Fantic Integra XF1 180

[Gary]

No Alastair. You are attacking me (again) and as I have already said this is the only reason you've ever posted anything on this forum.
I believe it is you who has the bigger problem here and I have messaged you twice to ask you what it is with no reply.
I don't know how many eyes or fingers you have but you don't seem to struggle using them to make your view of me heard in your posts.
Please reply to my message and keep your personal attacks off the forum

 

[Tim29]

Your grasp of physics is flawed.
To change direction while airborne you need to initiate the path from the lip and the run in.
Whilst in the air you can tweak the bike an all planes eg. whip, table, pencil etc. But although it might look like it (on a steep hip jump for example) none of these maneouvers change the bike's trajectory. Just the direction it's facing and it's yaw. a couple of pounds of weight moved 10 inches closer to the centre of the bike isn't going to change any of this.

The jump in your pic looks a relatively high speed jump with a mellow lip, if you want to jump from the riders right to the riders the trajectory needs initiated before the bike is fully airborne. All you needed to do to land inside the turn was set up wide right out to the tape on the riders right and carve into the lip. whip/table if you want style points, scrub or squash it completely if you're going too fast and want to stay low..
I certainly wouldn't be blaming the bike

You're not really talking about 5-7lb if it's spread between the BB and headtube, You're talking about a fraction of that to move it more centrally like other Emtbs.

I'd suggest you find some nice big steep hip jumps and tables to practice on because moving a bike in the air is way more about body weight shift and co-ordination than it is about strength or endurance. Days when you click with it feel effortless.

That jump has a very steep face, with a kick in it, you could back flip off it.
But most the time i agree, like a scrub, is only a scrub if it starts on last few feet of the jump face.
I come from a motocross back ground and my ebike is realitivly new only a few years in them. Honda put two mufflers in there bike to even out the weight so the bike would scrub equally left to right, stop kicking in whoops, that’s a 4lbs muffler in 230lb mass.
I’m very sensitive to weight masses not working as one unit. Put all the weight in one spot and the bike, sled, jetski, motorcycle all maneuver with much less rider input.
The goal i believe is to make them easier to ride for the average person.
Why get used to something harder to ride ? One thing i found in the long low front battery is when you catch a square edge with front wheel on a drop it’s so difficult to safe. With the shorter more centralized battery the bike is considerable easier to save.
I put shorter stem, taller bar, setback seat post and i made it work for chunky enduro style riding. But i am not comfortable sending that bike off big hits. I won’t fly that bike off a jump that’s over 35/40 feet in length regardless of height, specially anything long that steps down.

I have a question for you Gary, at what skill level would you say you ride?? Int- exp- pro? All mountain, DH, Park?
Curious to know your riding skill back ground.

 

[eFat]

I have a question for you Gary, at what skill level would you say you ride?? Int- exp- pro? All mountain, DH, Park?

You didn't watch his last win on TV this weekend?

 

[Gary]

I have a question for you Gary, at what skill level would you say you ride?? Int- exp- pro? All mountain, DH, Park?
Curious to know your riding skill back ground.

I'm in my late 40s now, rode BMX from the 80s, mtb since early 90s. Racing wise. I haven't even considered racing in over 15yrs. in my early 20s I raced XC (badly) then switched to DH where I was top 10 national DH overall until early 30s, gave up racing due to injury and no longer enjoying it.. Nowadays (only going by riding with friends who still race) I'd be surprised to not make top 5 Vets. Just ridden for fun since. Coached groups in riding skills..Feedback wise. I'm pretty good at it. Modest too. (actually just far too honest)

 

[Tmacca]

View attachment 3875 View attachment 3875 View attachment 3876 View attachment 3875

Looks like fun trails, nice skills mate
Damn jealous on bike choices you fellas get, limited choice on bikes here in Aus

 

[Tim29]

Looks like fun trails, nice skills mate
Damn jealous on bike choices you fellas get, limited choice on bikes here in Aus

I’m guessing with your import duty really limits what dealers bring in.

