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https://www.rimpactmtb.com/tmd?srsltid=AfmBOoq98MGRl9btKA1nv74L9lwwqz3qd1gqT-lXIb0FJWUYBwMeio3T
I've ordered one of these for the boys race bike..
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As you can see, it's a bouncy uppy/downy thing... Which in theory bounces at a particular rate/speed to help with suspension.
You'll have to read a bit more in the link really.
My mate at RSR Bikeworks has been working with World Cup teams and found it really good/useful, so thought we'd give it a whirl.
Sadly there's no in UK for 4-5 weeks, but we can wait 🙂
Did you listen to the Downtime podcast with the guy from Rimpact?
A rather long and detailed sales pitch. Sounds good and worthwhile for a racer but a long way down my list.
I have one in my DH bike, its does dampen the ride for me, I am tempted to move it to my trail bike to see if it does more.
I didn't mate, i've never listened to a Podcast. However, i'm not against the idea so will look into that.
We may do a setup day with RSR to get it dialled, not sure yet.. I'm sure the boy will frown when he sees it as he's not really good with 'change' but hopefully the effects will be enough to justify to him 😀
It bolts through the headset, replacing the star nut, removing the star nut was the biggest pain, the fitting was super simple, but make sure you have spare star nuts if you remove it
YEah no issues there i've done plenty of star nut removal/fitting and have the correct tool.
In that context it's the same as the Granit Stash tool.
Did you try different springs or go straight to a particular one for a reason/logic ?
It comes with the Medium spring already fitted and I have gone back to that currently.
It depends on the track style, big bumps, don't require as much stabilizing where as the buzzy tracks would benefit from the stronger springs.
Its easier enough to swap the springs,
YEah no issues there i've done plenty of star nut removal/fitting and have the correct tool.
I though that was just a 10mm drill bit!
yerh and then get swarf everywhere all over the seals
I put a screwdriver up and bent the teeth up, as the boxxer has a straight steerer not tapered
Never done a DH fork. But I use grease to catch the swarf.
I like the idea, but can't quite figure out if/how it would be better than speed sensitive valving in the fork.
The fork compresses when the wheel is moving up quicker than the handlebars, the idea is the handlebars movement should be slower/smoother than the wheel, so the TMD (once oscillating) effectively pushes down on the fork harder than it's weight to stop the bars coming up, and then the same happens in reverse on the rebound, the TMD pulls the bars up forcing the fork to extend a bit quicker.
But would a blow-off valve not do the same.
What does one of these actually weigh? As a unit and the mass itself?
I like the idea, but can't quite figure out if/how it would be better than speed sensitive valving in the fork.
The fork compresses when the wheel is moving up quicker than the handlebars, the idea is the handlebars movement should be slower/smoother than the wheel, so the TMD (once oscillating) effectively pushes down on the fork harder than it's weight to stop the bars coming up, and then the same happens in reverse on the rebound, the TMD pulls the bars up forcing the fork to extend a bit quicker.
But would a blow-off valve not do the same.
I honestly can't answer, so i'm hoping it wasn't for me 🙂
The guy at RSR is working with Ethan in particular and Scott Factory Racing this year and reports excellent results in terms of performance and 'feel' from the riders. Hence us giving it a go. It's not a lot of money really and if it doesn't work out i can't see me losing much on it. But there's a chance he could agree/notice and even a small difference can be a game-changer.
Between TFTuned and RSR we've got the bike as dialled as i think we can get it now, so there's minor differences only. Then of course getting the rider to learn to go faster too 😀 (but that's a whole different conversation)
its not about the fork response, it more about what happens after and how it settles
Mass Dampers are banned in F1 so they must do something useful! 😀
Interesting product but way too far into "marginal gains" for a leisure rider like me.
Will your lad be able to do B2B laps with/without it on the bike?
Thought it would be more than £180 including the additional springs.
Interesting idea, and as above must do something as they banned it in F1 and all the top DH teams seem to be experimenting with them.
Even if it only reduces rider fatigue as opposed to lap times it's an improvement, as that means more runs and probably more consistency.
Mass Dampers are banned in F1 so they must do something useful! 😀
Banned on a technicality and because Ferrari lobbied against their use. No one had a chance to prove they do anything useful.
Interesting product but way too far into "marginal gains" for a leisure rider like me.
Will your lad be able to do B2B laps with/without it on the bike?
