Track Walk & Tech Randoms: Mont Sainte Anne DH World Cup 2022

Aug 4, 2022
by Seb Stott  
The World Cup Circuit is back in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, for the first time since 2019. The track is looking fast and the weather is dry for now.

As always, Ross Bell, Andy Vathis and Nathan Hughes have been keeping an eagle eye on the riders and mechanics as they prep their bikes for a track that could hardly be more different to the last round. Here's the cream of what they've spotted so far.




Tech Randoms

Almost every single bike in the pits needed stripping back to main-frame after the carnage of West Virginia.
Almost every single bike in the pits needed stripping back to main frame after the carnage of West Virginia.

40x 8
No doubt some suspension needed extra attention after the mud last weekend.

Special spacers for Cathro.
Special spacers for Ben Cathro.

photo
Custom alloy bits on Ben Cathro s Santa Cruz V10.
Custom alloy bits on Ben Cathro's Santa Cruz V10 to increase the chainstay length (they're the ones that Greg Minnaar used for his experimentation in the past).

Todd Anderson from SRAM s custom brake tools.
Todd Anderson from SRAM's custom brake tools.

Data acquisition waiting patiently to go on Loris Vergier s Trek Session.
Data acquisition waiting patiently to go on Loris Vergier's Trek Session.

The internals of that TRP shifter.
The internals of that TRP shifter.

High tech bolt retention system.
High-tech bolt retention system.

O-Chain s are a common sighting through the World Cup pits these days.
O-Chains are a common sighting through the World Cup pits these days.

A quiet bike is a fast bike.
Mechanics battle the rattle.

Polishing off the Snowshoe mud off Gwin s bike.
The Intense Prototype finally starting to look polished.

AG prototype in it s near-purest form.

Postman working the dirt out of hub bearings. The weather did a number on the bikes last week.
Postman working the dirt out of hub bearings. The weather did a number on the bikes last week.

Brake mount surface prep. Every detail counts at this level.
Brake mount surface prep. Every detail counts at this level.

Teagan Cruz adds a token
Teagan Cruz adds a token.

Airtags are the most valuable pieces of kit in everyone s luggage right now.
Airtags are the most valuable pieces of kit in everyone's luggage right now.

A set of pads from West Virginia after just one finals run.
A set of pads from West Virginia after just one finals run.

Wheel builds going on left and right in the pits. This track will is probably the best test bed you can get for quality control.
Wheel builds going on left and right in the pits. This track will is probably the best test bed you can get for quality control.

Andread Kolb s Atherton bike down to it s bare bones.
Andreas Kolb's Atherton bike down to its bare bones.

Ethan Craik s GT prototype in the stand.
Ethan Craik's GT prototype in the stand.

A little privacy for a ess delicate part of Nicole s rebuild at Commencal Muc-off
A little privacy for a less delicate part of Nicole's rebuild at Commencal Muc-off.

No bushing or bearing survived the Snowshoe mud.
No bushing or bearing survived the Snowshoe mud.

The Track

The new section of track features some loamy bits and a slew of stumps.
The new section of track features some loamy bits and a slew of stumps.

Big rocks are littered across upper woods a classic MSA staple.

Original MSA motorway below the Stevie Smith drop is still in the mix.

Axle deep ruts of the old new section.
Axle deep ruts of the old 'new' section.

Wide natural rough as it gets.
Wide, natural, rough as it gets.

Some prisitine forest hides the new section that is in fact an extremely old section.
Some pristine forest hides the new section that is in fact an extremely old section.

A long low step down replaces the now quite iconic shark fin.
A long, low step down replaces the now quite iconic shark fin.

The infamous rock drop on which MacDonald had his crash has been cut.
The infamous rock drop on which MacDonald had his crash has been cut.

3 years ago was one extremely bad day on this hillside for Brook MacDonald. His recovery has been an inspiration.
3 years ago was one extremely bad day on this hillside for Brook MacDonald. His recovery has been an inspiration.

The Quebec roots await their first rain due for practice day.
The Quebec roots await their first rain due for practice day.

We ve sure missed that view.
We've sure missed that view.




