I´ve been riding my first full squish for about a year (Marin Rift Zone) and it it a true achiever anywhere on the trails. "We" especially love the DH bits at the local trails and as basic as its components are they can take a thrasing. Harder casing tires is all I think she needs as the wheels are starting to show the works they're being put through. Incredble what a well designed/sorted trail bike of modern era can do.
Pace Rc31 forks: Sag, compression & rebound are all perfectly pre-set by the factory, no need for any adjustment there. Works for uphill and downhill. I thought about an extra lever (wireless of course) to the handlebar so I have something to do at the top of the downhill sections like everybody else, but as I can't find a 26.8 dropper post, I still have do that the old fashioned way and I haven't got time to mess with fork settings any more.
I'm looking at Enduro that might use as trail, I wish I knew difference of speed if say normal tyre pressure for you and on mountain bike how I use 40psi front and 45psi rear
Owen gives the best lectures on bike tech! Very clear and fascinating! I wish I could ride as gracefully as Owen! I need lessons from his coach! Blake, Rich, Isaac, and Neil are fantastic professional cyclists, but I yearn to ride like Owen & Anna!!! They are more relatable to the majority of us trail riders! Most of us have trail bikes and ride blue flow trails! Only a few are XC racers or Enduro/DH experts.
Bronson- DH optimized- Sized up for high speed stability, Shimano Saints with 203s front and rear for bringing me and ODB to a stop, 140 mm riser bars to bring me back and higher a bit for the steeps, Assegai front and rear for traction. Sus already good, just added a MegNeg. After that it’s on me. Leaving for Snowshoe tomorrow, ironically. First DH park of the season. 🤘🤘
Bro, I just ridden a downhill line in Austria with a canyon stoic 2 HARDTAIL, with tyre inserts, a RockShox Yari 140 and guide RE brakes. Yes, it wasn't easy at all, but so much more fun and risky. U just have to be much more focused and reactive. I love it. 🎉
Im on a laufey ht 2:33 with 140mm bomber fork. Ride portes du soleil. Needed to add dh tires and 4 pot brakes... ohh and much stronger free ride wheels.
Your welcome - Glad to inspire some ideas! I feel a mixed wheel size set up can really change the ride feel for the better - assuming your bikes designed / allowed to be set up with the different wheels - let us know how you get on! Cheers Owen
I have a trail bike set up for use at bike parks, 150mm suspension 2.25 tyres but it is full carbon so it flies. I don't use it anywhere else as I have other bikes for trail rides and long rides. It is perfect for my ability and encourages me to improve and gain confidence.
I used to ride vancouvers north shore and all kind of gnarly shit on a 2005 rocky element 100/90mm and steep old school geo. That bike was FAST though! 780mm carbon DH bars and a 70mm low rise stem and some big brakes and the thing hauled ass! I was only on 2.1 maxxis ignitors too haha. Also beautiful advice encouraging people to run their forks a bit faster than they think. A slow fork absolutely kills any bike especially if you ride fast at all
Basically did all of this during winter. Rode my Ibis Ripmo AF one full season and compiled a list of issues and items to improve. One thing to remember, a new bike out of the shop will not be tuned for you and your riding. Spending time to identify and correct the issue can dramatically improve your confidence and performance on the bike.
The rider matters much more than the bike, line choice, attitude, confidence. So many riders just throw all caution to the wind, with predictable results. Others are scared, and tense, because they dont know what they're doing. Cant fake experience and learning skills. Many try. They think they can buy their way to downhill prowess.
Agreed confidence helps so so so so much with riding - I feel like at least a few of these tips will help boost on bike confidence - so your right it is the rider - but hopefully a more confident rider can enjoy and get more from the descents as a result of some small changes! Cheers Owen
@Owen, how about a follow up video on how to take a long travel enduro bike and set it up to almost equal a dh bike and how it can be setup the other way to be a trail bike, all in one.
I think I was smart because i got a Mondraker Foxy R with Ohlins bits to add to the quiver. She is setup for DH fun for my favorite local trails because I climb to earn my downs. My 150 and 153mm trail/enduro bikes are lovely at speed and suitable for cranking back to the top so I'm chuffed.
Both my trance x29 and Jeckyll are set up with DH casing tires and narrow width wheels, lot of compression, sag idk, maybe 10%? 😂 My aurum DH bike is set up very plush all around. Travels changes everything...
