Sam Hill and Michelin have been playing with compounds and casings for at least a year. Now that it has a name and a hot patch, we expect it to be for sale soon.
Michelin's take on the classic, three-two-three tread pattern seems to suit Hill well - three stage wins on his 33rd birthday and the overall in La Thuile.
Reportedly, Hill and Nukeproof have developed a signature stem to match his 7075-alloy aluminum handlebar. Interesting that Hill prefers the smaller, 31.8mm clamp diameter.
Jerome Clementz's Cannondale Jekyl
Jerome Clementz wasn't competing this round, but he was there and his bike was sporting these low-profile carbon rims, possibly sporting a Zipp NSW / 'Nest Speed Weaponry' logo, a brand that belongs to his main sponsor, SRAM. The unconventional construction is said to provide superior impact resistance, along with more compliance than thin-profile, hollow rims.
Clementz's cSixx carbon chain guide.
SRAM Goes Code Red
Special treatment: Iago Garay is running SRAM Code downhill brakes with shiny red calipers on his Santa Cruz Hightower LT. SRAM made a one-time production run for a select group of athletes and friends.
Big rotors make use of the Code's extra clamping power.
Up top, the master cylinders are polished like mirrors and the lever blades are laser-etched with the rider's name.
Iago Garay's Santa Cruz Hightower LT - liking the hot chocolate frame color.
SRAM Eagle 34t chainring for La Thuile's 8000-foot transfers and an e*thirteen top guide for the downs.
RockShox Super Deluxe RCT coil shock
Crankbrothers Mallet pedals with wide axles all the pins set 2mm out.
Thomas Lapeyrie's Orbea Rallon
Orbea's custom paint options have been put to good use here.
Offset yoke with the suspension chip set low and slack.
Galfer rotors (and presumably, brake pads), Fox 36 fork and color-matched Enve M7 rims.
Rotor cranks with a round, C-Ring. Crankbrothers pedals and dropper seatpost.
SRAM Guide brakes with the lever set relatively flat, which seems to be the preferred position for the French riders.
Enve stem with OneUp EDC top-cap tool stash.
Orbea's offset mount makes just enough room for the bottle to clear the Fox DHX2 shock reservoir.
Ruaridh Cunningham's Trek Slash
Ruaridh Cunningham switches his focus from World Cup DH to enduro on the Trek World Racing team. Interesting that the rear tire and the Reverb seatpost's seal-head are blacked out.
Deathgrips and SRAM's Code red personalized levers.
SRAM Code red VIP calipers and an Eagle X0 drivetrain,
@TW80: That one is actually more like a sand color and I think I like it (matching tires notwithstanding). It reminds me of my old Army desert fatigues. Definitely different than the other brown ones in my opinion. Previous years were all neon and bright so they're just swinging back the other direction.
@TW80: Ehyuyuy my bike is already covered in mud, is that the concept??? Will anyone buy poop colored bikes??? It's like that turd brown Kia you saw and was like they better have gotten a mad deal on that piece.
The Magic Mary was not an original. The new Michelin is more of a reincarnation of the Michelin Comp 32. Hopefully with an updated carcass. Lighter, tubeless ready and maybe available in different widths. Back in the day the Comp 32 was a 2.8, DH casing weighing in around 1400 grams.
@WAKIdesigns: you reckon in 10 years time, pinkbike commenters will take a look at a tyre and say, “can’t believe it’s just another Aquila knock off” or “looks like a Hill” ? And we’ll have to take a journey down into the village from our hilltop shacks and explain to the frightened townsfolk of Pinkbike, “let me tell you the legend of Maxxis and Schwalbe” They’ll think we’re mad until we show them the gilded pages from Dirt magazine. Lovely image.
@dhrracer: Magic Mary being the descendant of Michelin Comp 32? What exactly was that tyre good at? It was as good as Gazzalodi. Weighed a fricking ton. It was the time when High Roller was considered a good tyre, better than Minjon DHF. Come on people know fricking nothing about tyres back then. People were buying Nokian NBX or Continental Diesel, may it wretch in hell.