Author Info:
seb-stott avatar

Member since Dec 29, 2014
295 articles

113 Comments
  • 56 1
 The track was perfect yesterday, having a little rain this morning for practice today. Everyone seems happy to be back, even had a picture with Thibault Daprela yesterday
  • 8 1
 wow amazing.
  • 1 0
 Any predictions? Wink
  • 7 2
 Helicopter in place as well?
  • 45 0
 I like how the pictures of the track look like a nice fun, techy trail you'd love to ride. Then insert a human into the picture to get the proper context of grade and chunk and its "oh f*ck I would die if I rode that".
  • 12 0
 So it's the same as any WC track then? Having seen two and ridden one (slowly) yep they are way bigger irl.
  • 4 64
flag Gabe001 (Aug 4, 2022 at 11:21) (Below Threshold)
 @djm35: did anyone ask for your input lol - you PB commenters are something else
  • 32 0
 @Gabe001: …it’s a comments section in an article? Are people not supposed to comment?

Holy crap, we’ve been doing it wrong all along.
  • 1 0
 Even if you walked it, then rode it, then rode it, then rode it, then rode it, then rode it, then rode it, then raced it or just rode it again, while many others were doing the same? A little death never hurt anyone
  • 24 1
 "Custom alloy bits on Ben Cathro's Santa Cruz V10 to increase the chainstay length - Something Greg Minnaar experimented with in the past."

As I understood it, they're actually the same bits the GOAT was using but Greg preferred the stock length, so the Giraffe was able to half-inch them. About a 470mm chainstay length! Or at least that's what was said in the bike check earlier this year: www.pinkbike.com/news/ben-cathro-santa-cruz-v10-sea-otter-2022.html
  • 12 6
 You would have thought by now SC would have finally managed to produce a bike that fits him properly
  • 35 0
 @chrismac70: The fact that Greg went back to the stock CS length means they did produce a bike that fits him properly. Greg just wanted to check out a longer version, because he loves to faff.
  • 2 3
 @chrismac70: good point! They probably keep thinking he's going to retire.
  • 1 0
 @mammal: I don't think the problem is SC but Greg himself. +20 years racing and his bike gets longer every year...
  • 20 2
 That picture of the Atherton illustrates why I hate internally routed brakes.
  • 5 1
 The very first, Commencal, photo isn't much better
  • 15 0
 at least you dont lose your swingarm like that
  • 17 1
 imagine how much of a pain in the ass it must be to be an EWS mechanic dealing with cable-integrated handlebars/stems
  • 16 0
 @optimumnotmaximum: comes in handy everytime swingarm decides to get lost in the woods, saved me a couple of new swingarms already!
  • 1 3
 I mean... it keeps things together and close by. Don't really see any harm. Every time I've pulled my bike apart, I'm glad that my rear triangle just sits right next to where it should be, rather than having to hold it, or put it down elsewhere. It's like a personal frame holder haha.. Makes putting it all back together slighlty (let's emphasize that slightly) easier to just slap it all back together quickly. Plus, saves on having to zip tie all the stuff back down.
  • 18 0
 It'd be so awesome to see Brook MacDonald podium this weekend and get some vengeance on that track
  • 16 5
 "Andread Kolb's Atherton bike down to its bare bones."

Umm, yeah sure, "bare". Except for that stupid internally routed brake hose just hanging on there. Even pro mechanics, who can likely do a bleed in their sleep, don't want to open hoses unless they absolutely have to. Shit, that one runs interally for a grand total of like 4 inches through the chainstay! There will be more hose outside the chainstay than inside when it's built. Which marketing wanker over in Wales insisted that had to happen? So dumb.
  • 4 6
 I'm all for internal routing for the rear brake. I always think of it like a third hand, just holding your stuff nearby (as seen in that picture). Doesn't seem to really be an inconvenience. I doubt they need to replace that brake hose very often, and it doesn't really affect anything if you need to bleed the brakes anyways. I could see how the shift housing would need replacing more often, but then they are externally routed more often on some bikes.
  • 3 1
 It's not just limited to 'marketing wankers over in Wales'. So many damn bikes have it and executed poorly. Can't stand it honestly. Especially on MTB's
  • 2 1
 @leon-forfar: Not even close to "all the stuff", it's just the chainstays. And leaving external routing attached would do the same thing, as well, if you were truly that weird.

