Quantcast

2018 Very Respectful World Cup #1: Lošinj

Olly

Monkey
Oct 1, 2015
157
76
I still don't understand how this venue gets a bid over somewhere else, is the process just not competitive? or is it about how much money you can give the lizards?
I wonder how many places actually put bids together? For all we know, this was the best new place on offer.

It's no Val-di-Sole, Schladming or Maribor, but I'm still excited to see the world's best ride the ever living shit out of it.
 

slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!
Urban riding on DH bikes is a big part of how I used to ride (dissapointed there's no stair gap, loading dock huck to falt, and wall ride tho...), so I'm cool with a little bit of it thrown into the mix.
I was discussing this with a friend yesterday and we both hoped they'd throw a few plywood jump into the mix, a la Valpo Cerro Abajo

Sam, on the other had, definitely seems to be hammin' it up for the camera with his "this is in-sane", "how do the top riders do it".... blah blah blah... I get he's doing it for the target audience, but it was painful for me to listen to. ow my ears.
It takes finesse and technique to be able to speak and pedal at the same time, even more when you are dealing with rocks and jumps. Claudio has what I believe it's a Master's Degree on that matter. Sam on the other hand seemed to be throwing that line down for the first or maybe second time.
 

TrumbullHucker

trumbullruxer
Aug 29, 2005
2,284
719
shimzbury, ct
That track looks friggen awesome... the urban part is alittle boring though, just flat turns ya? no drops or anything..

anyways the first 75% of the track looks dooope

stoked
 

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,140
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
Can the <shudder> Endurpo people please take over?
At least they seem to be able to figure out what an appropriate racecourse is supposed to resemble.
The UCI is so far up their own ass I amazed they can find anything but the bank.
Aren't banks usually located in towns? Suddenly it makes so much sense.

Say what you will about EWS racing, those guys know how to find race locations. They're racing in goddamn Colombia, that's rad!


I wonder how many places actually put bids together? For all we know, this was the best new place on offer.

It's no Val-di-Sole, Schladming or Maribor, but I'm still excited to see the world's best ride the ever living shit out of it.
TI'll bet this was the best track that put in a bid, I doubt many of the tracks we really want to see even bothered to download the application forms. While I agree with the minority in that it's not the 4th coming of satan, it is a sad sign of a long simmering trend. Great tracks are losing races, or walking away from hosting, and allowing 2nd rate tracks to have them all. May as well have a WC stop in Fontana. Not to knock Fontucky, it's a fun racing venue for sure, but it is most definitely not a WC caliber track.

The problem is UCI, all the great resorts are walking away, allegedly, because it no longer makes financial sense to host a WC race.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
Do they charge entry fees to watch the races? Might be a good way to gain more money if not....
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Shouldn't we wait and see if the race turns out to be a good one before we start bitchin'?
Good courses not always make for interesting racing. I pretty much liked Willingen because of the pure amount of line choices, so not everybody tried to hit the same line just a little faster than the next guy.
Do you guys remember World Champs in Canberra? Everybody was complaining about the lame track, then Peaty won and suddenly it was a "proper" track. And he won on a frickin V10 and not an enduro bike.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
Do you guys remember World Champs in Canberra? Everybody was complaining about the lame track, then Peaty won and suddenly it was a "proper" track. And he won on a frickin V10 and not an enduro bike.
Nope, not me. To this day, I still think Steve Peat won his coveted rainbow jersey on a lame-ass track. I know I'm the odd-man out on this one, but I'm not a big fan. I know he's done a lot for the sport in England, but I always found his too-cool-for-school, his "I'm so hardcore" schtick, and especially his nationalism to be off-putting. So, that he won his champs on a shitty track is a bit of schadenfreude I'll gladly own up to.
 

Metamorphic

Monkey
May 12, 2015
274
177
Cackalack
It was a halfazz track preview on a track that isn't finished on an e-bike by a slopestyle rider. Of course it doesn't look rad. Danny Hart will be fun as hell to watch flying down that track. The boys will tear it up. Can't wait.
 

