http://www.redbull.com/us/en/bike/stories/1331591092217/aaron-gwin-downhill-mtb-action

😯

Saw that on the Dirt website.

Gotta be said, the guy does fly over the ground. However sympathetic filming on a familiar track is not DH World Cup racing. Gwin is good, in fact he is better than good – he is awesome but the other guys will have been practicing hard. This WC will be special. There are a lot of guys snapping at Gwin’s coat tails…

anyone else think his front wheel comes up really high when he jumps the demo, like its not balanced quite right, I never noticed that when he rode the trek and I’ve noticed it in the two videos I’ve now seen of him on the demo. Can’t wait for this season to kick off, going to be very interesting.

Agreed, I am well looking forward to this season. Reading Danny Harts interview in Dirt, the lad is hunting a world cup win so will be up for it, and Gwinn knows people are coming for him so hes gonna be riding harder. Hope redbull make a good job of coverage, they were fair good last year with it.

I noticed that a few times in that video, especially in one of the slo-mo shots. One of them looked deliberate, but I couldn’t say for sure. I can’t really think where an imbalance would be though, other than in the geometry. I would have thought he would have custom geometry on his bike.

Coyote: I see what you are saying, and I agreed that isn’t the same as a world cup race, but I do think you are doing him a disservice by saying it’s down to “sympathetic filming”.

@rs. I noticed that too. Wasn’t sure whether it was the bike, his MX background or the vid’s director causing all those back wheel landings.

bikes balanced, bars up heels down… it’s a Gwinn Gwinn, prefers an arse plant to a face plant, don’t blame him.

I can’t get my head around those rear wheel landings being anything other than deliberate (and for show).

I can’t get my head around those rear wheel landings being anything other than deliberate (and for show).

I’m pretty sure they are.

As an aside: Check out how hard he runs his forks 😯

Fair few comments last season about how hard his setup was, and how that was the ‘secret’ to his speed.

Be interesting to see how many world cup DHers will be running noticeably stiffer setups this year.

Wow and this sums up my thoughts
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FucbvoFFy0[/video]

colournoise – Member

Fair few comments last season about how hard his setup was, and how that was the ‘secret’ to his speed.

Be interesting to see how many world cup DHers will be running noticeably stiffer setups this year.

Lots of chat about it but supposedly it’s not that rare- Leov ran his harder, frinstance, Beaumont says Commencal tried to get him on a softer setup but he went back to a hard one. Just wasn’t something that was really talked about much before, maybe?

Crikey, it had to check it wasn’t in ffwd..

I wonder if DH and even XC would have more general appeal if the TV coverage looked like that. Then there would be more money in it for the riders.

I’ve not seen Redbull’s coverage, but usually the only time you see an entire lap is at the Olympic XC, which being broadcast live doesn’t provide an opportunity for filmic editing or angles. To show more of a DH than the half a dozen set points they usually throw in an edited on bike Go Pro.

With Go Pro quality within the reach of the public you’d imagine it’s financially viable now with the technology being cheaper to cover an entire course for broadcast and get creative, especially if you delay the broadcast to allow for editing. Or all the cameras stream live and the broadcast is directed to follow the action. I’m imagining that either Go Pro is high enough quality, or that there’s something out there that is appropriate for professional use, or that someone could develop professional equipment based on the cheap consumer tech.

That’s got to be more interesting than F1 or even a road Grand Tour.

Stiff setups are not new on the WC scene. I recall Steve Jones testing Gee Atherton’s Commie a few seasons ago and commenting how hard his setup was – I think he said something along the lines of it only making sense if you’re fully committed and very quick indeed.

How do they do the panning shots?

Why has he got his brakes on all the time?

I guess the rate at which these guys descend means they’re hitting thing harder and therefore need a stiffer set up or they’d be continually bottoming out.

Personally, I think he’s overbiked 😉

Demo geometry is weird. I expect crashes like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkMtKtlc1g

“I’m the fastest rider in the world right now” Really? I think Stevie Smith will have something to say about that.

