MEAT Engines 2023...

Posted by: Blofeld

Congrats on the progression! Reading that made me very happy. I appreciate the thoughts on carrying the improvements through winter and next season as well.

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I was thinking more about the sage old advice at the top of this post. I decided it is very good advice to give, but I wonder if it’s actually true? That is, do we really crash more when feeling less confident? Humans being notably poor at interpreting random sequences and all that. There was some research in the 80s about the ‘Hot Hand’ in basketball showing past baskets hit and perception of same doesn’t affect the outcome of future shots.

Thanks - things will definitely slow up in winter as a lot of the features we are hitting are gaps therefore the ground isn't as fast as spring / summer.  But I have one riding buddy who needs to knock off 3 more on a line of 9 gaps and I need to do a full run with all 9 (which our other riding buddy has done).  Then I need to get all of them on the HT (6 of 9 done so far).

I definitely have "confident" and "I'm just going to chill" days.  There are some features I can hit whatever the day and others I will leave alone when i'm not feeling it.  I think mtb is such a mind game - if you are feeling confident your body is in the right position and positive and committal.  It's when you hesitate things don't go right.

I was feeling good yesterday and because I was leading a group I wasn't pinned the whole way down so I was hitting a lot of the bonus hits on the trail. Playing around. The landings are small/tight and it felt good to nail them. Well eventually I land too far to the side of the trail in some soft dirt and washed out the front wheel. Blew off a fender and the front wheel was pointed 45 deg from the bars. Got up and dusted myself off. No serious body damage. Touched down mostly where my elbow and knee pads were. Just a tear in my riding shirt. I put it on the pile of clothes I am building that need to see the tailor for minor repairs. Fender went back on, no bike damage and I rode on. Still hitting some jumps/drops, but that little extra bit more carefully!

Blofield  - I guess - look at Bruni's tree clip at Snowshoe - he was probably millimetres from being OK. But then he said he doesn't like the track - maybe that sits in the back of the mind.  Whereas when someone loves a track maybe it has a positive outcome.

Posted by: tashi

Keeps my mind off the “problem” that’s making it a “ride around day”, and usually if I focus on technique over speed, the speed just shows up and I’m ready for it.

Since Claire started riding we’ve been talking about “riding smooth” and complimenting smooth riding. Now smooth is naturally starting to become faster, but not in aggressive way. It’s quite cool to watch her flow a 24” wheel hardtail down a trail she knows.

Posted by: syncro

So if the almost perfect gearbox came along, but it suffered a little bit of drag/inefficiency, and to compensate it had a small motor meant just to overcome that drag, would meaters be willing to ride it or would it still be a hard no. There could be two version, a full on ebike version and a meat version. The meat version would supply just enough power to overcome the mechanical inefficiency of the gearbox. That would allow manufacturers to build two bikes, one powered and one not, on the same chassis. Could that be the future?

No.  I really don't see the point of this. If you are putting a motor on your bike, might as well make good use of it.  I definitely don't want a motor of any sort on my mountain bike, but if and when that time comes, I definitely want to have enough power and range to do the rides I enjoy.

Posted by: fartymarty

It's when you hesitate things don't go right.

For me that’s it. Over-steering or under-steering on a log ride. Not being confident that my rear wheel is on a ladder or that I can correct for it. Not trusting my rubber down a steep section and because of that not having the proper body position to maximize traction.

Posted by: thaaad

RE - S'werx'd

This has got to be some of my all time favorite memories of all the stuff I've ever worked on bicycle related. A freshly serviced fork, god damn I miss that. Taking someone's well loved or abused suspension and turning it back in to what it originally was or better than.

Makes me smile :)

:)

Posted by: fartymarty

It actually would given it had good chain retention.  2x5 would be sweet.  Thumbing for the front ring and dropper under the bar.

Circling back to this, Marty. I can’t find it anywhere, but I swear it wasn’t just drunken cloud drawing. 

Years ago (pre-N/W and massive 1x cassettes) I distinctly remember Trek talking about/patenting a 2x shiftable chainguide. Not like an MRP 2x guide or BlackSpire Stinger but the chainguide was also a front derailleur. 

Some of the DH chain guides are so efficient now (MRP, Deviate) that I find myself dreaming of such a system. 

Give me five cogs and two rings with basically perfect chain line in all cogs. Maybe 22/36 X 11, 15, 20, 26, 33.

Posted by: AndrewMajor 

Give me five cogs and two rings with basically perfect chain line in all cogs. Maybe 22/36 X 11, 15, 20, 26, 33.

That would be pretty much the perfect set-up for most mtbing. I wonder if someone like Box components could be convinced to do that.

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Posted by: fartymarty

It actually would given it had good chain retention. 2x5 would be sweet. Thumbing for the front ring and dropper under the bar.

Circling back to this, Marty. I can’t find it anywhere, but I swear it wasn’t just drunken cloud drawing.

Years ago (pre-N/W and massive 1x cassettes) I distinctly remember Trek talking about/patenting a 2x shiftable chainguide. Not like an MRP 2x guide or BlackSpire Stinger but the chainguide was also a front derailleur.

Some of the DH chain guides are so efficient now (MRP, Deviate) that I find myself dreaming of such a system.

Give me five cogs and two rings with basically perfect chain line in all cogs. Maybe 22/36 X 11, 15, 20, 26, 33.

This was the bike: Trek Diesel

EDIT: found the patent: https://patents.justia.com/patent/6045470

Posted by: fartymarty

Blofield  - I guess - look at Bruni's tree clip at Snowshoe - he was probably millimetres from being OK. But then he said he doesn't like the track - maybe that sits in the back of the mind.  Whereas when someone loves a track maybe it has a positive outcome.

Wow, what a horrible place to crash! After winning semis I imagine he had as much confidence as he’d be able to eek out on a track he didn’t like. I kinda like this crash as an example of randomness affecting outcomes more than we’d think.

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Some of the DH chain guides are so efficient now (MRP, Deviate) that I find myself dreaming of such a system. 

Give me five cogs and two rings with basically perfect chain line in all cogs. Maybe 22/36 X 11, 15, 20, 26, 33.

That would be an interesting setup.

Posted by: Blofeld

Posted by: fartymarty

Blofield  - I guess - look at Bruni's tree clip at Snowshoe - he was probably millimetres from being OK. But then he said he doesn't like the track - maybe that sits in the back of the mind.  Whereas when someone loves a track maybe it has a positive outcome.

Wow, what a horrible place to crash! After winning semis I imagine he had as much confidence as he’d be able to eek out on a track he didn’t like. I kinda like this crash as an example of randomness affecting outcomes more than we’d think.

And he is probably (arguably) the best rider on the WC circuit - it's a good example of randomness.  I guess pushing too hard also causes crashes.

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: AndrewMajor

Give me five cogs and two rings with basically perfect chain line in all cogs. Maybe 22/36 X 11, 15, 20, 26, 33.

That would be pretty much the perfect set-up for most mtbing. I wonder if someone like Box components could be convinced to do that.

The problem is most bikes aren’t designed to fit a front derailleur anymore.

That’s said, short cage 2x derailleur with front swing —— if you can find a way to clamp it it’ll probably go.