 

[Tim29]

I'm in my late 40s now, rode BMX from the 80s, mtb since early 90s. Racing wise. I haven't even considered racing in over 15yrs. in my early 20s I raced XC (badly) then switched to DH where I was top 10 national DH overall until early 30s, gave up racing due to injury and no longer enjoying it.. Nowadays (only going by riding with friends who still race) I'd be surprised to not make top 5 Vets. Just ridden for.Feedback wise. I'm pretty good at it. Modest too. (actually just far too honest)

I spent the last 19yrs as a test rider for Fox. So i have ridden a large number of today’s bikes in a very un-balanced state and see them progress to what is sold. In the last frew years it’s gotten less dramatic of a difference as pretty much every geometry has been done once prior so there a decent starting spec.
The ebike has not yet spent the funding on most bikes to really do what they should have.
The fork on bulls Evo45 was exactly the same valve code as a Santa Cruz high tower LT with rock shock pike 150, really with a 7lbs on bottom bracket up to head tube! And 52lbs vs 28lbs. But where things get tricky is in there high end replacement items. Like taking off the yari and putting a lyric on. So your going from entry level enduro to upper class enduro rigging. You start getting these bikes unbalanced- beyond what can be possible with user settings you see just what i am saying about a bike that has centralized mass vs one that doesn’t. As you develop you bring the bike into a balanced state and it feels good, bike runs solid, stable and holds turns, in the back of your mind you never really trust it as you have seen it’s ugly side. Like when you over heat a brake and for the rest of the day your not sure if when you pull the lever am i gonna have a brake or is it going to the grip, so your constantly checking it with a test pull before you need it.
As for my riding background, I’m a vet pro motocross rider, who has never finished outside top 10 in any National even and more podiums then top 10’s in last 20yrs. Every enduro course and DH run i have done on these ebike tests I’m in top 100 times and large number of them I’m inside top 20 times. There also several dozen sections of the course i actually have KOMS in. All the DH and enduro downhill coarse i run with power off even though here almost all above assisted speeds, but if power off i get a true time without any assistance.
Being in my 50’s i need the best bike i can have under me to be even close as i not a fan of hitting the deck. I left a demo bike at one of the higher end bike shops for a week and they put 217 miles on it. They have riders from 130lbs 5’5 to 6’2 210lbs.
None of them changed anything on settings just left it setup the way i dropped it off.
They all made the same comments, we thought you where crazy telling us to run 30psi in tires. The bike really well planted in the turns, jump balance is crazy good and the chop doesn’t rattle your hands and make your arms pump. We thought with tires at 30 we have shot fun arms in chowder, and tires wouldn’t grip in turns.
The dirt where they rode is hard with loose on top with several chunk sections and a few hero dirt corners.

 

[Gary]

