekend inside the Top10 at National just seems to make all these things seem worthwhile and actually make sense.
I can completely see why others would see it differently
I'm patiently waiting to see which other continental series races are confirmed before we commit ourselves. Portugal falls on the same weekend as Lourdes (albeit regional DH cup) which is awkward.
Fwiw, if I were to pick one French race in '25 it would be Les Orres. The track is streets ahead of Menuires in every aspect, but I guess if that fits into your summer holiday dates it's fully understandable.
Interesting updates Weeksy, and fair play for actually posting on here as its a pretty quiet place when you aren't around!
On this:
It’s great having ‘dreams’ and goals to hit, but i don’t want to wipe out the fun factor by having him drag his bike down in 50th+ place every weekend. You’ve got to take the smaller stuff and get faster before thinking bigger IMO.
...I've only entered a few races for a bit of fun, so will be the first to say that I don't know what I'm talking about, but would he not benefit more from a tougher challenge (and ignoring the result, which I know is hard) vs. simpler races he knows he is competitive on? Just a thought. I know you don't want to knock his confidence but not sure if there is a half way house, but maybe that is exactly what the IXS series you mention will do.
I always found this time of year exciting planning everything with Abigale. Getting the entry's in and then planning all the logistics by the end of January. I like to think we were well organised. The only variable were injuries which over all I think we were lucky with.
If you get the chance then Les Orres is well worth the visit. It was on our plans for last year on the way back from Italy but the weather wasn't in our favour and unfortunately it doesn't fit in next years plans
but would he not benefit more from a tougher challenge (and ignoring the result, which I know is hard) vs. simpler races he knows he is competitive on?
Yeah deffo, which is why we've done both in 2024, with Champery and Bellwald. But there's only so much we can realistically do in terms of school, finances and family. The bigger events span Thurs to Mon in terms of logistics which makes it tougher.
He'd race 7 days a week in world cup tracks if he could. Lol. But that's not really viable.
The IXS series is indeed that slot between WC and UK races, it fits perfectly in every sense but not in terms of finance. Every time you leave the UK due to train/fuel it's £1000+ even if sleeping in the van.
We do this out of our own pocket and whilst we get a tonne of help from sponsors which is amazing, it's still £1000 out of my account to head to Germany, Switzerland etc.
They announced 5 DH races for Europe just the other day, one at a shared venue (Les Menuires) so there are three races yet to be confirmed. At least that's how I've decrypted their posts, I'm going to stay optimistic for now.
nine events in Europe (four Olympic cross-country, four downhill, and one combining both formats)
I’m glad to see that there continental series Iin Europe America and Oceania announced with the changes to WC at least it’s encouraging to see that mid tier starting
It's this what he's aiming for?
weeksy
The new ‘Continental Series’ has now been announced. This is what the UCI are considering to be the Gateway into World Cups.There’s 2 events in Europe in the DHI cat
Portugal – Santiago de Besteiros – 4th April to 6th April. (This is also an IXS round)
France – Les Menuires – 22nd to 24th August.
So 2 events - at either end of the season. Is that it or "so far"? Not much of a "series" is it?
I'd argue it's not a series anyway as all they're doing is adding a UCI tag/rank onto an event already created by someone else.
It's like picking a Premiership match next week and saying "that's a new UK superleague event"
No it's just an already scheduled event you've just given ranking points to.
Interesting that Fort William doesn't for part of the schedule for the 'European' continental series.
Perhaps they'll get their act together for '26...
I’d argue it’s not a series anyway as all they’re doing is adding a UCI tag/rank onto an event already created by someone else.
That’s all I ever expected it to be certainly for 2025. If the organisers of the events are happy to run them as uci ranking events, presumably hoping that will attract more and a higher ranked riders, then why not. I never expected another whole series f events to be created from nothing
Me too. But time will tell if that's good or bad. If it ends up being just 2 races tagged as UCI points and then the claim glory for creating a continental series that will be somewhat laughable.
