Seriously. That paint job is incredible. It's really too bad that the photos they took of it for the photo version of the bike check are crappy - they just don't show off how wicked this paint job is!
I like to wonder what the increase in short travel bikes at rampage means for freeride and whatnot. Is it because they find it more trickable? Is it because bikes and suspension are better so we need less to do more? Is it because we are butting up against what humans can do? And thus more travel wouldn't open any more possibilities?
Tyler McCaul's fork made me wonder what these guys would or even could do on a bike with 300mm of front travel.
Either way, I do love watching all flavours of freeride
The builds are so good... I bet the riders aren't needing full DH race travel. The trails are smooth and the landings mostly user friendly (on a very big scale of course). I'm not saying its safe, the scale and exposure is nuts. But it seems like between the mostly smooth tracks and steep, perfect landings they may not need the extra travel. A lighter bike is easier to spin and these guys are all heavy on the freestyle.
Just a reminder that the definition of a “freeride” bike in the early-mid 2000s was a long travel single crown bike. I’m personally happy to see things move back in this direction
Modern dh bikes tend to be 29er and have noticeably longer wheelbases too so spinning and flips becomes harder. Bikes like the rocky slayer and norco shore are purpose built for this type of riding, and usually have single crown forks too
I think it's also mostly because these brands no longer make small wheel dh bikes. Rocky stopped making the Maiden and Evil hasn't had a dh bike for years, so I feel like most riders are just riding whatever will work from their sponsors.
I've said it before but if anyone has a bike that can handle it and some cash to blow, get a 26er rear wheel built up to fit your modern frame. It's the most fun thing I've done to my bike
I found that interesting too. I'm not a physicist, but I feel like if it's weight related, that much weight could easily be added by the amount of dirt or a pebble that may or may not stick to your tire treads at any given time.
More likely to be how that additional 0.1g on each end of the bike affects the centre of gravity of the 20kg bike whilst it's flipping I'd imagine.....
@DCF: it's around 15-20 grams, about the weight of a compact disc. The question here is which CD Brandon should remove from his glove box to make up the weight difference. Nobody asked but personally, I'd lose Silver Side up.
Who's talking about skimming discs? That bike has Centerlines, and I think it's very safe to assume the 2mm rotor mentioned is the HS2. Which weighs an extra 14g according to bikeradar, or 18g according to pb. Let's take the average, 16g, add it to both axles and let a bigger nerd than me calculate how much extra force it takes to spin that bike when factoring in centripetal force at whatever speed the wheels are turning to clear these huge gaps. Honestly after thinking this much about I am more inclined to believe it's tangible...
Is it because they find it more trickable?
Is it because bikes and suspension are better so we need less to do more?
Is it because we are butting up against what humans can do? And thus more travel wouldn't open any more possibilities?
Tyler McCaul's fork made me wonder what these guys would or even could do on a bike with 300mm of front travel.
Either way, I do love watching all flavours of freeride
instagram.com/interior_suspension
interiorsuspension.ca
Honestly after thinking this much about I am more inclined to believe it's tangible...