I absolutely get where you're coming from. But I think we're quite different in our approach to riding.
I was DHing at the start of it in the UK in a time when bikes were quite honestly awful... but we made do with what there was. for instance, there were very few DH tyres and no DH mud tyres, do you know what we did? We used XC mud tyres and we took an old bald tyre, cut the bead off it and ran two tyres and a motocross tube, the weight was ridiculous but it was the best grip we could get for wet Scottish winter DH riding/racing. Likewise when DH suspension started actually working we'd swap to whatever we thought was the best option A balanced bike or a suspension tune wasn't even thought of (remember this is coming from 100mm elastomer DH forks), along came the Marzocchi Z1 and even though it was a 100mm singlecrown fork, it was a game changer, The Fox RC (as I'm sure you'll remember) was too.
Back to balance, around '99 I rode a Monster T for a season and a half (well 3 monsterTs actually, 2 were stolen) You'll probably remember the weight of those things made any bike you bolted them to become nose heavy. But we just dealt with it. having to pre-load the front harder and stay off the back slightly more to stop the nose diving off jumps/drops etc. I'm kinda still like that.
I know how I like my bikes set-up and what works for me, and I'm quite particular about it, But if I ever ride a bike that isn't mine and isn't set-up how I'd like I just accept it's not perfect and still just ride it and put up with it's quirks and compensate for them with how I ride it. like we did BITD.
I get what you're saying about wanting your equipment to be the best performing it can but I still enjoy riding our local DH/Enduro tracks (EWS and national enduro tracks, national DH tracks etc, just so you know the sort of standard) and lesser known more technical tracks on a 100mm dirtjump hardtail in the mud with a DHF on the front, a semi slick on the rear at 40psi. The fork is almost pointless so you just have to jump, pump, hop and manual it as much as possible to hold speed, you need to be precise with your lines or it just won't make turns but i knida still love riding harder trails on a less advanced bike. It also doesn't ruin my day having a shit brake, i just change my braking points (I'm racing no one afterall). two shit brakes is just comedy. If my bike develops some other problem that means the bike isn't performing perfectly. As long as it still rides up and down, I'll generally just go with it. I'm also still a crasher, infact it;s something I enjoy.
As for running 30psi in your tyres, yeah. I also can't stand soft tyres, I can't stand any amount of tyre squirm or sidewall folding when leant over/turning/pushing. and just find big soft tyres less predictable. a higher pressure 2.35-2.5 tyre with a good edge is all I ever really want.
You clearly know what you're doing on a moto and I get that you hold your own descending an mtb but strava positions don't really mean much to either of us when we don't know each others trails or the quality or numbers of riders riding them. I have a lot of local (straight from the front door riding, local) KOMs but the main mtb area i ride in is super busy and well known. many of the more popular descents have between 3000 and 20000 riders down them on strava and for the top spots you're competing with Enduro and DH world champions, WC/EWS pros and superfast locals in their 20s, I do have a few top 10s and 20s but TBH if I'm on the first page (top35) on a lot of those segments I consider that pretty good for a guy my age just riding for fun.,
anyway. it's cool that you think about stuff like weight balance, shock tunes etc. but it's cool not to aswell.
Peace

 

[Tim29]

I absolutely get where you're coming from. But I think we're quite different in our approach to riding.
I was DHing at the start of it in the UK in a time when bikes were quite honestly awful... but we made do with what there was. for instance, there were very few DH tyres and no DH mud tyres, do you know what we did? We used XC mud tyres and we took an old bald tyre, cut the bead off it and ran two tyres and a motocross tube, the weight was ridiculous but it was the best grip we could get for wet Scottish winter DH riding/racing. Likewise when DH suspension started actually working we'd swap to whatever we thought was the best option A balanced bike or a suspension tune wasn't even thought of (remember this is coming from 100mm elastomer DH forks), along came the Marzocchi Z1 and even though it was a 100mm singlecrown fork, it was a game changer, The Fox RC (as I'm sure you'll remember) was too.
Back to balance, around '99 I rode a Monster T for a season and a half (well 3 monsterTs actually, 2 were stolen) You'll probably remember the weight of those things made any bike you bolted them to become nose heavy. But we just dealt with it. having to pre-load the front harder and stay off the back slightly more to stop the nose diving off jumps/drops etc. I'm kinda still like that.
I know how I like my bikes set-up and what works for me, and I'm quite particular about it, But if I ever ride a bike that isn't mine and isn't set-up how I'd like I just accept it's not perfect and still just ride it and put up with it's quirks and compensate for them with how I ride it. like we did BITD.
I get what you're saying about wanting your equipment to be the best performing it can but I still enjoy riding our local DH/Enduro tracks (EWS and national enduro tracks, national DH tracks etc, just so you know the sort of standard) and lesser known more technical tracks on a 100mm dirtjump hardtail in the mud with a DHF on the front, a semi slick on the rear at 40psi. The fork is almost pointless so you just have to jump, pump, hop and manual it as much as possible to hold speed, you need to be precise with your lines or it just won't make turns but i knida still love riding harder trails on a less advanced bike. It also doesn't ruin my day having a shit brake, i just change my braking points (I'm racing no one afterall). two shit brakes is just comedy. If my bike develops some other problem that means the bike isn't performing perfectly. As long as it still rides up and down, I'll generally just go with it. I'm also still a crasher, infact it;s something I enjoy.
As for running 30psi in your tyres, yeah. I also can't stand soft tyres, I can't stand any amount of tyre squirm or sidewall folding when leant over/turning/pushing. and just find big soft tyres less predictable. a higher pressure 2.35-2.5 tyre with a good edge is all I ever really want.
You clearly know what you're doing on a moto and I get that you hold your own descending an mtb but strava positions don't really mean much to either of us when we don't know each others trails or the quality or numbers of riders riding them. I have a lot of local (straight from the front door riding, local) KOMs but the main mtb area i ride in is super busy and well known. many of the more popular descents have between 3000 and 20000 riders down them on strava and for the top spots you're competing with Enduro and DH world champions, WC/EWS pros and superfast locals in their 20s, I do have a few top 10s and 20s but TBH if I'm on the first page (top35) on a lot of those segments I consider that pretty good for a guy my age just riding for fun.,
anyway. it's cool that you think about stuff like weight balance, shock tunes etc. but it's cool not to aswell.
Peace