This looks almost exactly like MM, it has bigger center knobs but pattern is fricking same. And there’s not that much to like about MM anyways when it is not pissing from the sky and track doesn’t look like peanut butter
@WAKIdesigns: While I'm with you about the original HR, NBX and so on, the 32 along with the 16 were pretty good tires. The rubber was melting faster than some in Sahara (especially the 16) but they were grippy.
On the other hand I find it funny how people go-on about thread paterns, to me as long as there are not major flaws (like the HR1) it's mostly down to how good the coumpound is. If you look at car racing or motor bike racing they all use the same paterns, Mtb is going that direction too, we tried few different things that didn't work and now they are all going toward what works. And go tell the Brits, the Irish and even many French that MM isn't good if the ground is not soft. 2 mates are actually riding DirtyDs all year round even in rock solid bike parks, and can show quite good results at national levels so ...
@WAKIdesigns: I was riding a 2.8 Comp 32 back in the years (2002-2003) on the front of my DH bike and it was pretty amazing at finding traction everywhere, even on wet roots and rocks. At that time, few tires were able to match the grip of this tire and I am pretty sure it would still hold its own against the best of today.
@cool3: I get the sentiment, I get where you are coming from but it's like saying a 2003 Super T was a fork that could match modern standards. You were also highly probably not even close as good rider as you are today. Please remember that there were extremely few good tyres back then. People thought High Roller rolled faster than Minion DHF and thus was a better racing tyre. We as humanity knew very little about tyres, current average rider would be a rather fast dude in 2003. Michelin Comp 32 wouldn't stand up to current standards because it was a dry weather tyre, the spacing between knobs is too small so it was packing with mud. Side knobs are some exo sketch of a fallen artist. There's no channel between side and center knobs so there's no way for side knobs to dig in. It's hard to tell what does what there. So my guess is, the tyre had a huge volume giving grip like modern plus tyres and since we all sucked at riding we thought it had lots of grip. It cannot compare to current Michelin RockR2.
If you want we can analyze most Michelin tyres of the time. Like Comp 16 - theoretically a High Roller, in reality, side knobs are flimsy, with not enough meat under them to support them during a harder lean. Then the DH24 - technically a Minion DHR. Best braking tyres out there. Some of the worst cornering DH tyres out there.
The only Michelin tyre of the time that could be rocked today was Mud 3, however even today it would be phased out by Shorties or Magic Marys since race results have proven that center knobs of wet screams and muds are unnecessarily long. So cut down Mud 3 - you can show up to a World Cup today and you wouldn't miss much if anything
@dhrracer: @dhrracer: You need to get some glasses if you think the new michelin tire looks like the old comp 32 (users.telenet.be/vanrulu/Te%20koop/Michelin%20Comp32%202.80%20Soft%20.JPG). Back in the day Michelin made original looking tires that worked great eg Comp16 and comp24 which were then copied by Maxxis and Intense. It makes me sad to see that Michelin is now copying Schwalbe instead of coming out with something new or hell bringing back their old designs with new compounds. Their new enduro tire (www.mtb-mag.com/en/first-ride-the-new-michelin-wild-enduro) looks promising though.
@SintraFreeride: All of their new Enduro tyres look good already. Maxxis may as well have copied their designs but for instance high roller was a better tyre than comp 16 it emulated. Hr2 is closer to center knobs of comp 16 but still, knobs ramped so much have more rolling resistance than square ones.
@WAKIdesigns: what are you smoking Waki ? HR was rubbish, once into a corner if for any reason you even just looked at your brake levers you'd be on the ground wondering what happened. Comp16 was excellent with amazing rubber and traction. Side knobs were good for roughly 10 runs which made it not an economical choice but when they phased it out and I had to transition from 16 to DHF ST it wasn't with much conviction.
Comp24 really was rubbish at anything but braking.