This one is also one of the worst offenders of internal routing just for the bullet point of "full internal", in that it only goes internal for a fraction of the actual run along the chainstays. All the effort wasted to design 2 ports, and then actually route it, for 4 whole inches of internal out of like 12 inches from front triangle (also silly, but at least it's a significant part of the run) to caliper? So dumb!
  • 2 0
 @justinfoil: Fair enough, at least on that bike, and you're right, external routing/ zip ties would do the same. Santa Cruz's, for instance, just have front triangle, rear triangle, and the two links (and the bolts/sleeves that hold it together). When I've done bearing replacements, it's nice that you don't have to remove anything but the links, and everything kind of stays put in the stand. Not being a racer, I personally would take my frame looking clean all the time for the slight inconvenience the few times I have to fully pull the housing/ hoses through the frame rather than seeing it all.

I do think that internal routing has to be done right for it to be worth considering. Better to not bother if it isn't fully guided on a simpler frame.
  • 8 0
 Interesting that you mention how many riders are using O-chain now... I still struggle to understand how pedal kickback is possible for DH riders (given that they are always moving at a decent speed, so their freehubs would seem to be doing the job of the o-chain already...?).
  • 2 2
 Have you ever timed yourself riding chainless on a DH trail. On pure DH (no pedaling), most people are faster without a chain. The O-Chain almost makes your bike behave like it has no chain when coasting.

If there is any chain growth through the suspension travel, then the freewheel acts like a brake and stiffens the suspension; the O-Chain reduces that.
  • 11 1
 But how is it different to just using a hub with less points of engagement?
  • 3 1
 @Paco77 has a point. Pretty sure that pedal kickback is significantly less of a concern than we think for most frame designs.
  • 3 0
 @Paco77: with a hub you never know how many degrees it will be until engagement as it’s never the same but on an Ochain you’ll always have 6,9, or 12 degrees of float if you want to call it that

Regardless of debate on how much of an issue things are or not, I decided to try an Ochain and it’s kind of nutty how noticeably smoother things are underfoot
It’s a rad feeling!
  • 13 0
 @Paco77: Switching from low POE to high POE and back I noticed zero difference in pedal feedback to my feet. All the math that says it's impossible for chain growth to engage the hub at typical gears/rolling speeds. But there was an interesting theory from Steve at Vorsprung (and others) that what people perceive as PKB (and what ochain helps with) might be feedback from (a) clutch derailleurs resisting chain growth, and (b) the actual mass of the chain flapping around. Seems at least plausible.

www.vitalmtb.com/features/MTB-ADVICE-with-Team-Robot-ANSWERS-2,3031
  • 5 0
 @stormracing: yeah all the reviews seem to tell a similar story about how you can really feel it, I just can't see how it works that well... guess i should try it and see for myself!
  • 2 0
 @bkm303: I think that's a very good point about the mass of the chain moving around - probably some truth in that.
  • 2 0
 @R-M-R has done a lot of work looking at this stuff. I tend to think he's on the right track.
  • 5 0
 @bkm303: There's a good reason why you noticed zero difference: because there is zero difference! (While coasting without lock-up, that is.)

I've posted the math several times in the past, so I'll just summarize this time:

• When coasting without wheel lock-up, there is no realistic ratio of shock shaft speed to wheel speed that will produce any kickback, let alone problematic kickback. I base this statement on actual telemetry data. Only a trials rider using rear suspension - Akrigg, Macaskill, and the like - would produce such a scenario when landing a drop with nearly zero forward movement. Typical riding on any commercially available bike cannot produce any kickback while coasting without wheel lock-up.
• When coasting with wheel lock-up, some kickback is likely. Not the maximum possible amount, mind you, as that requires a 0% to 100% stroke impact while the wheel is locked, with zero hub driver rotation. The total kickback is a function of the fraction of the travel used, reduced by any float prior to engagement from the hub or O-Chain.
• When pedaling, a sensation of kickback is unavoidable, and neither a low-engagement hub nor the O-Chain will help. The O-Chain float bottoms out by design while pedaling to avoid a "rubbery" pedaling feel, so there's no remaining float to take up the kickback. The cranks don't actually rotate backward when pedaling, there's just a momentary disruption of the rotation that can feel like they went backward.

