Weeksy08 the ongoing racing trials and tribulations of a crazy teen

I know some think that we’re all super serious and want to end up in EWS/WCDH, but that’s honestly not the case.

ahem

I’m seeing this as potentially my future with my small boy for the coming years… if things with MTBing head where i think they’ll go, then EWS is where i see him…

Well, the problem is that in some ways it’s a catch 22.

It seems that you are keen to race as much as possible and are understandably reluctant to set him loose on harder tracks and risking him being put off, but his exposure to more technical trails is limited because he’s spending his weekends racing bike parks. It’s catch 22 but easily remedied.

One key thing that people getting on your case need to realise is that it’s actually quite hard writing forum posts about your kids. And it does expose you a lot.

Agreed. I don’t meant to come across like I’m having a dig. I think everyone here would agree it’s great you share a passion with your son. But don’t be surprised to get some people pointing out you’ve disregarded the opinions of people who experience to do it your way.
Enjoy Pearce, I think that should be a nice stepping stone for him.

I was thinking about the off piste riding and think you have an interesting conundrum now – unless you find somewhere with uplift the DH bike is going to be hard going up to the top – where something like a Nukeproof Giga would have been better for pedalling up hill and the expense of not being quite so racey downhill. That T130 might get quick a lot of use for general riding.

It feels like you’re just out to get the best for your lad and make sure he’s having fun tbh. I don’t think you’re pushing him for your own enjoyment – it seems he drove the purchase of an out and out DH bike and going that route rather than enduro.

I say keep going as long as he’s having fun etc

On the subject of trail centres (and not having ridden any UK DH) is there a lot of difference between some of the DH courses (like the Bringewood vid) and the harder / tech reds (AC/DC, Roots Manoeuvre, Rim Dinger) and blacks at BPW?

I get that that 417 and spending your time at BPW riding  flow trails like Sixtapod and Willy Waver are not great training, but surely the more difficult runs at some trail centres (also thinking Gawton) are good training? (I know Fort William etc are another step up).

@razorrazoo not at all, they’re not the same but there’s nothing that hard on pearce tracks to ride, to ride fast is different.

@razorrazoo not at all, they’re not the same but there’s nothing that hard on pearce tracks to ride, to ride fast is different.

Gotcha, I’ve ridden with some quick people in the past and seen some fast riding in the Alps.  Totally agree  the properly fast people are on an absolute other level, both in terms of the riding skills, picking lines, and also the confidence to hit features at the pace they do.

Onto this weekend it’s race time at Berwyn.

The boy managed to ride last night on the new bike for the first time and is trying to get used to the new riding style/position. One thing he did notice was tyre stiffness, noting the Schwalbe Magic Mary Bikepark version seem very harsh. So i’m thinking of going back to the Shorty/DHF combo he’s more used to. Just to try and keep things as simple and samey as possible really for him.

I’m sure the Schwalbe Magic Mary Bikepark are a great tyre in their own right.. but just makes sense to me really. They review really well, but heavy and stiff are 2 criticisms.

Suspension feel plush though, feels great if a little ‘dead’ feeling on the rear, but i get the impression that it’s always going to feel less poppy and that’s a good thing.

Headset was a bit clicky/creaky, wasn’t sure at first if it was a fork internals thing, but happily a clean of the upper, lower and a decent bit of grease and it’s quiet again.

Saturday for practice runs and then onto race day on Sunday… he seems excited.

The schwalbe bikepark range of tyres are just meant to be tough and long lasting,but not especially fast, for doing loads of laps of a bike park where you don’t really care about outright lap times for as little money as poss.

There are much better tyres in their range if you are happy to pay more

Threads get a bit mixed up as my thoughts randomly flit from racing to bike setup.

this morning i’ve fitted his usual rubber, Maxxis Shorty on the front and a Maxxis DHF on the rear.. (and no F doesn’t stand for front, it stands for Freeride lol).

Anyway, it’s what he’s used to, what he usually runs and he loves the feel and grip, so that’s what we’ve gone for. They’re both virtually brand new, so he’ll have plenty of grip. We’ve still got the brand new Assegai as the backup/spare tyre, which is comical as a backup considering it cost me £80 lol.

(and no F doesn’t stand for front, it stands for Freeride lol).

not according to maxxis – https://www.maxxis.com/uk/tyre/minion-dhf/

The Minion DHF is our most popular front downhill and MTB tyre which provides grip and control in loose and muddy conditions.

Pair this with the Minion DHR II on the rear for (proverbially speaking) unstoppable performance

not that it matters what the F and R stand for though – just run what works for you for whatever reason.

The tyres you’ve now put on will be fine – especially whilst it’s still quite muddy on natural stuff. As it starts to dry I’d swap the Shorty out for the Assegai on the front wheel.

Magic Mary Bikepark is a massively heavy thing – really stiff and I assume very puncture resistant. It’s not going to grip as well as the new tyres you’ve got in there in most conditions.