Without wanting a great vid to descend into a wheelsize debate and it could well be my eyes but were they 27.5 wheels? Just looked slightly bigger relative to the frame in some of the early side shots.

Na, if they were 27.5/29″ wheels he’d be going noticably faster than he is here

Looks like deliberate show boating, he does plenty of wheels together and front first too. Nice to see the stealth look TLD kit instead of hideous Harlequin techno jammies!

Leith Hill?

“I’m the fastest rider in the world right now” Really? I think Stevie Smith will have something to say about that.

As he says, which you have conveniently left out, is that he refers to the points standings in the world cup, which clearly show he is officially the fastest rider in the world right now. Smith may be the guy on form, but until he wins regularly on the world cup, there will be doubts about him.

Re: Hard suspension. I also remember a magazine getting a ride on Fairclough’s race bike where they said it was actually quite uncomfortable to ride, unless you were absolutely flat-out, which required more balls and skill than average Johnny Mountain Biker.

Woods behind Nationwide, Swindon?

One of his most exaggerated rear wheel landings is just metres before another kicker. I have a feeling that he times the grounding of the front wheel to give extra compression off that second kicker. Check , they replay it in slomo, 2m17

I guess the stiff setup comes from the bmx background? I have to run my suspension hard as well otherwise it feels like a wallowy soggy mess.

I guess the stiff setup comes from the bmx background?

Nah!! I don’t think it’s anything to do with him riding BMX. As others have alluded to: When you are riding that fast, with hits as hard as that, you need a stiff suspension to stop it bottoming out all the time, and gives him a reasonable pedaling platform.

Great vid. There’s no disputing he’s top dog right now, but they all want to beat him, not just Smith. Besting him once will be hard for any rider, beating him consistently will be a big ask. Should make for a great season’s racing.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the bike. Back wheel landings are caused by one thing only at this level, the rider. On the slomo example there’s a little kicker a few feet after the landing. It’s maybe faster and more controlled not to hit this jumpette with the forks compressed (obviously depends on what’s after this bit of trail). If he landed the rear and held it in a manual it’d be showboating, otherwise it’s just trying to fast without upsetting the bike too much.

In most forms of wheeled racing, the faster you go, the harder you’ll need to run your suspension. I’ve had a go on a race (motor) bike and shocked at how bloody stiff the thing was. I wasn’t fast enough to feel it working properly, but as i got used to it and my speed increased, i could feel it working a bit.

He is doing that on one of those “skills compensator” bikes. Now do it on a hard tail or a fattie and yep I would say impressive.

Wow, he didnt mention the g word once! I’d rather watch Fairclaw tbh.

JCL – Member

Demo geometry is weird. I expect crashes like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkMtKtlc1g

You know why that happened? He made an arse of taking off a tear-off on the straight and arrived at the corner out of shape and distracted. Nothing to do with the geometry of the bike.

Still podiumed… Mad.

Yep I know the history. I still predict he’ll struggle on the Demo with front wheel grip.

Why? Are they handicapping him by not allowing him to use tyres?

anyone else think his front wheel comes up really high when he jumps the demo, like its not balanced quite right,

think he could learn a few lessons from this guy 😉

I guarantee you will laugh!

Posted by Cwmdown mtb uplifts on Thursday, May 16, 2013

Naah geometry. We’ll see.

I’m totally gonna start drinking Red Bull and going to church after seeing that.

When you are riding that fast, with hits as hard as that, you need a stiff suspension to stop it bottoming out all the time, and gives him a reasonable pedaling platform.

Well this also makes perfect sense 🙂

He’s got rough idea of how to ride a bike. I bet I would slaughter him in a cake and beer contest though!

When these DHers are running stiffer suspension, does that mean they’re sitting higher in the travel at rest, ie with less sag? Or is it more done through increased compression damping?

They might use sag around 20-25%, but it’s mostly masses of high speed compression damping. At that level they’ll have custom shim stacks in their suspension to get the damping exactly how they want it.