Ohlins, Specialized, or Bruni's legs. Who really won Ft. William?

Glory831Guy
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Did Specialized's rear suspension design win Fort William, or was Ohlins' shock tech the secret sauce that brought home the W? Or was it all about Loic's technique and strength?

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Who really won the race?

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Ceecee
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5/9/2024 7:14am

Wind vectors and speeds are neck and neck with streaming video

gibbon
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5/9/2024 7:20am

Tbf he optimised integrating the vertical stratergies up the wazoo.

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FullSend
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5/9/2024 11:29am

I'd say 90% Bruni and 10% Öhlins (- but that ratio goes for any rider).

It's noteworthy that Bruni's suspension is always exceptionally dialed. Like, outstandingly well adjusted to the terrain. Usually way better than anyone else. Just look at the footage from training laps, his bike has much better chassis stability than pretty much anyone elses. He looks so composed and in control on track. That's largely down to incredibly well adjusted suspension.

Although: To say that he won because he's got the best suspension would be an insult to his incredible bike handling skill - but maybe his immaculately adjusted suspension gives him just enough of an edge to be the deciding factor between Bruni and other riders who made it onto the podium.

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Walrus_Rider
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5/9/2024 11:41am

Put Bruni on any podium bike and he's still going to dominate. Can't deny that his bike looks dialed though and certainly helps shave some time off his runs.

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chondog94
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5/9/2024 1:09pm

Are we going to completely ignore the obvious winner? Those rotor covers clearly got him at least 2 seconds

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bizutch
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5/9/2024 1:56pm

If Benoit's gear cable doesn't drop to the lowest gear & stay right out of the gate, we're not talking about Loic...at all.
Have you guys looked at the Splits?

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bizutch
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5/9/2024 2:12pm

When looking at their qualifying times Benoit lost around 2 seconds in split 2.
In Finals stuck in his top gear in all those turns, he lost just over 4 full seconds. 
Benoit being faster in the woods of Sector 3 is wild.

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AC_FABZ
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5/10/2024 9:22am

I think it is all of the above.

Loic's Suspension is the best because of the time, skill and efforts him and his Team put into everything they do, specifically testing.

Loic's Bike is the best, because Specialized uses him (The Best Rider) to build and develop the bikes.  Best Rider + Best Engineers + Lots of Testing = Best Bikes

Loic is the best rider, because of everything he does between waking up, and going to sleep each and everyday, as well as the support from his Team, Ohlins and Specialized.

IMO, the suspension, bike or Loic could not be the best without each other.  So for me, the winner is Ohlins, Specialized, Loic and the 50+ people from S-Gravity, Specialized and Ohlins that made that run possible in Fort Bill, they all won.

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Glory831Guy
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5/10/2024 10:53pm
FullSend wrote:
I'd say 90% Bruni and 10% Öhlins (- but that ratio goes for any rider). It's noteworthy that Bruni's suspension is always exceptionally dialed. Like, outstandingly...

I'd say 90% Bruni and 10% Öhlins (- but that ratio goes for any rider).

It's noteworthy that Bruni's suspension is always exceptionally dialed. Like, outstandingly well adjusted to the terrain. Usually way better than anyone else. Just look at the footage from training laps, his bike has much better chassis stability than pretty much anyone elses. He looks so composed and in control on track. That's largely down to incredibly well adjusted suspension.

Although: To say that he won because he's got the best suspension would be an insult to his incredible bike handling skill - but maybe his immaculately adjusted suspension gives him just enough of an edge to be the deciding factor between Bruni and other riders who made it onto the podium.

Yeah that! I've never ridden Ohlins suspension, but I have riden a CCDB DH shock with Ohlins licensed twin tube tech. I prefer heavy compression damping and slow slow rebound, and that shock could perform that task better than any other big brand I've ridden. Lots of brands once you slow the rebound too much, the suspension gets harsh from "packing down." I swear that CCDB never felt like it was packing down, it just worked differently per your settings. I feel like this could be a big advantage for the Ohlins riders, especially for rear suspension settings. $.02

bizutch
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5/13/2024 8:50am
FullSend wrote:
I'd say 90% Bruni and 10% Öhlins (- but that ratio goes for any rider). It's noteworthy that Bruni's suspension is always exceptionally dialed. Like, outstandingly...

I'd say 90% Bruni and 10% Öhlins (- but that ratio goes for any rider).

It's noteworthy that Bruni's suspension is always exceptionally dialed. Like, outstandingly well adjusted to the terrain. Usually way better than anyone else. Just look at the footage from training laps, his bike has much better chassis stability than pretty much anyone elses. He looks so composed and in control on track. That's largely down to incredibly well adjusted suspension.

Although: To say that he won because he's got the best suspension would be an insult to his incredible bike handling skill - but maybe his immaculately adjusted suspension gives him just enough of an edge to be the deciding factor between Bruni and other riders who made it onto the podium.

Yeah that! I've never ridden Ohlins suspension, but I have riden a CCDB DH shock with Ohlins licensed twin tube tech. I prefer heavy compression damping...

Yeah that! I've never ridden Ohlins suspension, but I have riden a CCDB DH shock with Ohlins licensed twin tube tech. I prefer heavy compression damping and slow slow rebound, and that shock could perform that task better than any other big brand I've ridden. Lots of brands once you slow the rebound too much, the suspension gets harsh from "packing down." I swear that CCDB never felt like it was packing down, it just worked differently per your settings. I feel like this could be a big advantage for the Ohlins riders, especially for rear suspension settings. $.02

Ohlins has other advantages. 

But from what I understand, everyone else is aware of those advantages and most likely will be mimicking if they aren't already.

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