You seem to be missing the point of it'll help him out with his riding/understanding of bike prep/setup if he does get to progress in enduros...
no idea if you’ve posted in my threads before.
😂 Apart from complaining about the nasty posters that were judging you on your riding skills in the thread you got closed.
Believe it or not folks are trying to help.
You seem to be missing the point of it’ll help him out with his riding/understanding of bike prep/setup if he does get to progress in enduros
Yes I get that. That's why I involve him.
But I don't force him. Especially after a day of racing.
A day of racing. 😂
Hardly taxing for a young buck is it.
Well 2022 is underway and the first entry in. Big field so will be a proper tough day out i'd guess
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/223002/100-Percent-Mini-Downhill-Rd1-February-2022
100 Percent Mini Downhill Rd1 February 2022
I won't be doing the DH races only the Southern Enduros, so just pit crew for this one.
Small child is a pain the the arse.
We were out playing in the woods yesterday morning, trails he knows well. So first I got him to set his shock rebound to fully slow, test it. Then to fully quick, test it, then middle.
"All feels the same"
I then got him to try his mates G170 in a medium, guess what "feels mostly the same'
His mate who own the G170 gave about just as much feedback on the Sworks too.
I do despair at times.
So the boy came in yesterday saying "dropper post isn't returning right", basically it wasn't reaching max extension. I thought initally it was down to the post needing a little Fork Juice on it... but it wasn't to be.
He'd also complained about a stiff lever... which irritated me as i'd only just fitted the cable.... but admittedly it was one from the spares box and we fitted it under pressure so was maybe not given a squirt of lube first....
So i set about both. Cable was swapped (still a crap job that) and i worked out the pressure in his post was slightly low, so not giving it that final shove. Put some more pressure in and away we go. silky smooth and nice.
Next job was one of the easier ones. The presta valve core was a bit wonky and stiff, so replaced that with a new valve core.
I then picked up and moved the bike, to find the rear brake was rubbish, stupid soft at the lever. He runs his quite soft anyway but this was daft. Don't know how this never got mentioned y'day in post-ride chat. So a bleed was required... however, it's irrirated me for nearly a year that the rubber bung on the end of his hose was missing.
[img] 
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The one bottom right.. I already had several in spares, so decided to completely disconnect the hose and do a full bleed after fitting it. Anyway, not the toughest job, but it's done now.
The one thing i do wonder is, "do other parents go through this level of detail and spannering on their kids race bikes" ? Or am i just really fussy ? Or do they just let them ride it ? Or do they just give it to the LBS and say "make it perfect" I don't know really.. but i do seem to spend a fair bit of time tweaking his. 🙂
Mine at 20 still doesn't pay enough attention to odd noises or poor functioning components.
He turned up to EWS with slow puncture and slow dropper....
I've been getting him doing a lot more 'work' on the bike in the last few months, he seems to be enjoying it. but 'feel' seems to be slightly lacking 🙂
I think you are fussy - some other people aren’t.
I hate riding a bike that has any bad noises / vibration etc and I like my bike to feel smooth.
I built a SC 5010 CC with decent components (all new) November 2020 for a mate. We went riding in Rowberrow around Christmas and we swapped bikes for a run down. Immediately I was like wtf is wrong with your gears - he thought they were fine until he rode my bike. They felt like they had loads of resistance through them / felt a bit graunchy. At a guess I’d say his jockey wheels were either seized or on the verge of being seized.
I just don’t get how people can ride bikes that aren’t near perfect feeling.
I think with a lot of jobs kids just put up with stuff - bedroom messy vs can't be arsed to put it away vs time taken to find something - at some point they learn to put stuff away / realise that fixing the squeak rather than letting it seize is going to save them cash in the long run.
I think we give a bit more attention to the race bike than any of our others. However she is always involved with it and mostly its a joint effort. I say mostly as if she comes back from a days EWS practice then there is a bit of leeway due to tiredness. The race bike is her main bike although she frequently rides others out of the garage.
The reason she gets involved is that she knows more than anyone the way the bike feels and performs.
If it goes wrong on the trail then there is no one else to help and it could mean the difference to finishing or not.
