PVD Norba 1
Contents
The Goal
Josh is a guy who rides with us. He was a former racer. Last fall (07), he entered a local cyclocross race for fun. Instantly, he caught the bug again. He did so well with the cross racing that he decided to campaign some serious XC and Norba events for '08. I'm going to help him with a hardtail for his efforts.
The bike has to be super light and super fast. Since Josh has some serious riding skills, I'm going to design the bike to take advantage of that in hopes that he will be able to score some passes at some critical times. Weight is more challenging since this will be a steel bike. I'm going to pull out all the stops.
Genisis Geometry
I am thinking of playing some tricks with the weight distribution on this bike. Genisis is a marketing term for a concept in frambuilding that moves the front wheel farther ahead of the center of gravity of the system.
Essentially, I will reduce the stem length and lengthen the frame. Front wheel moved forward, rider keeps the same postition.
90 Degree Stem
Since this is a pure XC race bike and not a fun bike, the frame is going to bedesigned to have a short 90 degree stem. 90 degree stems are the most efficent stem in terms of power transfer and control. The do reduce the front end rider clearance, but it is expected that this bike will be race with an experienced rider whos only goal is to keep pedaling.
Another goal of having the 90 degree stem is to increase the head tube length providing a greater space between the head bearings. This should improve the front end feel both for and aft and side to side.
Integrated Headset
The lightest, strongest way of doing it.
Integrated BB
The Fork
2008 Rockshox SID. This is a complete redesign of this once lame fork. Basically, it's a REBA on a serious diet and supposedly stiffer. This should make it an incredible fork.
The forks travel will be 100mm for increased speed in roughs and downhills.