@Balgaroth: I never said HR was hood, I hated it, just like HR2 somce both have on/off grip. Plenty of it when it’s on, and you never know when it’s off. Only softest compounds are mitigating it, and they never come close to Minion DHF in terms of predictability.
@thenotoriousmic: HR or HR2 ? Either way as a front tire I don't see how, maybe for mud clearance by a short advantage. Other than tht, DHR2 is better at braking for rear dutties, DHF is better up front for cornering.
@Balgaroth: hard dry conditions the minion is absolutely awesome . I’ve been using it loads recently in this dry weather but the high rolller works way better on pretty much everything else. Personally prefer it on the rear to the dhr2 as well as the high roller has better side nobs. The high roller works really well on pretty much everything other than deep mud where I’d put a shorty on where the minion only really works well on fast dry trails and it’s pretty poor when taken out of its comfort zone.
@WAKIdesigns: minions clog if you take them near wet dirt. There a dry tyre, high rollers are intermediate with the shorty being a wet tyre but the high roller over laps the minion and shorty because it works on everything where the shorty and minion don’t.
@thenotoriousmic: you forgot to realize that British mud is very special. In most places Minion DHF is possibly the most all round tyre in existence. High Rollers 1 and 2 may be ok for DH in wet, but they have lots of rolling resistance and they climb like shit. Ramped knob design of this kind just doesn't work. Anyways, mud and climbing aside, Highrollers have awful on/off grip, zero transition, zero warnings. You feel nothing when you start leaning, then suddenly when you edge it you have unmatchable grip and then... you die.
@WAKIdesigns: personally find them really predictable but feel that way about shortys but the side nobs are absolute traction factory’s and what makes these tyre so good. By on off do you mean the slide you sometimes get when you move from centre to side nobs? Because the minions the same and that’s what let’s the side nobs grab so well and yes they are poor at climbing.
Minions suck in the mud those big flat nobs just don’t work you want something smaller and taller to work not to mention dhf are shit at braking on anything other than solid ground and even worse in mud.
Rule of thumb, if you can’t see your tyre print run minions if you can run a high roller. If you leave a rut or it’s very dry and loose run a shorty but the high roller works well in minion and shorty territory where the others don’t really over lap.
The big flat nobs on the minion do not like mud at all
I am currently painting some calipers red for a few selected freinds and athlete,s
First you sand the caller then spray with a can of red spray paint.
Very hi teck stuff indeed.
@aushred: Well, yes, but to my knowledge, they've never made MTB components before, under SRAM ownership or previously. Only parts for the road disciplines - road, cross, TT/tri, track, etc. Their focus is carbon aero. I suppose you could put their stems and seatposts on a mountain bike, but that's not what they were designed for. I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with the brand being expanded onto the dirt side of things - but I guess HED did it, so what can I say?
@gcrider: If memory serves, Bouwmeester where acquired by the Selle Royal Group. Not sure how that fits in with Zipp, but the profile is unmistakably Bouwmeester.
@jaycubzz: I don't know why everyone complains about expensive wheels. Can most afford to buy them? Definitely not, but right now you can buy $1200 carbon wheels. Buy those and in five years buy wheels that are better than them for the same price because the technology has been developed and will trickle down. We should be happy that so many expensive wheels are being released because that means better wheels for us down the road. And even better the $1200 wheels now will be $500 because there will be so many wheels better than them that that will be all they're worth. And they'll still be just as good. Progress starts at the top.
@jason745: Good eye. The BCs are unique because solid. I wonder if that's the case for the NSWs. Should we expect something new from Crankbrothers soon? The latest in carbon rim tech is the lowest profile yet. They look more like box section alloy rims. Race Face and the Hive have already moved in this direction, but are unsolid afaik.
