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It’s a tricky little debate at times, he’s very good at feeling something is ‘wrong’ but not necessarily brilliant at giving me the information as to why and what i need to do.
Yesterday was ‘it feels unbalanaced’ which is good… but sometimes i need a bit more info to help with that… But it was pretty certain it was the sprring rate as that was the only change we’d made.
This is where bracketing comes in, you only ever change one setting, make fairly drastic changes, not just one click. Good example is winding up the low speed on the fork, he should feel that the front sits higher in the turns, another example would be taking all the low speed compression off he baclpk, it will sit down mid turn.
I’m pretty lucky with the g1 that I can change how the bike feels with spring weights, but then get the bb height back with spacers. A true race bike should have this built in, rather than the fixed geometry we get.
I hear you. Yesterday I thought was 1 thing which was the spring weight, but it threw things out by the rebound adjuster being borked which messed that up. My mistake, won't happen again.
We'll head out for a test run or 5 on the new shock tomorrow but if he's not feeling it, we'll throw the 350 coil shock on there as we know it works in 99% of scenarios.
Bracketing etc is very much a weaknesses of ours as we don't 'focus' at times, but that I guess as we're trying to keep enjoyment in there too. It's a fine line and we deffo get many things in this game somewhat wrong. But we're trying to learn and take things onboard from all you guys
The boy loves the new shock, really happy.
We did have some interesting times when fitting as the pin that holds it was a struggle to get in the new hardware.
It was using the push end cap type which seem to allow a bit more freedom and of course movement. We wanted the full bushing which spreads the load better.
I called the GT expert who had a spare straight one and it was soon installed.
So it's now on with new hardware.
Need a bit more work on pressure as it's a smidgen soft, but he's loving the DH bike at the moment for sure.
Busy weekend coming up!
https://sicd.co.uk/product/shock-bolt-for-gt-fury-2019-2021/
That's not an unreasonable price. Ordered one as a spare.
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Coaching day for the team then straight to Stile Cop race and a quick practice before they closed the course, walking back up the course to pick out his lines to try in the morning.
Excited boy for tomorrow
7/36 on run 1. Decent run but hopefully a bit more to give in run2
8th final result. Had issues with the low sun in run 2 but went 0.02 quicker
Still a solid result 👍
Great stuff 👍🏻
Yeah he's happy. 8/36 is good, obviously he's now one of the youngest in his Cat which at this age can be a factor. But he's not exactly lacking in size at 5'11
He raced on the Fury and did practice on both the Fury and the Privateer. He went slower on the Privateer despite us thinking he may go quicker. So he raced the big bike.
Long long weekend. Lucky we're not doing it next weekend too. Oh, well, errrrm yeah we are.
At least we have the one after off.... Oh.
Well that was slightly funny/interesting. Yesterday in practice the boy says to me "should the forks be the same height" well... There's a question, i have absolutely no idea. Looking at them, it could be argued that with the measuring point being the top of the right adjuster and the line on the other leg, maybe they were.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662773_a2839d4266_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662773_a2839d4266_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojdqG6 ]2023-02-27_07-10-00[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Last night we jumped on google and downloaded the RS Boxxer manual. The bike was setup how we bought it, so we assumed they were correct. The Axle fitted correctly etc. There were no tell-tale marks that the forks had moved in the triples... so the assumption was, it was correct.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713665257_a454f41ea8_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713665257_a454f41ea8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oj8jax ]2023-02-27_07-09-51[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662358_be504929bb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714662358_be504929bb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojdqyW ]2023-02-27_07-09-47[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
The Boxxer manual shows the measurement for both the tops and the overall length between triples and neither of ours were correct. The legs should indeed be the same height. As you'd expect.... They are the same now. LOL. But just shows that you should never assume other people have done things correctly.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713706297_77aa06ffce_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52713706297_77aa06ffce_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2oj8wn8 ]2023-02-27_07-42-29[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Suspension stripped out and sent to TFTuned for tweaking/tuning.
