So that's what they mean by "full squish"

[birdman829]

Saw this gallery and thought it was pretty neat.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/featu...02/bturman,109

[powbmps]

Who's that in picture #6 with the prosthetic?

[grabtindy]

WTF is going on here? That's some strange perspective. It looks like the bike is 3 sizes too small for the rider and a 24" front wheel and 29er rear.

[pfluffenmeister]

^^^ frames angles have finally gotten sooo slack that you need a small front and a big rear?

[birdman829]

Who's that in picture #6 with the prosthetic?

The guys name seems to be Adolfo Almarza. He's actually a double amputee, so prosthetics plural. Pretty fuckin badass.



another pic of him from the Valparaiso urban dh

[TBS]

WTF is going on here? That's some strange perspective. It looks like the bike is 3 sizes too small for the rider and a 24" front wheel and 29er rear.

And how do you clear obstuctions more than ~3" in diameter, or even make a pedal revolution? Are the cranks like 60mm long?

[good4nothing]

The guys name seems to be Adolfo Almarza. He's actually a double amputee, so prosthetics plural. Pretty fuckin badass.



another pic of him from the Valparaiso urban dh

Holy fucking shit.

[abraham]

Holy fucking shit.

Goddamnit, if he can do that with no ankles I should stop being a fucking pussy...

[HankScorpio]

I'm amazed how close the rear wheel comes to smacking the saddle.

[Edgnar]

And how do you clear obstuctions more than ~3" in diameter, or even make a pedal revolution? Are the cranks like 60mm long?

You do realize that the suspension is fully compressed in these photos right?

[jm2e]

Looks like his bash guard is dragging in the dirt. Crazy.

[TBS]

You do realize that the suspension is fully compressed in these photos right?

Yes, I do. But, its not like the riders are really flexing the suspension either, and the course is silky smooth. And, like j2me points out above, the bash guard is almost in the dirt. So you pedal only when the suspension is completely unweighted?

Seems kinda retarded to me, but I'm not on the forefront of whatever kind of racing they are doing.

[Chugachjed]

I'm guessing these pictures are at the bottom of a drop.

[grabtindy]

They are the landing of the GLC drop, 6-8 feet to flat if you're hauling mail:
Attachment 119484

[TBS]

^^^OK this makes a little more sense now. I thought those were dual slalom bikes.

Still, a max 7" travel DH bike fully squished has only a couple inches of Ring clearance? Meaning a BB height of 12-13"? Seems a little low to me, since my Stumpy FSR has ~13". The guy with the prosthetics was the only one that looked to have reasonable clearance.

But again, I don't race DH or even try to get much air anymore.

[birdman829]

There are quite a few 7 inch bikes in the gallery, and a couple 6 inch bikes, even a 5 inch bike or two. Most of them are 8-10 inches of travel though so you gotta recalculate a little on that. And the longer travel bikes have way slacker angles than a stumpy, so the travel isn't quite as vertical as on a shorter, steeper bike. Also the guy on the Demo 8 whose ring is almost bottomed out looks to be running a bigger ring than most of the other riders in the photos. And besides, that's why God invented bash guards.

[birdman829]

Seriously though, how about the guy in the gorilla suit on the Commencal?


WTF?

[grskier]

I wonder how much shock oil is worked into the dirt just past that landing area now...

some great captures though. A few of those tires look to be trimming the fabric on the saddles. You definitely want your feet in the right position on those landings.

[nickel]

Wow sick pictures! To the guy who doesn't understand DH bikes, standard is 8-9 inches of rear wheel travel with BB height in the mid 13'' range. Head angles usually in the 63 degree neighborhood. Slack and low is the name of the game. GLC drop also has a somewhat flat landing, meaning you should be using almost all your travel. Bottom out is not typically a great moment to pedal, and no one cares how your stumpy FSR compares to a DH bike, apples and oranges.

[orlowskij]

Cool shots, no wasted travel. Here's a similar one from a different sprocket sport: