Olympic Mountain Biking Team Bikes

beelzebomb

Anyone know of any links as to finding out what the British & Canadian teams are riding in the 2012 Olympics? I'd imagine them being more accessible than the 15-20k 'secret squirrel' built-for-purpose bikes like the road & track cyclists are using.

njee20

Their normal team bikes.

Liam Killeen on a Giant 29er, hardtail I imagine
Annie last on a Boardman hardtail
Geoff Kabush on a 29er Rocky Mountain(?)

Forget who else is racing!

beelzebomb

Yeah I thought that might be the case - will 29ers be allowed though?

compo

It'll all be 29er hardtails with about 0.6mm travel - aka ghey bikes

In other news the BBC described BMX as dangerous today....
Grow some balls and do DH

njee20

Yeah I thought that might be the case - will 29ers be allowed though?

Err yes... why wouldn't they be?

There will be a mix of 26", 650b and 29ers, mainly hardtails, the odd FS, mainly 100mm travel. Not too sure why that's 'ghey', infinitely more travel than a BMX!

ddraver

I think it was the Scott Team that had a meeting at the start of the season and tested a load of bikes. The short guy chose a 26, the medium guy a 650b and the lanky bloke a 29er...

The UCI actually regulate bikes in MTB very little compared to the road/track.

njee20

They've been chopping and changing a fair bit, and have the full range available to them. Certainly Nino Schurter seems to like his 650b Scale, expect to see that winning a medal this weekend.

beelzebomb

njee20 wrote:

Err yes... why wouldn't they be?

Well, for the simple reason a larger wheel circumference might be seen to give an unfair speed advantage over a smaller wheel circumference. IOC are generally pretty strict at trying to make it a fair playing field for all sports.

But I don't know, hence asking the original question!

ddraver

Oohhh you ve opend a can there Beel :P

Thanks njee - I'd forgotten the people involved...Schurter would be my pick for gold if I had to make one.

beelzebomb

Just found this http://bikemagic.com/mountain-bike-events/event-features/olympic-cross-country-mountain-bike-preview-the-course-the-contenders-and-the-bikes.html

So yeah, seems they will get a choice of wheel size choice - which really surprises me after all the knocks about "unfair advantages" due to er, "magic wheels" that our fantastic track & road team had to endure.

njee20

As said above, MTB is strangely unaffected by a lot of the stringent equipment specs. It's not like 29" or 27.5" wheels offer a universal advantage anyway, horses for courses, although certainly their impact has been most marked in XC racing.

But as far as the rules go, you need bar end plugs and 2 brakes, and the 6.8kg weight limit still stands, and that's about it!

ddraver

It's not really the same thing at all - these are commonly available wheels that are available to everyone (as the Track wheels are apparently - they re just kept in bags to keep the dust off...)

It's more akin to tyre selection really

lostboysaint

Word after the test event that they'd all decided that it would be a 1x10 set up and they'd run whichever sized wheels they felt comfortable with.

BillyMansell

I believe the bikes have been touched by the Secret Squirrel Club with many of the components being P2i nano treated to repel water and mud to potentially save weight in wet conditions.

mcnultycop

Whatever they are riding someone will be along to tell them they should have wider bars and a shorter stem.

ddraver

mcnultycop wrote:

Whatever they are riding someone will be along to tell them they should have wider bars and a shorter stem.

Not sure MBR got a press pass unfortunately...

beelzebomb

mcnultycop wrote:

Whatever they are riding someone will be along to tell them they should have wider bars and a shorter stem.

Well I'm old enough to have seen all these trends come & go - I remember when elliptical rings were all the rage for mountain bikes, they then disappeared amid cries of "kings new clothes" only to recently re-emerge on Brad Wiggins' & other Team Sky riders road bikes.

I guess the magazines have to write about something!

nicklouse

beelzebomb wrote:

mcnultycop wrote:

Whatever they are riding someone will be along to tell them they should have wider bars and a shorter stem.

Well I'm old enough to have seen all these trends come & go - I remember when elliptical rings were all the rage for mountain bikes, they then disappeared amid cries of "kings new clothes" only to recently re-emerge on Brad Wiggins' & other Team Sky riders road bikes.

I guess the magazines have to write about something!

Still got them one one bike.

cooldad

nicklouse wrote:

beelzebomb wrote:

mcnultycop wrote:

Whatever they are riding someone will be along to tell them they should have wider bars and a shorter stem.

Well I'm old enough to have seen all these trends come & go - I remember when elliptical rings were all the rage for mountain bikes, they then disappeared amid cries of "kings new clothes" only to recently re-emerge on Brad Wiggins' & other Team Sky riders road bikes.

