This was my second year at the Scott and as last year I had a ball. Sure we didn't get to ride arguably the best tracks at Stromlo as I've mentioned earlier in this thread but I was pleasantly surprised how fun the track actually was, props to the builders. Everyone in the two teams we had entered had a ball and I'm sure will be back next year.
Regarding tyres I run Maxxis LUST tyres and haven't had a flat in the time i've had them, that includes 2 Scotts, the mont, at least 2 100km races, the usual week/weekend rides and quite a few laps around Stromlo at other times to; they are also on tubeless rims (crossmark SLR). I originally had Maxxis non-LUST tyres and got 3 flats running those tubeless even with stans. Their issue is the side wall/casing is just not strong enough so it's very easy to rip them on rocks etc and the stans just can't seal those sort of cuts. So basically if you want to run tubeless reliably you must, imo, run proper UST tyres as they have much stronger casings, otherwise you're just rolling the dice. I should also add I weigh about 70kg and was running 32psi rear 30 front.
Finally I'll just put a bit of a point summary below of what I think were the highs/lows of the event. Keep in mind this is just off the top of my head
Pros:
-Great atmosphere, as always at the Scott
-Track density; after last years traffic fest this year was really good. Personally I think running with a single track (effectively) as last year with such a high density has to be avoided in the future at all costs.
-The showers running all night, legend however made that happen. Honestly though with the facilities they have there at Stromlo no excuse not to.
-The last 5km of the track, fast, flowing to the finish...awesome. Last year when you had to climb back up through the camp again after bascially arriving at the pits was cruel
-The high speed finish haha, I loved roosting down that 'fireroad' into the big right hand sweeper each lap, a few more pedals then a fast finish onto the crit track, epic fun.
-The big screens, timing and local wifi...awesome. Such a great luxury to be able to check your position up at camp without having to trudge down to the results tent and wait in a queue to check your times etc. Maximum respect for that!
-The extra porta-loo's, excellent for the first few hours, need to keep the service up to them though...holy bio-hazard.
Cons:
-The loading/unloading debacle. I clarified earlier in this thread whether
any cars were able to be left within the camp site after 2pm Friday to a resounding no. I get there Saturday morning cars bloody everywhere in camp, so much for that. Still I carried 3 full loads of stuff down from the carpark; personally don't see the issue with leaving your car within your camp for the entirety of the event (you can't move it once in), i'd go as far to say it's more efficient in terms of traffic flow when it comes to leave. I certainly didn't see much of an issue last year. At least I didn't have to carry my stuff back to the carpark
-The porta-loos. Top idea in theory and very welcomed but when you don't service them at all, in the space of about 4 hours they get utterly destroyed. Imo they are needed but they also need to be serviced regularly.
-The tambark across the track just after you exited the crit track at the start of the lap, holy momentum killer batman!
-The people driving down the up ramp of the main carpark, maybe some sign-age is required to protect the rest of us from idiots. I saw an utter clusterf@#* Saturday morning at about 830 because of this.
-The triple at the end of the lap, while personally I boosted it and loved it, it was an accident waiting to happen for the more inexperienced riders. Would have been ok if it had some serious sign-age both noting it's difficulty and the optional B-line (I didn't see any signage?).
That's about all I can think of for now, will add to it if more comes to mind. Many thanks again to the organisers and all those who participated making it such a great event.