.

I would have way more fun on a hard tail huffy with half decent tires, then a bad tuned Santa Cruz high tower LT with best of everything.
As for strava time, downyville, mammoth, Northstar, rock creek, Ted’s, alpines World Cup.
But i like riding clipped in so i need a bike that works.
I spent a month over in Scotland and rode just about everywhere there and found in general, you have better riders. I think it’s because if you don’t ride when it’s muddy, well you get about two days a year. Lol. Here in west coast of the states you get about 10 muddy days a year. So generally speaking the riders over here are not as versatile in there basic skills from what i have witnessed.[/QUOTE]

 

[Tim29]

The Fantic 180 put me on top spot of Kami games in mammoth in Eduro race.
First ever mtb race.
I learned a fair bit running the race, vs just bombing trails.
1- huck Norris inserts are not worth 10 cents on an ebike. I did same amount of dings in both my back wheels, both having DD maxis Aggressors . One with huck Norris one without
2- mammoth kitty liter you can’t have a big enough front tire!!
2.6 and 2.5 on a 38mm front and 40mm is way faster then a 2.6 and 2.8 on a 30mm and 35mm rim

 

[Tim29]

Gary, i did multiple runs on several sections and did some practice runs on my bulls to save my Fantic for the race, no question the bulls bike moves in the air way better and in steep chunk without the battery!!
It’s to long. And to high. It’s a great all around bike but it’s not a race bike!!

 

[Tim29]

The Fantic 180 put me on top spot of Kami games in mammoth in Eduro race.
First ever mtb race.
I learned a fair bit running the race, vs just bombing trails.
1- huck Norris inserts are not worth 10 cents on an ebike. I did same amount of dings in both my back wheels, both having DD maxis Aggressors . One with huck Norris one without
2- mammoth kitty liter you can’t have a big enough front tire!!

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

The Fantic 180 put me on top spot of Kami games in mammoth in Eduro race.
First ever mtb race.
I learned a fair bit running the race, vs just bombing trails.
1- huck Norris inserts are not worth 10 cents on an ebike. I did same amount of dings in both my back wheels, both having DD maxis Aggressors . One with huck Norris one without
2- mammoth kitty liter you can’t have a big enough front tire!!

Well done Tim!
Good to get feedback regarding the Huck Norris inserts even though it is bad.
What psi were you running in both tyres as I know you normally run fairly high psi.

 

[Tim29]

31psi double down case, 2.5 max agrees on 35mm rim. And a 36mm rim.
35mm wheel has bigger dings in it then the 36mm rim without.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

31psi double down case, 2.5 max agrees on 35mm rim. And a 36mm rim.
35mm wheel has bigger dings in it then the 36mm rim without.

I presume a few rock gardens or square edge hits caused the dings?
How much do you weigh Tim?