Regarding the other points:

• Clutch: The effect isn't literally zero, but it's small. Use a finger push on your derailleur's control arm and compare the breakaway force to the force of an impact - especially the forces World Cup DH racers put into the chassis. The clutch breakaway force is tiny.
• Chain inertia: Again, it's small. The upper run of chain is usually constrained by contact with the chainstay, and can be constrained further with an STFU Bike or similar.

Steve at Vorsprung is one of the brightest and most sensible people in the entire bike industry. This topic is the only time I can recall that I've disagreed with him, and I believe he and I agree in principle, differing only on an error in the calculation. If I recall - it's been a couple years - he compared the unsprung mass of the chain to the unsprung mass of the rear suspension and wheel, in which case the effects of the chain are not trivial. Instead, the inertial forces of the chain should be compared to other unsprung masses and the sprung mass, which will show the total unsprung mass effects are moderate and the chain effects are small, compared to the total impact force - and the whole picture gets fuzzy when we try to account for how the chain moves during impact events.
  • 2 0
 @R-M-R: yeah I mean the RD and chain forces don't seem like enough to make a big difference, but at least they're not mathematically proven to NOT make a difference (like freehub engagement while coasting). Tbh all my intuition/math says ochain should be pointless but most everyone who's tried one says it's not. I have a hard time imagining people would get so excited about it if it *only* makes a difference during rear wheel lockups...
  • 2 0
 @bkm303: placebo effect? If people spend a lot of money on an o-chain, they'd probably want to feel like it does something, and not feel stupid for spending hundreds of dollars and extra grams on a component that does nothing.
  • 2 0
 @ratedgg13: I'm sure that's a piece of it, like all the times you've heard "this fork/shock totally transformed my bike... I mean, I haven't really dialed it in yet, but it's the best ever" lol. But that wouldn't explain the reviewers and pros who report noticing a big difference. It *should* only be noticeable in low gears / low speeds / while braking, in which case I don't really understand all the excitement, especially from fast DH riders. But idk, if you try it out at low speed and it feels good, and that makes you feel confident in a race run then I guess it "works". Sometimes in racing believing you have the right setup is more important than the setup itself.
  • 2 0
 @bkm303: very valid point! Reminds me of those anti vibration stickers some riders used to put on their frames. Either it was psychological or they were Getting paid to have them there ("marketing"), but I suppose probably the same result in the end.
  • 1 0
 @Paco77: An o-chain would always provide the maximum angle before feeling pedal kickback whereas with a low POE hub, you could still be at a point in the rotation with only 1 degree of float before engagement. But I also think its all a bit faffy and I ride onyx hubs and really never worry about pedal kickback. It is a fun thought experiment all this stuff but does seem a bit silly
  • 2 1
 @R-M-R: All the math in the world can't hide what happens when you hit multiple ledges on a big descent and feel that hard whack in your pedals like your cranks just got hit by a freeze ray.

If someone wants to call it "kickback", fine. I call it brick feet. On a single pivot (assuming no idler) vs a multi-pivot (FSR, DW Link, Maestro, etc) it feels like your feet turn rock hard because the drivetrain/chain/cranks/suspension all engage intensely and every bit of what you are whacking gets sent back through your feet.

All that's really happening in the simplest form is that your feet and body weight are trying to turn the cranks and make that bike move forward with an amount of force you couldn't normally generate while rolling/stomping on the pedals. The suspension cycling, the angle of the rock/root/hole you just hit is so square...that even the full weight of your body isn't enough leverage to push the crank down and make the bike move forward in the gear you're in.