Wanted it a bit more burly so upgraded my 23 Transition Smuggler with a 150mm Lyrik Ultimate and 140mm Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil. Tough casing tyre out back and XTR/Saint brake combo.
Howdy, Great question. As you'd imagine theres a heap of factors in play to set tyre pressure - how tall and strong you are - your riding style - silky smooth vs pushing on - and the terrain you're riding - even if its lift access - is it rocky or muddy conditions is the track steep and rooty or fast with big hucks and big air theres lots to consider. Always aim for more air in the rear - and running a tyre insert as some extra insurance is a good idea for lift access activities! Sorry I know thats not much of an answer - but its so tricky but use a tyre gauge and try some different pressure - perhaps start at 27psi rear 24psi front - depending all those factors you might need less - but starting on the side of high is better than dead rim. Again thanks for the questions and the feedback - lets us know how you get on with the pressures - and enjoy the lift access trails! Cheers Owen
🥳🥳🥳 Bravo!!! A Trail MTB video. #GMBN and must YTchannels say trail bikes are the most popular MTBs and the great overall MTB; yet all YTchannels fail to make trail MTB cat specific content. #smh
What I have always understood about sag is it’s the amount of travel fork or shock goes through when you sit in the bike. There are manufacturers recommendations, but it’s up to the rider to set it to their liking. That’s how I have set mine.
Not just your own liking but you have to make sure that it's balanced front to back on a full suspension. That's how dirt bikes are set up and that is the correct procedure. If you have the bike imbalanced- i.e. significantly more sag either front or rear you will significantly change the load transfer under braking. You should never be more than about 5% Delta between front and rear sag. A bike that is set up with 30% or more in the rear shock and only 15 to 20% in the front fork is incorrectly set up I don't really care how it feels or how a writer personally likes it. From a technical aspect it's incorrect. And it will rear its ugly head under hard braking especially on the downhills.
I think I read that you should consider a SAG setup of 30% shock and 25% fork for XC and 30% & 20% for steep downhill because you need the fork to be stiffer for the steeper down hill forces and braking.
#AskGMBN #gmbntech - Could CVT transmission be the ultimate answer to this gearbox tech? Advantages: - Lower weight than a full metal gear set, it's just two pulleys and a belt, with an actuation mechanism. - Infinitely variable ratios. - If using 'normal' cable shifters then it could provide a traditional 'jump' between gears, or any variation between that and a slider based shifter for infinite ratios. - Electronically shifted users could also use that jump, but customise the gaps between particular ratios (if anyone really wants that). - If it were to go full electric fabcy, automatic mode in which the rider inputs preferred cadence and the bike would keep it in the optimum ratio for you, up hill and down. - Very low maintenance, just a very infrequent belt replacement. Gates carbon drive takes care of the rest. - Much cheaper than the pinion system, as there's far fewer parts and none of them are precision machined gears. - And of course, a manual shift option would be the bargain of the bunch - and probabaly by far the biggest seller by far. - It may not shift stationary, but preselect the desired gear, and once rotating it should be lightning fast to change. Any thoughts?
I hope they discuss this on the next episode! The main issue I suspect is the efficiency of a CVT type transmission - there would be more drag and a less optimal power transfer... Maybe not so much of an issue on an eMTB perhaps, but on a regular bike it is likely to require more effort... It will be interesting to hear Owen and Anna's take on it?
@@jmo2752 Interesting, I hadn't thought of the efficiency. I guess as an eMTB rider it was less at the forefront of my mind, but it's a real potential downside... Depends how much more drivetrain loss there is I suppose. If it's relatively little reduced efficiency compared to chains/gearboxes, I'd be very interested if they came to eMTB's.
I don't recomend canyon to any aggressive ride. I rode easy trails on spectral and swing arm cracked in two places. Unfortunatelly I have no support as a second owner.
Hi Graeme, sorry I lost you on the suspension chat - I'm pretty sure we've got some more explainer style videos just on suspension that might help add colour to what I was chatting about - cheers for the feedback - Owen
Tubeless tyre tips again... not as good as you think for ordinary folk... messy, doesn't guarantee to seal... in fact quite a few just don't seal at all...
Most issues are 99% user error... a quality tyre on a true rim should have no problems. It's not messy either if you put the sealant in through the valve stem once you've initially seated your bead.
I have not suffered a puncture on my trail bike in 5 years where I would get them frequently on my single track trail through the woods with heavy puncture resistant tubes previously! It does help to use really good sealant and top it off every 3 months with a few ounces new.
