(bang)
- Welcome back.
It's Thursday.
It's Ask GMBN, and we are here to answer your questions.
- Yeah.
If you have any, leave 'em in the comments section
down below this video, or use the hashtag #askgmbn
You ready? - We'll try our hardest.
Yes.
- Right. Let's kick it off.
Elis Jones.
How many bike vault pictures do you get sent every week?
- We get loads of photos sent it.
It's like tonnes.
- Yeah.
I've not counted 'em, but it's gotta be hundreds a week.
- We have a dedicated office just for bike vault.
- We do, yeah.
It's called Martin.
- It is, yeah.
- Right. Rian Kelly.
(Blake mumbles)
If I were to change a bike
with three chainrings at the front to a single,
will I need to get a new crankset?
- Well, depending on what cranks you are running.
- Not necessarily.
With double, it's a bit easier.
With a triple, you could maybe
just set your one chainring up in the middle,
but it does depend on the crank set, really, to be honest.
Jojo Dell.
When I do jumps on my bike,
hashtag I ride an aggressive hard tail,
my back wheel tends to be kicked up.
Any tips?
Mm, he's...
(Blake mumbles)
Yeah.
Getting kicked, but on a hard tail.
Technique, I would say.
- It is technique, yeah.
You're lifting your feet
more than you're bringing your bike up with your feet.
So just curl your toes, curl your feet on the pedals.
- So I would, yeah.
One of two things, really.
Either try and get more front wheel lift
or try and mellow out the rear wheel lift.
So front wheel lift is all about the manual,
pumping and driving that front wheel up into the air.
Tell you what.
Video yourself and send it in to Ask GMBN in slow mo,
and we can tell you how to correct it hopefully.
- Correct me if I'm wrong.
- Exactly.
Mirek Suchomel.
I'm going to my first ever enduro race.
What should I take with me in my backpack on race day?
- Neil, I think this is one for you--
- I've raced Enduro. - 'Cause you've just
come back from one.
- To be honest, I take as little as possible if I'm racing,
so a pump, some tyre levers, you might need those,
a spare tube, maybe two, depends how big the race is,
and then just the fuel to get you around,
so water and gels.
But it depends how big the day is, really,
but I try and pack as light as possible, really.
- That's the main thing.
- And a multi tool, don't forget that,
with a chain tool on it, just in case.
Next one.
Nick Brescia.
I own a fat bike with 82 mill width rims,
that's pretty wide, and a 4.8 inch tyre.
I ride this bike like it's an all mountain machine.
I was wondering if four inch tyres would be better
for cornering with that rim width.
- Well, I've got no experience in fat bikes.
I've ridden one, and that was either three.
No, it was a four inch.
- That's probably about as narrow as they come,
fat bike tyres.
I would say this depends
on the sort of terrain you're riding it on.
So obviously, the bigger, wider tyre is gonna float better.
So if you are using it on sand or snow,
that's gonna work better.
Four inch wide tyres might work better
on proper, normal trails we'll call them, so dry dirt.
I think it's gonna be more nimble,
since there's less weight,
so yes, it probably will corner a little bit better.
Another tyre question.
Scootering T&C.
What is so good about using tubeless?
- Ooh, I'm recently converted to tubeless, and I love it.
- Yeah.
- You can run lower tyre pressures.
You can go through (mumbles)
I went.
They were cutting the hedges,
and there was loads of thorns everywhere,
and I didn't even get one puncture.
- That is a big difference.
You're not gonna get those little punctures,
so the sealant in there is gonna fix those little holes,
and you can't get pinch punctures,
so you can't pinch your tube.
- Which I get a lot.
- Yep.
However, you can damage the tyre,
so that's the one disadvantage.
You don't run them on your dirt jump bikes, do you?
- No, I don't, no.
I still run tubes in a dirt jump bike.
- Yeah.
If you're thinking about converting to tubeless,
check out this videos, and it's gonna give you some tips
on how to do it.
Okay, so we're gonna talk about converting
from a regular setup with a tyre and a tube
to a tubeless setup.
The main advantages of tubeless is you take away
any risk of puncturing by pinching the tube.
That means you can start running lower tyre pressure,
so you might find more grip.
It's also gonna be a little bit lighter,
so you got less rotating mass on there.
It makes a really big difference to how your bikes rides.
It'll make the bike feel more nimble.
To the next question.
Dave Clarke asked, "Do I really need a torque wrench
"when installing higher torque components,
"such as bottom bracket, cranks, cassette?
"I use one for the stem, bars, controls, et cetera,
"but don't really want to buy another one
"if I don't have to."
- Well, there's a lot of bikes with carbon,
and I would suggest having a torque wrench all the time
and putting it to the right newton metres.
- Yeah.
- For BBs and stuff, I wouldn't,
unless you got a carbon frame.
- Yeah, I'm in the same sort of boat, really.
I have got one for my bar, stem, et cetera.
Bottom bracket, I don't bother, to be honest.
With a bit of experience,
you'll sort of work out how tight to do everything,
and I just have the one torque wrench.
It does the lower end stuff.
So yeah, I think you're probably all right.
Cameron Gardiner.
Should I buy a 27.5 or 29er full suspension bike
intended for trail rides, enduro,
and occasionally bike parks?
What would the differences be between the two
with climbing, descending, et cetera?
- For me, I would definitely go 27.5.
- And for me, I'm probably slightly erring towards 29.
I've just put some 29 inch wheels on my Scott Genius LT
for that exact type of riding.
I would say the difference is it feels more stable.
It does feel to me like you get more grip.
However, the payoffs for it are
it doesn't quite feel so nimble.
