DirtTV: World Cup Bike Weigh-In

Author: | 21 May 2010 | 72

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How much does a World Cup downhill bike weigh? DirtTV checked out nine of the top ten qualifying bikes at the Maribor World Cup and put them on our scales, we also measured wheelbase, chainstay.

Who had the lightest bike? Who had the heaviest bike? Who had the longest bike? How much mud was on the winning bike after the race?

All answers in the video.


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worldcupweighin650 DirtTV: World Cup Bike Weigh In

Steve Jones takes the tape measure to Ben Reid’s Norco DH to get the vital statistics.

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72 Responses to “DirtTV: World Cup Bike Weigh-In”

  1. Bloody brilliant idea!

  2. I envisage an abbundance of forum gism monkeys getting juiced over this.

  3. Surprised the Mondraker is that Heavy. Quite surprised the M9 is under 40 too.

  4. seems like most of the back ends are around the 17.5″ mark…bonkers. The mondraker though!?!? at 14″ and the longest wheel base of the lot!?!? is that right? Like it though Dirt kids….I would love to see more of this type of anaylsis going on.

  5. 14″ must be a typo!

  6. Love it! This is the shit!

  7. Ah my mate Tom is gonna jizz all over this video.

  8. Those are some short chainstays on the Mondraker! ;)

  9. DogBoy, typo, I think it should be 17 3/4″

  10. Oh no, that vid just killed Ride Monkey forum…

  11. I figured it was a typo. Great feature! Thanks for putting it together.

  12. Very interesting, nice one Dirt! Is it possible to have a spreadsheet made up of the lengths/weights so we can make direct comparisons? Thanks!

  13. No pedals on the Norco.

  14. Monster energy specialized are acting a little bit gay to be honest, trek for the win!

  15. 8lb of mud? thats surely wrong?!? thats… *tries to think of a component that weighs 8lb’s* a lot? whats a set of boxxers weigh?

  16. This is a great idea. Shows the pro’s have bikes pretty much the same as ours, are just much much better riders! Suddenly im not too worried about shedding weight off my 42lb Ironhorse…

    Time we stopped making excuses eh?

  17. What about the women’s bikes – any lighter?

  18. Rosie, will try and do the womens bikes at Fort William, bit rushed for time at Maribor.

  19. There is a lot of mentioning ‘Running heavy tubes in the back’.
    What happened to the tubeless revolution?!

  20. surely with the weather changing so quickly tubeless is too much hassle

  21. This is the stuff we like to know. Fantastic.
    Ok – Bar width next please!

  22. I’d have thought being pro teams they’d have a few sets of wheels around that have different tyres on for really fast change overs. Except Santa Cruz. No one can afford more than 1 set of those wheels.

    Some people say that the entire team share 1 set of wheels and that they hire flying monkeys to get them back to the top of the hill for the next persons run.

  23. Yes the mondraker has a typo, Damien’s should be somewhere around 17.1″-17,7″ as is a stock frame.

  24. Cheers Cesar, is Damien’s a stock frame? I thought Paul said it was a custom frame?

  25. What’s up with the tony 14.75″ chainstays on the Summum but MONSTER 49.5″ wheel-base?

  26. Sorry, I hadn’t refreshed the page since loading the video before posting that comment. Great insight here guys, like to see more of the same!

  27. Billy! Fab had a more longer bike but Dam and Aurelien were supposed to be on a stock. Maybe he is using one of Fab’s bike, not sure at all now.

    But they had some custom Fab bikes (even more slack than STD angle 62º(60 to 64º)) and bit longer chainstays.

  28. The Night Sheep
    May 19th, 2010 at 3:57 pm

    Maybe after watching that everyone will stop being such weight weenies trying to get them as light as possible as it seems that 40lb is the average weight for a DH bike even for the fastest in the world. No need for a DH bike in the low 30lb.

  29. All those poor European mechanics forced to talk in old-fashioned inches. Bet that pissed them off…

  30. This is a brilliant idea, nice one Dirt

  31. I love when the rider start defending their steads. “it’s running some heavy kit……”. We all love our bikes.

  32. specialized guys are hilarious. its a f-ing bike guys, just because your racers can’t use your crap stock wheels, tires and paper tubes you put on for sale to the masses you buy your BS hook line and sinker you’re afraid the truth might get out. poseurs.

  33. Ha great observation Sturider! Its true… they all got really protective if it was over 40lb…

  34. This post is causing a mini revolution in the bike world. I always thought the WC bikes were around 34-36lb, achieved with a selection of space age parts, when really a lot of them are heavier than the bikes we ride. This is no bullshit, honest reporting at its best. Thank you Dirt and all those brands that let this happen.