Race day report (dad perspective)
The day started pretty chilly but importantly dry.... We made a bit of a mistake arguably and got to the start for practice WAY early... He does like to be down first, but we took this to the extreme. He'd done a track walk the previous night and 1 descent... Why was it a mistake? well, he was freezing by the time he went off, which didn't help much. He came back from run 1 grumpy... but after run 4 he was getting his head around it. He'd got the top half right and wanted to session the bottom, luckily there was a nice drop-in point so did 5-6 runs, trying lines, popping or squashing different bits etc.. You could see who was quick and who was REALLY quick... The boy didn't look REALLY quick, but we'd discussed this and he was told not to pin it every time, just nice and easy yo save the legs, look at the lines, try this and that. Mrs Weeksy commented "he's not getting the power down through there" but i was OK with it.
Race run 1 didn't come until 1pm... and he was warm and happy by then, feeling good on the bike and content. Watching him coming down you can mostly see in his style how he's going and he was doing OK... He crossed the line in 7th and 4s off the leader. He's raced the leader a few times and on some tracks he's beaten him, on some he'll lose ground.. So 4s was OK... Time was a 1min 22 (just so you can gauge it).... Run 2 came about 3pm, everyone was getting a bit tired by then, the sun was low and the cold was back... It was cloudy, nice, cloudy, dark, nice...
He looked happy again on run 2, but was only 0.02 quicker, "missed half a dozen corners as i couldn't see"... the setting sun had caught him (and others out listening to them) and he'd lost a bit of time.. but i don't think it would have changed a heck of a lot... That's where he is at the moment in the world. But we all went home happy and completely tired, my calves are killing and aching from walking up the hill pushing the DH bike 8 times lol.
Next weekend is FoD, 100% race, a place he knows well of course and a track he'll have ridden and raced a fair bit. It's all the big boys out next weekend, including yesterdays winner, 2nd place and of course his team-mate Drew. So will be a tough day out, but if he can go well and finish happy, we'll take that. Not sure if we'll head over for practice on the Sat yet... i'm tried and need a rest LOL.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714837964_77997bf3d4_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52714837964_77997bf3d4_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojejLC ]2023-02-27_11-42-16[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Great stuff - if I'm reading that scoreboard right - 8th out of 136? Damn good if it is!
36 mate... not 136.... (i think the 136 was number of racers on the day overall)
Still happy with that and a few decent riders in there, so yeah we're not grumbling... Obviously we'd like better and heck we're trying and trying to get better both as riders, trainers, racers... but it's a tough gig at times. fast boys are fast and hard to play with. He's still enjoying it though which is of course the most important bit.
We're taking a few days off the bikes this week now as TBH we're all a bit knackered at the moment, day after day, weekend after weekend. There's always something, either on the bike, the rider, the day to day... it's all a bit, well, hard lol.
I'm sure by Weds afternoon we'll both be dying to get back out there and play.
Hey Weeksy,
Really enjoy the thread and and the up & downs of DH racing which I can certainly relate too as my boy is massively into Cyclo Cross which takes up most weekends through winter, i'm just wondering if you have thought about taking a bike & turbo one for warming up on before DH runs and to help with keeping warm . we take one to every race along with 2 Cross Bikes & Turbo bike - just a thought but also appreciate you may not have space in the van
Great read as always Weeksy. And I know its just a photo, but he looks fast to me! There's more style in that one picture than I've had with 30 years riding!
Fair points Weeksy I wouldn't know about DH races and it was just comment based on your race report and your lad getting cold in the thread not sure i'd call it gimpy though but maybe it would be DH races - anyway all the best with it all
your lad getting cold
Yeah i think next time we'll just stop being a bit daft and go later to start... Practice was 3 hours from 9-12 and he actually stopped riding about 10.50.... so even if we'd have skipped run 1, he'd still have got in plenty and been warm before setting off... But it was a chilly wind and even if there were 15-20 people in the queue that's 5-6 mins waiting which can be long enough to get chilly. He had hand warmers, but they didn't really get hot enough until about an hour later lol.
standing around in the cold is no fun!especially when you are racing lol - I'll look forward to your next race report
standing around in the cold is no fun!especially when you are racing lol – I’ll look forward to your next race report
Yeah but as we know, it always happens. I was waiting with him and making sure he had his coat as long as possible, but it's stil freezing at the top at times.
Next report... won't be long 😀
Being a) a DHer and b) a teenager, I’m going to guess his top of the hill warmup consisted of . . . standing? Got keep those cool points, they’re easy to lose!
