On The Pegs February 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 2 | Page 137
On The Pegs
THOMPSON
JOSH STRANG;S ME-
OLT IN ONE OF THE MANY
ALL THE PARTS AND FAS-
REBUILD THE BIKES.
all the parts that got used
he Ohio warehouse and
e hotel the following week-
p if we have a weekend off.
lding the bike. If Thad has
make sure that part is or-
. Actually in Missouri, Thad
aged to do some damage
damage to the forks. So, I
nd everything I could. I flew
home with the steering,
So everything gets mea-
ds it.
the way down to the bare
apart for inspection and
putting it back together.
Vol. 3 Issue 1 - January 2018
P 137
We got more in-depth on bike maintenance by
doing a Q & A with Josh Strang’s mechanic, Michael
Thompson.
What happens after a mud race. Do you guys
throw pretty much everything away and put all
new parts on?
You pretty much just want to find the nearest
trashcan and just throw your bike in it. You can’t re-
ally do that. As far as the technical side, you want to
save as many parts as you can. Then just use your
judgment on the rest of the parts, like electronics,
wheel bearings. There are a lot more things that you
need to replace during a mud race than you would in
a normal, standard slightly wet, or dusty race.
Does the suspension fly back with you every
week?
We’re always traveling with suspension. Our semi is
set up where our suspension guy, Leon Hansen, he
can rebuild suspension here. So, he’s either rebuild-
ing suspension here or we always fly with suspension
that he’s built. Riders come up with different specs
during the week. We’re always kind of changing set-
tings.
Friday when you’re tearing the bike down,
you’re looking for cracks?
Yeah. You’re inspecting the bike for everything. It’s
not just tearing it down just to rebuild it and make
it fresh. You’re looking at the frame. You’re looking
at the hubs, the rims. There’s always something that
you can kind of change on the bike that you maybe
rushed on, that you didn’t have the time to necessar-
ily do. There’s always something to look for. It’s me-
chanical, so anything can happen.
Are there items that you change out every
week, certain bolts maybe?