She's a few years older than when she started competing but its always been the same
If it goes wrong on the trail then there is no one else to help and it could mean the difference to finishing or not.
That's 100% the reason i'm trying to get him and his buddies to learn more...They're often out on their own and whilst it's only 4-6 miles away from my door, i'd still rather they can fix/learn on their own. So things like brakes, gears etc, we're actively working on more and more to learn with him.
It'll be the same in a few weeks time when he's racing DH, he goes up to the top of the hill, if he's got an issue.. he either needs to ride-around it, or fix it himself at the top.
I imagine with Abigales Enduro stuff that's multiplied 10 fold as they're up/down far more often and in further away places etc... with things like Southern Enduro most stages end at the same sort of place, so there's an option to return to pits and get me to fix it.... but far from always.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51865419511_67f9ecdf25_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51865419511_67f9ecdf25_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2n2aQfT ]2022-02-06_01-09-49[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
8th out of 45 in U16 up to now today. Pretty pleased with himself
That's awesome. Well done Weeksy jr!
I know i'm exceptionally biased, but he is stylish on a bike !
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867897255_df5f51e7a7_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867897255_df5f51e7a7_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2n2owNB ]417Feb[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
I hope we're doing justice to @Tracey 🙂
Little bit of work needed today... bouncing it about yesterday after getting home i noticed a tiny wobble... thought it was wheel bearing, but seems to be linkage bearing, middle one on the 6 point link on left hand side. So that'll be whipped out and replaced today.... then we're out playing after school as it's early finish monday.
Nice photo and a solid result. Where was the race
Where was the race
That was round 1 of the series we did at 417 last year (on Blue Raccoon). Sadly that's the only one we'll do with them in the near future as rounds 2 and 3 clash with Southern Enduro. But we'll BOTH be racing there later in the season. We both enjoy the place, the racing is fairly cheap along with being not too far away so whilst it's an early start, it's home before 5pm on the day too.
8/45 in U16's is arguably his best result in terms of actual performance up to now, we did some stalking between races and out of the 7 who beat him, all of them were either 15/16.. So he's the youngest at the pointy end.
Still got some work to do to be chasing the podium at this level (and we're aware it's not the top level of course), but he's doing well and most importantly he's still enjoying it.
Me, i was pretty miffed with myself as i didn't enter, i can't really justify entering every race he's in, partly on talent, partly on finances... So i skipped this one, which about 10am i REALLY regretted.. like REALLY... i was gutted not to be going up the hill, even if i'd have been rubbish coming back down it 😀
Bit of bearing swapping.
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867646274_bffa8a76fe_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867646274_bffa8a76fe_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2n2nfcm ]2022-02-07_08-45-36[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51866362547_f1e445fd80_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51866362547_f1e445fd80_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2n2fEA8 ]2022-02-07_08-45-31[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867408393_8be13ea558_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51867408393_8be13ea558_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2n2m2tX ]2022-02-07_08-45-27[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/152318156@N08/ ]Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr
Race day this coming weekend for the boy.
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/223002/100-Percent-Mini-Downhill-Rd1-February-2022
100% mini downhill at Forest of Dean. Apparently taking in Ski-run, which is a trail he knows reasonably well. But we're heading there on Friday anyway just to make sure and do 3-4 runs of it. Seems to be a sold out race and a massive field with 41 entrants in the Juvenile Cat alone... So he'll have a decent bunch of racers to battle against.
After some rain recently i think we'll stick with the Maxxis Shorty DH on the front and the Minion DHF on the back. We've got a brand new Assegai and a newer Shorty (but in Maxxterra compound) but he's ridden these tyres exclusively over winter, so no point changing them the week before the race.
After practice on Friday we'll do a brake pad check, overall bike check but i think we're pretty much good to roll. He seems to be looking forward to it though, so that's a good thing 🙂
A DHF on the back, you’re just being weird for the sake of it!
A DHF on the back, you’re just being weird for the sake of it!
LOL i thought that was perfectly normal.
Any preference out of the list below for the rear ?
Dissector 3C maxxterra
Butcher Gripton
Shorty maxxterra
Assegai 3C DH
All of them are either new or only have a few miles on them. Not that i'm convinced he'll even notice of course... but if there's a consensus of "ooooh fit that instead" then for the sake of 10 mins, i'll swap them
argee
Full MemberA DHF on the back, you’re just being weird for the sake of it!
