Posts
6184
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Grass Valley, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
9/3/2017 7:06am
I may get a ton of shit for this, and I'll admit I'm not the best at setting up suspension. But, some of those jumps today could be classified as "supercrossish". Herlings and Cairollis bikes seemed better even on them. The way MC first soaked up jumps their bikes seemed to do that better than Tomac and Barcia. Like I said, I'm not a suspension expert but from watching I'd guess Herlings, softer spring, more dampening, less rebound. Tomac, stiffer spring, less dampening, similar rebound. Is the Tomac setup just for the whoops, and would Herlings soak them up more where Tomac would skim them? Imagine if Herlings showed up at MEC with that setup and did what he did last week. Have the US teams stuck with settings that may have worked on 2 strokes but maybe aren't the best for four?
It is also an extremely good indication of suspension set-up to watch a rider and see that he is bouncing around a lot. In fact I think its the most scientific method possible. There is no possible way that the rider is just not riding well, its almost ALWAYS some little thing wrong with the bike.
If these damn suspension guys could just listen the the experts here on vital, we would see at least 15 different moto winners every weekend. Until then I guess were just going to have to settle with the standard 4 moto winners
IMO where USA riders do struggle when setting up motocross suspension is typically how much hold-up and the bike balance they expect due to their time on SX settings. Supercross suspension is much more held up in the stroke and fairly level at most times. From what I've experienced on few team tests, most guys struggle to come to grips with suspension that will continue to travel through the compression stroke and rebound quickly as well. They want it held up and if it does blow deep into the stroke, they definitely don't want to feel it come unsettled again too quickly. Leaving them with a harsher feel as they're deep in stroke (when it actually does move enough) because they don't allow it to rebound enough before the next obstacle, breaking bump, etc.
The Shop
I just think our guys arent as good right now. Eli doesnt seem to have the fire, and after him, our other 2 top riders are Euros themselves (Roczen and Musquin)
Even with the extreme stiff setups our guys run now, they still bottom at times in rhythm lanes...run anything softer and you'll have more over the bar moments, ala Kenny G-ing out during the transition of the triple earlier this year and ending his season. And that was just a minor miscalculation of a few inches...get something majorly wrong and you really, really need that traditional SX stiffness.
But I do think/agree our guys have some things too stuck in their heads from Supercross testing that effect how they setup a bike for outdoors.
I'm lost.
and truth be told it does not take an expert to see one guy flying through rough stuff and another guy getting beat to death.
Can't blame everything on Supercross, I would be more inclined to believe the years the MXGP's spent with minimal Manufacture input forced them to get better and allowed them to try setting and parts that other teams get forced to use.
Remember RV2's quest? ..I'm sure no one doubted Ryan's talent, but his bike set up was never quite on par imo.
I hope Covington gets another shot here in the states once he gets some experience. Could be cool to see the transition
It's hard to imagine they are taking wild guesses and getting far away from the baseline settings he knows works.
I'm expecting Tomac to find his rythum and go for the win.
Pit Row
Good humour bro
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