- Yeah.
- It does feel like a bit of a bigger bike
all around, really.
- Yeah, but when it comes to climbing.
- Yeah.
I don't know. It's tough.
Maybe if you've got one bike that does everything
or you want to do everything on it,
maybe stick to the smaller wheels,
but horses for courses, I would say.
- Personal preference.
- Yeah, I would say try and ride both.
Test 'em out and see which you prefer.
- Go on a demo day.
- Yeah, that's a good idea.
Anthony Holdway.
I've just watched a GCN video, GCN.
- Why?
- And they answered a question.
How much do you need to train to be in good form?
I was wondering if the answer would be the same
if you were training on a mountain bike only.
- Well I haven't raced much,
so Neil, this is your question, eh?
- Tough question.
It depends how fit you wanna be.
How long is a piece of string?
The more you train, the fitter you're gonna be.
Don't forget to rest.
I would probably say a normal three times
to five times a week would probably get you pretty fit.
And mix it up with different short and hard stuff
to more endurance stuff, but that depends
on the type of riding and or racing you're gonna do.
So tough question to answer, but--
- That's good enough.
- A couple of days a week rest, and the rest of it training.
Manual Jimenez.
Does adding bottomless tokens to your fork
reduce its travel?
If so, by how much?
- No is the answer.
It doesn't.
It's gonna just make a difference
to how your suspension acts.
So the more bottomless tokens you put in,
the harder it's gonna ramp up,
so it's gonna get harder sooner,
but it doesn't make any difference to the total travel.
And you should check out our video
on suspension jargon explained.
So I'm here with Pete, who's a race tech at Fox.
Pete, what does high and low speed compression mean?
- High speed compression is high shaft speed,
and low speed compression is slow shaft speeds.
- So it has nothing to do
with the speed you're riding the bike?
It's the speed that your fork or shock is moving at?
- Correct.
Generally, it doesn't have to do with the speed (mumbles)
- Okay, so let's start with high speed compression.
What does that deal with?
What type of riding does that deal with?
- [Pete] High speed compression is gonna be
impacts that make the suspension move quickly,
such as braking bumps.
Low speed is gonna be anything that you do to the bike,
body input such as braking or pumping into a corner
or over a roller.
- Are you ready, Neil?
This is the (grunting) (machine gun firing)
quick fire round. (laughs)
- All right.
- Okay. Ruel.
I'm using a one by 11 SRAM cassette drive
on my Canyon Strive CF.
- Yep, me too.
- Is it possible to change it to one by 12?
- Yes. - Eagle.
- So you'll have the SRAM driver on your hub already,
so yeah.
- And it's gold.
- Stomp out the cash, you can have one by 12.
- All right.
We've got Tobias.
Can I use a narrow wide on a one by 10 SLX?
- Yes.
You'd have to buy a chainring for it.
Yep, it should be fine.
- Brandon.
Can you make a chain out of all master links?
- All master links?
Sort of.
You'd still need the narrow bits
in between the master links,
and I don't know why you would want to.
It would be an expensive way of making a chain,
and it'd probably just snap anyway.
- All right, Josh Smith.
Can you use Shimano brakes on SRAM discs
and SRAM brakes on Shimano discs?
- Yes, I think you can.
I bet the manufacturers would say
they probably wouldn't want you to.
However, as long as it's the right size,
then yes, it shouldn't make any difference.
- Perfect.
Gapi. Good name.
Can I do a barspin (laughs)
Can I do a barspin on a downhill bike?
- With triple clamp forks.
- Yes.
- No.
You'd go...
(Neil and Blake imitating crashing sounds)
- Yeah, it won't work.
But then, if you've got 180 mill travel, then...
- Yeah, there's no way around that, is there?
- Jordan.
Does it count as a manual if you're sat down in the saddle?
If you're not pedalling, yes.
- I would say so.
Although I would probably call it a coaster wheelie.
- Yeah, I could see that.
- But the same thing, really.
It's only the difference between manual and wheelie
is just pedalling or not pedalling, not pedalling.
- Not pedalling.
All right, we got Makaii.
Do you guys fix/tune your own bikes
or do you have someone to do it?
- Do it ourselves, don't we?
- Do it ourselves, mate.
- Occasionally take it to a bike shop
if it's a tricky problem.
I don't really do all of mine myself.
- Yep, I like doing it. - So do I.
It's good fun.
- Yeah.
Keeps you one with your bike.
And we've got Mac, ma, ma, ma, Micah.
How old are you guys?
- I'm sure we keep getting asked this question.
I'm old.
I'm 35. How old are you?
- I'm 31.
- You're old as well.
We're both old.
- We're in our 30s.
- Yeah.
- Sensible.
- Right, correct if I'm wrong.
- Wrong.
So, Oskar Adamson has sent in this video
of him doing a whip.
So it's time for your-- - Oh, I love whips.
- Expert advice here, Blake.
How can he improve his whips?
- [Blake] Well, he's got the right technique.
- [Neil] It's pretty cool, isn't it?
- Yeah, he is.
That is pretty good.
He's got the right technique,
but if you wanna learn to go bigger whips,
it's kinda you gotta carve the lip.
- Yeah.
- But you got the right technique.
You just gotta carve more.
- So a hip jump is good, as well,
where you land and there's a bit more of an angle
so you can literally, naturally, carve a bit more.
- Land a little bit sideways more.
- But yeah, hips are a really good place
to start learning a huge whip.
- So keep sending your videos in to Ask@GMBN.com
We'll take a look and help you out if we think we can.
- Yeah.
Right, that's it.
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- Cool.
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