Being a) a DHer and b) a teenager, I’m going to guess his top of the hill warmup consisted of . . . standing?
We were doing reverse pedalling sprints/sessions with my holding the bike up... obviously there's no resistance as such... but mostly there's a very small area and a lot of people, you're then herded into the queue where sometimes it's 10 mins, sometimes it's 30 mins before you're off... but you can't do a lot about it, it depends on what happens half way down the hill at any given moment. It's not like a pro event where you have half a dozen riders all with turbos out the back of the uplift hut, that's just not the reality of small races. I'm sure we could deffo do things 'better' but it really is marginal unless we come up with some plan that makes it summer lol.
That reminds me of the time a certain rider had been doing a whole lot of backpedalling not realising his axle was backing out - you can guess what happened shortly after the start 🙂
Having been that DHer, underdressed, waiting for a red flag to clear, on many occasions I know just what its like. Not sure I learned to do something about it until about my last race . . .
Not sure I'd call warming up a cold day margin gains mind you, if you spend the first 30s+ of the track waking up cold stiff limbs then could could make a fair difference.
Not that it matters, as you say a turbo isn't happening at this level for many reasons. Some full length TLD coat is probably the most you'll get
We were out doing some testing today. I rode the purple DH bike. Jeepers it's that slowest rolling thing in the world.
It's got a Maxx Grip Assegai on it and a DH22 on the back. I could barely pedal.
We swapped bikes and it was the same in reverse for him. I'm not sure which makes the most difference but I wonder if the grip makes up for rolling speed. I think the answer is likely No! But it's an interesting one.
I don't think they'll both be staying on
If you are concerned the tyres are too slow rolling for a DH bike, then you're almost certainly on terrain that will be quicker on the trail bike.
DH bike will always benefit from DH tyres
Got to agree with that ^
Mmmm maybe.
As you may have seen, arguably this weekends trail just past was that. But he was quicker in testing on the DH (admittedly with quicker tyres on that one) than on the trail bike.
I do get your point though as we've discussed the DH/trail choice more than once.
We'll likely test the 141 again this weekend using the GoPro to time him, but I won't say I'll be shocked if he's quicker on the DH.
Had lots of not-fun last night trying to trace and chase a noise.
The new shock seemed to make a 'doink' noise quite often, not all the time, but a lot. So took it to RSR Bikeworks to get it checked who stripped it down and checked and confirmed it was OK... we had multiple bikes/frames there to use as checks. But even after checking the shock we were still getting a noise... Ended up removing the chain, the mech, still getting it and it transpired it was the rear Hope Pro4 wheel. Now i did notice it was a bit quiet, almost silent when running. But i then thought "meh, must have always been like that" But after fitting one of our spare wheels, the doink seemed to have disappeared along with another minor noise we had which was as though something was loose.
"mate, somethings loose here" he kept telling me, but i knew everything was tight and snug... However the wheel is being dropped off to Rotec Cycles today to get it looked at.. They're less than a year old, which isn't ideal, but he does obviously use them pretty hard.
The last thing RSR noticed was the idler pully bearing which seemed a bit grumbly... So he told me to whip it out and swap it, which i've now done, but got to wait for someone else to wake up at home as it involves opening the garage/van and i don't want to wake people up 😀
Will then hopefully be golden for the weekend.
However the wheel is being dropped off to Rotec Cycles today to get it looked at.. They’re less than a year old, which isn’t ideal, but he does obviously use them pretty hard.
Well the upshot of the day is... the spring and pawls were in 100 pieces 😀
So that's currently being rebuilt at Rotec... Depending on plans we may pick it up later and use at the weekend... but we've got enough either way.
It’s got a Maxx Grip Assegai on it and a DH22 on the back. I could barely pedal.
Always run a maxxgrip DD up front and a maxxterra DD out back, had a load of maxxgrip dd dhr's to kill off so they went on the back over winter.
The assegai is a slow roller, tend to only use it when its steep, prefer the DHR as it rolls faster and feels more precise on the front. At somewhere like FOD, its DHR's all the time, south wales or scotland steep stuff is assegai.
Yeah unless conditions change i think we'll have his MMs on for the weekend, they're what sit on the primary race bike, although due to the rear wheel change currently he's got a DHR on the back... but will depend if we pick the Pro4 up before the weekend.