 

[Tim29]

I believe both wheels got dinged in the pavers in stage three. There a couple in there that stick up in heavy g spots
But i never felt anything that said oops bad line, or dang didn’t see that.
I didn’t expect any wheel damage felt my runs and line choices where exceptionally clean.
I did side scratch the rear chain stay spoke and rim on edge but that was in a balance move and pushed back just leaned little to left me scraped bike on wall.
I am 192lbs the bike is 48.7lbs i believe those two numbers just exceeds the huck Noris absorption ability and rendered it none existent.
Maybe i t was double thickness for ebike.
I actually thought about putting two in.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I believe both wheels got dinged in the pavers in stage three. There a couple in there that stick up in heavy g spots
But i never felt anything that said oops bad line, or dang didn’t see that.
I didn’t expect any wheel damage felt my runs and line choices where exceptionally clean.
I did side scratch the rear chain stay spoke and rim on edge but that was in a balance move and pushed back just leaned little to left me scraped bike on wall.
I am 192lbs the bike is 48.7lbs i believe those two numbers just exceeds the huck Noris absorption ability and rendered it none existent.
Maybe i t was double thickness for ebike.
I actually thought about putting two in.

I know they are heavy and draggy..... maybe you could try a proper DH casing tyre on one of your tyres to see what happens?
I have not had a pinch puncture, puncture or damaged any of my rims on my current ebike or any of my acoustic bikes running my MM 2.6 DH Ultrasoft tyres.
They might cost you first or second place though..... but maybe you will just have to pedal a bit harder to make up for the loss of speed ?

 

[Tim29]

I haven’t pinch flatted any of my evo case or DD case tired, i have burped them and lost air.
But broke my carbon wheel in a Jeep road riding and drinking didn’t see square edge just cruising down fire road, that one pissed me off, i wouldn’t exp at 8-10 mph with a 2.5 DD casing and huck sitting down cruising u could break a rim. But i managed to. I heard it snap but didn’t feel much of anything in the seat riding with one hand, i exp a hit hard enough to brake a carbon hoop with an insert in it to at least buck u up on the bars and give u a pucker moment.
I think I’m gonna go 38 and 40 internal and use Cush core maybe that stiffen up tire so the flex is less and the Cush won’t bother me as much

 

[Jeff McD]

This forum is unusual in having the feedback from experienced riders such as Tim 29 and kiwi and Gary, and as a newbie I just wanted to say I really appreciate their input. Thanks guys and please keep it up.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I haven’t pinch flatted any of my evo case or DD case tired, i have burped them and lost air.
But broke my carbon wheel in a Jeep road riding and drinking didn’t see square edge just cruising down fire road, that one pissed me off, i wouldn’t exp at 8-10 mph with a 2.5 DD casing and huck sitting down cruising u could break a rim. But i managed to. I heard it snap but didn’t feel much of anything in the seat riding with one hand, i exp a hit hard enough to brake a carbon hoop with an insert in it to at least buck u up on the bars and give u a pucker moment.
I think I’m gonna go 38 and 40 internal and use Cush core maybe that stiffen up tire so the flex is less and the Cush won’t bother me as much

Doing the math......
with CushCores, and your current fairly heavy tyres you will be hitting near the weight of a MM 2.6 DH Ultrasoft anyway so that could be another option if the CushCores don’t work. The only issue is they don’t do that version of MM in a 29er for your front although there are Super Gravity Eddy currents 2.4s and 2.6s due to be released.

I am really interested to see how the CushCores perform for you so let us know how you get on ?

 

[Tim29]

I think with wider rims front and rear the tire profile be stiffer and roll faster so the few extra lbs of a DH case may not be much of an issue.
Besides I’m checking up a lot in places just because the fear of bending or braking wheels.
I have always had wheel issues. Even my motocross bikes have rim issues.
But there just bent not dinged.
My moto always bend outward or oval the entire rim. Ebike rims edge always folded inward and never have a mark or scratch.
I’m only running snake skin front and no front wheel issues.
Only rear. And mammoth i had 20-23 psi up front.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

I think with wider rims front and rear the tire profile be stiffer and roll faster so the few extra lbs of a DH case may not be much of an issue.
Besides I’m checking up a lot in places just because the fear of bending or braking wheels.
I have always had wheel issues. Even my motocross bikes have rim issues.
But there just bent not dinged.
My moto always bend outward or oval the entire rim. Ebike rims edge always folded inward and never have a mark or scratch.
I’m only running snake skin front and no front wheel issues.
Only rear. And mammoth i had 20-23 psi up front.

