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Is a mtb "scrub" slower than squashing a jump? Scrubbing involves throwing your bike sideways in the air, which creates a ton more drag than keeping it straight. A single jump might not make that big of an impact, but it could add up on a longer section of track, like Fort Bill's motorway.
I have a ton of anecdotal evidence to back this up. Mostly, when I transport my bike via a hitch rack, I burn a ton more gas than if my bike is not in my car. Also, with riders getting put in wind tunnels and race kits getting tighter, it seems like this would be a good spot to save a few tenths of a second.
God, race season needs to start. I'm going crazy and watching XC races.
Lastly if anyone wants to debate if you can actually scrub a mtb, im game.
Here is my counter retort
scrubs are cool as fuck
source, refer below image
case closed
I do agree that they look hella cool.
I am not slower than a squash
LOL @Scrub
fantastic debate @StudBeefpile just because of potential imagery alone.
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Who-Scrubbed-It-Best-Leogang-World-Cu… - 2019 scrub-a-thon
eliot at whipoff from 2014 or something filmed with a casio point and shoot before iphone slowmo
it seems like lanky, long-legged riders like minnaar or benoit do the best squashes. a short-legger can only squash so much, right?
Yeah you have a good point there Spomer.
Man that jump was the only good thing about the old Leogang course. Some may not call that a scrub but it made for the best pics. Would have to give it to Mitch on that one.
Different sport on two wheels with clear example of scrub gain
100% disagree with your take, simply because in an ideal scrub the bike is still perfectly in line with the direction of movement.
A whip for sure will slow you down, and that is what your "bike on a car rack" analogy corresponds to.
Frixtalon + dark googles + scrub is just how I picture myself every ride, despite actually doing a weak turnbar on an ebike wearing prescription glasses in a 3/4 helmet.
Well yeah scrubs come from moto, the quicker you can get back on the ground the quicker you can get on the gas. The argument can be made for MTB's that a lower trajectory will be quicker off the lip, but I'm sure that any gain made off the lip and through the air is lost as soon as you land even slightly sideways. I feel like these points don't matter cause scrubs are cool as fuck.
When does a scrub become a whip? Why can't I do either? What's for lunch?
I need to know.
Moto guy here. The scrub came about because James Stewart (or Rick Johnson, or Jojo Keller, depending on whom you ask,) determined that staying low was faster. Lower = less hang time = rear wheel on the ground sooner = more speed.)
When the term "scrub" came out, it was roughly analogous to the Motocross Action magazine term "to scrub speed." In other words, to "wash off" some of the speed. MXA used it to describe getting on the brakes. Stewart used to go much faster than it would be necessary to clear an obstacle, then "scrub" off the speed by sliding up the face of the jump, thus slowing his bike significantly. (And staying low.)
That's the part that describes the action. If you are sliding, slowing down, and staying low, that's a scrub, and it means that StudBeefPile is right. Whipping is more like a stylish action while jumping.
The only part about this that I wonder is how the MTB world describes scrubbing. Is there actually any sliding going on? It seems it would be much harder to do with such a light machine. Kind of the equivalent of schralping while leaving the jump face. Do you guys do that? Because I sure don't. Not on an MTB, anyway!
Yeah that is a fair point. Seems like a lot of the time you see guys landing with the back slightly stepped out, which does cost speed and can make it harder to get a good pump out of the landing.
This all came about because I have been watching a ton of MX this winter. Hearing those guys obsess about quarters of a second left on track had me thinking about all of the lost time on a DH run.
To me, scrubbing is about shortening the height of a lip and therefore staying much lower while at a higher rate of speed. You’ll see top mx guys tires taking off several feet before the end of the lip and then dragging their footpeg, rear axle, and sometimes handlebars over the peak. RV2 recently said in a podcast that when following people into new jumps, there could be a 10+MPH difference in speed coming in depending on how they hit the jump. That speed is higher before, during, and hopefully after the jump.
Counter point, going into the jump with more speed and scrubbing to stay low and hit the sweet spot of the landing could still be faster even though you don't land perfectly straight and lose speed sliding off the lip and on the landing.
As the other option would be, take the same amount of speed, gap far and not hit the down ramp, so you can't pump, spend too much time in the air.
Take less speed and land perfect, probably slower???
Take extra speed and squash, but I've always found scrubbing you could stay lower than a straight squash, as it's just like a squash but you do it across the lip sideways, so it's like a weird 3rd dimension squash.
I think scrubs are faster on specific jumps, but often pulling and doubling our tripling can end up faster too, as you hit a further down ramp with the air time and don't lose time sliding.
There was a good video by Finn Iles a few years back on the 2 types of scrubs. I can’t seem to embed the link in my comment but just search it on you tube.
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