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he never ever uses 2 fingers... but this was daft steep and i think with him feeling delicate and also a bit daunted by it he ended up going harder than usual on the levers. It's not how he rides 99.9% of the time.
https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/6297160
urgh, that wont've felt nice then! Bit of a spiral of doom; feel bad > compromise position and control > feel worse. I would also completely ignore that photo as well in that case, he'll have needed to move his hands in order to 2-finger brake. I know I couldn't do it on my own bike without having to shuffle my hands inboard.
If we live in north wales, hmmm maybe.. but leafy west Berks, nah, i’m not seeing it. LOL
Only one thing for it then! You'll have to move!
Nothing to add to the conversation - my son is only 7 - but nice to see the support you are giving him! Picking my son up from school on Friday and one of the Mum's was saying she wont spend 5 mins each evening reading with her child as she isnt a teacher. She didnt seem to get that being a parent is about giving your child the best opportunities that you as a parent can (whether that is limited by time, money etc) and to nurture them whilst letting them make their own decisions.
You seem to have got the approach right and I hope I have a similar relationship with my son in 6 years time! Good luck next weekend.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51463676328_0991bc19ce_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51463676328_0991bc19ce_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mpEN1h ]randr-photo-6297160-5568px[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
You seem to have got the approach right and I hope I have a similar relationship with my son in 6 years time
Thanks Robbo... it means a lot when people think that...
We really are best mates and get on brilliantly, it's a joy being his parent. (mostly).
i wasn't going to post this, but i'm sure he won't mind...
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51462711082_7dbe760c56_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51462711082_7dbe760c56_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mpzR57 ]2021-09-13_10-43-41[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
just gives an indication of the pain he must have been in yesterday to race... tough little bugger.
I really thought he wasn't going to race a few times.. he seemed properly worried about the section he binned it on. "shut up and get on with it you pussy" seemed to sort him out though 😀 😀
The San Miguel probably helped 🤣
he's got to learn young 🙂
Is it me, or are his brake levers wound a long way out in the above picture? That front lever looks absolutely miles away from the bar. And they're angled quite far down too... I'm not one to tell anyone else how to set their bike up (me is slow) as I know different folks make different things work...but for me those two things would make hanging on in the rough stuff far harder, and I have giant hands.
That photo (the riding one) is interesting. Looks like the levers might need wound in? Left hand is nowhere near the hook of the lever, right hand/finger looks really stretched out
Another thing on the brake set up, using one finger he’s near the middle of the lever. The brakes want to be set further inboard of the grips so he’s got the braking finger nearer the end therefore getting better leverage with the single finger.
I also agree on the above point about winding more in, I used to have my lever set so bite would be fairly far out, but once I started ride longer DH runs realised it fatigued my hands quickly, I now have the bite point quite close to the bars as I find it allows more control and results in less hand ache.
Should be about at the weekend, unless it’s pissing with rain.
Am more than happy show you some other stuff, and do some runs on the track in the afternoon - it’s usually taped and people are riding it after lunch anyway.
I will warn you though I’ll be on an Eeb (but I’ll ride it in Eco).
Also fair point in noticed above, 2 bikes isn’t practical, but definitely worth getting a second set of wheels with proper, DH tyres on (soft compound, DH casing, at his weight you can away with low pressures and he will get a load more grip).
Then you also probably need a spare set of muds for the same reason.
I will warn you though I’ll be on an Eeb (but I’ll ride it in Eco).
you being on an Eeb won't make us climb faster 🙂 you'll just have to wait, or tell us you've had enough and you're going without us 😀
That front lever looks absolutely miles away from the bar. And they’re angled quite far down too…
I think I agree, you want to be using near the tip of the lever.
If they are a curve shape and the end bit is too far away is he using the central area to be able to pull it? That is like halving his braking lever arm. Do those brakes have a reach adjust?
It is a very personal thing, and for you as mechanic it is really frustrating as you'll be setting it up as he likes it not how you like it.
My GF has quite short fingers, I hate riding her bike, I can cope with the short reach and the narrow bars, but her levers pull nearly to the grips beofre doing anything and I find it terrifying and I get no strength.
Here's everyones favourite scotsman:
Bars, grips and brakes are in the middle, timestanps in the description.
DH tyres on (soft compound, DH casing, at his weight you can away with low pressures and he will get a load more grip).
Tis a fair point... i wonder if we have time to order a set of rubber for this weekend and get it on...
We're running 18psi currently on our digital gauge which he's happy with. I've got a WTB Convict in high grip format which i could throw on, but that depends on the weather as the Butcher we had on this weekend has more tread... but the Convict is burlier and softer compound.
Don't forget though fellas, i'm not a millionaire here... i've only got so much budget and as well as him having this thing, i've got my bike and my household to consider too 😀
I know you're all trying to help with some of the ideas... but sometimes i just can't afford it... much as i'd like to.
This weekend was a £300 weekend... we've now got the next 3 weekends racing and then a 2 week break before the next one... they money isn't always there.
Is it me, or are his brake levers wound a long way out in the above picture? That front lever looks absolutely miles away from the bar. And they’re angled quite far down too
I set them how he requests them.... when we went to Jedi, Tony set them high/flat... but time and practice and even looking at DH riders riding their bikes, seem to set them lower. But the reach he seems to like out there, rather than right at the bar.. Don't forget, they're not super duper Hopes with adjustable bite point, they're simple SRAM Guide Rs without that and we have to get a compromise between position, feel and bite.... I'll refer you back to the not being a millionaire above as to why we're not running £400 of Hopes 😀
But the reach he seems to like out there, rather than right at the bar..
