Podcast: Dave Weagle – MTB design, kinematics pros and cons on linkage - Part 2 of 2

This is the second part of the Dave Weagle Podcast. Find part one here. In one packed hour, Dave and Jens will try to explain, the complexity in bike design. They shed light on the advancing of bike technology and how we as humans are still the weakest part of it. How technology got better and how hard it can be to set it up. We dip on how to influence riding characteristic’s of a bike via kinematic design and head back to the 90s for the first steps with chain guides.

Bikes are complex by their nature. We humans interact with a fairly light vehicle, which is somewhat of a tool and an extension of our body. There is a lot going on with how a bike behaves under the influence of us. The riding input generates forces and affects every part of the bike. Parts may flex, bent or compress. Some in a more, some in a less controlled matter.

When designing a bike, we transfer what we know about materials and physics into a product. The way a designer interprets the variables he is working with will affect the riding behavior. We aim to create a product, which is understandable by just sitting on it and riding it.

Most of us don’t really think about what is happening under us, while we are out there on the trail. Riding over roots and rocks, with full trust in the stability and function of our bikes. Kind of a wild situation, when you start thinking of potential consequences, right?

In this podcast, Dave and Jens talk about ride dynamics and the program linkage and what it can and cannot do. Similarities between a good coffee machine and suspension setup. A 17-year-old Ironhorse Sunday Jens found on the used market. Dave's ideas on shocks and dampers and how difficult mass production shock production is. How too much nerd talk about kinematics makes for bad sales numbers. The strength you need to have to really make a downhill bike work.
The rising topic of flex and a hot topic in world cup racing right now: Mass dampers.

CAUTION: This podcast may change your view on how you interpret numbers for kinematics and geometry of a bike. You may become a handful in after-ride-discussions with your buddies about which bike performs how and why. Welcome to the nerd side of bikes.