How do you have your bike set up? Do you optimize your bike for downhill or climbing?
I´ve been riding my first full squish for about a year (Marin Rift Zone) and it it a true achiever anywhere on the trails. "We" especially love the DH bits at the local trails and as basic as its components are they can take a thrasing. Harder casing tires is all I think she needs as the wheels are starting to show the works they're being put through. Incredble what a well designed/sorted trail bike of modern era can do.
Tire inserts, offset bearing(s) for the damper, higher stack
Pace Rc31 forks: Sag, compression & rebound are all perfectly pre-set by the factory, no need for any adjustment there. Works for uphill and downhill.
I thought about an extra lever (wireless of course) to the handlebar so I have something to do at the top of the downhill sections like everybody else, but as I can't find a 26.8 dropper post, I still have do that the old fashioned way and I haven't got time to mess with fork settings any more.
I'm looking at Enduro that might use as trail, I wish I knew difference of speed if say normal tyre pressure for you and on mountain bike how I use 40psi front and 45psi rear
Owen is so likable. Such a great addition to GMBN.
Thank you!
@OwenBikeNerd I agree Owen. Massive fan of your work and your increadably poor jokes. ❤
Finally Owen on his bike!
I known finally proof I can pedal!
Cheers
Owen
Nice to see Owen shreddin
🔥
Brilliant- more of this from Owen please . Really helps understand bike set up 👍
Glad it was helpful - Cheers Owen
Owen You're a sick shredder. Good to see you on the trails. You should ride with Neil, Blake, Rich, and Anna.
Owen gives the best lectures on bike tech! Very clear and fascinating! I wish I could ride as gracefully as Owen! I need lessons from his coach! Blake, Rich, Isaac, and Neil are fantastic professional cyclists, but I yearn to ride like Owen & Anna!!! They are more relatable to the majority of us trail riders! Most of us have trail bikes and ride blue flow trails! Only a few are XC racers or Enduro/DH experts.
Thank you - glad my way of explainer stuff works for you!
Cheers
Owen
Bronson- DH optimized- Sized up for high speed stability, Shimano Saints with 203s front and rear for bringing me and ODB to a stop, 140 mm riser bars to bring me back and higher a bit for the steeps, Assegai front and rear for traction. Sus already good, just added a MegNeg. After that it’s on me. Leaving for Snowshoe tomorrow, ironically. First DH park of the season. 🤘🤘
More of Owen on a bike!!! Was starting to think he didn't know how to ride.
Owen shreds! 🤘Keep your eyes peeled for more 👀
Bro, I just ridden a downhill line in Austria with a canyon stoic 2 HARDTAIL, with tyre inserts, a RockShox Yari 140 and guide RE brakes. Yes, it wasn't easy at all, but so much more fun and risky. U just have to be much more focused and reactive. I love it. 🎉
BRO!!!!!!!
@@nicks8026 YES BRO!!!!!!!! I'm still alive 🤣👍😜
And here we go again..
@@nataliemckail8781 here we go again to where?
Im on a laufey ht 2:33 with 140mm bomber fork. Ride portes du soleil. Needed to add dh tires and 4 pot brakes... ohh and much stronger free ride wheels.
what a great and likable guy, thx for all the tech knowledge Owen! 💪🏼😎👍🏼
Love the mullet idea 💡
Your welcome - Glad to inspire some ideas!
I feel a mixed wheel size set up can really change the ride feel for the better - assuming your bikes designed / allowed to be set up with the different wheels - let us know how you get on!
Cheers
Owen
I have a trail bike set up for use at bike parks, 150mm suspension 2.25 tyres but it is full carbon so it flies. I don't use it anywhere else as I have other bikes for trail rides and long rides. It is perfect for my ability and encourages me to improve and gain confidence.
Awesome video Owen! I really like when a mechanic breaks it down, and educates us with real tech knowledge. Bonus: Owen shredding the trails. 🤙🏼
Thank you!
Man, you are a champion! Thanks!
What a surprise!!! nice seeing Owen hiting on the trails... What an usefull video, Thanks!
Brilliant, Owen. Thanks for this. Really helpful and clearly presented. And great to see you out on a bike. Smooth moves :)
Excellent video, packed with great information. Good goin', Owen! You explain concepts tremendously well.
Greetings!