People have been running a DHF on the rear for 20 years - its a completely standard way to run it
People have been running a DHF on the rear for 20 years – its a completely standard way to run it
That was my thoughts too. He's never complained about lack of grip... but he's not a complainy kid by any stretch.
It had enough grip for Sam Hill when he was in his prime, the boy should be grand
A DHF on the back, you’re just being weird for the sake of it!
Whilst I’d prefer a dhr2 for the extra braking grip I think quite a few people use the dhf on the rear - it’s not totally unusual.
mashr
Full MemberPeople have been running a DHF on the rear for 20 years – its a completely standard way to run it
Just because people do weird shit doesn't make it right, otherwise we'd all be living in Japan!
Whilst I’d prefer a dhr2 for the extra braking grip
He'd have to actually use brakes for that to be a factor 😀
Just because people do weird shit doesn’t make it right, otherwise we’d all be living in Japan!
Just because you didn’t know about it doesn’t make it weird.
Out of your list of tyres in current wet muddy trail conditions I’d leave your pairing as it is.
The dissector will be faster at 417 / drier races but I wouldn’t ride it at FOD if is gopping wet and muddy.
The Assegai can clog in really heavy mud and rolls quite slow. It’s probably somewhere between the DHF and Shorty though - as it starts to dry I’d try that on the front.
The butcher is essentially a slightly worse / cheaper version of a dhf.
A DHF will be fine at FOD on the back.
To me the list of tyres you have is pretty front focused (I know some can be run both ends and Dissector is a rear), with the Shorty, Assegai and DHF you have Maxxis tread patterns for the front sewn up. I'd suggest adding a DHR2 to the mix as a rear (if a rear only you'll be fine in dual compound or 3C but may want at least EXO+, probably DD if racing DH). This will also help ensure consistent logos front and back and that's worth an additional 2 seconds in anyone's book.
Out of your list I'd take the DHF.
twin DHF, buying a new front and moving the front to the rear once the rear one wore out was standard for years for trail/fun/enduro bikes.
Its completely normal to run them on the rear. If anyone suggests running it backwards, avoid any and all technical advice they give you.
South of england and light weight you are probably not in the realms of wanting a tougher casing... yet.
Being an (ex)local who still rides there a lot (Bristol based now), if I was riding the DH tracks at FOD this weekend I’d be going DHF x2 but I’m sure the shorty will be a nice confidence booster with its extra bit of grip.
Might be worth checking they’re open as have been closed at the beginning of the week due to a lot of trees down.
I think the maxxgrip Shorty (think it’s that compound) will probably be faster than the DHF in current conditions on the front
I see your lad had a solid midplace finish (20/43), definitely needs a new 29er though ;o)
Pics are up at https://www.rootsandrain.com/photos/6922265
i am interested to see what direction they go with the replacement.
The replacement? I think it’s just a week he’s away for but I suppose they could bring back Hora if they really have to
I assume weeksy will be back soon - week’s ban so must be coming to the end of that. I expect he’ll start a thread on the replacement in due course.....
I didnt realise he was banned. I thought he may have contributed to my Bol d'Or thread.
My guess is the Nukeproof Mega that he posted a few days ago, unless some used bargain has come up. Sounds like his lad is happy to just run with what he has (within reason) rather than Weeksy who’s a bit ‘princess and the pea’ by all accounts (being a bit tongue in cheek here), so hopefully whatever replaces it will be around for a while.
I suppose they could bring back Hora if they really have to
Ever seen weeksy and Hora in the same room?
Makes you think.
My guess is the Nukeproof Mega that he posted a few days ago, unless some used bargain has come up. Sounds like his lad is happy to just run with what he has (within reason) rather than Weeksy who’s a bit ‘princess and the pea’ by all accounts (being a bit tongue in cheek here), so hopefully whatever replaces it will be around for a while.
Nope, not that one
Wait... weeksy is Hora's dad?
Nah, it is all change at Weeksy Towers
Nah, it is all change at Weeksy Towers
got fed up of not being able to buy speed on a mtb - so gone back to motorcycle trackdays? 😉