Fwiw I don't think they need to create a new series as such, but if you want to do it, so it properly.
So an IXS, UK, Germany, France Spain, Italy, Portugal etc. Give all a decent chance.
What they've got above is just a half arsed approach. I hope that's not it.
So 2 events – at either end of the season
The press release says 5 of the IXS series make up the Continental series for Europe. 5 of the U.S. mister series make up the American series and 5 in Oceania. That seems pretty good for a first attempt. It also strikes me as a lot cheaper for privateers to try and do the whole series. I know it still won’t be cheap but it will never be cheap.
New bike day but won't be ridden just yet as it needs brakes and some frame protection, so he's busy hitting Dyfi and Bringewood
Great wife, great bike!
Well, I expect it'll be a great bike.
How are you finding it?
The stock pictures of them look really odd imo. Looks really good in your pic though, and ditto mine in the kitchen!
He's not sat on it yet mate. Today he was on the DH bike all day and I was on the Orbea.
Got home and I've now fitted the RSC brakes, the Mudhugger on the front and set all the pressures.
Tomorrow it gets frame protection and then on Monday it'll get ridden. It's been a busy week as we've been up at Dyfi as well etc.
Apparently it's amazing.
Looks good to me too.
https://youtube.com/shorts/gnd_UYvti_M?si=c9YfE9zwAmN9PBub
Well that was interesting... To me anyway.
The boy mentioned last week his bike was rolling really slowly. The only reason i could think of was we'd fitted the standard Bontrager wheels. Now i know they had new bearings only recently but they deffo spun slowly. So i fitted some more at Dyfi (from Kinetic) and they too were really slow.... Way way slower than the Hopes.
So i bought some Trek ones...
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/equipment/cycling-components/bearings/bontrager-20307-llh-replacement-hub-bearing/p/39513/
I can only assume this is because the bearings are 20307LLU whereas the others are LLB
the Trek ones spin lovely.... I don't think there's anything wrong with the others, but due to the fill/balls/cages they may be pivot bearings rather than rotational bearings ? Possibly anyway.... Either way... they roll lovely.
In other news, the Canyon Sender looks to be sold, a decent enough price but does mean that i have the complexity as it's sold as a whole bike that i've got to replace all the spares. So i've started the process and picked up a standard Bontrager rear wheel to give full swappability.
We/I'm having a few debates on brakes... Really not sure what to run in 2025. The Code RSCs have been great but not without a few minor niggles at times but happily never really over a race weekend. It's been the internal seals on the master cylinder piston usually, or the usual sticky pistons in the caliper.
I was tempted to try some new items and obviously we'd tried the Hope Tech 4 recently and didn't bond... he's also tried and not liked the Magura MT7 due to the lever feel. He's never been a fan of Shimano and the way they ride, so we're kinda running out of options here.
What is tempting me though is the SRAM Mavens. There's some reports of them needing a bit of TLC with piston massaging (pushing in and out a few times) and some issues getting them to bed in but overall they seem incredibly powerful.
We/he do like the RSC side of the brakes, he's quite fussy with brakes (no 5hit) and at times will dial in the pad bite point as the pads wear over the course of a weekend. We run Galfer green pads which don't last the longest ever but do work really really well.
The Mavens can be had for £189 a side on the Silver (non-Ti bolts)
The Code RSC can be picked up for £125 a side
We do 100% need a set of brakes though as we're a set short after fitting to the Canyon. I liked the look/idea of Hayes Dominion A4/T4, but i don't know a lot about them, apart from the fact they're supposed to be incredible.
I thought you had something in the pipeline for brakes, I sent you a link to some cheap ones and you said that there was a plan b in the offing. Did that not come off?
I might be tempted to take any RSC off you…..