The 2nd bike is obviously the same, so we can swap to whatever his preference is if we needed to run the purple bike. I imagine things like the DH22 are for the wetter/slippier tracks potentially, of which even with the roots maybe being wet, this weekend shouldn't be.
The reality is, all this stuff is probably over-thinking it to a great extent as i'm not sure he either cares or notices what's fitted to a bike on a given day.
All of that said... i'm wondering if i should fit a DH22 for extra grip on the Slayer for this race 😉
Testing the spare wheel along with dialling in the shock
Fab service from TFTuned and especially Ruth, getting his Privateer suspension sorted, tweaked and tuned. Along with a rebuild/service on his Bomber CR shock which was a bit on the yukky/broken side. All smooth as silk and installed in the bike for the weekend now.
Well the Bomber isn't, that's currently one of the spare shocks.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723386829_ab169362cb_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723386829_ab169362cb_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ojZ93R ]2023-03-03_12-50-35[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723605248_fd365e7c0d_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52723605248_fd365e7c0d_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2ok1fYG ]2023-03-03_12-50-20[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Ruth @tftuned is a legend dude, so patient and knowledgeable
... too kind chaps 🙂 thank you ... I do also have a very knowledgable bunch of people around me!
Ruth @TFT
Proper proper laugh today photo and video shoot for the team. Details will be revealed in coming weeks 😂😂
Practice day all day for both me and them.
The boy came home very happy and feeling great on the 141, he was flying on it.
I had a big crash on the drop/step down. Pretty pathetic attempt in truth. I'd done 4 runs and not taken it, in run 5 I thought "go on then" but it was such a bloody poor attempt. Over the bars, under the bike, broken saddle, few bruises and aches, but went up for run 6&7 and went ok.
I'll still be out in race tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be hitting the drop of despair. Lol
the drop of despair
The name of it tells you everything you need to know... 😂😂 It's rocks and drops that get me every time! That, and roots, mud, berms, flats, climbs...😳 Maybe I should just give up! Looking forward to reading the team updates. Go well tomorrow Team Weeksy!
Well today was, for me, the lads best ever race. The way Katy is bringing him on is just fantastic. She seems to know how to get into his brain, little ideas, thoughts , techniques that just make him faster.
Watching him a couple of times he's just flying.
He was down about 40th out of a pack of 62 in Youth and his team mate had come down in a 1.03 with a rival we know and have raced lots, Ed, sticking in a 1.02
The fastest youngster finished with a 55.6.
Weeksy08 put in a 58.5 which I'll be honest, almost brought me to tears. Just to see him put in a fast time, a happy run and see his attitude all weekend of excitement and joy just really made me well up with pride. He was at that stage in 6th. We think he got 11th or 12th. Will confirm when it's all official.
For info, Ben Deakin put in a low 57. Preston Williams was racing who races for specialized and is stupid quick and I think he was a 53s in Elites.
Run 2 I'll post a video up when we have it, but he crashed on a loamy left handed and lost 10s. But we can see how and why and it won't affect him.
His teammate put in a 59.8 to break the magic minute barrier on run 2.
Scarlett their 3rd teammate won the u16 girls cat.
We came home very happy.
For me, after the fail on drop of despair was a little down on myself and almost didn't race. Especially as practice is more serious and I didn't want to hold people up. But I went out and stuck the number on and raced it. It was hard for me in tech context and a year ago I'd not have ridden it. Whilst I wasn't fast or graceful, I finished
Well done for racing, especially after the crash.
Sounds like a great weekend for the team, nice to see Katy’s effort coming to fruition.
Thanks mate. Mrs Weeksy is properly frowning at the massive bruises that are now showing themselves lol.
But it's what we do. Sat was really interesting as they were all on their 141s. My lads and Drew's having just returned from tftuned. Weeksy08 said his felt out of balance early on but within a few rides it made sense and the flickable nature of the Enduro was showing itself as very capable on the race track. Nice.
Drew raced on both bikes today.
James only rode the GT, he was tempted for the Privateer for run 2 but decided against it.
In the future you’ll have forgotten all about the race but you’ll still have that photo and you look good in it - so that’s all that matters.