Walking the track = 3 practice runs remember 😉

Walking the track = 3 practice runs remember

We’ll do our best @mashr

If he doesn’t get it, Pinkbike is photo of articles from the track walk at every world cup

If he doesn’t get it, Pinkbike is photo of articles from the track walk at every world cup

Oh he’s more than happy to do so, it’s just a question of when. None of the instrcutions/info describes an open time for track-walk. It’s techincally a private bike park and open all day for general public on the Sat, so whether that’ll mean there’s time after it closes or before it opens for practice on Sun morning, i don’t yet know. Not all of the organisers or events run a dedicated track walk time, so it’s as much down to them as it is down to us.

Add to that he’s still hobbling about with the broken metatarsal and i don’t want to make that any worse, he’s barely done anything since breaking it apart from resting.

But honestly, if it’s plausible, we will try to.

Top weekend of fun. With beers, merryment, new bike test and racing.

The boy did great and had an absolute blast out there on the new bike. He loves it and thinks it’s the best thing he’s ever sat on.

Course was tricky, i rode most of it on Sat in practice, it was rooty, techy, droppy and jumpy in the woods. Fast and swtichy on the top end, then an off camber finish. Lots of crashes, but nothing major we saw which was good. The boys in our gang all fell off once each.

Race day the boy was happy. He was up against a fair few of the boys he races regularly now. Including his mate from school Ollie. In 5 races he’s never beaten Ollie, but they usually finish right next to eachother in results and usually less than a couple of seconds between them.

2022-03-20_06-15-41 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

2022-03-20_06-15-26 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

2022-03-20_06-15-17 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

2022-03-20_06-18-13 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

The boy ended up 14/40 which was brilliant and not only that but 6s ahead of his mate Ollie. Run 1 is above and Ollie was 9s behind but in race 2 Ollie picked up 6s or so but my lad picked up 2s.
It’s a good gauge of how he did, but with some Roots and Rain stalking and checking of previous results, he also beat 3 lads who usually beat him. I’d generally expect to see him 20/40 in this series, as it’s a level above some of the other races we enter.

Most of all though, each and every one of our lads came down smiling and happy. And of course uninjured… (well apart from the broken metatarsal he did 15 days ago lol).

He’s got next weekend off as i’m off to Belgium to ride for the weekend, so we’ve got a couple of weeks non-racing until the next one on the 10th April.

Great stuff. Thats a pretty decent result with a broken foot and an unfamiliar bike. well done to the lad. Lovely day for it too.

Good result👍

Thanks guys…. He’s a happy boy this morning and whilst not looking forward to 2 weeks off the bike now, he’s going to mostly accept it i think lol.

It’s impressive just how damn fast the fast kids are… in their age and indeed the younger and older groups… So so fast. This weekend was a proper mix of bikes out there, but DAMN there’s a pile of money in racing lol. It seems every kid is on a £5000+ bike. Especially once you get to the 16s…. But even in the rippers you’re seeing 11 year olds on Santa Cruz V10s lol. It’s bonkers the money we’re all throwing in there in the quest for racing.

Course seemed excellent and the lad properly enjoyed himself.

Next races upcoming are the 417 Flyup race on the 10th, followed by the Pearce at Bringewood on the 24th. We’ve got plenty of other stuff inbetween though for laughs and fun, including a nice bit of BPW and Afan with all his mates.

2022-03-21_08-38-49 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

2022-03-22_08-29-56 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

SENDING!!

Great stuff. 😀

Just entered this place on the 2/3 April. No idea even where it is lol so Saturday practice will involve learning!

As this is bike related i thought this the best place for it.

https://www.rsrbikeworks.co.uk/

Just booked a day with these guys for suspension setup. The guy who runs it is the team mechanic and suspension guy for the GT Factory DH Racing team and just back from the WC event at Lourdes. First day is just suspension settings due to weather that’s coming in. Bit of bouncing, tweaking, sorting and setting up.
But after that we’ve got a day of full data-logging.
Attachment of Motion Instruments sensors to your bike and accurate measurement of sag front and rear. Alternatively, your bike can be delivered to me 24 hours before session for fitting of sensors. This will maximise riding time during the session

6 hours riding to get good sample data for analysis. The trail needs to be as long as possible. Shorter trails (less than a minute) may need multiple runs to gather meaningful data

Data is analysed by me, or can be done in conjunction with your mechanic if you have one

Settings changed, based on data and rider feedback after each run to improve setup

Best front and rear balance and rider-preferred settings obtained

Print out of settings and recommendations for different trail conditions (steep tracks, wet, cold, jumpy, etc)

Might as well get the bike set up to the best of our ability for the races this season, although sadly it won’t be for this weekend at Rheola as he preferred doing it on better condition trails than it will be after the rain that’s due. But that’s ok, we’re playing the long game here 🙂

Sounds like a good day of testing / setting up 💪

£250 for that day ?

Sorry please don’t take this as being patronising

Are you treating it as just a day for your son to learn about his bike setup and understand how to adjust it himself , or to be ‘sold’ a series of settings that will transform how his bike rides?