@ceecee: They look like box section alloy, but the actual cross section of the Bouwmeester is completely solid, like a single wall motocross rim (or like the old Sun Phat Albert, which was rapidly replaced by the Sun DoubleWide, since the Phat Albert would bend on the slightest impact). The key thing here is that carbon may totally change the viability of this design, and the material and design may actually compensate for each others shortcomings. They have one thick wall, and so may be less fragile than traditional thin double-wall carbon, or single wall aluminum. Plus they are supposed to have more designed in flex, since the structure is intrinsically less rigid due to its smaller cross section.
@thekaiser: Thanks. Interesting tech. Looks like Bouwmeester gave up on it. I'm still keen to see if the NSWs are solid, and if subjected to very high falutin' biomimetic design. Found some Phat Albert: www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1608714
Hmm conspicuously absent from Ruaridh's bike are number of key Bontrager components - no Line Dropper, Line Pro wheels, or SE tires - and where's the RE:aktiv w/Thru-shaft? However, it is a fair representation of how the average Slash looks in the wild. Poor Kieth - no love for his components
Yup. No crap shock. I can't believe they keep pushing that abysmal thing. If they'd just stop trying so hard they'd have a heck of a bike. Get rid of Knockblock, put a normal shock on, stop doing in house components. Boom, that thing is awesome.
Deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want them on your bike. You NEED them on your bike. We use words like power, modulation, consistency. We use these words as the backbone of a product meant for stopping something. You use them as a marketing pitch. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain fluid dynamics to a man who climbs and descends with the stopping power they provide, and then questions the manner in which they provide it. I would rather you just said 'thank you', and enjoyed your ride. Otherwise I suggest you get an engineering degree and design your own. Either way, I don't GIVE A DAMN what you think you're entitled to!
Interesting how Iago Garay's Santa Cruz Hightower LT runs a RockShox Super Deluxe RCT coil shock when the frame doesn't run metric shock sizing as standard
@freductions: Agreed, looks like the lower shock mount arm on the link is shorter than on the official HTLT. I'm guessing he fit a 210x55mm shock in there?
If Trek truly believed in the suspension technology known as the ReActiv thru shaft wouldnt it being used for racing?..... Oh right, its shit and will inevitably fail.... Cant wait to start saving up to replace the one coming on my Slash...
@thenotoriousmic: working at a trek dealer you get some pretty skookum deals from trek. That and they are f*cking rad bikes those slashes.... As long as that dumb shock is working...lol
Yeah, it really makes you wonder about the "Trek Suspension Lab" guys. They have this veneer of scientific rigor and engineering expertise, but all their big innovations (like DRCV and now ReActiv) get taken off by serious riders and eventually phased out of the production models. And even the "Full Floater" frames for that matter.
It's weird, because they are supposedly so precise in their analysis that they spec different damping tunes (or at least did at one time) on the aluminum versions of some bikes vs. the carbon versions of the same model, due to the need to compensate for the intrinsically different ride qualities of alu vs. carbon. That, if true, is some serious precision, but the fact that they then dump their big innovation and go back to a more standard design undermines the whole operation.
i feel you...same over the pond. out of all the friends i know that ride a reactiv thru shaft shock, all of them busted it. some for several times, me including. that's 4 in total..beside that and the seatpost, the bike would be awesome. and at least he rides the g5 in front that should be available since around.....beginning of that year i think?
@thekaiser: as someone who has seen a f*ck ton of older broken chainstays... Id be 100% okay with full floater disappearing. Its not helping the week point of treks.
I had 3 thru-shaft shocks fail and have asked for a Super Deluxe to replace it... it will be backup for my new Fox X2. IMO, the X2 is a far superior shock anyways.
Besides the thru-shaft's reliability issues it also has a very small air volume that is touchy to adjust. Temperature and altitude have too much of an effect. Also, the range of rebound adjustment ranges from slow to medium, the recommended rebound setting for the X2 is about the same as the thru-shaft at full open. So even if the thru-shaft were reliable it still has issues.
My guess is Sam Hill likes a 31.8 clamp vs. 35mm is he runs like 750-760ish bars. He likes a bit of compliance on those widths compared to a wider 790+
Pretty much the whole field is on bars around 760mm.
