Tech Randoms: Nove Mesto XC World Cup 2023

 Reminds me of looking up the Scottish XC results when it was sxc.com. I got a row for having that in my flatmates laptop search history.

 an with all the drugs... definitly not sXe

 Username definitely checks out.

 @generictrailrider: Username checks.. out allll the ladies post ride with shirt off and e-150 cargo van door wide open

 We all think bike tools are expensive ...... RC stuff is insane.

 They make some nice RC stuff which they make themselves in their own factory, the tools are not just rebranded stuff from someone else. I prefer MIP tools myself though, made in the USA.

 I thought these "looked nice": am-arrowmax.com/collections/limited-edition?page=1
and there's power tools also: am-smart.com when it's sooo difficult to just turn it by hand!

 mfoga: Here ya go ! am-arrowmax.com am-smart.com

Nice looking stuff, but getting handled by dirty, oily fingers would make trying to keep all those honeycomb holes clean a full time job, so no interest from me, but they get style points for looks and anodizing........still no sale here

 @pullacowonaski: it’s not that bad. There are plenty of brands out there that work perfectly well without being absurdly expensive. I have some MIP, Integy, and Dynamite tools that are over 15 years old at this point.

They’re definitely nice for derailleur adjustments.

 I do enjoy the company name being spelled incorrectly in the caption despite the photo clearly showing the correct spelling. Attention to detail is for other websites.

 @pullacowonaski: RC tools, especially stuff from MRP is of much higher quality than Bike rubbish.

 @GT-CORRADO: Just throw em in the dishwasher

 Me

 They may look cool but don't waste you money on those they wear out too quickly. The best metric/standard hand allens are made by a company called MIP. These will last you forever and never dull out like the others.


www.miponline.com/mip-rc-tools

 Agreed. In the end it's still a Derrailleur, shifter, chain , cassette/chainring. 'Transmission' should reserved for Sram's gearbox if that ever is developed

 @bman33: the sram gearbox will be called Transmission Ultimate.

 @cherbein03: Transmission Ultimate SX, a revolution in mountain biking, requiring the rider to double clutch to change gears.

 They are prototype stickers for supension components that are not yet released

 Like $1k in service/parts for the plebs that use a LBS.

 Seems excessive, each full tear down risks damage from unnecessary remove and replace, also human error is possible. Not to diss the mechanics of course!

 @kingbike2: that's what I was thinking. I'd think a bike that is reliable for one event will more than likely be reliable for another.

I wonder if they also train on these bikes, and so they'll do a long weekend event schedule, then take the race bike for training, maybe some smaller events, but then rebuild for the next WC.

 First time I saw that was back in 1996 on the Lisbon XC World Cup,they would disassemble the entire bikes between training and race day,changing almost everything to new. Chains,cables and tires that had probably less than 100km were taken off,I was blown away.

 It is not after every ride.

Riders come with the bikes they have been training on and done minor races and they get a full service before doing some training in the course. It is just easier logistically than having to fetch bikes from riders living in different countries/areas on a regular basis.

 @opignonlibre: Thanks, as I suspected.

 @kingbike2: I think the weigh the cost of that risk against risking a failure mid race.

 @kingbike2: Definitely excessive... but excessive is the best quality a world cup mechanic can have, other than perhaps deranged attention to detail.

I suppose it's not as much of a risk when your mechanic is a world cup mechanic, they are pretty superhuman at wrenching bikes, and errors are almost unheard of.

 The RS stickers are for RS BlackBox components

 So true.

 if you put enough plastic spacers in, you get a very hard elastomer suspension

 escapecollective.cc/cervelo-turned-a-full-suspension-bike-into-a-no-suspension-bike

 That’s what she said.

 I would assume they run the suspension decently soft since they mostly just need it to maintain speed through the bumps. There aren’t any huge hits and they have lockouts for the road/gravel.

 Rock Shox XC factory tune: New stickers, reduce air pressure 20 psi

 Pulley bearings....pulley size.....tension spring?

 Curious why we call them transmission cages now.

 @warmerdamj: the new groupset is named Eagle Transmission

 From one perspective, its appalling to anyone in motor sports that we have our transmissions open to the elements, without even so much as a brush guard, and position it hanging off the rear axle on the OUTSIDE of the wheel.

But for XC racing and road biking, there is no way with current physics to get a geared transmission to be more efficient than an array of sprockets, if only because unless you have a penny farthing you'll need a chain and sprockets anyways (ignoring Ceramic Speeds fantasy). Cyclists rightly want to share as much as practical between different types of bikes- remember the "good old days" when XC bikes HAD to be 29ers with 15mm axles, everything else HAD to be 20mm axled 26ers? XC bikes HAD to have skinny bars, everything else was permitted wide bars?

XC bikes aren't likely to ever see internal transmissions, and that is going to put serious drag (pun intended) on the other mountain bike styles because its so convenient, practical, and cheaper to allow shared components, component standards, etc where practical.

 Same...I thought they were supposed to be indestructible.

 @hamncheez: are we tho ? Different frame, different suspension, different wheels, crank, cassette, heck even the derailleur is different between a XC and a DH bike. So while your argument could be somewhat valid for Trail and Enduro bikes that share the same cassette and derailleur than a XC that's about it really. And if DH bikes developped gearboxes the the tech could also be used by enduro, superenduro and freeride bikes. And yet we are stuck with derailleurs.

 @Super7: yup, same thoughts. Seemd that lower pulley on the closest cage has some kind a damage on top side.

 @Balgaroth: The derailleur used between XC, trail, all mountain, enduro, freeride, etc is the same. DH is the only difference, but a DH bike can run a full cage derailleur no problem.

 is it not so they can tweak the insides (like different shims and oils) based on course conditions that day?