Well within reason, it's 5 mins to fit a star nut, so we could do 2 runs without, then fit, 2-3 runs with it, then remove, etc... Somewhere like FoD/Ponty where we can maximise laps would work, not necessarily Dyfi where you may only get 6-7 runs in.
maybe create a similar headset compression system without the weights in , its only 2 caps, top and bottom with a bolt through, that would make swapping in and out easier rather than scoring inside the steerer too often
That's a very good idea. I'm sure i could modify one of the Granits i have here now as i don't use them due to having in-frame storage on the Fuels. They're arguably a different lower as it's for a tapered, but i'm sure we can resolve that.
you can use the caps from the rimpact, just the bit in the middle for bolting it together
also if you the caps, as they have rimpact etched in, you can blind test him so if he can tell the difference
I'm sure i could modify one of the Granits
do hope still make the head doctor? They are quick to fit and remove. It’s an expanding bung, rather than a star nut.
I’ll be interested to hear what your son thinks.
Just fit in while he’s at school, don’t tell him about it and let him blind test it. Then question him afterwards. Just tell him it’s a new stem cap 😜
maybe create a similar headset compression system without the weights in , its only 2 caps, top and bottom with a bolt through, that would make swapping in and out easier rather than scoring inside the steerer too often
I think they mentioned doing something similar in the podcast. The tests involved giving some riders dummies of a similar weight.
it's 5 mins to fit a star nut, so we could do 2 runs without, then fit, 2-3 runs with it, then remove, etc...
You don't even need to do any of that.
Just remove the whole thing.
Once everything is tensioned up and tight the star nut may as well not be there anyway.
All a star nut is for is adjusting preload before locking everything down with the stem/ top clamp.
Just checking on any updates from anyone. Interested setting one of these up on my Hightower for chunk/janky desert trail riding where 10 miles feels like 20 on your body. Product page on ModernBike has it listed at 420g, so that's within reason for me.
yerh its kinda chunky and it is hidden weight, but for DH it was a noticeable change on comfort rather than performance
Interested setting one of these up on my Hightower for chunk/janky desert trail riding where 10 miles feels like 20 on your body.
Did you already try an Ochain? Might be worth looking at those first. I've recently fitted one and the effect is very noticeable on choppy terrain. Much calmer at the pedals.
Just checking on any updates from anyone. Interested setting one of these up on my Hightower for chunk/janky desert trail riding where 10 miles feels like 20 on your body. Product page on ModernBike has it listed at 420g, so that's within reason for me.
We're still running ours on the Session with no issues at all, medium spring rate installed. The boy seems to think it 'works' and does as it should, so we'll continue to run it. Weight according to digital scales is 465g.
Great to see the responses, thanks everyone. Hadn't really considered Ochain as I don't really notice pedal kickback. What turned on my interest in TMDs was seeing them come onto the market sometime after doing a bikepacking trip with about 4kg on a front bar bag on my Hightower and the front felt soooooo smooooth with much of the terrain forces that were coming through the fork being absorbed by the mass in the bag and not into my hands. At the time, before I'd ever heard of TMDs, I'd played with the idea of strapping on a kg of lead shot onto the HT somehow, something I'd imagine DHers have done as well, as "rudimentary" as it is compared to TMDs.
Definitely curious to try this, hopefully one of the manufacturers will get a demo rig available. Having it hidden in the steerer is a really nice touch. TBF one concern is the price, £200 is hardly enough to convince my brain that I've made a major change, if it was £400 I bet I'd believe in it more 😉
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>, considering how much bikes and riders and forks vary. But maybe they're all close enough that even an imperfect tune still works well? I don't mind fannying about with suspension but this one feels like it might be a bit harder to make good decisions on adjustment etc as an amateur.
Slightly OT but every time someone says "pros use it so it must work" I remember Steve Peat's mechanic taking the seals out of the bearings in his world champs bike to reduce the drag, or more recently that team, was it commencal, that were sticking hologram stickers on the dh bikes to improve the vibes or align their chakras or some such horseshit. It doesn't have to work in order to make you faster. Special tyres Cole! But then again feeling good doesn't always ride good.
