bermroller

Neither of them are gold colored either. Closer to different shades of bronze, but calling it gold makes it sound like you're winning instead of coming in 3rd.

@knightmarerider: Amaury was also on a dominant streak, I dont think wheel size would have made a difference. And looking at overall results, it's clear there is no advantage at high speed, which is the claim thats being repeated.

@pisgahgnar: right and theres no difference in the majority of the high speed sections of the track, which is the point im addressing. People keep repeating the claim that full 29ers are faster there, but its not reality.

"For pure, unadulterated speed, especially in a straight line, the 29” setup will be the way to go." I keep hearing this sentiment get repeated, but it doesn't seem to be true. If it were, I would think it would show up in world cup DH results where times are extremely tight, and in recent years tracks have been very high speed. As far as I can tell every race in 2022 and 2023 except for 2 has been won with a 27.5 rear wheel. I don't think at the current level of competition any racer is going to leave free time on the majority of the track just for a couple tight corners. Where descending a full 29'er does seem to be an advantage is in fatigue reduction after having done 5000 feet of climbing. But this idea that 29'ers are faster on high speed downhills seems to be true only on paper, and the perceived experience of that speed is placebo created by the constant repetition of "rollover! rollover! rollover!" in media. In the real world that rollover makes no effective difference on the trailing wheel.

@SATN-XC: thats an insane term to use for a clear coat

"hand painted" "raw carbon finish" Im having a hard time understanding what this means.

I don't blame anyone for thinking the track wasn't as gnarly if they only saw the race broadcast. The lighting was so bad the track wasn't visible in the trees. Maybe they could have used better lens filters, I don't know much about that stuff. Go watch the riders videos in practice riding and looking each section individually to get a better sense of the track.

This dude has really never seen a freewheel before, huh? You know you can zoom in on a browser right?

@Ttimer: I mostly agree, but equipment does matter when the margins are so slim, to the extent that top riders will use competing sponsors equipment with the logos covered to not be at a tenth of a second disadvantage. Equipment definitely matters less at amateur races though.

You can replicate this bar position for much cheaper and very likely stronger using this combo: https://yoshimuracycling.com/collections/stem/products/endh-stem-base-kit-dmb-base-k with this reversed https://www.onoffcomponents.com/en/krypton-dh-cnc-integrated-10mm and these bad boys https://www.sandmbikes.com/product/hardgoods/bars/6-5-bruiser-bar/ with a shim https://problemsolversbike.com/products/handlebar-clamp-shims