We did have an option but due to him being so bloody fussy we didn't push it any further. The problem can come that if we'd taken the brakes discussed and they'd not worked out then we'd end up offending the company and we'd have to think of how to smooth that over.. If he wasn't so fussy it'd likely be less of an issue, but i know him so i know he'd be potentially a nightmare. Lets face it, they Tech4 should have been spot-on, but i took a £40 hit on that and i'm OK with it.
There won't be any RSC left over mate, i've got Codes on one of mine so either way there's a bike to fit them to.
Forest of Dean today and proper Techy stuff for the Fuel. I have to say it was brilliant.
Yesterday I went to do some tyre swaps as I wanted something a bit grippier than the XR4, but it was easier to just swap wheels, or so I thought.
Rear was simple, a nice Soft Enduro Kryptotal was on the spare, so boom that went in.
The front I had a Mary and a trail Argotal, so went Mary, but that wheel is running torque caps for Fox 36 which meant it doesn't fit my Fox34s and I don't have standard ones.
So out came the Orbea wheel, but that had a 180 not 200 rotor, not a big problem, until it's a center lock one FFS
So it stayed XR4. But I shouldn't have worried , it was spot on and flew down the reds, blue and blacks. Spending time mostly on the techy Sheepskull track. I was quicker than all my riding crew, apart from the boy who's just honestly ****ing ridiculous. I couldnt even keep him in sight for 2 corners. He just let's go of the brakes and he's gone. In a 5 second period he's pulling out a 4s gap lol. Wtf.
He was sessioning the roots before the fire road as there was a gap he wanted to line up. He asks me "what do you think" and I looked and thought it was into a particular drop, but no, it was another 10' on he was thinking of clearing lol. We had a few people standing watching who were commenting "he's a nutter" etc each time he came through the roots.
We were then chatting with Sam Copp who happened to have a set of Mavens installed, oh wow, boy are they strong!!! Like wipe the floor in power with anything else type strong. I don't know if that equals speed or better, but heck they really work. So spent 10 mins chatting brakes to him and put my mind at rest on reliability of them for sure. I think a set will be coming in.
Awesome day
what are you using to clean bikes ?
I see a lot of issues with people using bike cleaners and they do no end of damage to the brakes from corrosion
We use Oxford Mint. Partly through them sponsoring him but mostly because we've had no side effects from it. It works really well.
We use a Mesto foam sprayer to turn it into a snow foam, the bottles are good but the Mesto has a bit more push and foam.
We get a 5L concentrate which lasts a fair while even when cleaning 2 bikes 3-4 times a week.
I fear that the Fuel is going to be far more bike than I am rider!
Still waiting for a swap to the M/L to be sorted. Bike is sat in my office and it's killing me now seeing it whenever I go in there!
He's only ridden his a couple of times, but absolutely loves it. As you've seen above I'm slightly in love with my Gen5s, but next weekend I may take his out at FoD while he's teaching and do some comparison runs on the Gen6. I'll have a couple of hours spare so could be fun.
I have no doubt that even my Gen5 could do things I'd never even consider but it hits the right middle ground on everything I think.
He's on the ML and is exactly 6'0 I'm arguably an ex6'0 and now more 5'11 lol and his Gen6 fits me sweetly. We both prefer our bikes a little smaller.
My mate had a broken brake yesterday and is 6'0 so used my Fuel ML Gen5 for a couple of runs and was totally fine with it
It'd be interesting to see how you feel they compare. The one thing that doesn't thrill me about the Gen6 is the weight! I do enjoy my pedalling!
Exactly why I kept the Gen5. But hanging the Gen6 up in the garage it feels fine and doesn't seem ridiculously heavy. But it's deffo heavier than mine.
He's not complained about the weight in a riding context
Today escalated!
Spoke to Rotec and ordered
1 pair SRAM Maven silver
1 SRAM GX 7 speed DH derailleur
1 SRAM GX 7 speed shifter
1 SRAM GX 7 speed cassette
1 Hope pro 5 front wheel, black.
1 crankset, Saint
You will need that just giving page reopening soon lol