Video: A Deep Dive on Neko Mulally's Lourdes Race Bike - In Depth Ep. 3

 And 5Dev for the machining the main pivot and cranks. Cool to see all of this happening in North America via aluminum instead of Asia/carbon production.

 @salespunk: Those cranks though.

 Cascade- 'Uhh Neko, we were looking at the suspension curve of your bike, and decided it wasn't progressive enough. So we made you a new link.

 @BenPea: 5dev cranks rock

 Nice explanation.

 Kickback induces harshness under braking but a bike with less kickback isn't faster. With O-chain hard braking simply feels smoother.

 @MulallyNeko it would be awesome if you could do a video about this phenomenon, because it's obviously a parameter you considered during your design and testing, and I think it's pretty misunderstood or mysterious to most of us. What's the relationship between pedal kickback on a graph, chain growth, O-Chain, etc. I haven't ridden O-chain myself, but I'm super curious what exactly you're feeling in the suspension- Are you feeling it in your feet, or are you feeling general harshness at the rear wheel?

 For everyone interested, Steve from Vorsprung made a nice vodeo about it.

 I always wondered if the ochain make a bike feel smoother because it also isolates the feet from the chain, allowing a bit of "free float"

 I have had vivid discussions with all the usual suspects about this subject. My take is, that even while riding fast the wheel will lock up for a (mostly) short period of time. I think the worst thing in such a situation is a suddenly appearing harshness.

 The first time I really noticed it (pedal kickback) was on a 120/100 "downcountry" bike several years ago with a high engagement hub on rowdy trails. Even World Cup race courses can have slow sections, a chunky entrance, tight chunky turn, etc., where speeds slow. It occurs when there is chain line "growth" on the top of the chainline, and a more rearward axle path greatly increases this because it tries to stretch the chain on the top of the chainline as the length between the cassette and crank grows. The chain won't stretch in that direction, and it bucks the cranks/pedals backwards. A really quick and big hit can make it happen and if there's much braking going on simultaneously it can essentially make the bike a hardtail for a moment. This usually happens in really techy stuff when most of your weight is going to be centered on the pedals, or you're trying to really shift the bike around. Again, most of the time that I notice it is coming from really fast sections into a techy set-up scenario where I'm slowing to make a big move. It can be disconcerting to have the pedals bucking back at you. The o-chain is basically built to isolate that bucking from displacing your footing or jolting you in those brief, but consequential, moments. High pivot bikes don't eliminate it, it's the use of the idler pulley that essentially negates the top of the chainline growth issue, because it moves that "growth" from in between the cassette and the crank to in between the cassette and the idler pulley.

 @AnodizeErrthing: The slowspeed pedalkickback which occurs when your hub is engaged by pedaling which you likely experienced on your xc bike isn't altered by ochain.
The only relevant kickback on a DH bike which can be reduced by O-Chain is during braking on rough terrain. High pivot bikes can completely eliminate this if the idler is placed directly on the main pivot (or IC on a 4-bar if thats possible with the linkage design) but then they don't pedal well at all because you need chain growth for a full suspension bike to pedal well and feel agile.

 HP strong point is not the pedal kickback, that is just a somewhat common misconception spread by the fact that HP bike usually come with an idler. It's the axle path that makes them appreciated.

 Came to say this ^.

 Because the low engagement hub will give you a random amount of back-pedal before engagement. It just depends on where the pawls are in between the ramps when the hit comes. The O-chain should always has the same amount to give versus suspension travel.

 @justinc5716: was just about to type that. that is my understanding of it as well

 Does this mean hydra hubs suck for DH

 @Dogl0rd: ive honestly found the high engagement hubs paired with ochain to be an awesome combo! when pedaling, you dont feel any lack of engagement and still feels the same honestly, but the DH is when you feel a noticeable difference!

 @Dogl0rd: i have onyx with ochain

 @Dogl0rd: Not necessarily, but they will have definitely have more pedal kickback compared to a lower engagement hub. I went from Hydra to DTSwiss 370 with the star ratchet upgrade, and I notice a significant difference in the steadiness of the pedals on extended chunky downhills.

 @andraperrella27: I'm a sucker for gadgets so don't tell me it's good!

 The hub really doesn't have anything to do with the pedal kickback phenomenon that world cuppers are feeling. Anything above jogging pace and the freehub is already spinning faster than the wheels can catch up to it. The O-Chain is more reducing the effects of chain growth as suspension compresses.

 Malca explained the O-Chain benefits pretty well down below.

 @TEAM-ROBOT: makes sense

 @Dogl0rd: its a pretty red and unique feeling I must say. I had no expectations coming into it but it sure does feel smoother under my feet.

 That's not a spoke, it's from the large tiles at bottom of the wall.

 Its not completely new. He explained that.