I guess the magazines have to write about something!

Still got them one one bike.

Have them on my old road bike and old Rockhopper. Mighty Biopace. No idea whether they do anything but they came with the bikes.

rockmonkeysc

beelzebomb wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Err yes... why wouldn't they be?

Well, for the simple reason a larger wheel circumference might be seen to give an unfair speed advantage over a smaller wheel circumference. IOC are generally pretty strict at trying to make it a fair playing field for all sports.

But I don't know, hence asking the original question!

Like all right minded, beardless, normal, hard working good, honest British people I think 29ers are the work of the devil and evil handling things BUT the if the option is there for all riders to use then you can't call it an unfair advantage.

YeehaaMcgee

compo wrote:

It'll all be 29er hardtails with about 0.6mm travel - aka ghey bikes

In other news the BBC described BMX as dangerous today....
Grow some balls and do DH

I appreciate that you're a total spazwangle, but... why would calling BMX dangerous affect DH's levels of danger at all?

beelzebomb

cooldad wrote:

Have them on my old road bike and old Rockhopper. Mighty Biopace. No idea whether they do anything but they came with the bikes.

That's it - Biopace - couldn't remember the name! So does anyone know if any further evidence has come to light since their first introduction that they actually do work after all?

I guess it may be a case that the concept has more of an advantage with road racing.

cooldad

beelzebomb wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Have them on my old road bike and old Rockhopper. Mighty Biopace. No idea whether they do anything but they came with the bikes.

That's it - Biopace - couldn't remember the name! So does anyone know if any further evidence has come to light since their first introduction that they actually do work after all?

I guess it may be a case that the concept has more of an advantage with road racing.

As far as I know Shim got it wrong by 90deg and had the narrow bit on the power stroke.
Later attempts did it differently, but no idea if they make a difference. I don't notice.

Little rings are much more 'squashed' than big rings.



Hardly noticeable on very big rings

Chunkers1980

I did hear Wiggo used an oval ring.

YeehaaMcgee

cooldad wrote:

As far as I know Shim got it wrong by 90deg and had the narrow bit on the power stroke.

That's actually sort of, kind of, a myth.
Shimano's idea was actually to smooth out the power stroke, but people thought that by rotating them 90 degrees, that you could make more effective use of your power.
Who was right? Was either side right? Who knows.
I had them on an old, long lost MTB, and at the time, I was pretty sure they helped, since switching back to my non biopace bike was certainly noticeable - but then again, I was young and impressionable back then, it may have been placebo.

With all the research done by British Cycling, I'd be surprised if they found no benefit to them though, if they've put them on Wiggo's bike.

Matt_as

I am pretty sure that I have in a few different places that Wiggins O-Symmetrical rings and the Rotor rings, despite being non-round, are nothing like the old Biopace rings. I am also sure tI have read hat despite the O-Symmetrical rings and Rotor rings supposed to have the same aim of lessening the dead spot they are different to each other. Wiggo's rings defo look very squashed whereas the Rotor (and Biopace rings) look a lot less squashed.

cooldad

@ Yeehaa - No idea really. I just like saying Mighty Biopace Chainrings and Awesome Girvin Flexstem. The Rockhopper is back on knobblies - Onza Porcs obviously, and the road bike has a lovely old Selle San Marco Rolls to keep my butt comfy, and an MTB cassette and mech because the standard one was stupidly tiny and I am very weak. And getting weaker by the minute.
Wiggo is safe.

@Matt_as - have a look at the granny ring, looks like my granny's unmentionable it's so oval.

YeehaaMcgee

cooldad wrote:

the road bike has ... an MTB cassette and mech

I've got the urge to stick a Saint rear mech on mine, and maybe a dropper post, just to annoy those people who would be annoyed by such things.

compo

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

compo wrote:

It'll all be 29er hardtails with about 0.6mm travel - aka ghey bikes

In other news the BBC described BMX as dangerous today....
Grow some balls and do DH

I appreciate that you're a total spazwangle, but... why would calling BMX dangerous affect DH's levels of danger at all?

it wouldn't

But DH is more dangerous than BMX, so comparatively, BMX is safer

YeehaaMcgee

Right, so is proximity wingsuit flying. And armed combat.
That doesn't make BMX a not dangerous sport.

cooldad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

cooldad wrote:

the road bike has ... an MTB cassette and mech

I've got the urge to stick a Saint rear mech on mine, and maybe a dropper post, just to annoy those people who would be annoyed by such things.

I don't ride on the road much because it's too scary but when I do roadies become very interested in staring at the horizon. Not sure if it's the gut, hairy legs, baggy shorts or dirty old trainers. Whatever it works.