  35. The summon is loooong!

  36. And then Intense went and posted news of a 35lb 951.
    http://twitter.com/intensecycles/statuses/14302276891 – It’s small though, which is cheating, and has no paint.

  37. Never 8lb of mud on Minaar’s bike, I’ve seen what 8lb of mud looks like hanging off my VPfree after a session on a claggy local track. Put it this way the rear wheel wouldn’t go round with all the mud in there.
    Kinda get the Specialized boys, it is a prototype and thats the way it is at that end of the business. Next years bike, don’t want to give opposition too much of a heads up.
    Interesting geo figures though. More importantly, it does show how little difference there is between the bikes we buy and what the top boys run. It can only really be said that basically we’re crap! lol.

  38. PeteG, reckon it would have been heavier if we weighed it at the finish line, Chris Ball reckoned he knocked loads of mud off just to be able to lift it on to the podium. That said a lot of it might have been collected in the finish line to hot seat quagmire.

  39. cool feature dirt! it unfortunately confirms my suspicion that I ride like ass on practically the same set-up as the pros. Damn genetics! curious on bar width, too.

  40. interesting … next time bar width please !!

  41. This is soooo rad. The best Dh racing related post on any website in a long time. I’m fascinated, but only because I’m a weight-wiener-bike-tech-nerd like the rest of you…

    Billy, Steve, I’m also interested in bar width, and the weights/measures of the ladies bikes; how do they compare? Are the girl’s smaller bikes that much lighter than the lads? Say, Gee’s/Rachel’s? Do the teams with adjustable bikes use those advantages on different tracks? If so, do they adjust all the bikes in the paddock, or only for the riders who choose to? If they do adjust, how much? And what about tubeless? As far as I can tell, DH bikes in the 35-38lb range (like the Fanatik 951 posted above) are tubeless, those above that run tubes. It seems that none of the big boys are tubeless yet? Not reliable enough yet?

    I know I might be getting into the world of ‘top secret, too cool for school, can’t tell you, if we did we’d have to kill you’ (wtf monster energy? couldn’t you tell us about the OLD demo?), but I’m just so damn curious.

    DirtMag rules. Please come to Bromont, and call me.

  42. Great Idea. But wtf with specialized? Every damn dude rides or has riden a specialized, why so secretiv?

  43. Great ideia and Great job!

  44. This stuff is awesome, Dirt TV have smashed it this year and season’s only just started

  45. Dirt, great feature, but Specialized…., get a fecking grip….

  46. ease up on specialized seriously boys and girls, as you say, its only a bike. If they’re being so secretive on such things its a good sign. It shows that the dh bike market is booming and dh is a biiiig old deal to them. I can imagine the likes of trek doing the same when it comes to replacing the current 88. Forum fan boys are just upset then cant try claim the “scoop” and you’re all chomping at the bit to see what all the fuss is about

  47. trek session 35,2 lbs, with real DH components

    http://www.animalejo.cl/?p=877

  48. Amazing idea!, This are the most asked questions in any forum,David Turner did this a couple of years back,he also included seat height from the b.b. to the top of the seat.

  49. That was a good segment. You should do that for every world cup!

  50. The Mondraker mechanic accidently read the bottom bracket height out for chainstay length. Thought that was pretty obvious- sorry…

  51. thanks god for carbon downhill bikes! now we can save as much weight as santa cruz haha. useless. i expected something a little more impressive from that bike.

  52. The treck was lighter than the carbon v 10… Wow

  53. Hey this is great feedback! I think we all have to thank the mechanics and team managers for their help with this feature, who work tirelessly and often behind the scenes and into the night. Couple of things:
    The sizes of the bikes vary for example Leov, Minnaar are on large bikes which make the Trek and Santa Cruz even lighter in comparison
    Spagnolo rides a medium which is longer than the rest! Barels measures in over 50″!
    Weights will vary depending on the amount of fenders etc
    Production bikes are often lighter. The stock Mondraker Pro comes in at around 35lbs!

