Downamics

25/08/2026

A solid week in Morzine giving the FRP01 build a good shake down and performance benchmarking.
It was brilliant to be able to run a brand new set of Dorado Experts on the bike alongside the tuned and optimised pair on the Gamux Sego - the current bar for Factory Race Programme performance.
To see that bike and fork go on to win in Les Gets was very special.
I can't thank Manitou enough for the support!
Back to reality now, more suspension servicing and book editing.
Update on the book coming soon!

18/08/2026

How I tighten axles and punch bolts on my Dorado.

It might seem like an obvious process but there steps you can do which allows the fork to be better aligned and as a result, perform better.

The important step of tightening the floating side pinch bolts while the fork is compressed, allows the leg to move into its natural position on the axle. Then tightening the pinch bolts secures it in that location.

Easy!

18/08/2026

01/08/2026

Same bike. Same track. Same rider. Same day. Back-to-back runs.

The chassis compliance fingerprint barely moves across five of six structural paths. One segment tells a different story between runs, which is exactly the kind of signal we're here to find.

You can imagine how powerful a tool like this can be when developing a new chassis, changing components or validating what the rider feels on track, to name a few examples.

Data acquisition in mountain biking has typically been about suspension. Spring rates, damping velocities, travel used etc, which is all crucial information. However, we're using it to profile the chassis itself, the structure the suspension bolts into.
This is just one of a very comprehensive collection of custom tools used to analyse the bike in the real-world.

This is what data-driven descents looks like at the track.

30/07/2026

FRP01 -Phase 2
FRP01 is the first bike that's been built using all the learnings from various other iterations of the Factory Race Programme philosophy.

All the primary linkage optimisation work has been completed a d benchmarked.
Over 400 measurements taken, documenting the status as received through to this current state.

Current spec:
Supreme v5 large.
EXT Vaia fork with crowns.
Cane Creek Kitsuma air shock/EXT Arma V3 coil shock with custom hardware.
Flux carbon wheels with Sidekick hubs.
Continental Kryptotal tyres. mtb Advocate brakes and rotors.
green brake pads.
drive train.
I-beam seat and seatpost.
bars.
Elite Pro lock on grips.
On Off 20mm stem.
±6mm reach adjust headset.
pedals.
Custom cable routing solution.

Time for a shake down before France.

26/07/2026

Brilliant day setting up Steve's race rig at Forest of Dean.
Spring rates give the optimal dynamic sag, with damping changes that improve the bike's ability to track the ground. This resulted in better grip consistency and traction, improving chassis stability and increasing rider confidence.

Data driven methods, with focused rider feedback and video analysis provide all the context needed for an effective Plan, Do, Check, Act feedback loop results in efficient progress and effective changes.

23/07/2026

Suspension servicing has been keeping me very busy recently.
August is getting very booked up with testing, world cup work and servicing so get in touch sooner rather than later to get booked in.

12/07/2026

Analysing video can give more context to rider feedback as well as data.

There is a lot you can learn from a short clip like this on a seemingly innocuous section of track. There are visual clues that aid in understanding:
- suspension performance
- chassis dynamics and compliance
- tyre compliance
- rider inputs and weight distribution
- line choice
- terrain (surface material, track evolution, grip factors)
- environmental contributions
- key factors contributing towards mechanical failure or a crash

Knowing how to spot these clues and intpret them as well as correlate with rider feedback and/or data is very useful.

Clips aren't just for the Gram!

Congrats to for an outstanding run in Andorra!

07/07/2026

Most DAQ in mountain biking stops at a histogram: check damper velocities after the session, adjust a clicker, move on. Rarely is braking or chassis dynamics understood in-depth.

This is the Downamics Race Engineering Suite: A trackside analysis platform built to close that loop properly. Drop in a run from the logger and every question gets an answer located on the track where it happened.

A quick tour of what's inside:
▪ Overview — run summary, dynamic sag, speed and travel traces, GPS map with satellite imagery. File to first insight in seconds.
▪ Track — every metre classified: smooth, rough, chatter, impacts, corners, braking zones, airtime. The track becomes a measurable object, not a memory.
▪ Suspension — sag methodology, shaft-speed distributions, damper histograms, chassis attitude with braking context.
▪ Kinematics — leverage ratio, anti-squat and anti-rise from the linkage model, weighted by where the bike actually operates, including effective anti-rise measured only while the rear brake is applied.
▪ Frequency — automated spectral diagnostics across a 4-IMU array: shared resonances flagged, coherence-routed (structural fix vs. check-the-hardware), brake-state compliance analysis.
▪ Braking — every application: bias, overlap, lead/trail timing, decel, painted onto the track map.
▪ Chassis — G-G diagram split by brake state, weight distribution from spring data (coil or air), and oversteer/understeer detection with a per-corner verdict table.
▪ Compare — two runs, distance-aligned: cumulative time delta showing exactly where seconds are won and lost, attributed to terrain type, alongside what changed in the settings book.
▪ WC Timing — organiser results analysis: perfect run, sector variability, the statistically decisive split.
▪ Strategy — everything feeds a venue strategy generator: historic results, weather, geology, sector plans.

Every number is validated against my MATLAB pipeline. The trackside tool and the engineering toolchain are provably the same instrument.
Data → decision → seconds. Motorsport methodology, applied properly to gravity racing.
Full breakdown coming soon.

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01/07/2026

I'm a big fan of the dual compound wiper seals, but they are a product best suited to racing.
In order to reduce the friction, as well as two different compounds, the garter spring isn't as tight. This also means that the seals are more prone to investing dirt and water and as a result, they will need changing more often. This isn't so much of an issue for a race bike as maintenance tends to be more frequent than a park bike.
The used seals are about 5 months old and 4 races deep so they are past their best and as a result the foam rings under them were also looking well used and the oil in both legs also confirms it's time for a refresh. A 3 month life span for these seals is probably about right for typical UK use in order to keep performance where it should be.