VT wins

[Andy ©]

Won my first race on the VT today, these bikes really are outstanding, the pedalling platform is good enough to keep pace with shorter travel XC race bikes, and it simply carves the downhill sections up with its 5.7" travel.
Cheers

[Rainman]

Congratulations...

No doubt about the VT's...they sure are a good machine..



R.

[Trevor!]

Nice work indeed, well done. Nice to kick ass isn't it.

Like all giants, it is no surprise, they all seem to be really good race performing bikes...

Good Stuff again.

[Andy ©]

Nice work indeed, well done. Nice to kick ass isn't it.

Like all giants, it is no surprise, they all seem to be really good race performing bikes...

Good Stuff again.

Thanks for the kind words guys, but i must say I couldnt have done it without a lot of the information I`ve read on these forums.....the Save Some Weight forum has been very very helpful in getting the bike raceable.
Cheers

[c-record]

Thanks for the kind words guys, but i must say I couldnt have done it without a lot of the information I`ve read on these forums.....the Save Some Weight forum has been very very helpful in getting the bike raceable.
Cheers

So give us a run down on what you did to your VT. I have an '03 VT-1 that I swapped out the Rockshox to a Vanilla. It's a great trailbike at about #30 but I couldn't imagine me beating any XC racers on it. Unless it's downhill.
good job at the race.

[col200]

good job...You must have some legs/lungs!

[DiRt DeViL]

Excellent job, congratulations.

[Andy ©]

So give us a run down on what you did to your VT. I have an '03 VT-1 that I swapped out the Rockshox to a Vanilla. It's a great trailbike at about #30 but I couldn't imagine me beating any XC racers on it. Unless it's downhill.
good job at the race.

Mine weighs in at just a fraction over 29lbs.
Bike as raced yesterday-
Manitou Black Comp forks--- set at 90mm
Swinger 3 way rear shock-- Main spring 140psi, SPV 100psi....my weight 160lb, rebound 6 clicks out from slow
Pedals- SPD 540
Tyres- Nokian NBX 2.1 @ 37psi f & r
Inner tubes- Maxxis Flyweights
Seat- Selle Flite Italia Ti
Seatpost- Thomson 30.8
Seat collar- Salsa Liplock 35mm
Avid Mech Discs with Fibrax teflon cables cut as short as possible
Drink cage bolts replaced with AI bolts
Minoura drink cage

Cheers

[Andy ©]

good job...You must have some legs/lungs!

Whilst racing late last year I was really struggling, so set about trying to reduce a bit of body weight and develope better race fitness.
I averaged around 100-130miles of training per week since last November and lost 14lbs of body weight, which has made a huge difference in racing.
Cheers

[Mr. VT]

hey i know this is a lil late but congrats man! haha

[WotFun]

Cheers Andy,

I just got a VT3 myself a few weeks ago - partly prompted by one of your previous posts. Just love the bike! And so it can win races huh! Just got to work on my fitness and perhaps I'll be doing the same someday.

Got any advice for a newbee? Particularly on tyres - I'm pretty sus on these Scorpions - feels like they're going to pop any second! So far I've left the bike as purchased.

[Andy ©]

Cheers Andy,

I just got a VT3 myself a few weeks ago - partly prompted by one of your previous posts. Just love the bike! And so it can win races huh! Just got to work on my fitness and perhaps I'll be doing the same someday.

Got any advice for a newbee? Particularly on tyres - I'm pretty sus on these Scorpions - feels like they're going to pop any second! So far I've left the bike as purchased.

Gday Wotfun
Glad to hear you`re enjoying your VT, and yep, it certainly can win races.
The Scorpions are touted by Hutchinson as being a mud/wet tyre.
I could never seem to get any confidence in these tyres here in the dry, loose and rocky conditions that I ride in.
I tried the Scorpions at various pressures but this didnt seem to really make an significant improvement in their grip & handling so I changed them for a pair of Panaracer Fire XC 2.1`s.
I found the Panaracers to be a very good tyre on the VT. Its grip is outstanding and allows you to really carve up the corners, durability and puncture resistance are also very good, and its available at a very reasonable price compared to many other tyres.
For my weight i raced the Panaracers at 36psi front & rear.
One downside to the Panaracers is their rolling resistance, they do roll rather slowly.
At the moment I have the Nokian NBX 2.1`s on the bike (used these to race with) and they do tend handle/grip very much like the Panaracers, but these things really do roll like crazy...very very fast indeed. I`ve found various tracks/training rides where I`ve timed myself that these are giving between a 5-10% improvement in my times. The negatives to this tyre is that its near double the price of the Panaracer Fire XC, and its very soft rubber compound tends to wear out rather quickly.
Hope this helps you out a bit
Cheers

