theboaz

progressive leverage translates the rear wheel movement into tiny amplitudes at the shock in the beginning of the travel. Larger amplitudes allow for low speed compression to be more effective (I forgot where I heard it, but it makes simple sense). This would make a bike feel less like a pig trying to pop out of jumps. Also the higher feedback force from the spring (lower leverage) may not be good for traction, but will make a more efficient bike on a jump line. But since more riders prefer a monster truck with plush ride that does not bottom out, even the pro riders need to hold on to their old bikes to have an efficient jumper with long travel to handle those massive drops.

it would interesting to know the combinations of tire width and rim widths that are used, as recently we start to see more 30mm rims and 2.4 tires being used. With the added weight, it appears that it still worth it.

Patrick Schweika is missing in the options, his torso is almost parallel to the ground and inline with the bike, which takes more commitment than just tilting the bike.

I still have hope that one day those companies will understand that an impact is likely to be followed by a slide. Not just picking on Dainese, although it also happened to me with their hardshell elbow pads, that the pad itself grabbed the skin and tear it, not the ground surface. The pads should stay on, and should make the sliding between the ground and the armor pad even easier. It will also reduce the transfer of the initial impact into the bones and joints.

@clink83: yes - this is the point I was trying to make, many times we get information that is over simplified, to create a one-size-fits-all numbers, while some of the parameters that are left out, actually make a big difference.

I heard it from a professional shock tuner, the sag of a shock should be around 25%, front and rear. Since the critical shock performance is when the bike is going downhill, and setting the bike on an actual slope is not always easy, the usual recommendation is around 30% rear, 10% front on a flat surface. The front and rear sag are going to be different when pointing uphill and it should be considered when examining the bike geometry, including seat angle, leverage ratio, anti-squat, etc.

I was expecting to see the power readings, then comparing the power in (from the rider to the cranks) to the actual times. It would allow sorting the efficiency of the different models. Sprinting is also not addressed in this test, which is an area that those bikes attempt to be better at, and drive the cost up. Maybe a very short track test of high power, like at close race to the finish line?

@ProperPushIrons: I am waiting for any company who would offer custom replica links and stays to match the ones that are available only to the pro riders. I have no plans to compete in Rampage, but short chainstays and smaller wheels are more fun in the bike park. Many of us need a bike that will encourage us to throw the bike around, take sharper turns, instead of threading a long bus through the straightest path.

and 5 years to release the results