Ahh okay. So it is only the rear that has the problem. It must be really frustrating getting rim dings all the time so finding a fix would be a big move forward for you.
Good to see the 29er up front is working out well.
Well at least you still have a few options to try
Let us know how you get on

 

[Gary]

the fix is pretty easy/obvious.
run the rear 2.5" tyre a few psi higher pressure on a 30mm rear rim.
Due to increased pressure you'll still get the faster rolling characteristics and firmer sidewall support.and your edge tread will be in a better position for sheilding your rims from damage.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

the fix is pretty easy/obvious.
run the rear 2.5" tyre a few psi higher pressure on a 30mm rear rim.
Due to increased pressure you'll still get the faster rolling characteristics and firmer sidewall support.and your edge tread will be in a better position for sheilding your rims from damage.

Tim is running at 31 psi on the rear already so I think he will need more than a few psi to resolve his rim denting issue. More like 9-10 possibly?

Its hard for me to advise on how much extra psi for Tim to use as I am lighter than Tim and I don’t have his rim denting issue as I already have my own published fix which works for me.

 

[Gary]

There's no point advising exact pressures for others, even if you weigh the same as them, personal preference, suspension set-up, riding style, skill level, speed and front to rear weight distribution all come into play as well and affect how a tyre pressure will feel/perform.

Not that it's massively relivant but for example
I run between 36-42psi rear on a 2.3-2.35 exo (the 2.35s are actually narrower than the 2.3s since Maxxis updated their sizing to be more realistic). Front I run 2.5/2.4 DHFs/DHRIIs (which are basicaly the same size) and 28-32 is the sweet spot for those. Both tubeless, no inserts. I don't bother with mud tyres at all now I never race. and only ever use dual ply (DH tyres) on my DH bikes but can go slighlty lower pressure with those with no drama.
The variance in pressures given above is for conditions and bike, ie lower pressures for mud with less rock/Sq edge hits, higher for rocky terrain and hardtail use. I generally run my 170mm Ebike (30mm rim, 2.5 DHF front. *35mm rim, 2.3 SS rear) between 36-38 rear but will go up to 40 if riding faster dry trails with lots of jumps (for the faster rolling and better pop off lips) and 28-32 front. I'll run them at 60psi rear, 55 front for pure dirtjumping/street/road riding.
I'm somewhere around Tim's weight and also rearward biased. (an educated guess based on his previous pics and penchant for destroying rear rims )


* the 35mm rim came with the bike and I'd prefer a 30mm rim but due to my finneseful riding style and sensible tyre pressure range it doesn't have a single mark on it and should keep on truckin' until I majorly fuck up one day. When that day comes I'll lace a 30mm rim on as it's replacement.

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

There's no point advising exact pressures for others, even if you weigh the same as them, personal preference, suspension set-up, riding style, skill level, speed and front to rear weight distribution all come into play as well and affect how a tyre pressure will feel/perform.

Not that it's massively relivant but for example
I run between 36-42psi rear on a 2.3-2.35 exo (the 2.35s are actually narrower than the 2.3s since Maxxis updated their sizing to be more realistic). Front I run 2.5/2.4 DHFs/DHRIIs (which are basicaly the same size) and 28-32 is the sweet spot for those. Both tubeless, no inserts. I don't bother with mud tyres at all now I never race. and only ever use dual ply (DH tyres) on my DH bikes but can go slighlty lower pressure with those with no drama.
The variance in pressures given above is for conditions and bike, ie lower pressures for mud with less rock/Sq edge hits, higher for rocky terrain and hardtail use. I generally run my 170mm Ebike (30mm rim, 2.5 DHF front. *35mm rim, 2.3 SS rear) between 36-38 rear but will go up to 40 if riding faster dry trails with lots of jumps (for the faster rolling and better pop off lips) and 28-32 front. I'll run them at 60psi rear, 55 front for pure dirtjumping/street/road riding.
I'm somewhere around Tim's weight and also rearward biased. (an educated guess based on his previous pics and penchant for destroying rear rims )


* the 35mm rim came with the bike and I'd prefer a 30mm rim but due to my finneseful riding style and sensible tyre pressure range it doesn't have a single mark on it and should keep on truckin' until I majorly fuck up one day. When that day comes I'll lace a 30mm rim on as it's replacement.

