Jared Graves' Yeti SB66C, the same bike he piloted to a third place finish earlier this month at the 2013 World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, was on display outside of the Yeti tent at the Interbike Outdoor Demo. We took a closer look to see what it takes to get an all-mountain bike onto the podium of a downhill race.
Although debate typically swirls around bike selection for the Pietermaritzburg downhill course, this year most racers ended up running their downhill bikes, since the track did have large, high speed jumps and tricky rock garden sections worthy of a full-on DH rigs. Graves went the other direction, and chose to run his size medium SB66C since this season the majority of his riding time has been spent racing this bike in the Enduro World Series. Graves also knew there were pedalling sections on the course where he could make up time on less pedal-friendly downhill bikes. What's especially impressive about his bike choice is that he ran it with very close to a stock setup; on the whole the bike is remarkably similar to what could be purchased from any Yeti dealer. Sure, there have been suspension tweaks and a few special touches that a World Cup racer of Jared Graves' caliber deserves, but the frame itself is exactly the same as any other SB66C, a full carbon affair that uses Yeti's Switch Technology suspension design. This design uses an eccentric to alter the position of the bike's lower pivot, creating a bike that's designed to be an efficient pedaler, but with a more linear end stoke for supple absorption of large impacts. With a DH race ready build Graves' World Champs SB66C weighs in the neighborhood of 33 pounds.
DrivetrainAt Enduro World Series races Jared Graves typically runs a 38 tooth front chainring and an 11-36 rear cassette (
although he was running what looked like a 11-40 cassette at the Whistler event, likely by using a General Lee wide-range cassette adaptor). For Pietermaritzburg he switched to a setup more conducive to downhill racing, with a 40 tooth Shimano Saint chainring up front and the lower eight cogs of an Ultegra ten speed cassette in the rear. The biggest cog has been removed, and the teeth of the second largest cog have been ground down, creating a guard to prevent the chain from coming off into the spokes. This is a simple, yet effective way of saving weight and only running the gears that will be necessary on a high speed course such as Pietermaritzburg. Chain retention duties are handled by e*thirteen's LG1 chain guide, a simple, race tested guide that's proven its reliability at numerous World Cup races.
www.yeticycles.com
I'm guessing your bike is always clean and your kit is brand new?
Just about everyone who gets into dh starts this way , so its not like its never been done before.
I would say that most top dh racers would kick alot of pro xc racers asses in xc racing.Xc racing is great for dh conditioning.
Also...I cant remember if I mentioned "modesty" before.
I can tell you if you act like a know it all with an ego that..nobody is going to want to help you out.
Ive ridden with too many people with much more talent than me that never turned pro.EVERYONE knew how talented they were.
Im just gettin a vibe, here.
People in the dh scene are always willing to get more people into it and will help you build a bike and find parts.
Make friends, shut up; take advice and work for what you want.It dosent get handed out just cuz you can imagine being a wc racer.
Good luck with it all.
PS People are always gonna neg props on PB. It's anonymous commenting where we slag anyone for anything just because we each think we're the both the self-elected perpetual President of 'Effing Awesome and Expert of Everything MTB related. What did you expect?
Why must you do this to me?
I forgot...youre 15.You'll never be smarter or wiser than you are now.
Everyone on here understands your "situation".You just dont like the answers.
If you cant ride a hardtail without destroying it, you're not smooth enough anyway.Work on that.
I distinctly remember getting my ass handed to me, along with everyone elses, by one Sanjay Shanbag, who was on a hardtail in a dh race.
Suck it up, buttercup.
Get back to me when you get some hair on your boy parts, by then you should be old enough to offend me.
....oh, and by the way.I watched your extreme videos.You are neither smooth or fast.
So, cuz your such a tool, this old man has decided to keep racing in PRO class until you're ready to get your ass handed to you.
Ill keep going till im 50 just to make the point.Thanks for the inspiration ,"genius"
And you definitely do come off strong.
Here's some tips: Shut up and ride. No one cares what comes out of your mouth, if you can ride well it will show, people don't need to be told (and they usually don't like that).
Youre not an average 15 year old CUZ you go to a community college?
Is it possible that its because you're a giant douche and thats not normal?
Your opinion of yourself will never be surpassed by anyone.Congratulations!
So, when you get your big boy bike and still cant accomplish shit on it, please come back an visit to tell us the myriad of reasons why you still cant make it.
And also, I know you wont forget...but, also remember to tell us of the greatness that you percieve yourself with and how much more intelligent you are than the "simpletons" that point out your doucheyness.
Douche.
First off, use proper grammar when stating an argument.
Second, At least I went to college.
Third, No, because I'm not you are and I'm not normal because I don't take crap from a dumb crap like you who obviously has no talent in any field. I can tell you don't have a college education because you would support your argument in a much more clear manner. On the bright side, you probably were on the honor roll at school. Oh wait, everyone is!!!!
