The Best Tech From Lenzerheide DH World Cups

 With you on this one! Hands down my favorite downhill bike I've ridden over the years. That thing without a chain was untouchable.

 @kev1n: Ya, so if you look at the pivot location, that thing must have had a boatload of antisquat and chaingrowth. Don't tell all the armchair engineers, but it still rode amazing.

Maybe I'm wrong, and thats why the world cup team experimented with an idler pulley.

 yeah, my friend has one and especially for jumps that thing is a beast, even on the tech it just plows through it

 @hamncheez: It certainly did (look at this graph), however without any dinner plates in the cassette, DH bikes can get away with that kind of thing can't they?

 Just picked up a 2018, best all around DH bike for sure. Plows but still plenty poppy for jumps. So stoked on it

 @boozed: Either I didn't get what you mean or you have it the other way around. There's a way to get rid of the chainsquat and chaingrowth on the old Gambler. Just install a 48t chainring on it, it will be perfect!

 @sb666: You got it from Al's didn't you?

 @Ajorda: indeed!

 @sb666: That sale was wild. A buddy of mine picked up a 910 for $1,500.

 Ya, I used to always ride gloves (like 10 years ago), then when I started "free riding" I rode glove less, now I'm old I'm back to gloves.

 @hamncheez: I've gone gloveless before too, but after OTBing in the parking lot, I always wear them now. ????

 Gloves suck until your hands sweat so much you can't grip the bars

 @mnorris122: This!!! And torn up hands suck and seem to take the longest to heal.

 @mnorris122: yep. My hand slipped off the bar whilst pulling up on a take-off once. Sweaty palms, so always wear gloves now.

 I refuse to ride trail without gloves mainly due to sweaty palms and my hands slipping but yeah, shredding your hands sucks too lol. I do ride gloveless when I'm on my DJ though, I prefer the feel when I'm gripping and pulling up as hard as I do on that bike.

 I guess the extra pressure on the system probably makes the bubbles smaller, allowing them to travel more easily through the brake lines more easily? That's my guess just based on bleeding experience and applying pressure via the syringe. Maybe someone who actually knows what they are talking about can chime in and correct me.

 @fowler22: I'm with you. That is definitely what happens.

 I’m not sure how pressurizing the system helps. I learned to “de-gas” brake fluid while in the syringe by pulling up on the plunger against a closed syringe nozzle - gas comes out of solution the same way it does when opening a can of soda.

 Yeah I don't really see how this would work. Since air is way more compressible than brake fluid, the density of the air bubbles is increasing a lot more than the density of the brake fluid when you pressurize the system. That would make the bubbles less buoyant and less likely to get to the top. Like @fartsmellow said, it would actually be better to do the opposite, if you can put the system on a vacuum, the air bubbles expand and increase buoyancy which would make them rise to the top. That's part of what happens when you do a top-end only bleed on your brakes.

 Wouldn't big bubbles go up faster because they have more buoyancy? If yes, then compressing the fluid and bubbles would slow down the progression of the bubbles to the lever.

 Pressurizing the system frees up stuck air bubbles from the weirdest places, pressure actually helps air to rise to the top, although bit slowly ( that’s why you leave it like that for a few hours , even overnight) and the last extra feature is that the system expands a bit, taking in a wee more fluid. Result is super stiff bite point and far less dead lever throw than with regular bleeding only.Moto guys been doing this for ages. Works as well on all different brands of brakes too.

 If you’re in a pinch, raise the back wheel off the ground until it’s straight above the front wheel. Quickly press and release each lever 5-10 times. It should firm your lever up enough to finish your run, or get you through the day. It’s the sneaky way to get reliable feeling Shimano brakes if you’ve got the inconsistent lever feel.

 I'm not sure how it works but it does.
I used to do it on my moto race bike in the 80's and always had good brakes.
Usually bad brakes are for a reason thou, a good bleed and new pads fixes "brake problems" best.

 @cedrico: yes, actually rising rate is ~-r² so a smaller bubble rises at a much lower velocity. But I've also tried the lever thing and it works., so.. Magic I guess?

 Increasing the pressure causes the air bubbles to shrink, allowing them to hide near edges in the system (typically near connectors). But if you quickly release the lever, you both get a drop in pressure (causing the bubbles to swell) as well as a liquid flow towards the reservoir. So that's where the bubbles will end up. Not sure how much sense it makes to keep the lever depressed overnight but you surely need to keep it depressed for a while. You want the oil flow to stop completely before you release the lever again. If you open the lever too soon, there may still be waves heading down dragging the the bubbles along. Similarly when you release the lever. Wait a bit, allow the bubbles to rise before you squeeze the lever again otherwise you'll chase them down. So when you pump a brake to chase the air toward the reservoir, squeeze slow, hold it a few seconds, quickly release the lever, then wait a bit more and hit the hose to chase the bubbles.

I rarely go for a full bleed but I use this method to trap air in the reservoir. I then open the reservoir cap, push the brake pads back (pushing even more oil and air towards the reservoir), top it off and close the cap again. I know some people prefer to overfill (not pushing the pads back) but I'm not a fan. If you need to resort to that, either your pads are already too thin or your brake manufacturer went too weight weenie and made the reservoir too small. I realize water could pool in the caliper but as the boiling point of my oil is 120degC already anyway, it shouldn't be too much of a deal (unlike brakes designed for oil with a higher boiling point). As for corrosion, it isn't the water causing corrosion. It are minerals. Not sure if brakes designed to use with mineral oil would be so susceptible to corrosion. My calipers are from 2007 and still working perfectly fine, so I'd say corrosion wouldn't be too much of an issue.

TL;DR: Yeah sorry, wandered off again. The on topic bit is the first section.

 @vinay: no, this is awesome I appreciate it

 @vinay: and people are surprised I use mech brakes (yeah kids I know, but your experience is your own)

 I think giving the brakes a once over with your wife's magic wand would be more effective at loosening the bubbles.

 @reindeln help to grip the seat if its muddy, sam hills mechanic started doin it then sdg made the ifly storm

 @savmeister: but why the hell would you want to grip the seat? Other the the side but you don't really need grip you just need a seat to press on...

 @Bikerdude137: Because sliding off the back of the seat in a compression is never a good time.

 Time pedals that you can't pull your feet out of (that's not a bad thing that's just what ht is known for)

 @Bikerdude137: never had an issue with accidental release on Times but yes I’ve heard HT are extremely tight.

 Ever squeezed the 'cross' in your spokes? By reducing the deflection, you are keeping the spoke at its true length and refusing compression and lateral forces bowing and flexing the wheel.

 It’s a farce.

 It stiffens the wheel relative to the hub, it doesn't stiffen the rim itself

 Its a roadie trick from probably 50years ago or more. Makes zero difference on modern wheels

 More likely useful to stop a broken spoke getting in the chain.

 @bigtard: indeed, WTF do professional race mechanics know about that shit eh?

 @SmallBrownDogMTB: They try a lot of things. placebo?

 exactly, he's faster