[sethimus]

Only one month left till we finally can stop the bitching and moaning about e-bikes and 29ers and everything wrong with the industry. What better way to start the season than watching a preview of the new course right? Of course it's a POV vid made on a downhill E-Bike* from our beloved Sam Pilgrim! Enjoy lads!

*what's wrong with the industry

 

[Flo33]

This is ridiculous! After watching this I have no idea how anybody sane thinks e-dh a good idea. You can clearly see him fighting against the abomination's weight.

Shit Show par excellence.


Track still looks interesting though, with the exception being the "urban" parts.

 

[kidwoo]

You want to quit bitching about the industry and then post that?

 

[6thElement]

Looks good until it goes into the town.

 

[jonKranked]

we finally can stop the bitching and moaning about e-bikes and 29ers and everything wrong with the industry

even the world cup can't stop that

 

[amishmatt]

Worst course preview ever.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Ahhh... the teef.

 

[Sandro]

Looks good until it goes into the town.

If only there was a big ass parking lot where the trail actually ends to accomodate the finish.

 

[sethimus]

You want to quit bitching about the industry and then post that?

*in a month

 

[sethimus]

Ahhh... the teef.

 

[fwp]

Is it me or does that course almost look uphill in alot of the video? Nothing like flat rockgardens and city streets. What a disgrace!
My prediction is its won on a 29er due to the rollover and momentum advantages on such a flat course.

 

[jstuhlman]

 

[jonKranked]

Is it me or does that course almost look uphill in alot of the video? Nothing like flat rockgardens and city streets. What a disgrace!
My prediction is its won on a 29er due to the rollover and momentum advantages on such a flat course.

anyone gonna be busting out the enduro bike ala cairns?

 

[chris_f]

This video somehow killed my buzz for the upcoming WC season.

 

[sundaydoug]

anyone gonna be busting out the enduro bike ala cairns?

I thought the same thing. With the flat-ish top section, 90 deg slow tech turns, and urban-style finish I couldn't be surprised to see a few shorter-travel bikes.

 

[6thElement]

I thought the same thing. With the flat-ish top section, 90 deg slow tech turns, and urban-style finish I couldn't be surprised to see a few shorter-travel bikes.

Bad weather and Fayolle will break out his custom lockout rear shock for the win again.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

I doubt that we will see any enduro bikes there. The guys are sponsored to ride their DH bikes. Sam Hill in Cairns raced on the bike he was most comfortable on which was also great publicity for his sponsor.

 

[slyfink]

I doubt that we will see any enduro bikes there. The guys are sponsored to ride their DH bikes. Sam Hill in Cairns raced on the bike he was most comfortable on which was also great publicity for his sponsor.

I'm not sure I agree. I think these gals and guys are paid to attempt to win races. They will select what they believe is the appropriate horse for the course. imho. we saw it not just in Cairns, but also in Canberra and Pietermartizburg. I think most DH bike manufacturers also make Enduro bikes, so a win, or a competitive placement with either style of bike is great publicity either way.

 

[Kevin]

Yeah that was cringe as fuck...

I remember looking at the first vid of that track posted here, i think it was by a local?
Already looked boring as hell then and its not looking any better now.

Combine that with all those low "walls" with sharp rocks on both sides of the track its not a place id like to ride, let alone race...

 

[Gary]

This is ridiculous! After watching this I have no idea how anybody sane thinks e-dh a good idea. You can clearly see him fighting against the abomination's weight.

Shit Show par excellence.

How much of Sam's non slopestyle/dirtjump riding have you seen before this?
Back when he was on NS he had a few vids of him messing about with mates on DH tracks on whatever NS's long travel bike was. He's no downhiller. That's how he rides DH.
I understand you want to hate on the bike. But I honestly don't think Pilgrim would have looked any better if he'd been on a '18 Session, Tues or whatever else the DH racebike benchmark is right now. It's just not his speciality. not even vaguely. He comes from one of the flattest parts of the UK and rides smooth trails, dirtjumps, skateparks and street.

 

[maxyedor]

I doubt that we will see any enduro bikes there. The guys are sponsored to ride their DH bikes. Sam Hill in Cairns raced on the bike he was most comfortable on which was also great publicity for his sponsor.

"Our enduro bikes are so rad then can win WC DH races" is a much better sales tagline for a segment of bikes that actually sells than "Our DH race bike is capable of winning a DH race, so please buy our new enduro frame, because reasons". Nobody buys enough Tuesdays to fund Aaron Gwins savage pancake and icecream habit, the YT Mob is all about moving Capras and Jeffsys.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

I agree that making any competitive placement during WC on an enduro bike would be a good push for the sales of the winning bike but it would also kill the DH bike category by making it useless. The brands need the DH bikes as top of the line dream bike, the formula one of mtb. That's why they invest in new frames and sponsor riders even if they don't sell that many DH bikes.