@finnrambo Shut up and gain a few brain cells. I take trigonometry, I'm in the third (out of 4) installments of Italian, and take an English class, which apparently most of the people here need. @scary1 I like how you keep calling me a d***** instead of coming up with any type of word that would point towards intelligence. I only respect people who argue responsibly. Your first comment about living in Scottsdale and stuff was fine and I appreciated what you were trying to say, but I disagree with the idea that a $10,000 bike doesn't make you faster. @finnrambo I completely bypassed High School and take advanced classes that most high schoolers don't take until they're in their senior year! If that!!! I don't think there is any kid as smart as Einstein, do you? And don't count those stupid kids that come up on google articles, "Kid smarter than Einstein". It's impossible to be smarter than a guy who came up with laws of Physics! Just because its a community college does discredit it you idiot! SCC has some of the best Professors in the state. We have one of the best Physics teachers in the state who's class I took.
Im pretty sure they teach The Newtonian Laws of Physics by 7th grade.....
Einsteins' Theory of Relativity?
Does any of this sound familiar?
Or are you going to insist that Einstein came up with the laws of phyisics?
Hmmmm????????
One way, you're a arrogant, ignorant little prick that thinks he's so smart, he dosent have to pay attention to anything that is taught to him.
The other, is that your parents were smart enough not to send you to a real highschool because they knew someone would get sick of your f***ing little 'tude and knock your teeth down your throat within the first week.
So glad I had the opportunity to straighten you out on your little physics tantrum.....do they have dunce caps in community college?
DOUCHE.
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1.bp.blogspot.com/-OoLnzgKpa6I/Uao_3CHHtQI/AAAAAAAAAGk/h3BSpix4FT4/s1600/sharpies.jpg
Frame - Yeti SB66c - medium
Fork - Fox Float 36, 180mm @90psi
Shock - Fox Float X @ 180psi
Wheels - DT Swiss 240 hubs, Aerolite spokes, 500rims
Tires -- Maxxis minion 2.5 Front, 3C Maxx Grip @27psi - Rear Maxxis High Roller 2, 2.4 Maxx Grip @31psi, Both Ghetto/split tube tubeless
Cranks - Saint 170mm
Brakes - Saint, 200mm rotor front, 160mm rotor rear
Cassette - Ultegra 11-23
Derailleur - Saint
Shifter - Saint
Chainring - Saint 40t
Pedals - Shimano prototype (stiffer engagement)
Chainguide - E-13 Lg1
Seat - WTB Devo Yeti Team Edition
Seatpost - Thomson Masterpiece
Bars and Stem - Renthal 740mm Fat Bar Lite, 50mm Duo stem
Grips - ODI Ruffian MX
Headset - Chris King
www.pinkbike.com/news/Jared-Graves-Rider-Journal-World-Championships-2013.html
It's also not called ghetto tubeless because we recycle old tubes... I use a new 24" tube everytime i remove or replace a tyre on the rim.
Put simply, this system is the most reliable on Jared's bike. And he is most confident with this system. So he runs it. Has been all enduro season without a flat.
I'm using Bontrager g4s (technically not UST) with DT Swiss fr600's (two layers of gorilla tape) and am having the time of my life!
Since you're here, did you get better results from thicker tubes (i.e. is dirtworks911 right in saying it needs to be hard to get on).
I use 20" which means they are stretched more and therefore thinner. I'll try 24". Ta.
This has 3 major benefits:
1) Adds an extra layer of rubber between the tyre and rim, which drastically reduces pinch flats.
2) Rim height is artificially increased by 1 or 2mm, which reduces the chance of pulling the tyre off the rim.
3) Adding more sealant than usual will cause the tyre to bond to the tube, which can help reduce burping.
In my experience running both types of tubeless for long periods on a variety of tyres, i find that DH tyres (>1kg) never puncture but can sometimes pop off the rim at low pressures. Tubeless tyres (at around 800-900g), typically puncture from pinch flats at rim level just above the bead (50% of times), sharp rock or big thorn hole (20%), sidewall tears (10%) and ripping knobs off (20%). So generally my rules are:
With DH tyres regular tubeless is fine
With single ply casing tyres, ghetto tubeless eliminates pinch flats which roughly halves the amount of punctures.
Bonus tip: If you dont change your tyres often, you can use the ghetto setup with an extra layer of superglue added in the fold between the split tube and the tyre. This is the ultimate setup, which can be ran with mind bogglingly low pressures for insane grip. Slightly annoying to remove afterwards, tyre can be reused, tube goes in the bin.
Also, interesting choice of 200/160 rotor pairing. Is this because the pro DH riders don't really have to worry about brake fading since they don't brake much, but when they do, they need massive stopping power?
Granted I don't have Saints, but at the end of a 5 mi downhill in cold on-off rain, my rear brake had almost no power left running 185/160. It really sucked and couldn't go as fast as I wanted since I couldn't trust my ability to stop. (the front was fading too but at least had SOME power) can't imagine what running a 160 rear at the pro DH must feel like.
And I'm glad that I'm not the only one struggling to find the optimal ghetto tubeless set up. Sometimes is the best improvement I've ever made to a bike, sometimes it makes me want to throw it off a cliff.