All O-Chain really does is dampen that harsh feedback. It's enough feedback on a single pivot/high pivot, that if you're wearing any flat shoe other than a full on Five Ten Impact...you can get your feet bounced off the pedals. Really amplified when wearing Vans. Multiple square hits or a braking bumps and that lack of forward movement of your pedals combined with the chain yanking on the hub/suspension & heaven forbid the brakes are on....and the best way to describe it is definitely kickback.

Maybe the cranks aren't actually jumping into reverse....but you can't tell anybody's feet that. Beer
  • 10 0
 I can only imagine (being 5ft 5) what it must feel like having to make your xl frame longer because your too tall!
  • 1 0
 You are an inch taller than me...
  • 10 0
 I know that "DH is the F1 of MTB" but seriously all the bearings in frames need to be replaced every race ?
  • 14 1
 Imagine if you lived in a country where it's like that nine months of the year Smile
  • 13 0
 When you have " full factory " sponsors an a personal or team mech....
  • 12 0
 I’ve often wondered what teams do with ask the discarded stuff that is still perfectly useable in the real world. I hope they don’t just Chuck it all away
  • 16 0
 @chrismac70: Bryceland used to talk about how much of it gets binned…
  • 11 0
 @stormracing: ive listened to a lot of stories about privateers recovering and using parts from the factory team bins too
  • 10 0
 @stormracing: I remember hearing in amateur rally, the best way to get cheap tires is to go to pro teams and they'll hand out their 95% tread life left race tires after the race for free.

Has anybody tried at the wc pits to get some free, barely used bearings, brake pads, tires, maybe even marginally dented wheels?
  • 5 0
 @tom-mc: i was getting my tyres from the Commencal team back when Remi was still riding for them. Basically fresh sets of tyres that had just run practice.
  • 4 0
 @Drims: Remi's mechanic has said in no uncertain terms you DO NOT want Remi's used parts. Hah!!!

Tires sure...but not much else.

He had a pic of Remi's race run rear wheel from Andorra a few years back. It was practically an octagon but you'd never notice it without the close up pics. Beer
  • 1 0
 Snowshoe mud followed by pressure washing equals gritty bearings.
  • 1 0
 @chrismac70: I used to work for a wheel company and we did tech support at WC races, you don't want to know how many bearings were tossed that most people would run otherwise!!
  • 5 0
 @chrismac70: They do throw away some mangled rims and defiantly do with tyres (one time use and in the bin) I've been to the pits areas the day after a world cup and there's lots of stuff to be foraged!
  • 2 0
 @IsaacWislon82: 2015 Windham World Cup I was able to get 4 tires that were being discarded with minimal wear, perfectly acceptable for my riding.
  • 4 0
 At NORBA Nationals, there was this East Coast kid that was just a SuperFan. Every race, he'd walk the pits just outright harrassing the pros by name all day. Really nice kid, but relentless.

At the last day of Snowshoe, you heard him stop at each pit and say the same sentence loudly, clearly and without a hint of sincerity. Just like a robot: "Do you guys have any...FREE...USED....DOWNHILL TIRES?" followed by "Nope" and a sincere "Ok. Thank youuuu."

And on to the next pit.

People all loved that kid, signed for him without hesitation but he only got so many free used downhill tires.
  • 5 0
 @honourablegeorge: and that's only US mud, not proper UK mud (which we all known is the muddiest mud)
  • 3 0
 @IsaacWislon82: yeah man. When I lived in Morzine in the early 00’s we all ran ex wc tyres and anything else we could get our hands on…. Just ask Damo and Marshy!
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: for what it's worth, Snowshoe isn't mud. It's cake mixed with the thickest of peanut butter. It doesn't have the crazy slickness of UK mud. But what it does have is a refusal to move. It's just there sticking to everything it touches in massive, heavy gobs & gets dumped all over the rocks and roots.

It can get similar to UK mud if it's actively raining or just had a downpour. But that's way better than the chonky pottery on top of scree rock and roots it dries out to be so quickly.

Honestly, if you want to make fun of how much easier to ride someone's dirt is when wet, it's Whistler. The wettest day at Whistler I had was the grippiest wet dirt I've ever ridden. I didn't get to go out of bounds to get to the organic stuff though.
  • 1 0
 @blowmyfuse: What we really need an in depth Pinkbike article on mud and @henryquinney is the person with the experience and skill (and sarcasm) to do this very serious topic the justice it really deserves.

PS - my comment above was completely in jest. I'm sure there are a lot of places with decent slope - it's just the UK complain about it the most.
  • 1 0
 @fartymarty: I've had multiple buddies tell me UK mud is motor oil. I'll never dispute how hard UK mud is.

5 riders in the top 12 is even more proof.
  • 1 0
 @blowmyfuse: I spent a lot of time riding in the wet in Vermont, and honestly some of the more mineral-y soil runs really good in the wet, which is good bc some trails are almost always wet (looking at you, Sugarbush). Ofc the wet roots are absolute ice, but the mud was never too bad. Definitely a huge change to my new home bike park, Angel Fire, which can turn mega slick out of nowhere but very infrequently does so. Slickest I've ridden has to be Windrock in January though- nothing like that mix of barely-thawed, clay-filled mud, ice and snow.

I think a pseudo-scientific Pinkbike article on who has the slickest mud would be interesting- data on soil clay, silt and sand composition is pretty available (at least in the US), as is number of rainy days and annual temps/precipitation/humidity.
  • 2 0
 @IsaacWislon82: I love the soil in Vermont with all that chunky moss, black bogs and blocky rock. I raced Mt. Snow Nationals several years. My bikes were a disaster though. Only year one held together, I was on a burner run & it dried out. Came into Yard Sale so fast I didn't know I was gonna launch across grippy rocks and just grenaded.

Vermont (especially Mt. Snow) is the home of "Mystery Rock". BOOM!!! in the middle of a beautiful, calm, smooth grassy meadow. And your bike melts like butter!!!

Sounds strange to say, but the slickest place I've ever ridden was Deer Valley. That deep, steep sand on the slopes at 35mph headed into pitch black pines and you're just a passenger with no brakes or steering. Just death surfing.
  • 4 0
 "Custom alloy bits on Ben Cathro's Santa Cruz V10 to increase the chainstay length - Something Greg Minnaar experimented with in the past."

Pretty sure PB itself told us that those are the same bits that Greg actually used...
  • 2 0
 Correct, I had the same recollection and posted the link to the PB Cathro's bike check earlier in the comments.
  • 2 0
 @a11y: just saw that, nice work!
  • 8 6
 I know it has since May, but I remain surprised that GT put together such a nice carbon front triangle for that prototype 6-bar Fury. Surely that is expensive, not to mention a bit limiting as a prototype. Personally, I think a slower design process with many iterations, like Commencal did or like Intense is doing now would be more likely to create a good racing bike
  • 20 0
 What's to say they haven't done lots of aluminium prototyping before committing to the carbon front end? just because it's not public doesn't mean it hasn't been done.
  • 3 4
 @melonhead1145: They could have done so. But not race-testing it on the World Cup is a bit odd, considering if I were a designer I would see racing as the ultimate test of whatever prototype I created, and part of what they pay those racers to do.
  • 2 0
 @ryanandrewrogers: If you have a set of test tracks then you can probably get better results than on a race weekend where chance plays a part in a test result, they could always put 1 result into minitab and run the analysis to see check the validity of the result.
  • 2 0
 You can prototype in carbon quickly using a destructive mould technique
  • 2 0
 @betsie: I see you, talking about Minitab on Pinkbike
  • 2 0
 Remember when we used to get spy shots of big bike brands secretly testing all their World Cup prototypes at Whistler in the lift lines....grainy flip phone sneaky pics and all?

Those were the truly exciting days. Blurry...no context...boatload of rumors...no confirmation from the companies. Just mystery and 20 pages of bad CAD and/or paint drawings guessing what was going on.