 Because riders live and ride their bikes far appart from each other and from the mechanics/team. They usually are together only at the race and at training camps if the team organizes some. Since most of the elite riders are as mechanically illiterate as can be, they usually ride the crap out of their bikes and come at the race with bikes clapped out and in the need of a rebuild. Which is why track walk is always they busiest day for Teams and suspension trucks.

 As they practice the course they ask for adjustments and tweaks. Each course is diff so settings they settled on at training camps will be different than what is needed at Nove Mesto, even if its only slight adjustments. Additionally, their suspension and likely most of the bike gets rebuilt for every race and likely twice, once for XCC and again for XCO so it will be flawless. Its the same with DH or enduro as well.

 They are likely being rebuilt between the practice sessions and the actual races, so that the suspension is i the best possible shape

 There's a good vital podcast with Jordie from Fox that gets into the XC stuff. Pretty interesting comments.

 @ATXZJ: any link?

 @BiLKiNiS:

www.vitalmtb.com/features/JORDI-CORTES-The-Inside-Line-LIVE,4073

 Disassembling AXS rear cages seems like recipe for disaster. I know the mechanics are top notch but it seems like you would want to ride it for a few days before racing.

 @Snowytrail: They are likely beeing serviced when the bike arrive at the race location a week before the race, then the rides have plenty of time to ride things before the actual race

 Especially in XC….

 Hard to believe this is actually legal; it’s certainly not in the “spirit” of the rule. But NMNM XCO is not a hardtail course, so he must be planning to have the shock reinstalled for Sunday.

I’ll bet the UCI shuts this down real quick.

 @nattyd: But do you need to keep components the same? If you would replace the bearings by fixed cylinders and remove all the internals from the shock you'd have the same thing essentially, no?

 That’s wild! I hope they got the frame engineers to okay it first…

Race day only!

 @ak-77: It's the same bike frame - everything else can be changed. I'm pretty sure they use different tyres, different gear ranges for the XCC races, and then change for the XCO. I don't have a problem with this...a bit of outside thinking.

 @Starch-Anton: I don't have a problem with this either. I wasn't even aware there was a rule about this, and to be honest I find it unnecessary. Unless maybe it is to diminish the unfair advantage sponsored team riders with lots of bikes have over privateers. If that was the case and I was making the rules I'd probably just limit the total amount of equipment for a weekend, e.g. 2 frames, 6 tires, 4 chains, etc and let them figure it out how to do that.

 That's what I thought,to.

 Cue video of bats dancing to Russian beats.

 not yet, they leave that to the dh team

 " All of Trek's factory teams have made the switch from Bontrager tires this year." **Except Loris**

 I don’t think anyone in XC has ever sharpied a Maxxis. Conti or Schwalbe are the go-to tires for XC racing.

 www.pinkbike.com/news/trek-factory-racing-moves-to-pirelli-tires.html

 Money

 All Trek Factory teams are now on Pirellis; so XC, DHI, Enduro and the road team.

 If you have ever ridden OEM Bontrager you will be feeling happy for the athletes now being able to run tyres that they can trust in corners and under brakes if it’s not bone dry. Trek should sell all their bikes with Pirelli. Get rid of their weakest link.

 Shocker. SRAM releases some shit and claims it’s amazing and it’s not. They have a long history of this.

 A completely redesigned dropper post is long overdue.

 @jason3559: big facts

 @jason3559: lost all hope on the reverb a long time ago lol, don't think a new one would change anyone's minds

 Interesting, that is a bit weird.

 No I haven't. But seems like a good idea if they are getting sponsorship cash and get to ride a better tyres. Also they don't have to invest $$ into Tyre development when they won't make that back in selling high end Tyres.

from above
dougfs (14 hours ago)
www.pinkbike.com/news/trek-factory-racing-moves-to-pirelli-tires.html

 @gcrider: cheers mate. Thanks for the link

 Nice, very nice and very expensive

 that´s what they cost actually

 Are you the sales rep?

 How so? Of course a good set of tools makes the job faster, safer, more comfortable and limits wear on your components. But a decent consumer grade set from Park, Unior, Wiha or even a good set from the hardware store will do the job just fine for the home mechanic. And by home mechanic I mean to say someone who does all the maintenance and repair on the bikes of the family and some friends. I may be a bit more picky about the smaller sizes (3mm and smaller) as accuracy is more important and not all sets are there yet. But most bolts take the 4mm or 6mm allen key, don't exceed the 6Nm torque and don't suffer much from the consumer grade tools I'm using. And I avoid using the ball-end unless I really need to because the bolt head is hard to reach.

 I agree with investing in good tools, but even with how nice they are, I can't get over the 20$+ pricetag for a single driver. I'd suggest PB Swisstools or Wera as a cheaper alternative.

 @vinay: I agree. Any premium RC driver kits are a one time investment though, what makes them different that the likes of Wera/Wiha is the standard larger handle size for the sub 3mm hardware.

 I'll stick with WERA thanks. Pure German functional beauty.

 @Brave1i1toaster: One option you have is to use a regular 1/4" hex bit driver in your favorite size (or a bunch of them if you don't feel like swapping bits constantly) and use those longer bits. 25mm is indeed a bit short for some spots and the bitholder gets in the way, but Wiha has their longer "slimbits" which allow you to use those sleek yet still replaceable bits and still use the driver you want. Possibly use an electric screwdriver (I've got a Bosch Go electric driver though I don't often use it on bikes) or a torque key (or that Topeak fixed torque thing you can put in between). All this gives you more options depending on what job you're doing. I still often find myself reaching for a pair of basic Y-tools. One with 4-5-6mm hex, the other (I think) with 2-2.5-3. In many places that works perfectly fine.

 Too little dials to fiddle with

 He’s riding in the Okanagan right now.