Tech Randoms - Val Di Sole DH World Cup 2023
We took a trip around the pits before everything kicked off at Val Di Sole.
The new Saracen Myst looking slightly naked
The linkage does look interesting, it will be good to get a closer look as this bike nears production.
There was a second UNNO sat in the Primal Pit this weekend, this time not in stealth black.
The swingarm has pocket machining on the inner faces.
Douglas Goodwill's Commencal Supreme had a full strip down after a tough few weeks
The Pole Onni is one crazy-looking bike.
But it is a beautifully machined bike though with one hell of an interesting linkage.
Plenty of bikes getting full strip downs. With June being pretty full on for racing the bikes have taken a pounding this month.
I love the simplicity of the NS Fuzz.
It uses a Horst link layout with a floating shock.
The stunning red GT Fury getting built up for another weekend of racing.
A pretty tiny cassette on the back of Jess Blewitt's Fury. The mech hanger also seems to double as a chain-guide stopping it from being able to drop off the bottom cog.
Some fancy work stands in the Rogue Racing pits.
Andreas Kolb's race-winning bike getting plenty of love in the Atherton pit.
Junior Dom Platt's Atherton got some more serious attention.
All good in the Magura pit.
Plenty of work on for the team at Fox.
The Fox team were going through plenty of parts with all the full fork services they've had this week.
The simplicity of the job cards on each fork leg keeps track of the setting and whose fork each one is.
But sometimes a more direct approach is needed.
Fresh oil.
Team High Country's Norcos are one of the more colourful bikes in the pits
Hope cranks, chainrings and a custom anodised link to for the Ohlins shock
Some colour coordination goes a long way
The new Hope V4 brakes have a brand new lever
Goodyear is still working on making headway in the mountain bike market, and their lineup continues to expand.
An Ohlins DH38 stipped down.
Plenty of shiny new shocks ready for their new owners
Ohlins new race support van gives the technicians a better set up to keep all the Ohlins riders running
Plenty of new Boxxers in the Rockshox pit. It can't be long now before these become the production model
The last fork in the rack patiently waiting for its turn in the stand
Turns out suspension mechanics' writing is a lot like a doctor's.
One gentle tap
and out they come
It seems like every bike had its suspension off getting serviced today.
Austin Dooley's grips getting some protection from greasy mechanics hands.
He also had some freshly serviced Ohlins Gold to go back on.
Good to see Wyn Masters out cruising the pits.
This week's Privateer project winner's bike getting some love.
Not all tool boxes are pristine.
The new Glory looks so good close-up.
It has to have one of the best paint jobs in the pits.
Even the head tube badge looks clean.
A bit of moto foam to keep out the dust and mud
Full rebuilds on the go in the Norco pits
Norco's high pivot machine getting prepped for race day.
A closer look at the Norco's lower pivot, including its bash guard.
On practice days many of the mechanics can be found working in the finish area making sure the riders can make the most of their track time.
Phill Atwill's Propain is ready to go.
Some fresh tires heading on.
Anyone order some dinner plates?
This rig supports the weheel, so you can really get behind the tire levers.
Nice to see some BOS suspension still out at the World Cup.
Nice simple directions on the compression dial. Hard or soft? Your choice.
A Bos Syors shock to match too. All getting some last-minute tweaks throughout practice using telemetry.
The Black Snake at Val Di Sole can be a wheel killer, with plenty of spare wheels being made ready all around the pits
The new Transition Racing team primed and ready to go for junior practice.
Brake services for the YT Mob bikes. Bigger rotors and new pads all round.
Post practice brake bleeds to get everything a perfect as possible before racing begins.
Two tones.
Stacey Fisher's RAAW DH bike looking fine in the sun
The new rear end on the Trek Session allows the idler pulley to be moved around, either mounted on the pivot bolt like Reece Willson's Session...
Or behind the pivot, as you can see on Kade Edwards's bike. It also looks like there's some different options of idler gear to choose from too
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Member since Nov 28, 2019
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Had a tiny smile last day they showed a whole bearing press set for XYZ bucks... just build it yourself... it's the easiest task: a couple of cylindres and you're done...
but the Santa cruz looks like it went through hell... I never scratch that plate....
The natural AS is basically the wheel trying to drive itself forward under the sprung mass. If the pivot is really high, then the drive of the wheel pushing itself forwards will mean the wheel gets sucked forward under you, extending the suspension. This type doesn't result in pedal kickback. The higher the pivot, the more natural AS you get.
The chain tension AS is the tension of the chain pulling on the swingarm to extend the suspension. The further the line of the tight part of the chain is below the main pivot point, the more AS you get. This does result in pedal kickback. The more AS, the more kickback.
Really high pivot bikes (Zerode G2, Craftworks ENR, etc) have so much natural AS that they don't need any chain tension AS at all. So they can have zero pedal kickback, or even negative pedal kickback. The chain either has no effect on the suspension, or it's actually acting to compress the suspension but the natural AS is high enough that it cancels it out and still pedals well.
Mid pivot bikes (trek session) have more natural AS than normal bikes, but they still need a reasonable amount of chain tension AS to pedal well. They don't need as much, so their pedal kickback isn't as bad as normal bikes, but if you tune for a supportive pedalling platform you will still be building in a reasonable amount of kickback.
Other than that, surprised to see a 3min19sec workstand in a WC pits (for that Norce/Hope/Goodyear/Ohlins bike). I thought it was the budget brand of the Bike Components webstore, but there seems to be little "budget" about that bike there.
The RM has a vertical shock for starters….
Autocorrect. Anyway, as a fully fledged man I've never found anything sexy about bikes. Then again, username checks out.
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