DH World Cup Andorra: Riders’ Must-Have Bike Setups and Pet Peeves

Dan Wolfe joins us as a guest presenter for the Andorra World Cup as we run round the pits and ask the fastest racers on the planet what they CANNOT TOLERATE when it comes to bike settings.

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Hey there, I’m Dan Wolf. We are here at round six of the DH World Cup in Andor. We are about to head to the pits to find out riders pet peeves, what they can’t ride without. What is that setup thing that just must be right? Let’s get into it. Um, what grips are these? Uh, protos. Nothing to see there. Okay, we’re here with Charlie Han. We’re at the Aston’s tent and we are going to be talking about the one setup that Charlie cannot hack if it isn’t perfect. Charlie, um I think tire pressure. It’s so easy. Like if you have a soft rear tire, it feels horrendous. So yeah, for me it’s tire pressure. If it’s too firm, then you have no traction. And if it’s too soft, you just feel the bike squirming underneath you. So tire pressure probably ranging from 21 to 24 in the front, depending on the weather. And then probably 26 to 30 in the rear. Head angle like a slack head angle. Okay. I can’t ride it, which is it’s a big nogo for me. Or the bar roll. Bar roll needs to be quite far back. So you those two things on the front, right? So would you run like you would say a slightly steeper head angle than most? Yeah, like the YT one is 63 to 65 depends what setting you right. And what are you in? Uh 63.5. Uh uh I think I’m on 63.2 or something. Okay. Okay. Somewhere. And then some people prefer like slacker ones. I tried it in the past so many times it’s doesn’t work for me. Okay. No chance. And then bar roll. Are you like a forward roll? N backward. It’s the opposite what Jackson does. I’m actually back but I get slagged a lot for that. For like big back roll? Yeah. All the time. I can’t ride it but like sometimes I try it again but it feels so Yeah. disconnected. I knew you’re a good guy. Okay. Sweet. I would say bar width and kind of where my brakes are in relation to my grips. When that’s all off and your hand positions off, it just feels super weird. Not like my bike. And then you don’t feel connected to it. Yeah. If one day your bars feel super narrow, it’s like feel like you’re riding a kid’s bike. So shoulders hard to hard to live without for sure. Mine is pretty easy, but it’s like the shifter if it’s too like out to the grip and it’s in the way of my thumb cannot ride. So the shifter needs to be like out the way. I’d rather like reach for it than have it kind of in my in my cuz sometimes if you like hit it bottom it bottom out and then you cut the inside your knuckle or I just I don’t know I feel like I need room for my thumb. So the shifter needs to be like out the way. Like when I ride other people’s bikes who have maybe like smaller hands and the shifter is like too close to the grip. I cannot ride. I can’t ride. That’s all you’ll think about. Yeah. It just doesn’t work. [Music] [Laughter] Okay, there you go. I think the most annoying for me is if my bike is like noisy and make like slam. So that’s something I don’t know and I will think like I’m already going too fast because it feel like the bike is like going all over the place because I can hear something and if it’s super quiet I can go faster because oh nothing move. And so that’s something I really like my bike to be super quiet. For me I’m really picky about my brakes. Okay. Like uh I have to have the right angle, the right width, like everything has to be perfect. Um yeah, bite point, how far out it is. Um I play play around with it a lot to get the right feeling, but uh if I’m not happy, I’m You don’t feel connected. Yeah. No, it really sort of affects me. So Okay. Yeah. Luckily, we have the guys from Brembo to help out. I should have given I should have given him a bit of time. The bar if it’s not rolled nicely. Bar roll. I’m feel like I was I would say more back last year, but then over the offseason I got more to the front. Last year I wasn’t really in my natural riding style and it changed back to it, which is like the the bar was too um too far back last year. Yeah. And now I’m a bit more front. Okay. And I feel more natural again. It’s authentic. We’re This is beautiful B-roll here. Yeah. And And you got your sunscreen on? Not on the face. I’m trying to tan. Oh, okay. Just on the back of the calves. Oh, nice. A lot of real estate there on those calves, Oshin. Yeah. Okay. So, I’m here with Oshin. That’s actually how you pronounce his name. It’s not Ocean or whatever. It’s