Brendan Fairclough's Scott Gambler Race Bike - Crankworx Whistler 2013
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| Part Production, Part Custom Brendan Fairclough is not only a fan favourite on the World Cup circuit, due in no small part to his ability to inject style into every inch of a track that most others riders would have trouble simply riding cleanly, but he is also a constant threat to unleash a breakout performance. A seventh place run at the most recent World Cup stop at Mont Saint Anne, Quebec, just four seconds back of the winning time, shows that the Briton has the speed to pull one out sometime soon, and it is also a sign that he is comfortable on his Scott Gambler race bike that is pictured here. While his machine is assembled around a standard production large sized frame that a consumer can purchase, it does feature a number of trick one-off components that serve his job title as a World Cup racer. | Details • Production size large frame • Rear wheel travel: 210mm/8.26'' • FOX 40 Float fork • Custom FOX DHX RC4 shock • Custom 7spd drivetrain • Custom offset headset cups (9mm longer, 1° steeper) • Tubeless front, tube w/ sealant hybrid rear • Weight: 35.9 - 36.3lb depending on setup (claimed) |
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Not Your Average Suspension Setup
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that World Cup racers require much stiffer spring rates and damper setups than even your quickest local pro, and Fairclough's Gambler is configured accordingly. His air sprung FOX 40 Float is usually pressurized to between 80 and 85 PSI depending on the course, which would obviously feel far too stiff on the trail for any rider his size who can't qualify for a World Cup race. For reference, the FOX 40 Float on the front of our Gambler demo bike is currently set to 58 PSI, despite us weighing within a few pounds of Brendan.
While the higher spring rate up front is somewhat expected, the bike's rear suspension holds a few secrets that the crew at Scott weren't prepared to discuss on the record. The bike employs a stock swingarm, linkage arrangement, and pivot locations, but a small ''XXX'' decal on its 10.5 x 3.5'' FOX DHX RC4 hints at some internal trickery within. Giving the rear of the bike a solid push results in an incredibly slow return to full
extension, with the shock's low-speed rebound seemingly set so slow that the red rebound dial might as well be all the way in. That isn't the case, though, as the Ben Walker, Scott Product Manger, would only concede that the shock performs on the trail nothing like how it feels at a standstill, and that it actually can't even be set up anywhere close to properly without riding it at speed. This is nothing like any of the current stock shocks on the market that can be ball-parked to a setup that is relatively close to where you might end up after some on-trail tinkering. Again, his spring rate is considerably higher than we have been running on our Gambler, with a 375lb titanium spring fitted compared to the 300lb unit on our demo bike.It doesn't take a genius to figure out that World Cup racers require much stiffer spring rates and damper setups than even your quickest local pro, and Fairclough's Gambler is configured accordingly. His air sprung FOX 40 Float is usually pressurized to between 80 and 85 PSI depending on the course, which would obviously feel far too stiff on the trail for any rider his size who can't qualify for a World Cup race. For reference, the FOX 40 Float on the front of our Gambler demo bike is currently set to 58 PSI, despite us weighing within a few pounds of Brendan.
While the higher spring rate up front is somewhat expected, the bike's rear suspension holds a few secrets that the crew at Scott weren't prepared to discuss on the record. The bike employs a stock swingarm, linkage arrangement, and pivot locations, but a small ''XXX'' decal on its 10.5 x 3.5'' FOX DHX RC4 hints at some internal trickery within. Giving the rear of the bike a solid push results in an incredibly slow return to full
Custom Cups - Longer, Steeper
Angle adjusting headset cups aren't anything new - there are plenty different aftermarket versions to choose from if you should need to tweak your bike's handling - but the cups on Brendan's Gambler are very different from what you can walk into your local shop and purchase. Not only do they steepen the head angle by 1°, the opposite of what most people use adjusting cups for, but they also feature an offset design that adds nine millimeters of length to the bike's top tube. Why would a World Cup downhiller want a steeper head angle? It actually boils down to Brendan preferring to run his bike in the low bottom bracket setting (345mm compared to 354mm in the ''high'' setting) for more stability, but also a relatively tall fork height. The result was a 61° head angle, 1° slacker than the advertised angle with a stock fork height, and slightly floppy steering on flatter tracks. The custom cups, which were machined in Switzerland, bring the bike's head angle back to 62° while also allowing Brendan to run a low bottom bracket height and a tall fork setting. The