  54. Ease off the Specialized guys, I guess they just follow company’s orders. Honda did it also a few years ago, everyone wanted a Honda back then. ;)

  55. Was Matti rockin’ the long nose Nico style Tioga saddle?

  56. I bet there is a thousand measuring tapes being stretched all over the country now finding out how their bikes compare :P My commencal DH sits right in the middle of all all the weights and measurements stated , wow my bike is average! just time for the rider to catch up

  57. Re: all the folks tuning Specialized/Monster about being so secretive. It’s pretty funny how the Santa Cruz team are the exact opposite, and pluggin the new carbon bike and how it goes faster just because it’s carbon. It’s almost like they are taking the piss out of the really secretive teams. I hope that is why. It makes me laugh.

  58. trek’s DH frame weight should include all the warranty parts you’ll need for the season with it :[

  59. [...] Dirt [...]

  60. pretty interesting vid, expected the carbon v10 to be a lot lighter! It’s be cool to see the same thing with the pros 4x bikes, bet theyre silly light!

  61. Santa Cruz are running carbon rims, frame etc. so the bike must weigh less than about 40lbs, but, it doesn’t so weight must have been added.
    The Mondraker, 35.5lbs stock and the pro’s rides a heavier version.
    Again it has had weight added to it.
    If I was adding weight it would be as close to the floor as possible.
    How does it sound that the teams wrap the BB in lead or something?

    Just a thought.

  62. I love the video, think the weights and measures are all fasinating. But at the end of the day its not which bike weighs the most but the one that crosses the line fastest. Whilst weights and geo are all useful knowledge I would always pick a bike based on a full review of how it actually rides. Thanks Dirt for the 100 issues so far

  63. what about a little feature on the mechanics themselves? Most beloved tool, worst pre-race incident, or mechanical pet peeves? I think we can all agree that without mechanics at this level we wouldn’t see racers doing their best.

  64. Yeah, love to see bar rise and width for both 4x and DH bikes, along with the rider height/armspan

  65. Just a thought but i couldnt help but notice the a lot of these bikes coming in at the 40lbs mark, which considering they have the greatest choice of components from top manufactures doesn’t seem amazingly light weight for the specs! For example 2 people i work with have 2010 Giant Glorys running on pretty standard after market parts (although heavily weight weenied) and both are running around the 36/7lb mark
    So is there an optimum weight for a DH bike? are these bikes being ballasted at the BB to keep the weight low and centralized possibly?

  66. Very interesting Vid, but in fairness, who gives a fudge? if we’re to believe these results then they’re all pretty much the same!Maybe we should all just try and RIDE FASTER! Like Baltic pointed out in the other vid, where he talks about the Maribor Rock Section, its all about pickin the right lines. That can only come with experience and talent.

  67. this video’s got 66 comments! Why are people so obsesed with weight????

  68. Sam: Why are people so obsessed with weight? Because we all like to have an excuse to hide behind when we’re not the best in the world. Unfortunately people are not happy with being the best they can be, me included

  69. Well Olliebongo…who gives a fudge? You saying weight does not matter on a mountainbike? Racing downhill has many, many elements as well as line choice and mentalness. I spoke to Stepane Girard last week, he was Vouilloz’s trainer, what Nico did was attain high levels of physical, technical, mental and bike engineering into his racing. Out of the current top ten few have high levels of each facet of racing, having a light bike is just one of many but it does matter. Exit speed? Rider fatigue…come on

    Also remember these weights are wet. The Santa Cruz is 35.02lb dry

  70. Cheers Steve, this is great! Time to dig out my 6 year old Yeti DH9 with 17.75″ chainstays, 48″ wheelbase, and 63 degree head angle :-)

    Now how to lose those 5 extra pounds I’m carrying…

  71. Awesome video and concept. Is it possible that the bikes are a bit on the heavy side because you have big guys that are the fastest in the world on the gnarliest courses who are just more capable of destroying components like wheels and tubes? Were the bikes weighed during practice or just prior the final run? This could alter the spec levels maybe.

  72. Specialized mechanic does seem like a twonk. He could have just said ‘sorry, i’m not allowed to’. Not a great advert for Specialized or their brilliant bikes.

    All this chat about DH bike weight, to be honest it’s all getting a bit out of hand. My Summum in large weighs about 36lb now, and it’s been on a serious diet. It definitely has lighter parts than the standard ‘Pro Team’ bike, apart from the Bos Idylle and the real DH tyres. So unless the large frame weighs at least a pound more than the medium one, i’d call BS on the 35lb weight claim.

    Can i notice the difference between now and when it weighed 38lb? Not after the second pedal stroke from the start gate, no.

    If your bike weighs more than 40lb, maybe it could be a little lighter without hurting. If it’s much below 35lb, maybe something will break a little sooner.

    If it’s anywhere in between, ride it and be happy!

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