Definitely curious to try this, hopefully one of the manufacturers will get a demo rig available. Having it hidden in the steerer is a really nice touch. TBF one concern is the price, £200 is hardly enough to convince my brain that I've made a major change, if it was £400 I bet I'd believe in it more 😉
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>, considering how much bikes and riders and forks vary. But maybe they're all close enough that even an imperfect tune still works well? I don't mind fannying about with suspension but this one feels like it might be a bit harder to make good decisions on adjustment etc as an amateur.
Slightly OT but every time someone says "pros use it so it must work" I remember Steve Peat's mechanic taking the seals out of the bearings in his world champs bike to reduce the drag, or more recently that team, was it commencal, that were sticking hologram stickers on the dh bikes to improve the vibes or align their chakras or some such horseshit. It doesn't have to work in order to make you faster. Special tyres Cole! But then again feeling good doesn't always ride good.
If you can ever get yourself somewhere we are, i'm more than happy to fit ours in your bike for some runs, it's minutes to fit rather than hours, as long as we have a spare star-nut and tool (which we do have of course).
They're generally pretty much sold-out constantly at Rimpact.
I could try fitting his in my Fuel for a days riding, but it's a question of when that'd be possible. I don't think he'll be on the Session at Malverns this weekend, but then again, i'm not on the Fuel as i'm not racing, so doesn't really help. But now i think about it, yeah i should try the TMD on my bike
the front felt soooooo smooooth with much of the terrain forces that were coming through the fork being absorbed by the mass in the bag and not into my hands.
That's really interesting actually. If any WC teams are reading this then maybe we'll see some bikepacking bags on course at Les Gets.
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>
My thoughts exactly, not something I'd need to be an early adopter on - would wait until the evidence is well established and the price maybe lower.
the front felt soooooo smooooth with much of the terrain forces that were coming through the fork being absorbed by the mass in the bag and not into my hands.
That's really interesting actually. If any WC teams are reading this then maybe we'll see some bikepacking bags on course at Les Gets.
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>
My thoughts exactly, not something I'd need to be an early adopter on - would wait until the evidence is well established and the price maybe lower.
TBH as far as bang per buck goes it's 100% a no-brainer. Especially with supply/demand.
If you buy one for £200 (we never paid that much) you'd sell it for £175 a week later with ease... So it's £25 for trying and testing it... Not exactly a deal breaker compared to £1500 forks or £1000 wheelsets.
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>, considering how much bikes and riders and forks vary.
There's a downtime podcast where the guy from rimpact even says it's not a tuned damper, just a damper but they stuck with the tuned bit as it sounded better...
Mass Dampers are banned in F1 so they must do something useful! 😀
Banned on a technicality and because Ferrari lobbied against their use. No one had a chance to prove they do anything useful.
Nothing useful apart from gaining a second a lap and winning both the constructors and drivers championship you mean? 🙂
Great to see the responses, thanks everyone. Hadn't really considered Ochain as I don't really notice pedal kickback. What turned on my interest in TMDs was seeing them come onto the market sometime after doing a bikepacking trip with about 4kg on a front bar bag on my Hightower and the front felt soooooo smooooth with much of the terrain forces that were coming through the fork being absorbed by the mass in the bag and not into my hands. At the time, before I'd ever heard of TMDs, I'd played with the idea of strapping on a kg of lead shot onto the HT somehow, something I'd imagine DHers have done as well, as "rudimentary" as it is compared to TMDs.
I've been running an ochain for over a year, recently took it off for a ride. Two things noted, the bike is noisier (drivetrain slap) and at the end of the day, my feet felt like I'd done more descending than I had done.
Does the rear suspension feel free-er, possibly, I've gone up 25lbs in spring weight, but that was to get the bike sitting a bit higher.
I'm not skeptical about the concept but definitely skeptical about the <tunedness>, considering how much bikes and riders and forks vary.
There's a downtime podcast where the guy from rimpact even says it's not a tuned damper, just a damper but they stuck with the tuned bit as it sounded better...
The tuning comes from the choice of 3 springs included
Ran the TMD in france, did a few back to back runs on Pleney, which is notoriously rough at the end of the season.
With the TMD installed, the bike tracked through the rough corners better, less deflection from the front wheel. Added a chunk of weight (900g) to the underside of the downtube and the bike responded in the same way, also making the bike feel less choppy under brakes.
The racket the TMD makes is quite astonishing, certainly a lot of noise on the big hits. Anyone found the same?
actually no, I have the chain device as well and its really quiet
If its clacking put heavier spring in