Thank you - Always great to hear positive feedback - I'll keep trying explain stuff the nerdy way!
Cheers
Owen
130mm travel bike is all I need for anything, plus a heavy duty set of wheels and a lighter set of wheels with tyres to suit.
12:54
Top Tip: get shorter laces, or tuck the ends in!
Great presentation! This was the right amount of information with a great explanation of each of the reasons to make the adjustments. Thank you!
Great stuff - glad you found it helpful! Cheers Owen
Really great video Owen, managed to pack a lot in with just the right level of detail, cheers!
Thank you - glad you found it helpful - Cheers Owen
One of the best vids ❤
DH optimized trail bike =Perfect shred machine
Couldn't agree more 🔥
AWESOME TIPS! Thank you! 😎💯
I used to ride vancouvers north shore and all kind of gnarly shit on a 2005 rocky element 100/90mm and steep old school geo. That bike was FAST though! 780mm carbon DH bars and a 70mm low rise stem and some big brakes and the thing hauled ass! I was only on 2.1 maxxis ignitors too haha.
Also beautiful advice encouraging people to run their forks a bit faster than they think. A slow fork absolutely kills any bike especially if you ride fast at all
Basically did all of this during winter. Rode my Ibis Ripmo AF one full season and compiled a list of issues and items to improve. One thing to remember, a new bike out of the shop will not be tuned for you and your riding. Spending time to identify and correct the issue can dramatically improve your confidence and performance on the bike.
The rider matters much more than the bike, line choice, attitude, confidence.
So many riders just throw all caution to the wind, with predictable results.
Others are scared, and tense, because they dont know what they're doing. Cant fake experience and learning skills. Many try. They think they can buy their way to downhill prowess.
Agreed confidence helps so so so so much with riding - I feel like at least a few of these tips will help boost on bike confidence - so your right it is the rider - but hopefully a more confident rider can enjoy and get more from the descents as a result of some small changes!
Cheers Owen
@Owen, how about a follow up video on how to take a long travel enduro bike and set it up to almost equal a dh bike and how it can be setup the other way to be a trail bike, all in one.
Hi Jeff,
Great idea - I'll see what I can do!
Cheers
Owen
I think I was smart because i got a Mondraker Foxy R with Ohlins bits to add to the quiver. She is setup for DH fun for my favorite local trails because I climb to earn my downs.
My 150 and 153mm trail/enduro bikes are lovely at speed and suitable for cranking back to the top so I'm chuffed.
Tilt your head into turns. It's amazing how your body and bike will follow through naturally.
Finally he is riding
Great Content 👍
Owens DH style doesn’t match his personality. Love it. Reminds me of a rally driver.
I'll take that as compliment - cheers Owen
Owen!!! YES Cous!!! .... representing for all us nerdy (mildly awkward) Wrench monkeys ... MUCH LOVE BRUV!!!
Both my trance x29 and Jeckyll are set up with DH casing tires and narrow width wheels, lot of compression, sag idk, maybe 10%? 😂
My aurum DH bike is set up very plush all around. Travels changes everything...
Wanted it a bit more burly so upgraded my 23 Transition Smuggler with a 150mm Lyrik Ultimate and 140mm Super Deluxe Ultimate Coil. Tough casing tyre out back and XTR/Saint brake combo.
I went from a 110 mm to 140 mm on the front. Can’t wait to see how it rides.
I have a neuron (al) also...I love the point to video link that's not there!! LoL
I got a slightly higher rise bar and slackened my head angle by 1.5 degrees.
more of this!
More to come!
Great video Owen ! now that I have DH tires on my enduro do you have any tips for tire pressure at a lift access bike park?
Howdy,
Great question.
As you'd imagine theres a heap of factors in play to set tyre pressure - how tall and strong you are - your riding style - silky smooth vs pushing on - and the terrain you're riding - even if its lift access - is it rocky or muddy conditions is the track steep and rooty or fast with big hucks and big air theres lots to consider.
Always aim for more air in the rear - and running a tyre insert as some extra insurance is a good idea for lift access activities!
Sorry I know thats not much of an answer - but its so tricky but use a tyre gauge and try some different pressure - perhaps start at 27psi rear 24psi front - depending all those factors you might need less - but starting on the side of high is better than dead rim.
Again thanks for the questions and the feedback - lets us know how you get on with the pressures - and enjoy the lift access trails!
