Chris Boardman talk about obsessive marginal gains on MTB's.

[Stodgy]

Thanks, useful info. From that last photo it seems they have trouble getting the bars low enough for a racy position. Hmmm, how about smaller wheels to drop the head tube a bit? What a novel idea.

As for the tyres, they look incredible. From reading the tech specs on the website I estimate it will take about 5 days to change a tyre, what with all the glue having to dry and what have you. Different world!

 

[Rampage]

On another note - did anyone notice which tyres the GB Women's rider was running. They looked as if they had white sidewalls.

Me likey!

The tyres weren't bad either

I'm pretty sure I saw her stopped at some traffics lights on a road bike in Manchester today.

And yes, why didn't they show that corner Anthony? Shame.

 

[Stodgy]

Yes, that corner shot is great. Real commitment. I reckon if I tried that I'd end up wrapped in that flag.

 

[james1985]

There was mention of one rider having ther nose drilled to get more air in?? That a joke or serious?? But thinking about it u would save a couple grams and in your head it would lower your centre of gravity.

 

[Stodgy]

How about carbon fibre bone replacement? Or direct turbo air injection into lungs from integrated chest air scoop? Or EPO? One of those must be illegal.

 

[Anthony]

Another thing I thought the commentators got wrong was praising the course. I thought it was bad - any course where mtb are running with suspension almost locked out and single chainrings has missed the point about what mtb racing ought to be.

Seeing Kulhavy on a FS overtaking a hardtail up a hill to win the gold ought to be an adman's dream, but it takes the shine off it when you realise that he had the rear end locked, so he was only getting traction benefit from the few mm of negative travel that the Brain allows, and no suspension.

The problem was that the course was artificial, with 95% of it smooth high-speed bombing and 5% gnarly downhill. So the best option was run the bikes almost rigid and just survive the 5% mtb bits so that you could be fast on the easy bits. I guess it was a bit like xc races from the early 90s, but not really a test for modern bikes. There should have been some gnarly uphill, and the majority of the lap twisty and bumpy with muddy sections.

And also, why the hell is there no DH in the Olympics?

 

[Stodgy]

No big hills London? They could have used box hill I suppose.

I've ridden the fort bill xc course and that is much tougher!

 

[FluffyChicken]

Another thing I thought the commentators got wrong was praising the course. I thought it was bad - any course where mtb are running with suspension almost locked out and single chainrings has missed the point about what mtb racing ought to be.

Seeing Kulhavy on a FS overtaking a hardtail up a hill to win the gold ought to be an adman's dream, but it takes the shine off it when you realise that he had the rear end locked, so he was only getting traction benefit from the few mm of negative travel that the Brain allows, and no suspension.

The problem was that the course was artificial, with 95% of it smooth high-speed bombing and 5% gnarly downhill. So the best option was run the bikes almost rigid and just survive the 5% mtb bits so that you could be fast on the easy bits. I guess it was a bit like xc races from the early 90s, but not really a test for modern bikes. There should have been some gnarly uphill, and the majority of the lap twisty and bumpy with muddy sections.

And also, why the hell is there no DH in the Olympics?

The courses I did BiTD had more technical up hills than on that course, but not the rock drops or artificially edged corners they seem to want now. Still had drop offs etc.
But it was for telly and I wonder what the actual riders thought of it other than it was their job to win a medal.
that uphill snake climb must have board the hell out of them. Basically just firetrack.

 

[gerryattrick]

The problem was that the course was artificial, with 95% of it smooth high-speed bombing and 5% gnarly downhill. So the best option was run the bikes almost rigid and just survive the 5% mtb bits so that you could be fast on the easy bits. I guess it was a bit like xc races from the early 90s, but not really a test for modern bikes. There should have been some gnarly uphill, and the majority of the lap twisty and bumpy with muddy sections.

And also, why the hell is there no DH in the Olympics?

The course had to: 1) be near London 2) accommodate loads of spectators 3) be easy to televise. While I agree with you about the poor design of the course I can see why compromises were made and it ended up like it did. Coverage is aimed at Joe Public, not merely active mountain bikers, who will probably go out of their way to watch it. The same thing happened with road cycling - that's why they always seemed to be riding up Box Hill.

I wouldn't like to see DH as, in my view, the Olympic Games has got far too unwieldy in recent years with the inclusion of things like synchronised swimming, tennis, golf (from 2016), BMX. There's as much justification for snooker, skateboarding, fishing, cross-country/fell running - all of which are hugely popular for participation.

 

[Rampage]

There was mention of one rider having ther nose drilled to get more air in?? That a joke or serious?? But thinking about it u would save a couple grams and in your head it would lower your centre of gravity.

Yes, I have heard of it before!