Stendec Data Acquisition: User Friendly System Anyone Can Own - Maribor DH World Cup 2019
Canyon's lead mechanic Nigel Reeve installs Stendec instrumentation on Mark Wallace's Sender.
Pinkbike's Ross Bell was in the pits at Maribor with Dave Garland and Team Canyon lead mechanic Nigel Reeve to talk about Garland's Stendec data acquisition system and its potential benefits for rank-and-file racers who pay their own way to the venues. Data acquisition has found its way into just about every key player in World Cup downhill pits, and the Canyon Team has been using the Stendec system since January. Garland says that, after four years of development, Stendec is finally ready for market.
The price? Garland says he's sussing that out, but it won't be cheap. The kit includes software and an array of pressure, speed and acceleration sensors used to assess the usual suspension action, but also includes functions for braking, ride height, and
The price? Garland says he's sussing that out, but it won't be cheap. The kit includes software and an array of pressure, speed and acceleration sensors used to assess the usual suspension action, but also includes functions for braking, ride height, and
Stendec founder Dave Garland
 | The objective was always for any mechanic or any rider to be able to use this and within a very small amount of time - within a day - to be able to use it accurately. |
The braking sensor is sensibly compact and integrated into the caliper mount.
The goal is to provide enough useful information to allow mechanics to make deliberate and positive adjustments so the knowledge gained can be applied and verified before race runs begin. Garland says that the last two years of Stendec's development were spent simplifying the displays and the way information was communicated to the user. "I'm not a great mathematician, nor a computer man," says Garland. "So if I can do it, anyone can." That doesn't mean the task was easy. The number crunching that the system does in order to simplify the data is "colossal" and Garland admits that he has put a fortune into the project to get it right.
Users can go as far down the rabbit hole as they want. Reeve's suspension data for Mark Wallace includes the fork crown and castings.
| The first few days it was quite a lot to take in and learn, but when you start making progress with it you realize that it's kind of endless, what you can achieve. |
Canyon has only been using the Stendec Data system since the beginning of 2019, and Reeve says the team has shaved off three to five seconds from practice runs on a two-minute track using what they've learned. That's massive considering that the top five men in Maribor were within two seconds in timed training. Reeve says that the first race the team used Stendec officially was the European Cup last week - which they used as a warm-up to get sorted before the first World Cup here.
POV cameras record each run and are used to synchronize data points with exact events on course.
Don't forget to switch on the system: Easy to manage buttons, located where you'd find a dropper lever.
When asked if the athletes would be using their "data bikes" for their qualifying or race runs, Reeve said it depended upon weather conditions: "If they do all their practice on Friday [in dry conditions] and they can get two runs in wet conditions Saturday to work stuff out, having information from the data system is going to be pretty crucial, I think."
Brake pressure sensor.
Both G-force and fork travel can be documented.
According to Garland, Canyon bought the Stendec Data system on the advice of Fabien Barel, and that both racers and mechanics needed very little shepherding to get up to speed with it. Garland dodged the question about the retail price of the system, but was quite confident that it would be well worth its cost when the actual number was revealed:
| In relation to what it does and to what's out there at the moment, it goes way beyond what anyone else in downhill is using as a data acquisition system. |
The question left to us is will privateers who do have the spending cash to pony up for a Stendec data system be able to take advantage of the benefits on race day? Garland answers that with confidence:
"In the first instance, for me, it was always about getting the best performance out of the bike and the rider together. That's how the system works. It measures both parameters and makes sure the all of that is as tidy as possible - that's what it does. It shows you where your errors are in terms of riding and bike setup, and targets that with some clever maths in the background. If you are a little unclear of which way to go, there are a number of scenarios where you can click a button and it will suggest where to make adjustments - and as soon as your mind starts to think more laterally about all of that, you'll be amazed at how clearly your mind works in terms of getting a bike and rider to work properly together."
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I could see shops having a setup service for customers, probably with a discount for customers who just bought a bike, but how many times a year will that be requested, and what would you realistically pay for it?
There's no reason they couldn't issue a temporary license.
The notion that the software license is a reason you couldn't rent out the hardware is... not valid in the slightest. The practice is pretty common, at least for something you say you think is impossible.
Sure it can be done. But what I was originally trying to say was, that I don’t see that as a widespread model used by bike shops as a relatively cheap way to provide their customers with data logging.
Might work for example in very big bike parks like Whistler, though.
Doesn’t want to say price
That's how I understand it.
Of course you can argue that it's probably going to be too expensive for just such a minor improvement.
To be clear I know nothing about it, that's just my educated guess.
An educated guess can stand alone from specific knowledge.