The Downhill Thread

[Capricorn]

nice snaps there Cervelo.

[DownhillingKing]

Jason I have no idea if he will be there or not. Angus is back from Moz so should be there. I want be rocking this weekend as will be racing boats instead of the Sled. I have even put my boxxer on for this event and now I can't make it.

[Capricorn]

LoveMe.DH/FR: that berm you made totally does not like anyone trying to rail it

 

Did you stomp the earth down to ensure it stays solid, cos it's very very loose on the berm itself. I came in high and with good speed thinking i'm;gonna railt this berm: instead my front wheel hooked into the dirt and threw me OTB INTO those trees on the left. LOL I thought i broke my left ribs cos my bars dug in real snug hahah. good thing it was just a jab.

 

Gonna have to fix that, but without rain, it's gonna be like telkom service: best effort

[DownhillingKing]

Next time capricorn, Tap the brakes get the foot out and keep looking cool!!

[Capricorn]

the front didn't slip requiring foot out. it dug into the loose soil eventually butting up against something firm and twisting throwing me OTB. Very pleasnt. I loved Loveme.DH/FR so much right then..... also, ti's a left hand turn requring left leg out. Bum knee is on that leg. Not gonna happen

[DownhillingKing]

Ja thats what I meant tap the back brake slide out while sliding start cranking and you'll be power sliding round that berm instead of been wrapped around said trees.

[Capricorn]

nah, sliding wastes speed. I took the berm high, as in just below the lip. skidding out would have taken the wheel over the lip. I really didnt expect the berm to have been that soft. Gonna take up some cement in a bag and sprinkle it in the soil, then stamp it down and hope the morning dew over the new few days will be sufficient to cause the little bit of cement to bind the soil together and firm that berm up.

The soil is a bit weird: when wet, it seems to pack together nicely, and frankly, it feels clay-like. So you slap it up with the spade and smooth it out hoping it holds when the dry weather rolls around. However, it just turns to dust. Hence the sprinkling of pixieDustForBerms, aka cement powder

[Capricorn]

DHK: trimmed my bars. Initially I specified 10mm each side, but it seems the hacksaw operator decided 15mm each side was better. I thought they supposed to use pipe cutters. anyway, bars down to 760mm. Felt strange straightaway. Really didnt think 15mm each side would feel different,but it did. Did one run today, and it definitely feels different, but i can handle the trees better, so I'm stoked. Gonna get another 780mm bar with higher rise (30mm) and keep that handy for wide open gnar. wide bars are just so confidence inspiring in the rough.

 

Also, fitted the E.13 SRS+ (black). very noice. But the lower pulley is causing quite a bit of drag on the chain and makes an audible noise when pedalling. Will lube it up and see how she goes.

[Capricorn]

I know I keep mentioning it, but if you can DHK: i highly recommend the Schwalbe Dirty Dans. yes, it's a spike, but's utterly fantastic in the wet, the muddy, the loamy, the sandy, and hte deep loose over hardpack. Does dry and moist roots and rocks pretty damn well too. And the spikes dont fold. And it rolls like a high roller. Better than the minions in most areas a minion is strong.

But for the bar stewards here, it's only available via CRC.

[DownhillingKing]

Yeah but you look cool and it less sore. What you got another chain guide? Why? I'm really keen to make my own chain device all the ons on the market look ***. Except for the one that Mark makes saw a prototype looks sexci

[Capricorn]

then go for it! changed to a full bashplate cos 2)sam hill aint wrong, and 1) my chainring's been getting a lot of side swipes that the taco cant protect against.

[DownhillingKing]

No time right now maybe in holidays as I will have access to carbon then as well. You an Sam Hill! If he rode a rusty old million year old penny farling a week later you'd checks Maya rolling down the hill with a a penny farling thing.

[Capricorn]

yeah, that's why sam rides Spesh and I ride last century's extension... u so got me there

 

btw: before reaching for the carbon, you supposed to make a mockup/protoype in whatever material you can find. makes the process cheaper and massively faster. It's an iterative process designing something, but i'm sure you know this already.

[DownhillingKing]

Lets be honest if you could have a spesh right now you would

 

I think I'm just going to go straight to carbon as it will probably be the easiest material to work with.

[Capricorn]

it's easy to work with carbon? you know this how? and i totally disagree with you btw.

Wood is the easiest to work with for a prototype, hell even high density foam. Why? cos you can use simple hand tools to get the job done as an initial approximation. You must remember, everything has a learning curve (unless of course you let some more experienced person do all the work): drawing up designs has learning, using tools to make your first proto, knowing what material to use, how to use the material, knowing why a material is not good enough, how to test, why the test failed, knowing a false positive test results etc etc.

 

You can cut out a lot of learning if u stick to the simple stuff first. It's going to make your final product better if u spend more time visualising and making the proto's by hand. Almost every single great industrial designer out there goes that route. I will bet you going to suffer pain and the ensuing financial outlay to rectify mistakes will cut deep into your resolve. It sounds kewl jumping straight into the exotic stuff. BUt you setting yourself up, unless course, you know you have the absolutely perfect design. <-- yet to happen btw

[DownhillingKing]

Would will break though and if you go straight in to carbon you'll also learn all the limitation that you will have with that material. well not easy but easier than sitting with a slab of alu and a file.

 

Okay well I will tackle that when I get to that phase. Right now I'm at phase one. . . Get a copy of Auto cad or solid works from school. . .