I hope you go to this and pay the money for him to understand what impact making the adjustments has, rather than ‘here is my bike, make it wonderful’

It’s great seeing your kid being good at sport, enjoying it and wanting to achieve, unfortunately participation in any sport is not cheap these days!

IT’ll be a bit of both really as a suspension setup learning day for me too. I’ve got better over the years setting bikes up and know how to twiddle a few bits. But i could do with more knowledge on the DH settings.
What i’d also like is the time and ability for him to session a trail (we know the trails well there), to pick up knowledge of what different setting changes feel like, what effects they have and what benefits that brings with it. This will hopefully help him longer term as we can use this baseline and work from there if a specific track or terrain needs a few tweaks, he can then tell me what he’s thinking etc.
I’ll also be there learning and listening to what the guy says.

Over the years we’ve used this service lots on motorbikes and on racetracks and you can often find massive differences by doing it.. So i feel it’s worth a pop.

I understand the expense and i’m fine with it. He’s also got 2 days with Katy C in the coming weeks and that’ll help there too with his progression.

But all of this pales into insignificance of how much he’s enjoying it all at the moment. He was incredibly excited that i got back from Belgium early yesterday as he could get out of school early and hit the woods with the boys… despite it being the DH bike and ‘focused’ he’s getting to grips with it brilliantly and loving riding it, jumping it and playing with it.
Whilst he’s doing that, i’m also doing the trails and playing with my bike, also having the banter with him and his mates.

Yesterday was gap jump testing which ended with as he lands on the back he rolling stoppies down the face to the bottom… my face was priceless and even his mates seemed impressed. He’s now going into Rheola this weekend even more excited.

At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me, if he does it for the next year, next 5 years, next 10 years, who knows… not me, not him. But we’re both enjoying the journey

https://youtube.com/shorts/rix5j-APmGw?feature=share

Where’s the like button?

awesome vid!

🤘🤘🤘

It’s impressive just how damn fast the fast kids are… in their age and indeed the younger and older groups… So so fast.

Agreed. Amazing how quick.

It seems every kid is on a £5000+ bike. Especially once you get to the 16s…. But even in the rippers you’re seeing 11 year olds on Santa Cruz V10s lol. It’s bonkers the money we’re all throwing in there in the quest for racing.

It does seem to be an arms race for some. 🙁
Thankfully there is pride in the underdog bike spanking the expensive kit. #rideitlikeyoustoleit

On the expense front – eldest_oab was planning on 3x Enduro WC this summer. He has decided that between entry fees, wear and tear, travel to the venue and having to focus on one track for a full week, uplift etc, his spend was better off elsewhere… Each Enduro race was a full week of cost, equivalent to a couple of weeks elsewhere having fun.
He is still blooming fast, and he may return when post-student he has some moolah. This weekend he was mucking around with all the Scottish Uni MTB clubs at Golfie – and seemed to be one of the fastest there, at a cost of a bent crank and ripped pedal threads on Flat White.

Looking good 👍

Bike dropped off with RSR so he can fit all the telemetry kit today, set and checked sag etc, I had the preload adjuster wound too much so the lad only had about 12% sag on the rear. Lesson there for me.
Hopefully if the weather holds we’ll have our setup session tomorrow afternoon and with luck the boy can be enjoying and learning too.

Also collected the T130 which was getting a new seatpost fitted as I took it to Rotec Cycles to get the reverb checked but it was only fit for the bin, so I got him to chuck a new post in instead. Only a Brand X one, but seems nice enough.

I’ll be out on the Trek tomorrow while trying and failing to follow the lad when he’s getting sorted

Telemetry kit fitted.

2022-03-30_04-06-16 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

2022-03-30_04-06-21 by Steve Weeks[/url], on Flickr

The observant amongst you may notice the lower rise bars too as measurements implied they were too high for him with 40mm rise. So we’ve gone for 20mm rise Renthals.

I had the preload adjuster wound too much so the lad only had about 12% sag on the rear.

How’d you manage that? Get your measurements wrong for the stroke length?

Whoever cut that cable tie on the shock mount needs his side cutters taking away.

How’d you manage that? Get your measurements wrong for the stroke length?

I wasn’t aware that when you fitted the spring you only wind the collar down a certain amount. I’d wound it way too much

It’s all a bit of a learning curve for us.

Were you not measuring sag at all? Setup is still effectively the same as an air shock, just a combination of fixed spring weights and fine tuning with the collar instead of adjustable spring weight (air pressure). But yeah, you’re not the first person to over load a spring to the point of coil binding

We’ve barely sat on it due to the broken foot mate. That was only 3 weeks ago. So we’ve not really done much yet, hence getting the GT factory tech on it today.
It’s hard at times to get certain parts done, especially when you get rubbish feedback from the lad.

That actually sounds like I’m making excuses
Simple answer, no, not very well.

I was told by J-Tech to never have more than two full turns of preload, don’t know if that’s just an Ohlins thing or if it applies generally.