Cheers
Owen
Fox 36s and slightly bigger discs would see some benefit along side tyre change
I think sometimes there is way too many things to play around with, and not much benefit, just ride the bike you will be fine.
FYI, he failed to mention that running DH casings and/or inserts will make your trail bike feel like you are hauling a trailer up the climbs.
🥳🥳🥳 Bravo!!! A Trail MTB video. #GMBN and must YTchannels say trail bikes are the most popular MTBs and the great overall MTB; yet all YTchannels fail to make trail MTB cat specific content. #smh
What I have always understood about sag is it’s the amount of travel fork or shock goes through when you sit in the bike. There are manufacturers recommendations, but it’s up to the rider to set it to their liking. That’s how I have set mine.
Not just your own liking but you have to make sure that it's balanced front to back on a full suspension. That's how dirt bikes are set up and that is the correct procedure. If you have the bike imbalanced- i.e. significantly more sag either front or rear you will significantly change the load transfer under braking.
You should never be more than about 5% Delta between front and rear sag. A bike that is set up with 30% or more in the rear shock and only 15 to 20% in the front fork is incorrectly set up I don't really care how it feels or how a writer personally likes it. From a technical aspect it's incorrect. And it will rear its ugly head under hard braking especially on the downhills.
I think I read that you should consider a SAG setup of 30% shock and 25% fork for XC and 30% & 20% for steep downhill because you need the fork to be stiffer for the steeper down hill forces and braking.
#AskGMBN #gmbntech - Could CVT transmission be the ultimate answer to this gearbox tech?
Advantages:
- Lower weight than a full metal gear set, it's just two pulleys and a belt, with an actuation mechanism.
- Infinitely variable ratios.
- If using 'normal' cable shifters then it could provide a traditional 'jump' between gears, or any variation between that and a slider based shifter for infinite ratios.
- Electronically shifted users could also use that jump, but customise the gaps between particular ratios (if anyone really wants that).
- If it were to go full electric fabcy, automatic mode in which the rider inputs preferred cadence and the bike would keep it in the optimum ratio for you, up hill and down.
- Very low maintenance, just a very infrequent belt replacement. Gates carbon drive takes care of the rest.
- Much cheaper than the pinion system, as there's far fewer parts and none of them are precision machined gears.
- And of course, a manual shift option would be the bargain of the bunch - and probabaly by far the biggest seller by far.
- It may not shift stationary, but preselect the desired gear, and once rotating it should be lightning fast to change.
Any thoughts?
I hope they discuss this on the next episode! The main issue I suspect is the efficiency of a CVT type transmission - there would be more drag and a less optimal power transfer... Maybe not so much of an issue on an eMTB perhaps, but on a regular bike it is likely to require more effort... It will be interesting to hear Owen and Anna's take on it?
@@jmo2752 Interesting, I hadn't thought of the efficiency. I guess as an eMTB rider it was less at the forefront of my mind, but it's a real potential downside... Depends how much more drivetrain loss there is I suppose. If it's relatively little reduced efficiency compared to chains/gearboxes, I'd be very interested if they came to eMTB's.
I don't recomend canyon to any aggressive ride. I rode easy trails on spectral and swing arm cracked in two places. Unfortunatelly I have no support as a second owner.
Just today I rode 4175’ of gnarly descent on the same bike from the video with the exact same mods. Still in one piece 🤷♂️
@@christhompson4542 You're right the Neuron is such a capable bike - cheers Owen
Totally lost me talking about the suspension, went in to far to much detail. I’ve never understood spring rates, compression and sag.
Hi Graeme, sorry I lost you on the suspension chat - I'm pretty sure we've got some more explainer style videos just on suspension that might help add colour to what I was chatting about - cheers for the feedback - Owen
Nahhhh, do it properly. Go and get DH bike. Can't have too many bikes 😂
For goodness sake please talk slower, we might even then absorb what you are saying which I am sure is all good stuff
There is an option to slow down the video in youtube if that helps 👍
Tubeless tyre tips again... not as good as you think for ordinary folk... messy, doesn't guarantee to seal... in fact quite a few just don't seal at all...
Most issues are 99% user error... a quality tyre on a true rim should have no problems. It's not messy either if you put the sealant in through the valve stem once you've initially seated your bead.
I have not suffered a puncture on my trail bike in 5 years where I would get them frequently on my single track trail through the woods with heavy puncture resistant tubes previously! It does help to use really good sealant and top it off every 3 months with a few ounces new.