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nattyd ttemplin's article
Aug 16, 2023 at 9:52
Aug 16, 2023
First Ride: 2024 Trek Supercaliber G2
@rabidmonkfish: “The frame has to be stiffer for the isostrut system as it adds more stress to the frame (or so I read) and the front triangle has to be strengthened more therefore it's not the lightest weight frame ever ” I’m an engineer and this entire phrase is nonsense. If your design causes more concentrated load at the geometric high point in the frame and needs to be overbuilt relative to higher-travel competitors, it’s a bad design. Lots of frames are out there where the primary load path of the shock goes through tiny mounting tabs with no issue. As far as whether it’s fast - I’m sure it’s not enough of a hindrance to prevent Jolanda and Evie from winning on it, but show me the lap-to-lap comparisons with controlled conditions, otherwise this is just hand-waving. Humans are super bad at perceiving what is fast vs what “feels” fast. And the G1 had outdated geometry on the day it launched, besides the weirdly super low and pedal-strike-y BB height. It’s like a cm lower than my Epic, which already is a hazard over a lot of choppy terrain. Hard pass.
nattyd ttemplin's article
Aug 11, 2023 at 13:15
Aug 11, 2023
First Ride: 2024 Trek Supercaliber G2
@XCplease: It's a good design! Just super basic with no form-over-function tube shapes. Turns out if you design around engineering goals instead of looks, you end up with a light bike that rides really well.
nattyd ttemplin's article
Aug 11, 2023 at 1:36
Aug 11, 2023
First Ride: 2024 Trek Supercaliber G2
Every honest review of the Supercaliber, G1 or G2 should lead with “the same weight as other full suspension XC race bikes, but with less travel”. The whole pitch for this bike was splitting the weight and travel difference between a full sus and hardtail bike. The managed the travel part, just not the weight. Same criticism for the new Epic WC. I assume that’s why most of the Specialized riders have been favoring the Evo. As far as I can tell, there’s zero engineering advantage in integrating the shock on the top tube. It just restricts the travel and constrains the kinematics. It does look slick though, and that probably sells more bikes.
nattyd edspratt's article
Jul 8, 2023 at 19:32
Jul 8, 2023
Race Analysis from the Val Di Sole XC World Cup 2023
@Ginsu2000: "7 seconds away from an XCC win" is frankly a completely meaningless statement. XCC by nature stays together at the elite level (nearly always in the men's world cups), so time gaps are not particularly useful. He's racing for places, not time, and 10th isn't where he wants to be. Nino is a master of racecraft and I've watched every World Cup XCC he's ever raced. When things go well, he usually surfs near the front, and then tries to stick the winning move (usually the last lap or two) before settling back when the sprinters snap the elastic. Knowing Nino, I think he would love to contend for the wins, but he just doesn't have the short power at this point in his career. When XCC was introduced, he would downplay his lack of wins in interviews, but you could tell it bothered him, and eventually he admitted that he generally didn't have the rider profile to contend. He certainly was thrilled to take the victory at Snowshoe back in 2019, and I think that took a lot of the pressure off of him. Anyway, in this particular race, the telling part was that he *didn't* get swarmed at the end. He was riding at the front mid-lap, and when the race went off, he dropped like a rock, on a climb. That is very un-Nino, and makes me think he just went into the red and couldn't stick the move. It's impressive that he held on as well as he did, but no way falling that far was intentional, especially that far from the line.
nattyd edspratt's article
Jul 4, 2023 at 19:55
Jul 4, 2023
Race Analysis from the Val Di Sole XC World Cup 2023
He has been open about doing that in the past, but I don't think he would have dropped back to a second row start if he could have stayed in the top 8 this time. More likely he blew up a little bit.
nattyd edspratt's article
May 12, 2023 at 13:22
May 12, 2023
Tech Randoms: Nove Mesto XC World Cup 2023
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 henryquinney's article
Apr 20, 2023 at 17:10
Apr 20, 2023
First Look: 2023 Specialized Epic World Cup
Trek tried this first and ran into the same problem: It's not a hard-tail killer if it's 2 lbs heavier than a hardtail. This frame is only 105 g lighter than a 120 mm travel Spark RC. This bike has no purpose if it's full-suspension weight with way less capability.
nattyd mikelevy's article
Feb 23, 2023 at 12:30
Feb 23, 2023
Video: Tom Pidcock Going Warp Speed on a Road Bike
@jclnv: Yeah, for sure. Totally bonkers on a narrow technical descent like that.
nattyd mikelevy's article
Feb 23, 2023 at 11:05
Feb 23, 2023
Video: Tom Pidcock Going Warp Speed on a Road Bike
Guy below getting downvoted to oblivion, but it's true. Pidcock's skills are great, but most of us that have lived/ridden in SoCal or Colorado have hit 55 or 60 mph many times, and back when 23 mm tires, rim brakes, and 100 psi were the norm. Here's the first segment where I remember breaking 55... Safa Brian owns the KOM with an *average* speed of 46 mph: https://www.strava.com/segments/683991
nattyd mikelevy's article
Feb 23, 2023 at 10:54
Feb 23, 2023
Video: Tom Pidcock Going Warp Speed on a Road Bike
Paolo Salvodelli, "Il Falco", won a Giro d'Italia with attacks on the descents. But it's rare, because the margins are just not that big compared to the minutes you can pick up on the big climbs.
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