On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 92

On The Pegs
92
TIRE PRESSURE
Here at the Nebraska event, it’s difficult because there’s a lot of sharp rocks here
but it’s really muddy and slippery, so I’ll generally run lower pressures, but the risk
you run is getting a pinch flat or a puncture on the sharp rocks. So what I’ll do is I’ll
probably run four and a half, five pounds, only because I don’t want to get a flat.
But I’m also having to focus a little bit more on getting traction. Some place that’s
muddier with rounder rocks I’ll generally run a little bit lower, maybe four. But the
lower pressure you run also the less bounce you get out of the tire, so if you need
lift or if you’re hitting something you’ll smash the rim a little bit harder. So I almost
always run five and a half, six in the front. But the rear is where I’ll play around with
it a little bit. It kind of depends on the thickness of the mud. Some mud works
better if you’re slipping the clutch and using the torque, but some mud works a lot
better if you’re just wide open, full-throttle. So if you’re wide open, full-throttle you
want a little bit less pressure, but if you’re trying to tractor it I run just a little bit
higher pressure.
GEARING
I run stock gearing. Alex [Niederer] likes to run one tooth down, but I find that I
ride almost everything in first or second. He runs almost everything in second to
third. So I think it’s pretty much equivalent. I just don’t like making first gear use-
less, so I run the stock gearing.
CONTROLS
I like the Renthal bend bars. Those are really good. The Renthal grips are really
nice, too. I’m usually picky about everything that the rider interfaces, so even if I
just fall and hit the lever, even if I can’t tell if it’s bent I replace it because I just am
so anal about that. Then I like the skinny foot pegs. A lot of people run the S3 wide
foot pegs with the set screws, but I like these skinnier ones because I feel like I can
rotate forward and back quicker, and it kind of keeps me from being flat-footed
on the bike, so I’m able to really articulate a little bit better. They’re called CSP’s.
They’re aluminum so they’re pretty light. It’s actually a trick I picked up from Mark
Berg stwo years ago. We were talking about it and he was like, “I just can’t run
those fat pegs.” I tried the skinner pegs and I was like, “Man, I like these a lot bet-
ter.” It definitely does help. A lot of people run those curved S3 pegs, which to me
do the same thing as a skinnier peg because you can just sit on either end. The
bars, I put them pretty much where everyone else puts them. I’m a little bit taller
so I rolled them farther forward.