In episode eight, DIALED connects Jordi with world-class Athlete Coach, Chris Kilmurray of Point 1 Athletic Development, as they discuss the close relationship between suspension tunes and riding position.
| It's cyclical, you make the bike work, then the rider adapts to the bike, then you need to make the bike work better, and then the rider needs to adapts to that. As you improve coordination or strength, you can change settings. -Jordi |
Learn something new about the important dynamic between posture and suspension setup? What other topics or industry professionals would you like to see the DIALED team connect with? Comment below!
In my case, it was off by 3.6 millimeters from my preferred width.
would love to have someone professionally access my posture and setup - i did a ton of different sports - and also been through bmx, street, enduro and now dh on two wheels - so i might have bad habits carried from other sports that I'd like to fix - for now, i run what's comfortable
Using my height I get 790mm, using my arm span I get 815mm.
I've considered going down to 790, but only because it would make riding some singletrack easier. Trailforks needs to rate whether trails are 800mm friendly. There are a few local trails that are impossible to clean with an 800mm bar.
Wide bars have ruined me for narrow bars. Even on a steep ha, long stemmed bike I can't deal with narrow bars anymore.
For me: I'm 6'0", 6'4" armspan (+4 ape), normal width shoulders, ride frames that aren't crazy long, and I prefer 780mm bars for typical PNW steep technical trails. 800mm bars are okay for me too, though they get a bit snug in the trees. I'd probably rock 800s all day long if I just rode bike parks or open DH courses.
I'm also in the PNW (but other side of the border obviously) and the older trails can be really tight. I laugh at trail descriptions here which often are super old. One I like has a comment stating, "Best suited to modern trail bikes on the longer travel side." Yeah, modern a decade ago. There are trees less than 760mm apart. I've gotta get off and thread my bike through.
I'm an outlier in that I'm 6'0 with ape of a tiny bit more than zero and wide shoulders but wide bars feel awful. I just bought a 780mm bar which I committed to riding 3 times before cutting (I also raised the stem by 5mm), and it has me noticeably off balance. I just cut it down to 770 and will go for a few rides with it like that but fully expect to cut it down to 760. FWIW my comfortable push-up position only measures out to 740mm and I'm coming from a 740mm bar riding black DH trails in BC.
Pick a handlebar width and be a dick about it.
It kind of feels like people arguing that there should be a single bike size or a single spring rate on coil shocks. “Well Gwin runs a 900 lb spring on a 410mm reach bike, you should too!”
So on a Fox Float 36 I am on the low side of my weight bracket at that is 67psi but I am running 62psi right at 30% sag and it is perfect.
Interestingly - it took a bad wreck to start to realize the reality because - as stated here - the wreck was not my bikes fault - I simply could not handle the bike at that speed and load. It's made me up my workout routine and realize I can't just pull stuff off anymore if I want to enjoy riding for another 20 years.
On the steepest and most technical parts of the steepest tracks you are obviously going to be in an upright position and aerodynamics aren't as important there because of the lower speeds. But most world cup tracks are more fast and wide open and if you can stay low you will be faster.
not saying he is not aero tucking sometimes but it has mostly to do with increasing range of motion, using his body suspension to the max as well as using hip drive and pumping through terrain.
I'd love to hear more about handlebar width, and how to find that "sweet spot"
I do try and avoid buzz-words and jargon! Sorry if I fail.
That stuff is beyond me.
This is interesting, but would not see me ever racing again?
The demands of a dh wc race where they’ll practice for one perfect race is different to an ews series of races where they’ll have only limited practice age are very different.
Greg Callaghan highlighted this in his recent bike check and said he’s going softer these days for a more overall efficient setup.
For the rest of us it’s probably finding our own personal range.
Sorry to disappoint you but as a fellow Sam disciple i have to refer you to this review, where it is said he runs his setup fairly plush, very un-prolike by pinkbike standards.
enduro-mtb.com/en/sam-hill-day-of-the-dead-nukeproof-mega-275c
Said so himself in several ews interviews and privateer clips, does it to save his bike and body over a weekend of often blind racing. Quite different to an all stops pulled 3min DH run on memorized tracks.
Then again he had his reasons for leaving WC DH when tracks and bikes moved in a different direction
``Stupid people``mostly ride a hardtail beside an occasional full suspension bike and naturally dial their body additionally to a well dialed rear suspension... when they possibly need rear suspension, which can occur.
I`m both normal and stupid, what should I think? :-)