Any love for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup?
Discussion
Personally I cannot wait, it's the highlight of all cycling events for me, and more importantly it's something that us Brits are actually very good at 
https://www.facebook.com/UCIMTBworldcup?fref=photo
http://www.redbull.com/en/bike/events/133168400288...
http://www.uci.ch/
https://www.facebook.com/UCIMTBworldcup?fref=photo
http://www.redbull.com/en/bike/events/133168400288...
http://www.uci.ch/
vwsurfbum said:
I'll be watching, just watched Claudio's track preview but i may be a couple of hours behind as its No1's birthday and it starts at 1 when i think i'm over the outlaws?
That Claudio can ride a bit for a commentator, does he have a downhill background?There's always a catchup if you miss the live event
The course is rocky as hell, I foresee a few punctures.
I presume people are talking about the DownHill MTB? Now that is spectacular, and the Brits do pretty well - and of course don't get the recognition they should. Cycling isn't just the road, just like Motorsport isn't just about F1.
XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
ArnageWRC said:
I presume people are talking about the DownHill MTB? Now that is spectacular, and the Brits do pretty well - and of course don't get the recognition they should. Cycling isn't just the road, just like Motorsport isn't just about F1.
XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
I'm inclined to agree with that. That analogy re F1 is spot on, Rally is far more exciting than F1. XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
I actually think a lot of people would be really into MTB over road cycling on TV if it was made available. Surely it's got to be more exciting watching Bryceland, Peaty, Hill et al smashing big rock gardens and huge jumps than some lycra clad weenies peddling up a hill?
ArnageWRC said:
I presume people are talking about the DownHill MTB? Now that is spectacular, and the Brits do pretty well - and of course don't get the recognition they should. Cycling isn't just the road, just like Motorsport isn't just about F1.
XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
I like all disciplines, but particularly the downhill, I'd say these days that the top 10 or so riders are getting recognition at last.XC MTB is the poor relation, and could do with a rethink. I actually think that Enduro will overtake it eventually.
Two current World Series Champions, Manon Carpenter and Josh Bryceland, also World Cup Champions of Manon (again) and Gee Atherton.
Do we have any other sport with Brits dominating like this?
Some coverage from practise here - http://www.pinkbike.com/news/lourdes-practice-day-...
Enduro is great to watch after but televising live is hard. Certainly the most up and coming with races sold out whereas a lot of DH and XC races still have entries available as its the one discipline most have a bike for... It's also complicated to explain to people.
We've never really been successful at XC but it's also an olympic sport as you don't need a mountain to run it. A lot of people ride MTB's for fun so XC doesnt appeal to the vast majority. It is massively hard work. 2hrs of pretty much max heart rate.
Red bull do the DH really well and you can feel the excitement as the last man comes down...
We've never really been successful at XC but it's also an olympic sport as you don't need a mountain to run it. A lot of people ride MTB's for fun so XC doesnt appeal to the vast majority. It is massively hard work. 2hrs of pretty much max heart rate.
Red bull do the DH really well and you can feel the excitement as the last man comes down...
ouch: http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/The-Scariest...
Looks tough. Gwin looked unstoppable, hoping he's beatable.
Looks tough. Gwin looked unstoppable, hoping he's beatable.
As somebody put it on Facebook "did Gwin go through a wormhole between the first and second split?".
A really brutal track, in my opinion it needed a little smoothing out in places, but overall it was an enjoyable and fairly unpredictable race.
Although no Brit winners in this round we still had 3 Brit men in the first 9 places, and 3 Brit girls in the top 6. (Official rankings including qualifiers) the race itself had 5 Brit men in the top 7 and 3 Brit girls in the top 7 ??
Can't wait for Fort Bill up next ??
A really brutal track, in my opinion it needed a little smoothing out in places, but overall it was an enjoyable and fairly unpredictable race.
Although no Brit winners in this round we still had 3 Brit men in the first 9 places, and 3 Brit girls in the top 6. (Official rankings including qualifiers) the race itself had 5 Brit men in the top 7 and 3 Brit girls in the top 7 ??
Can't wait for Fort Bill up next ??
A few years ago when Gwinn was first destroying all courses, his style was described as "death by 1000 paper cuts" by his manager.
Essentially, he doesn't do anything. Massively faster than the others, he does everything slightly better which culminates in lower times. Clearly this time though there was something special in that section, or maybe it was 10 things that he was slightly better at.
The only clear improvement I saw was his high line on the bottom right handed into the finish jump, he railed it really high and lost pretty much no speed at all, it was a superb effort.
Essentially, he doesn't do anything. Massively faster than the others, he does everything slightly better which culminates in lower times. Clearly this time though there was something special in that section, or maybe it was 10 things that he was slightly better at.
The only clear improvement I saw was his high line on the bottom right handed into the finish jump, he railed it really high and lost pretty much no speed at all, it was a superb effort.
