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Shock pressure, Olympic Tech, Kulhavy a cyborg?
Is it normal to lose a lot more pressure , more quickly in yr rear shock compared to yr front?
Giant Reign 1 2012 - Rock Shox Monarch Rear, Revelation Front
2. A question for the gear heads. Were all the riders in Olympics MTB riding 29ers?
3. Is Kulhavy a cyborg? He appeared to be the only one on a dually and he ate other riders on the climbs. How about that last lap!!! I noticed in the WC too he was really tentative on the downhill, do you think he rides dually because DH is his weakness and he needs all the help he can get but compensates with extreme climbing ability?
(Also love that he wore baggies in the WC)
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Kulhavy rides an Epic. It has a brain shock that effectively locks out the rear when pedalling so it climbs pretty much like a hard tail but releases and absorbs bumps when you want it to.
http://youtu.be/_kJ5J63y3Nk
I never have to touch mine. I check it once a month or so, and the only air I have to put back is what I lose into the hose when connecting the pump, about 5psi. Same both ends.
Pretty cool technology. He showed that it works!
Okay so as for question number 2
Riders at the olympics were riding all types of bikes. e.g. Julien Absalon on a 26er hardtail, Nino Schurter (and Florian Vogel) on 650B hardtails, people like Marco Fontana with 29er hardtails and then Jaroslav on his specialized epic 29er. You have everything at the olympics, although i'd say its 50/50 between the number of 26ers and 29ers, with only Scott Swisspower on 650B
Question number 3
Something about Jaroslav Kulhavy scares me. He hasn't won a single world cup this year then all of a sudden wins the olympics, quite strange if you ask me. Secondly he didn't wear baggy shorts in the world cup, that was Fumic and Fontana from cannondale factory racing, no doubt the most "hip" riders on the WC circuit. Being a big guy and with specialized not making superlight hardtails he chooses the Epic dually in 29er because it is a faster bike for him, and he does have a mean climbing ability. Downhill the dually helps him keep up with the likes of Schurter, Hermida Ramos, and Absalon who all ride hardtails. So in short yes he is a bit of a cyborg, but he is definitely not unbeatable, and most likely he has just come good all of a sudden for the olympics.
Strange? With the exception of Houffalize and Val d'Isère, he's been in the top five in every world cup or major event for at least the last twelve months. He didn't just 'suddenly' win anything.
Wasn't Kulhavy the 2011 World Champ?
Regardless of the tech there would be some power loss through the rear suspension not to mention the extra weight. It was a super impressive ride by Kulhavy IMO (Olympics).
Oh it *was* Fumic who was in the baggies ..
That's the thing with the Spesh "Brain" - it locks the rear suspension until it encounters a bump. So no pogo stick when you're stomping out of the saddle, it just squirts you forward, Then when you get a bump it sucks it up and keeps traction.
Watching ps climb his Spesh up Duck Holes out of the saddle the wrong way on one of our training rides was interesting. No bob. At all.
I got some hard choices to make next year - lol!
Hawkeye... you know you want to!
They even throw in proper front forkS as part of the deal
If you are really lucky, there may well be some Spec ex-team bikes for sale some time soon....
Fully maintained at no expense, looked after by proper mechanics, and always cleaned and lubed after every event, and pretty much every ride.
Not sure the timelines yet (its the big Spec event in Cairns this week) but might not be so long.
Road bikes as well as MTB's.
Antsonline... I DON'T need to know!!!