I remember Steve Smith riding a purpose build bike, later evolving as the Spartan, during World champ at Pietermaritzburg. The bike had 165mm of travel at the rear and a double crowned fork at 175mm up front.
There was Sam Hill in Cairns, as already mentioned.
Who else has been racing DH WC on an enduro bike?

 

[chris_f]

Jared Graves won a round of the Australian national cup on a Fox 40'ed SB6c in 2015. Not exactly WC level but still.

 

[Flo33]

How much of Sam's non slopestyle/dirtjump riding have you seen before this?
Back when he was on NS he had a few vids of him messing about with mates on DH tracks on whatever NS's long travel bike was. He's no downhiller. That's how he rides DH.
I understand you want to hate on the bike. But I honestly don't think Pilgrim would have looked any better if he'd been on a '18 Session, Tues or whatever else the DH racebike benchmark is right now. It's just not his speciality. not even vaguely. He comes from one of the flattest parts of the UK and rides smooth trails, dirtjumps, skateparks and street.

So double failure?

 

[Gary]

So double failure?

22000 views in a matter of hours says not so much

 

[William42]

Not to beat on a dead horse, but how the hell did that become a WC trail?

 

[kidwoo]

Because it's the only location they could find that has "Losin" in the name.

 

[toodles]

If only there was a big ass parking lot where the trail actually ends to accomodate the finish.

The course probably wouldn't meet UCi time or distance requirements if they did that though.

anyone gonna be busting out the enduro bike ala cairns?

I doubt it. The top looks rocky AF. If anything maybe a bunch of DH bikes running remote lockouts for the urban section.

Not to beat on a dead horse, but how the hell did that become a WC trail?

In the spirit of the Intense thread, if - allegedly - the broadcast sponsor has any say in track selection allegedly. Then a course like that that would be sick to telecast (short, open, exposed, lots of stunt-like features) would probably allegedly be shoehorned into the race schedule to keep them happy. Allegedly.

 

[Inclag]

Aside from the finish in town (WTF???) I thought that was a pretty interesting course. It looked reasonably rough and had some awkward sections. I kind of miss the days where courses had janky ass sections that would trip up the world's best. Personally thought the mud pit at Ft. Bill last year was the tits.

Wonder how much course altering there will be? Plenty of building materials

 

[StiHacka]

Gotta love his pronunciation of Lošinj.

 

[kidwoo]

Lozenge?

Losin' J?

Lo sah

I'm American so I don't know shit.

 

[mykel]

I may just sit out round one.
I'm not sure if I can stomach that mess as an actual WC racetrack.
That would be embarrassing if put on the calendar for a regional series, let alone the pinnacle....

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.

 

[ianjenn]

Because the UCI is a joke. They should approach Marlboro or Camel get $5 million in the bank and then go get some real resorts to host the event. We need 3-4K feet of descent and not finishing it going through a city.....

 

[William42]

Doesn't even need to be 3-4k feet. Windham is great fun to watch. Times are tight, but people are going fast as hell on gnarly terrain. Its short and sweet.

City streets do not belong in WC DH racing.

And even without the city streets, the trail itself looked boring. There wasn't really much flow as far as linking sections together, there were tons of awkward switchback turns (which are stupid and crappy and I hate them, both as a rider and spectator).

And I'm as much a fan of the danger and risks associated with DH, I've broken upwards of 8 bones riding, but theres a difference between calculated risk like hitting a corner a little harder than you're certain will work, and the mess that is a bunch of loose baby heads next to high stone walls coupled with race conditions of hundreds of riders knocking them loose over the course of the weekend.

I can't even begin to describe how crappy I think this track is.

All that said, I'll still be waking up at whatever godforsaken morning hour to watch and be excited about it.

 

[slyfink]

Finally just got to watch the video. I can see what you guys are moanin' about, but I don't think it's that bad. In fact, I think the whole urban part looks pretty neat. 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.

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.

 

[kidwoo]

Heh. It's still better than leogang.

It actually has 'stuff' on it. Where 'things' might happen other than everyone just riding the same line at milliseconds off one another.

 

[jstuhlman]

can we please just have a world cup race at mount seven? make mount seven great again!

 

[KenW449]

Is no one going to mention that he nearly flattened two people and didnt say shit about it? Its these reason why hikers hate us. No warning, no apologies, no fucks given.

 

[StiHacka]

Is no one going to mention that he nearly flattened two people and didnt say shit about it? Its these reason why hikers hate us. No warning, no apologies, no fucks given.

That's OK, it's Croatia, no Sierra club there.

 

[csermonet]

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?