How much speed can you buy? (MTB)

[Furbz]

Are you guys even hubbers? 

one can certainly buy ones way to a faster time! 

we've all done it, and convinced ourselves that we are "faster" on it compared to our old bike thus justifying the purchase 

 

but on a serious note:

 

tires are a must. my ole man used to put new tires on for important races he was focusing on.

if your outer tread is not torn/worn you can certainly be doing more in the corners.

 

 

Then wheels. Carbon rims - not because they are lighter (they are not). they don't FLEX as much and definitely give more confidence cornering (don't buy them to "get lighter"). get a good name brand not Chinese junk, your buying them for their rigidity. 

 

Bike setup coupled with coaching on where to put your weight when is an absolute must. you have no idea how much faster you can get from this alone.

 

a dropper seatpost. gives you more room to move around on technical terrain. 

 

and a XC bike is definitely faster. they are twitchier and handle faster(at least in a medium). they are purpose built for what you want to achieve.

 

lastly. yes they are all going to give gains. but they will be MARGINAL gains. that said, they do all add up.

 

Best advise has already been said above. First get coaching for the technical side of your riding.

that is where your largest gains will be made

 

[Headshot]

he wanted light & fast   ...    

Dont those guys put you down on the deck faster than anything else? 

[Headshot]

a full suspension bike under 12kgs (with new tyres)

 

that should do the trick alright.

 

I know it's not the best fit for data, but probably the widest sample set.

 

http://www.treadmtb.co.za/bikes-of-the-2017-absa-cape-epic-all-the-stats/

 

SC have gone from being nowhere to one of the more used bike brands at the Cape Epic by SA riders.

This is with pretty much ZERO focus on marathon bikes per se marketing wise. They don't even have a race team!  Eg. in 2008, Giant has 24% of saffas on their bikes, now they have 4%, SC have gone from 3% to 7% in that time

And there are rumours of an EBike on the horizon which will really get those percentages up :-) 

[Yo-Yo]

it's all be said before but I'd keep the SC and work on you, tyres, maybe some more competition focused wheels. The easiest way to save weight is drop kgs on you. I am 5kgs lighter than I was last year and it feels great. The is the equivalent of nearly half of you bike. Faster, lighter tyres will do good. Some performance / skills coaching is a great investment that will last longer than your bike will and with specific nutrition and training schedules you can get closer to those racing goals. 

[Li Mu Bai]

Snip. But then, my hardtail is also still alu (and a hardtail) and isn't especially pleasant to ride. 

 

Snip

Aaah, you need to get onto a SC Highball

 

I enjoy my Alu Highball more than my Tallboy...

[Li Mu Bai]

it's all be said before but I'd keep the SC and work on you, tyres, maybe some more competition focused wheels. The easiest way to save weight is drop kgs on you. I am 5kgs lighter than I was last year and it feels great. The is the equivalent of nearly half of you bike. Faster, lighter tyres will do good. Some performance / skills coaching is a great investment that will last longer than your bike will and with specific nutrition and training schedules you can get closer to those racing goals. 

5kg is significant, = 9 x 610ml FULL Camelbak Podium bottles you were previously hauling around!

[Li Mu Bai]

Thanks for the input everyone - Didn't mean to turn this into a too long of a discussion.

 

Doing the tire change from Ardent Race and DHF to the Schwalbe Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph. Will do a few hard rides on my morning route when i get them later this week and see if it shaves off some time

Good combination. A Nobby Nic up front also works. Schwalbe have some of the lightest tires, but get the folding TL ready ones with the snakeskin sidewalls - they last a little longer in the sharp rocky stuff.

Schwalbe have changed their rubber compound, from pacestar to Addixspeedgrip and Addixspeed... looks like sales munbojumbo, but hopefully the rubber lasts a little longer than the softish quick wearing pacestar.

[Rocket-Boy]

Dude, this only on page 3, there will still be guys fighting about it till page 20, then one guy will tell another guy not to tell him how to be a parent, bans will happen, conspiracy theories will be put forward, people will change hobbies..... and by then you will have an XC bike....

Lol its been a while since that came up, well played good sir *doffs hat*

[SlowManiac]

Just get an e-bike...

[Mohs]

Swop blood with your BFF and live strong...or let go of the brakes. Basically what they said...skill-up

[Christie]

I have a trail bike (RM Instinct) and a XC bike (RM Vertex) - both relatively light at 12.8kg and 8.9kg.

I feel a big drop in how much power I can generate on the trail bike. For example - climbs I can scale in a 36x42 I use a 34x50 for in the trail bike. I do not think it is just the weight difference - in my case I think it has to do with the setup: setback post on the XC bike rotates my hips to a position that allowes better generation, vs. upright position due to streight dropper, riser bar and shorter stem on the trail bike. I still have to experiment, but in my case I think a streight dropper post vs as setback post slows me down on flats & climbs. Trail bike is awesome on technical terrain, though.

[Mawbs]

Dont those guys put you down on the deck faster than anything else? 

 

the Pyga Eurosteel team dont seem to have any problems with them

[stefmeister]

Thanks for the input everyone - Didn't mean to turn this into a too long of a discussion.

 

Doing the tire change from Ardent Race and DHF to the Schwalbe Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph. Will do a few hard rides on my morning route when i get them later this week and see if it shaves off some time

Also consider Maxxis Forekaster, or Spez Ground control upfront. Lighter, and you're not sacrificing too much ito grip.

[stefmeister]

I have a trail bike (RM Instinct) and a XC bike (RM Vertex) - both relatively light at 12.8kg and 8.9kg.

I feel a big drop in how much power I can generate on the trail bike. For example - climbs I can scale in a 36x42 I use a 34x50 for in the trail bike. I do not think it is just the weight difference - in my case I think it has to do with the setup: setback post on the XC bike rotates my hips to a position that allowes better generation, vs. upright position due to streight dropper, riser bar and shorter stem on the trail bike. I still have to experiment, but in my case I think a streight dropper post vs as setback post slows me down on flats & climbs. Trail bike is awesome on technical terrain, though.

Also noticed this; geometry plays a big role. On climbs I can almost manage the same average speeds on my 160mm bike, but on flat stuff I completely off the wagon trying to keep up with these xc whippets.

[rudi-h]

Well seeing that you own 50% of the bikes required, and you are the one wanting the inforamtion, why dont you borrow a XC racing bike, do a test, and tell us?

 

I'd love to!  Issue is that I live way out, so don't have a proper course to compare against plus there are no top end race bikes to borrow north of the Soutpansberg...

[arendoog]

This time next year somebody will have won a significant event on a SC blur ,then there will be  hundreds of S- works on the Hub classifieds selling for 20 % of their initial price .I suggest you wait until then ,but get some lighter tires in the mean time