Loki87

Monkey
Aug 24, 2008
181
146
Salzburg, Austria
I would like to see a race there because it's called FUCKING WILDBAD!!
It really is a savage track. Videos don´t do it justice. I basically grew up on that track and oh boy did it bite a lot of people every weekend and the amount of rims/wheels it killed is probably higher than any other. Would be fun to see Pros race there and change wheels after every run :D
What you see in that video is even a heavily smoothed out version of what it used to be :banana:
The rocks are great to ride on though, always grippy even during winter so you could really haul ass through every section.
If anyone is near it some day, you should definitely check it out!
 

Gallain

Monkey
Dec 28, 2001
183
43
Sweden
It really is a savage track. Videos don´t do it justice. I basically grew up on that track and oh boy did it bite a lot of people every weekend and the amount of rims/wheels it killed is probably higher than any other. Would be fun to see Pros race there and change wheels after every run :D
What you see in that video is even a heavily smoothed out version of what it used to be :banana:
The rocks are great to ride on though, always grippy even during winter so you could really haul ass through every section.
If anyone is near it some day, you should definitely check it out!
+1, it's a savage track!!
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,537
5,470
UK
For once. The It's not really the UCI.
Ft William WC is a deal between the Rare management, UCI, Ft William tourist board and Nevis range.
Nevis range. (The Ski centre/company who own the lifts at Fort William). Are basically greedy bastards.

Why do you think we have had to put up with tired ol' *Fort William on the calendar every single year since the deal was done?

http://mediacentre.visitscotland.org/pressreleases/mountain-bike-world-cup-passes-ps30m-milestone-for-highland-economy-1273746

Ft William is a shit hole with a population of around 10000 BTW. The WC gets 20000 spectators.

*If the WC was a 10 or 12 race season I honestly wouldn't mind. But c'mon. Out of 6 races Ft Bill is in a WORLD series EVERY year? :brow:
 
Last edited:

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
*If the WC was a 10 or 12 race season I honestly wouldn't mind. But c'mon. Out of 6 races Ft Bill is in a WORLD series EVERY year? :brow:
To be fair, I'd rather watch Greg Minnaar win Fort William year after year than watch the odd Canberra type races that somehow always sneak their way in.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
For once. The It's not really the UCI.
Ft William WC is a deal between the Rare management, UCI, Ft William tourist board and Nevis range.
Nevis range. (The Ski centre/company who own the lifts at Fort William). Are basically greedy bastards.

Why do you think we have had to put up with tired ol' *Fort William on the calendar every single year since the deal was done?

http://mediacentre.visitscotland.org/pressreleases/mountain-bike-world-cup-passes-ps30m-milestone-for-highland-economy-1273746

Ft William is a shit hole with a population of around 10000 BTW. The WC gets 20000 spectators.

*If the WC was a 10 or 12 race season I honestly wouldn't mind. But c'mon. Out of 6 races Ft Bill is in a WORLD series EVERY year? :brow:
But the track is pretty legit. The flat bit in the middle sucks but it's fucking awesome up top.

I ain't complainin. Not about that one.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,537
5,470
UK
There are a ton of other "pretty legit" DH tracks around the globe that don't get a look in.
The flat bit in the middle sucks
You mean the gravel bit where Gwin "crashed"?. that's probably a 10second long section and it's still rollable. From the wall ride. through the woods, over all the jumps in the open right down to the tissot jump (ie. the entire last km of track until the finish arena) is fairly flat though. (avg 10% gradient)
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,537
5,470
UK
Oh. I'm cynical, for sure. But I still recognise what you call "looking at the positives"


I still enjoy watching Ft Bill every year like a good little citizen
 

Kevin

Turbo Monkey
It really is a savage track. Videos don´t do it justice. I basically grew up on that track and oh boy did it bite a lot of people every weekend and the amount of rims/wheels it killed is probably higher than any other. Would be fun to see Pros race there and change wheels after every run :D
What you see in that video is even a heavily smoothed out version of what it used to be :banana:
The rocks are great to ride on though, always grippy even during winter so you could really haul ass through every section.
If anyone is near it some day, you should definitely check it out!
QFT...

Bad Wildbad is one of my favorite tracks in Germany together with Todtnau and the old Bischofsmais “king of bikepark” track.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,537
5,470
UK
Gary what happened? Did you travel in time to the present?
with regards to the use of YouTube as a social/business promotional tool and source of income it
seems I have a better grasp on the present. You should probably be embarrassed. Very embarrassed.