[WotFun]

I ordered a pair of Panaracers today online at $25 each (AU). Seems pretty cheap. I've noticed that there are good (127TPI) and not so good (60TPI) versions available. Do you know if this is the case here (in Aus). If so, how do you tell the difference? I asked the supplier which theirs were and they didn't know, but I thought at that price, who cares.

Thanks again.

[Andy ©]

I ordered a pair of Panaracers today online at $25 each (AU). Seems pretty cheap. I've noticed that there are good (127TPI) and not so good (60TPI) versions available. Do you know if this is the case here (in Aus). If so, how do you tell the difference? I asked the supplier which theirs were and they didn't know, but I thought at that price, who cares.

Thanks again.

I just checked the casing on the Panaracers i have, but cant see any markings to identify whether its the 127TPI or 60.
$25 is a very good price for these, I had a hard time finding them here in Australia and eventually ended up purchasing mine online thru www.deanwoods.com.au, mine were $39 each.
Cheers

[WotFun]

I just checked the casing on the Panaracers i have, but cant see any markings to identify whether its the 127TPI or 60.
$25 is a very good price for these, I had a hard time finding them here in Australia and eventually ended up purchasing mine online thru www.deanwoods.com.au, mine were $39 each.
Cheers

Yep, that's where I got mine - they've got a special on them at the moment, hehehe I'm a lucky dude! I'm tempted to get another set at this price, but if the reviews are accurate, I shouldn't need to.

Cheers & thanks.

[Andy ©]

Yep, that's where I got mine - they've got a special on them at the moment, hehehe I'm a lucky dude! I'm tempted to get another set at this price, but if the reviews are accurate, I shouldn't need to.

Cheers & thanks.

Dont forget to try some different pressures in them to see what works best for your weight.
I found 40psi was a good pressure for general trail riding, but dropped this down to 36psi for racing to add a little extra grip.
Cheers

[c-record]

Mine weighs in at just a fraction over 29lbs.
Bike as raced yesterday-
Manitou Black Comp forks--- set at 90mm
Swinger 3 way rear shock-- Main spring 140psi, SPV 100psi....my weight 160lb, rebound 6 clicks out from slow
Pedals- SPD 540
Tyres- Nokian NBX 2.1 @ 37psi f & r
Inner tubes- Maxxis Flyweights
Seat- Selle Flite Italia Ti
Seatpost- Thomson 30.8
Seat collar- Salsa Liplock 35mm
Avid Mech Discs with Fibrax teflon cables cut as short as possible
Drink cage bolts replaced with AI bolts
Minoura drink cage

Cheers

Man, now I just feel out of shape.

[WotFun]

I just checked the casing on the Panaracers i have, but cant see any markings to identify whether its the 127TPI or 60.
$25 is a very good price for these, I had a hard time finding them here in Australia and eventually ended up purchasing mine online thru www.deanwoods.com.au, mine were $39 each.
Cheers

It turns out we've got the 'bad' ones - note the 'MADE IN TAIWAN' on the side. So these are the 60TPI versions - the good ones are made in Japan. Still if a race winner says these are ok, that's good enough for me.

I assume your uncertainty indicates that yours are still intact. How much distance did you put on them before switching to the NBX's?

[Andy ©]

It turns out we've got the 'bad' ones - note the 'MADE IN TAIWAN' on the side. So these are the 60TPI versions - the good ones are made in Japan. Still if a race winner says these are ok, that's good enough for me.

I assume your uncertainty indicates that yours are still intact. How much distance did you put on them before switching to the NBX's?

Mine are certainly intact and considering I`d done around 2,300km on them I`d rate these 60TPI as very good tyres.
Sidewalls and tread (apart from normal tread wear) have held up very very well. No knobs have fallen or broken off and in the 2,300km i only had 2 flats. One of these was a metal spike that wouldve flatted any tyre, the other a chunk of glass that went straight thru between the knobs.
I`m still going to keep these as spare tyres for endurance events, as they still have a fair bit of life left in them
Cheers