Very helpful Gary.
I know you said it isn’t bit I think the info on you personally is very relevant, As you are both near the same weight, the psi values you stated above will at least be a pretty good starting point for Tim to try out. He can then adjust to suit his ‘own’ personal preference, suspension set-up, riding style, skill level, speed and front to rear weight distribution.
At those pressures I am sure it will end his rim dinging issues.

Thanks for sharing this info as it also gives me a good insight and new ideas on how I can adjust my current set up to perform better. ?

 

[Tim29]

the problem i was having is I’m running 31 psi cold and a couple runs at end the tire was up to 34-36 hot.
Ma pressure is 35 on aggressor.
But even at 31 i struggled to make the climbing stages as i was spinning in soft super bad and stalling out. Had to lower pressure on stage 2 transfer to make the climb.
Gary, in the pavers the 34 rim squirms bad and tire roll is horrible and sketchy as hell. The 36 was considerably better everywhere.
Practice runs i was worst run 16 sec bestrun 21 sec faster with 36 run as it held in paver turns.
My bike came with 29x28 front and 27.5 x32 rear with DHF and DHR.
THE DHR i didn’t mind but the DHF i don’t like.
On sat i did some practice runs on my bulls to save my Fantic as i felt i had it setup as good as i could get with what i had with me.
My bulls is 27.5x 36 front rear with 2.8 MM snake up front and 2.8 HR II in rear. That setup worked really good in soft but mery didn’t like the hard pack and pavers was little loose on wood features as well.
The 29x2.6 snake hans Damp sucked everywhere at mammoth but i loved that tire in Utah.
I learned something last weekend, all top riders changed up there tire combos for diff stages.
That 2.8 front cost me over a min on stage 4 as it was a pure speed fire road with a 30+ mph head wind. I should run my 29x2.5 DHF as it rolls pretty fast.
Gary, my reason for not just jacking up my psi in tires is at 55yrs old my eye muscles are not strong enough anymore and the chatter blurs my vision and my line choice goes to hell and then i hit shit i don’t see and that doesn’t help wheel issues.
So i need to stay 28-31 psi so bike can smooth out chowder and keep my vision clear on fast sections.
I ride well within my ability, i have never been over the bars on a mtb.
In last year i have crashed 2 times.
Both low sides in turns, lost front wheel slid out.
I flatted stage 3 and broke a chain in stage two and still won.
If you give my time back 1 min for the flat i would have finished inside top 5 for open pro class. Have to admit that feels dam good knowing I’m in my 50’s and can still run that kind of speed.

 

[Tim29]

the fix is pretty easy/obvious.
run the rear 2.5" tyre a few psi higher pressure on a 30mm rear rim.
Due to increased pressure you'll still get the faster rolling characteristics and firmer sidewall support.and your edge tread will be in a better position for sheilding your rims from damage.

The narrower wheel has proven to make the problem worse, the rim is bending inward which means tire has to be wrapping the rim. Wider rim would increase air volume space between tire and rim.
If the rim had a visible scratch or ding outward i would have to agree with your idea. But since it’s folding inward i don’t see how giving the tire more room to fold around the rim can help.

 

[Gary]

None of which makes the blind bit of difference if you continue to crave grip and comfort so much you won't put more pressure in your rear tyre

if you're racing DH at a high level rims are disposible and as long as you finish your race run dings don't matter. i hardly think beginner Ebike racing needs such blasen disregard for rimage. no matter how tasty the chocolate medal is

 

[Tim29]

I could care less about the medal, knowing i rode to Best i can ride is all the satisfaction i need. As well as running times on some sections that put me inside top ten in pro class on a ebike where i am def faster on my evil Wrec then my ebike. I feel like I’m sprinting in mud on ebike above assisted speed and pretty much every section you pedal is above assisted speeds.
But i keep getting my ebike speeds faster every week.
I keep being tempted to jail brake my ebike and see what happens