It's only the super gnarly general public that need 810mm bars as they couldn't possibly ride less and oversize stems for extra stiffness.
I'm liking the look of Jerome's chainguide, cant see it on csixx's site, anyone know of any other brands that make a similiar chain guide with top and bottom coverage?
The rear rotor clearly says "CENTERLINE 200" on it. Which makes sense given the Hightower LT comes with 180 post mount in rear. Front is also 200 mm rotor in the pic because, again, Lyrik comes with 180 post mount. Add an adapter to a 180 post mount and you get a 200/203. Also can tell the rotors are 200 just by the profile near the bolt circle.
Not sure about fox. But around here, people have given up on shimano for gravity riding. Due to there unpredictable bite point, an lever pump up on the steeps. Each year, people hope the issues been sorted.
Oh , I get it, it's a 27.5 bike
This looks almost exactly like MM, it has bigger center knobs but pattern is fricking same. And there’s not that much to like about MM anyways when it is not pissing from the sky and track doesn’t look like peanut butter
(In France the name Michel has a strong connotation...)
On the other hand I find it funny how people go-on about thread paterns, to me as long as there are not major flaws (like the HR1) it's mostly down to how good the coumpound is. If you look at car racing or motor bike racing they all use the same paterns, Mtb is going that direction too, we tried few different things that didn't work and now they are all going toward what works. And go tell the Brits, the Irish and even many French that MM isn't good if the ground is not soft. 2 mates are actually riding DirtyDs all year round even in rock solid bike parks, and can show quite good results at national levels so ...
If you want we can analyze most Michelin tyres of the time. Like Comp 16 - theoretically a High Roller, in reality, side knobs are flimsy, with not enough meat under them to support them during a harder lean. Then the DH24 - technically a Minion DHR. Best braking tyres out there. Some of the worst cornering DH tyres out there.
The only Michelin tyre of the time that could be rocked today was Mud 3, however even today it would be phased out by Shorties or Magic Marys since race results have proven that center knobs of wet screams and muds are unnecessarily long. So cut down Mud 3 - you can show up to a World Cup today and you wouldn't miss much if anything
Comp24 really was rubbish at anything but braking.
Loved that tire...so angry, go grippy. It never let me down.
Minions suck in the mud those big flat nobs just don’t work you want something smaller and taller to work not to mention dhf are shit at braking on anything other than solid ground and even worse in mud.
Rule of thumb, if you can’t see your tyre print run minions if you can run a high roller. If you leave a rut or it’s very dry and loose run a shorty but the high roller works well in minion and shorty territory where the others don’t really over lap.
The big flat nobs on the minion do not like mud at all
Or "normal" as most people would say
@jason745:
His wheels got great reviews .
It is likely that he would be prohibited from developing his own line of wheels whilst being employed to develop wheels and or other stuff for them.
Hopefully we get some good new wheels out of it.
It's weird, because they are supposedly so precise in their analysis that they spec different damping tunes (or at least did at one time) on the aluminum versions of some bikes vs. the carbon versions of the same model, due to the need to compensate for the intrinsically different ride qualities of alu vs. carbon. That, if true, is some serious precision, but the fact that they then dump their big innovation and go back to a more standard design undermines the whole operation.
and at least he rides the g5 in front that should be available since around.....beginning of that year i think?
That tread pattern has always been great (and I am sure WTB weren't the first)
Solid. Flat. Nice.
k-edge.com/shop/computer-mounts/garmin-mounts/fixed-garmin-stem-mount
Here it is, and you can customize it to match your bike.
The rear rotor clearly says "CENTERLINE 200" on it. Which makes sense given the Hightower LT comes with 180 post mount in rear. Front is also 200 mm rotor in the pic because, again, Lyrik comes with 180 post mount. Add an adapter to a 180 post mount and you get a 200/203. Also can tell the rotors are 200 just by the profile near the bolt circle.