Great race (more interesting than the F1 this weekend), had to watch it on catch-up, which sadly for me meant I knew the result, but still hell of a race! Brits did well and it's nice to see "Brendog" in the top 10 again - too long he's been the performing monkey of the WC scene.
Looking forward to Ft. Bill.
I can only echo what others have said - DH seems to be positioning itself as the F1 of the MTB scene, and rightly so - not everyone can, or indeed should ride DH, it's a Halo discipline and not nearly as popular with riders as it used to be, Enduro is far more fun to be a part of - after all, it what 90% of riders are doing anyway - a nice 'social' ride to the top with mates, and a race to the death on the way down.
Freed from actually trying to sell DH bikes to the sub-5% of riders who actually buy them to fund the thing won't work - but using it as an R&D and brand awareness model works brilliantly IMO - anyone get a decent look at Gwin's bike? It's not got much in common with the Demo you can buy! We might even seen another madcap prototype only team emerge like Honda did last decade.
Looking forward to Ft. Bill.
I can only echo what others have said - DH seems to be positioning itself as the F1 of the MTB scene, and rightly so - not everyone can, or indeed should ride DH, it's a Halo discipline and not nearly as popular with riders as it used to be, Enduro is far more fun to be a part of - after all, it what 90% of riders are doing anyway - a nice 'social' ride to the top with mates, and a race to the death on the way down.
Freed from actually trying to sell DH bikes to the sub-5% of riders who actually buy them to fund the thing won't work - but using it as an R&D and brand awareness model works brilliantly IMO - anyone get a decent look at Gwin's bike? It's not got much in common with the Demo you can buy! We might even seen another madcap prototype only team emerge like Honda did last decade.
How's this for an unexpected event:
Flatout_to_FLATout
(chain snapped, and wrapped round front wheel
)
Flatout_to_FLATout
(chain snapped, and wrapped round front wheel
)P-Jay said:
anyone get a decent look at Gwin's bike? It's not got much in common with the Demo you can buy!
looked the same to me? had a poke of one a few weeks ago, not my thing, i get OCD about certain things and that shock cut out does my head in.Redbull TV did a good job although the usual complaint about not enough cameras.
this is the 'arse end' of Gwins bike
The obvious is the heavily machined linkage which screams 'race only' because it's unlikely to last a week, let alone 2 years for warranty reasons, but the interesting bits are hidden under tape to make it look a bit like the standard bike, they've redesigned the frame to tune in / out flex in the right areas which is sometime unlikely ever to reach production because it's so specific to rider weight and riding style.
Most of the 'factory' riders will have bespoke frames, in years gone by it was usually tailored to their body shape and slacker than standard because of the higher speeds they get up to - us mere mortals, if given a WC spec frame would struggle to get it to turn. (ironically most retail bike frames are slacker now than a bespoke DH frame of 5 years ago, but other standards have been changed to make them rideable) or towards to the middle/end of the season they might get next years bike.
Gwin's bike is a step above though IMO, I don't think we've seen really racy, prototype frames and components for a while, not since the Honda era really - this is why I'm thinking - that as DH is falling out of favour with riders, but gaining in popularity with viewers (understand viewers are riders too, but you get my meaning) that manufacturers would see it as a good place for R&D and brand awareness, rather than as a way of selling DH bikes to punters.
The obvious is the heavily machined linkage which screams 'race only' because it's unlikely to last a week, let alone 2 years for warranty reasons, but the interesting bits are hidden under tape to make it look a bit like the standard bike, they've redesigned the frame to tune in / out flex in the right areas which is sometime unlikely ever to reach production because it's so specific to rider weight and riding style.
Most of the 'factory' riders will have bespoke frames, in years gone by it was usually tailored to their body shape and slacker than standard because of the higher speeds they get up to - us mere mortals, if given a WC spec frame would struggle to get it to turn. (ironically most retail bike frames are slacker now than a bespoke DH frame of 5 years ago, but other standards have been changed to make them rideable) or towards to the middle/end of the season they might get next years bike.
Gwin's bike is a step above though IMO, I don't think we've seen really racy, prototype frames and components for a while, not since the Honda era really - this is why I'm thinking - that as DH is falling out of favour with riders, but gaining in popularity with viewers (understand viewers are riders too, but you get my meaning) that manufacturers would see it as a good place for R&D and brand awareness, rather than as a way of selling DH bikes to punters.
Some good insight there, I'm trying to learn as much as possible being a relative newcomer to MTB's.
My LBS can't get enough Santa Cruz at the moment, they are the brand of the moment, no doubt due to Bryceland's performances in 2014.
I'd love to know if the MTB World Cup is increasing in popularity or if the sport is 'cyclic' in nature?
My LBS can't get enough Santa Cruz at the moment, they are the brand of the moment, no doubt due to Bryceland's performances in 2014.
I'd love to know if the MTB World Cup is increasing in popularity or if the sport is 'cyclic' in nature?
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