offset that adds 9mm to the bike's top tube length also gives Fairclough a roomier cockpit, which is more of a experiment to see if he likes the added room or not, although it appears so as he will likely run the custom headset cups for the rest of the season. There is also a good chance that the geometry afforded by these cups will lead to changes in the production bike down the road. Interestingly, Brendan nearly always prefers to run the bike in the shorter wheelbase setting unless he feels that he needs some added stability on an extreme track.Angle adjusting headset cups aren't anything new - there are plenty different aftermarket versions to choose from if you should need to tweak your bike's handling - but the cups on Brendan's Gambler are very different from what you can walk into your local shop and purchase. Not only do they steepen the head angle by 1°, the opposite of what most people use adjusting cups for, but they also feature an offset design that adds nine millimeters of length to the bike's top tube. Why would a World Cup downhiller want a steeper head angle? It actually boils down to Brendan preferring to run his bike in the low bottom bracket setting (345mm compared to 354mm in the ''high'' setting) for more stability, but also a relatively tall fork height. The result was a 61° head angle, 1° slacker than the advertised angle with a stock fork height, and slightly floppy steering on flatter tracks. The custom cups, which were machined in Switzerland, bring the bike's head angle back to 62° while also allowing Brendan to run a low bottom bracket height and a tall fork setting. The
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Drivetrain and Cockpit Details
Modified drivetrains are becoming the norm on World Cup bikes, and we believe that it won't be long until we see a production version of the limited gearing selection that the fastest racers often run. But until then, it will be up to the teams to create their own setup, much like the seven speed gearing on Brendan's Gambler. A one-piece spacer and spoke protecter takes up the room of the missing three inboard cogs, and it even has openings machined into it in order to save a few grams and create an escape path for mud buildup in nasty conditions. His cockpit consists of a 35mm clamp diameter Syncros bar, as well as DMR's standard grips that are wired in place to keep them from spinning. Not surprisingly, he is using his own signature Vault pedals from DMR.
Trick Tire Setup
The Gstaad-Scott team is sponsored by Schwalbe, so it's no surprise that Brendan is using tires from the German brand. What is interesting, though, is his tube and tube/sealant setup. His front tire features Schwalbe's Super Gravity casing and is run full tubeless, but the rear tire employs a hybrid technique that is designed to allow him to be able to finish his run regardless of if he suffers a puncture. The tire uses a standard dual ply DH casing, as well as a tube, but his mechanic pours in an unspecified amount of sealant between the tire and the tube before seating the bead and pumping the rear tire up to about 31 PSI. This means that if Brendan does puncture the tube, the sealant can still prevent an instant flat and hopefully allow him to finish his run. This is exactly what happened at the last World Cup race in Mont Saint Anne, Quebec, with a puncture that would have ruined his race run had the tube/tubeless hybrid layout not be used. Instead, he managed to come across the line with 15 PSI still in his rear tire, not ideal but it kept a seventh place race run from turning into a DNF.
The Gstaad-Scott team is sponsored by Schwalbe, so it's no surprise that Brendan is using tires from the German brand. What is interesting, though, is his tube and tube/sealant setup. His front tire features Schwalbe's Super Gravity casing and is run full tubeless, but the rear tire employs a hybrid technique that is designed to allow him to be able to finish his run regardless of if he suffers a puncture. The tire uses a standard dual ply DH casing, as well as a tube, but his mechanic pours in an unspecified amount of sealant between the tire and the tube before seating the bead and pumping the rear tire up to about 31 PSI. This means that if Brendan does puncture the tube, the sealant can still prevent an instant flat and hopefully allow him to finish his run. This is exactly what happened at the last World Cup race in Mont Saint Anne, Quebec, with a puncture that would have ruined his race run had the tube/tubeless hybrid layout not be used. Instead, he managed to come across the line with 15 PSI still in his rear tire, not ideal but it kept a seventh place race run from turning into a DNF.
www.scott-sports.com
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Some run 2 tubes so you have to puncture both
Ztr remove most of the tyre bead to reduce the probability of a puncture
Once upon a time tubs were used on the road to avoid pinch flats.
Technology and manufacturing quality, repeatability has moved on, but the lower you let someone run their tyre pressure the lower many go, probability remains near the same...
motocrossactionmag.com/Reviews/News/MXA-WRENCH-TECH-THE-PLUSES-AND-MINUSES-OF-THE-BIB-3005.aspx
maybe a small air chamber in the middle so it could be adjusted?
m.fotos.mtb-news.de/p/1343206?in=user
I wasn't aiming at the problem of getting more force, i was aiming more towards the dynamics side. In general it's good to have a certain amount of sag, not too little and not too much. And you can generally take out the heavy hits with damping. Though there is then the problem of it affecting slightly slower stuff, low speed in general, damper design comes into play, etc. etc. We need experts on this topic! Ben Walker for example.