Aaron Gwin’s mechanic and potential 2023 Fontana 30-39 Expert champ, John Hall, joins Team Robot, Jason Schroeder, Jonny Simonetti and gordo on The Inside Line Ride Along. We spend three hours discussing everything from the unwritten rules of World Cup downhill warm-up spots, spoke tension myths, creating mountain bikes for consumers vs. pro racers, the new Intense M279 HP6 prototype, Gwin’s chainless victory in Leogang and plenty more.
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#MTB #mountainbike #podcast
Video contents
0:00 – Intro / Semi-final World Cup DH format Impact on Mechanics
17:35 – How Many Tires Used at a World Cup DH?
21:15 – John Hall was Jason Schroeder’s Mechanic
25:45 – Becoming Aaron Gwin’s Mechanic
40:35 – Trying to Get 27.5 DH tires and wheels in 2013
47:57 – Spoke Tension Debates
53:25 – Prototypes and Different Rider Setups
1:00:54 – Recipe for Winning
1:15:47 – Will John Hall Be the 2023 Fontana Ex 30-39 Champ?
1:27:50 – Thoughts on e-Enduro Racing?
1:38:38 – Developing Bikes for Every Rider
1:59:13 – Bike Reviews Based on Incorrect Setup
2:11:14 – You Can’t Scrub
2:14:36 – Don’t Make Bets with Mitch Ropelato or Aaron Gwin
2:19:36 – John Tomac Stories
2:24:29 – Developing the Prototype Intense M279 HP6
2:43:18 – Suspension Platforms
2:54:45 – The Broken Chain Leogang Win Story
3:12:53 – SoCal Speed Team
26 Comments
So stoked on this one!
Video contents
0:00 – Intro / Semi-final World Cup DH format Impact on Mechanics
17:35 – How Many Tires Used at a World Cup DH?
21:15 – John Hall was Jason Schroeder's Mechanic
25:45 – Becoming Aaron Gwin's Mechanic
40:35 – Trying to Get 27.5 DH tires and wheels in 2013
47:57 – Spoke Tension Debates
53:25 – Prototypes and Different Rider Setups
1:00:54 – Recipe for Winning
1:15:47 – Will John Hall Be the 2023 Fontana Ex 30-39 Champ?
1:27:50 – Thoughts on e-Enduro Racing?
1:38:38 – Developing Bikes for Every Rider
1:59:13 – Bike Reviews Based on Incorrect Setup
2:11:14 – You Can't Scrub
2:14:36 – Don't Make Bets with Mitch Ropelato or Aaron Gwin
2:19:36 – John Tomac Stories
2:24:29 – Developing the Prototype Intense M279 HP6
2:43:18 – Suspension Platforms
2:54:45 – The Broken Chain Leogang Win Story
3:12:53 – SoCal Speed Team
More TEAM ROBOT please
DAAAANG. This has got some real juicy info in it. Thanks everyone for putting it together.
Thank you vital for being into DH and doing and posting all this stuff. 🙂
Half way through, John quizzing Charlie is gas 👌🏻👍
Brilliant podcast thanks vital!
1:57:48 perfectly sums up why (I think) Pinkbike and Beta didn’t like the 2020 GT Force 29. I found running 0.55x my weight in PSI for the fork, 1.25x my weight in PSI for the shock, and a hair slower rebound than recommended on both ends lead to the bike being significantly more agile and resistant to bottoming out than their tests. Add on 3 clicks of compression out back, fully open up front, and the bike rails berms like nothing I’ve ever ridden. I’m currently running the stock amount of volume reducers front and rear and it’s been fine all but one time where I took a drop poorly and missed the landing, causing me to bottom out hard. Great insight from Hall.
This was fascinating and so enjoyable to listen to. Maybe I'm a nerd. Maybe everyone in this is so likeable. Maybe all of the above. But the 3 hours went by so fast. I could listen to another 3 hours. More of these please!
Love listening to these behind the scenes banter.
Damn, wrenching on my bike and listening to this podcast. Perfect day in the garage! Thanks all!
BREATHE! AND CHECK YOUR PRESSURES!
Where do i sign up for Team Awesome Fast cause i am too far for SoCal Speed Team
If John likes the more freeform chat podcast then he should have a listen to The Ride Companion…
Heard this one over a long drive and man, the 3 hrs went by fast. Great, engaging conversation.
This insides are my favourite. This guy is amazing. You can watch DH World Cup Racing and it makes me goosebumps every time but this stuff makes it even more special. Thanks a lot.
ayo, john hall if you procure an ebike for me I can put my engineering degrees to work starting the open class ebike racing.
1:20:00 Thanks for the shoutout haha!
Big insights, no pressure and great people really make for 3 very entertaining hours. This was fun af
Very interesting podcast I would love to ask one super big question. I was loving the technical details and my question is regarding suspension design you briefly touched on different designs, pros and cons, but didn’t go into too much depth. I would like to know more on intricate detail what makes one better than the other one worse than the other.
I don’t understand way some companies stick with one and hope it sells.
I would love to know an inside thought process
That was awesome. Love the Socal speed team ramble and I’m from Oz. 😂
Awesome vidpod guys, so left & right tangents but still epically cohesive 🙂 👌🤟
Loved every bit of this video! Thank you all!
nice one!!
The new bike thing is so true it took me about 4 months to really dial in my settings until I really liked it.
2:19:00 Richie Rude lost to an off season Aaron Gwin doing some sets in the gym…
Yep, everyone who doesn't have a Ridgeline hates on it. They would be incredibly useful for the majority of people who buy a truck if they simply would consider one. I traded "down" from a half-ton to the RL and have zero regrets. Favorite vehicle I've ever owned, by far.
The transmission issues are common on 2017-2019 models which had the 6 speed. They usually need frequent fluid flushes if you are towing and they still tend to overheat. The 2020+ models with the 9 speed have been much more robust.
Ford Lightning looks like a cool rig. I was halfway expecting the new truck to be a Rivian since that is the most Ridgeline like EV pickup in overal size and form factor. The gear tunnel is neat.
Dudes, how can you not mention Loris or Finn talking about scrubs? I mean come on, really?