Watch the Cathro vid, iirc he explains why out there isn’t a good idea. The biggest issue here is more that there’s a combination of long reach (of the lever), finger not at the end of the lever, and possibly also the angle. Rather than just one thing.
A coaching day at a DH track might make more sense now to help with riding and setting up on the correct terrain
Thanks to you lot i'm £45 poorer for some Maxxis Shorty DH compound super tacky for this weekend.
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Love this thread. Vicarious racing, shopping and fettling in one thread.
Where did you get a pair of Shorties for 45 quid?
the mighty Bay of E.
Aren’t they part way to mud spikes - more so than a Magic Mary which is a better all rounder?
Will certainly have some grip in that compound and the heavier casings should give more damping to help smooth things out. £45 is cheap for a pair if they’re in near new condition.
they look decent to me
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@Weeksy I hear you on the Hopes! And I too am enjoying the vicarious everything on this thread @thegeneralist.
I found another way of emptying the OPs wallet but to the tune of $25ish in order to give Guide R brakes adjustable bite point, so you can wind the levers in. Even if junior says he doesn't want you to!
SRAM brakes de-slackinators!
https://www.matter-replicator.com/product/sram-brake-deslackinators/
well they may well just be full of awesome... but with tyres and a 35mm stem i'm not sure my wallet can take another hit today.
Tyres will be fine for that kind of ground, it’s due to rain a bit this week so will be greasy as hell on that bit of hill once you crest the top.
Drop me a PM on here nearer the time about riding 👍
Have to admit, I'm feeling a bit guilty now sitting here, we're going through pictures and the words "taking a knife to a gunfight" come to mind. Seeing all the 200mm bikes and my lad on his 2015 bike with 150mm I feel I've done him a bit of an injustice.
Fortunately, he doesn't feel that, so it's all good lol.
I think the Southern Enduro stuff will be far more suited to his bike, plus it's stuff I may actually be able to get down too !
Errr, no you haven’t. That’s an epic bike at his age and has plenty of travel for most U.K. courses and a young lad just getting into it. Up until I saved my pennies I was on a steel Apollo from Halfords - then at 15 I bought myself a steel (4130) Gary Fisher Mamba with a whopping 1” or so of terrible elastomer travel from a Rockshox Quadra 5.
when we went to Jedi, Tony set them high/flat
Tony does that to keep the elbows bent and low, I believe.
Man, I hope your boy doesn't know you have all us internerds analysing his every move! 😉
Doing a great job Weeksy 🙂
Oh, and that photo of him coming past the tree is superb!
As long as he enjoyed it the rest will come with more time competing and the confidence that will bring.
Are you sure on the 150mm travel 🤔
https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/2386/2016-s-works-enduro-650b/
Ooooh, I thought it was less. I stand corrected!
Anyway, let's move on from my crazy.
The new bars were an epic fail. Ewwwww they're too narrow.
So I've trimmed his standard Specialized by 40mm. Moving his levers closer to the bars too. Although I've not ventured into the world of moving the levers closer yet. That's another day.
Not sure when he'll get out before the weekend though as he's laid up.
My 15 year old nicked my 140/130 Aether7 for the Alps. He reckons it feels like it has more travel than the Alpine 160 he was riding. More useful usable travel anyway.
I wouldn’t worry about what travel your lad has Weeksy. Longer travel can be a hinderance for smaller riders.
Have to admit, I’m feeling a bit guilty now sitting here, we’re going through pictures and the words “taking a knife to a gunfight” come to mind. Seeing all the 200mm bikes and my lad on his 2015 bike with 150mm I feel I’ve done him a bit of an injustice.
Don't feel this way. The bike helps, but the rider is so much more.
My eldest was top 10 in Ae and Dunkeld DH race on Orange 5. He was 4th and won a stage at a couple of Scottish enduro's on second hand Radon Slide (150/130mm).
No matter what you have someone else has more. We turned up for a week of coaching with Ben Cathro at age15 - he on the old Orange 5. A pair of brothers turned up on matching carbon V10's, a couple of really nice carbon Enduro bikes and mum was ready to leave the XTR laden XC bikes too...
It can end up expensive - mine dented wheels and ripped through brake pads. But until he bought his own new bike while earning at age 17, he was always on second hand and 'that will have to do'.
It's the rider, not the bike.
Seeing all the 200mm bikes and my lad on his 2015 bike with 150mm I feel I’ve done him a bit of an injustice.
Having looked through a few of the photos from one of the youth UK DH races in the summer I saw more podium kids on Enduro bikes than DH bikes iirc.
160 on that Enduro should be banger, Infact I was wondering about that exact frame with a 170mm 36 as a dedicated whistler bike park DH build for my 11yo.
Nowt wrong with what you've got him on for double duties.
Well that would be nice. We've just been sent a video from 3 years ago in the MIJ series at FoD.
I don't know how many times my lad has ridden this track, but it's a lot, like lots and lots. If they use the same course he'll be very excited indeed
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51471168677_bbce0e7137_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51471168677_bbce0e7137_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mqkcdH ]randr-photo-6326630-3000px[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Nice photo.
If it was me and affordable I would keep a look out for some 170mm Lyriks like the one in the classifieds. Quite a few were competing with that and even 180mm depending on the steepness and gnar round about that era. It would stiffen up the front end and slacken it a bit.
I don't think you could lengthen the Pikes past 160mm
From 2017 Abigale has always run 170mm on her Enduros
Interesting.... thanks for the thoughts... wasn't sure that was an option.