Oshin. And uh what is that one setup thing that you can’t like if it’s not right, it just kind of wrecks your head. I would say the angle or level of brakes or handlebars. Okay. So, handlebar roll, brake, and then like finish bike point as well. Finish bike point. brake. Brakes I would say is the big one. Just the level of the brakes and how they’re biting. What I’m pretty specific about is suspension in terms of rebound. I can’t run a fast rebound. I’m struggling. I’m trying to get to the point to run a faster rebound and it’s getting a little better every season, but I still struggle as soon as especially the shock is too quick. Okay. Um on the high speeded rebound, can’t run that. Interesting. It just gives me kicks and I’m feeling unsettled and yeah, one more thing is maybe the cleats on the shoes mainly to get the fresh ones almost every race week just to make them a bit more tight and not as worn out. Okay. I think is like the grip underbar or the difference between my pedal and my handlebar. If it’s turn a bit or if the underbar is a bit different I I can like it’s hard the first few run. Yeah. Okay. It’s really hard. My mechanic need to prepare uh some stuff if I like twist the underbar or if I have a problem because I really want to have the exactly the same position if we need to run place. Okay. So, it’s a big a big struggle for like the mechanic and because the the ground is not flat enough. It’s it’s always a like difficult. Bod interestingly, one runs one of his brake levers slightly closer to the bar uh than the other. And then uh the left hand side is slightly further up. So the right hand side is angled slightly further down. We broke his wrist a few years back and that’s just what he’s used to now. So uh yeah, so it’s kind of it’s changed. It’s different. Most people obviously run them exactly the same. Try to get them really close, but yeah, he runs them slightly differently. Uh yeah, the first time I kind of jumped on his bike and did his levers and everything, he he readjusted them and I was like, “Mate, these are these are out.” He’s like, “No, no, that’s how he run them.” So yeah, that’s that’s what he really likes. I think he’s pretty easy to work for. There’s one thing that’s his handlebar roll and his brake lever angle. Okay. It’s I mean it’s not that bad. If we change handlebars usually within 3 hours, 4 hours, we’re done. No, he wants the brake lever at 27°. 27° exactly. Brakes need to be spot on. Didn’t know. He’s not super picky as a rider, but I guess the main thing is brakes. They’ve just got to be super consistent. And a lot of people like their brakes really pumped up. So, kind of there’s very little throw in the lever when they pull it. and it bites straight away. Bernie likes a lot of throw but then a really hard bite at the end. So, it’s quite hard to achieve that one cuz it’s the more throw you have I guess the more time it can have to kind of be spongy and kind of be inconsistent with its feel. So, yeah, that’s definitely something that is a lot of work needs to go into that. A lot of time like you kind of bleed him and then every run you kind of put a pot on top and just flick the lever cuz as he rides obviously the air is kind of moving and coming to the top. So, you just got to keep on top of kind of getting the air out of the lever. Basically, I’m pretty good with, you know, if something’s a little off, I can still run it. But, I think one of the main things for me is, uh, just getting my bars in the right position. So, I run them quite high up and pretty rolled forward as well. Okay. Um, yeah, I think that kind of just puts me into the riding position that I want to be in and then, um, yeah, gets my elbows out naturally without me trying. And sweet. Have you been gradually going higher over the last 3 years front end? Yeah. Uh definitely gone a little bit higher depending on track. Um so here we’ll probably won’t go as high compared to Litz wheel. Um but yeah definitely have been going up a bit more as the years pass. And then last thing cuz I know you got to get up to track walk. What is a setup thing that if it’s off you’re kind of chill with? So it could be like tire pressure, suspension, speed maybe. Yeah, I feel like tire pressure I can I can float around quite a few and still make do. Yeah. Well, I mean in Lutil I had a had a almost flat tire, so it still works. So, there you go. There’s an example. What grips are these? Uh, protos. Nothing to see there. Nothing to see there. Okay. Nice. Lovely squid. Okay. Well, uh, cheers for your time and good luck with trackw walk. Thank you. Lovely.