I miss forums.
  • 1 0
 6 bar? Pretty sure that’s a high pivot Horst link looking at it
  • 1 0
 @TannerValhouli: it is a Horst
Link, yes.
  • 1 0
 @TannerValhouli: Very correct I was mixing it up with another prototype
  • 4 0
 Pinkbike you should commission Santa Cruz to make a a custom aluminium bike for Cathro so he doesn't have to ad parts to it to make it longer! Santa Cruv V10 in XXXL FTW!
  • 1 0
 How about sc actually make one. In sure Greg would be delighted to ride a bike that fits him
  • 1 0
 @chrismac70: Well he is riding a stock one now, so there is that.
  • 3 1
 It is beyond overkill to strip a bike completely down after a weekend of racing. Given this logic I need to tear down my bike after half a day in the Whistler bike park. 10 laps top to bottom in a day would equate to the number of practice and race laps they get on a race weekend. I can understand checking every bolt, lubing things up and servicing the suspension, but the full frame rebuilds are a waste of time.

I wonder if many have practice bikes and race bikes. Having two or more in the mix saves downtime. Anyone have insight on this?
  • 4 0
 I mean, at that level and at those speeds every little thing helps. If that means taking the time and expense to refresh bearings and wear parts before every race, even if to the average rider those parts are perfectly usable - that's an advantage. Yeah I agree it's overkill but that doesn't mean it isn't worth it to them.
  • 1 0
 Maybe they could introduce a system like the ews. If I understand correctly at ews races you get a time penalty for swapping in new parts during a race day. Maybe each rider should be allotted X number of parts per season, and if they go over that they loose points? Your replaced bearings and tires every run? Looks points. You keep the same stuff and show its durability? Kudos.
  • 3 0
 @ratedgg13: I could see that being interesting, although I also think that most people watch DH to see the absolute fastest riders out there ride the absolute gnarled tracks at the absolute craziest speeds. Taking points off for going too fast and wearing parts quicker just seems like unnecessary complexity and might take away from the spectacle.
  • 1 0
 @daceto817: but then companies would have to make team gear (and hence trickle down stuff for us) prioritized on durability rather than bling factor. Might loose a tiny fraction of all out speed in return for way better quality and durability.
  • 4 0
 Definitely milking the fact that the bikes saw some mud in the captions lol.
  • 5 0
 Here we come! Oh Canada!
  • 6 0
 Finn for the win? I hope so, he's due IMO. After watching him race last weekend, I'm hoping he took it easy so he could let it all hang out for MSA.
  • 2 0
 @jaytdubs: I would be super hyped if he took it. This is a physical track and he's pretty fit, so I think he has a good shot.

Stopping MoMo may be impossible at this point, but I'd say Bruni, Finn, Loris, and the GOAT all have a decent shot. I'd be pretty pumped if Bernard put down a heater as well. So close last time.
  • 2 0
 @bonkmasterflex: agreed, if that practice crash in Andora didn't stop Amaury, I don't think anything will, he's so dialed in right now. MoMo is a racing machine and IMO he can take more risks on his bike in part because he's so big and strong.

I think Finn's got all the tools as well, and it's great to see him to starting to dial in his consistency and get the mental game sorted.
  • 3 0
 Does anyone sell those chainstay extensions? Probably needs to be tailored for each specific frame, but I'd like to try one.
  • 3 3
 Make them
  • 1 1
 is that marshy in the scott sports t? I had figured that he was just done traveling which was why he left the syndicate, but did he and greg have a break up??
  • 2 0
 Fox post mount finishing is bad from the factory. Uneven paint evrrywhere
  • 1 0
 Man those spacers under Cathros stem have make it similar to like a 70mm stem
  • 1 0
 Yeah, curious what it does to handling.
  • 1 0
 I will miss the shark fin. to see the landing behind it gives me the creeps...
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 Why the conical washers on such short bolts? Surely they aren't long enough reach through a canted adapter?
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 Do you know why Norco's riders are using a modified Range instead of the Aurum HSP ?
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 These are my fav types of posts. Enjoy the tech
  • 1 1
 Loam (/lōm/): a soil with roughly equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay.
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 Ha! I thought the shark fin was the trickiest move on the track.
  • 1 1
 Finally some fox 40s in decent color!
  • 1 0
 Would almost be funny if they hadn't been available in gray for quite awhile.
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