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2014 team rumour and speculation!

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,860
4,154
Copenhagen, Denmark
I agree. And his huck in his race run at Mont St. Anne when was on Yeti was the coolest thing I ever witnessed from my comfortable computer chair.
I have looked for that huck online but never found it again. If anybody has a link please post it was amazing.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
^^

Is that when his chain/drivetrain exploded? If that's the one I'm thinking of, it was so manly that it put hair on my chest just from watching it. And that was before MSA got turned into a bike park greenway, which can be smashed by the average RM Cat 2 shredder.
 

trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
I think Beaumont will be leaving the GT atherton team, if you look at his media coverage this year compared to previous ones he's not featured nearly so much. He's consistent top 20, often top 10 and every so often a podium threat. No reason for him to be so far down the pecking order on his team.

I'd love to see him head up a Dirt team with a bigger budget and some younger UK riders. Or maybe Madison Saracen?

Blenki has been my favourite rider to watch this year. He's shown a lot of growth and maturity, whilst keeping a great style and affable personality; two things which are often traded in when a rider switches to clips and a bigger team.

I'd love to see Cam Cole back racing, not sure what the injury update is.

Can't see too many big names moving around. Maybe Peaty/Minnaar to retire, but I don't see it.

If they did I'd be interested to see what happens to the Syndicate as ratty isn't pulling in the results to head up a team and I'm not sure who could fit the big gaping holes left by Peaty and Minnaar.

Needles is a good fit with Giant it seems, would be a shame if he had to move teams again. If he is moving Scott could probably do with a better team mate for Fairclough.
 

boylagz

Monkey
Jul 12, 2011
558
61
SF bay area
^ If Peat and Minnaar do retire, Blenkinsop will be a good match for Josh too imo. Both can be wild at times, incredible to watch.

How bout Remi? Man I cant wait for the team rumor drawings to start popping up!

Edit: beat me. Haha. Anyway, keen to see where Blenki ends up if hes switching teams...
 
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trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
5 years? in 5 years time Peaty will still be able to ride a fixed gear backwards down Ft.Bill than I could ride a dh bike forwards, but I really can't see him at a competitive level.
 

trib

not worthy of a Rux.
Jun 22, 2009
1,456
388
I'm sure Peat would do alright at Enduro, but I'd like to see him doing some work with the WC TV coverage for redbull.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
I could see peaty still selling bikes for Santa Cruz in 5 years even if he retires from WC racing tomorrow. The dude is active in the scene and makes Santa Cruz cool. A video part every once in awhile, active at the races, and done. But I suspect when he retires from DH, he'll move on to enduro, where he'll continue to be competitive. Because he's just that baddass.
 

SuboptimusPrime

Turbo Monkey
Aug 18, 2005
1,658
1,633
NorCack
to me Blenki is guy that shows me exactly how whiney guys like Fairclough are....He's tidied up his riding, moved to clips, and pedals like a freaking bat out of hell all over the place...no "ohhhh this track isn't hard enough" coasting and casually whipping some jumps...He puts in a honest hard effort and gets over the bars and goes like hell no matter what, and it's rewarded him. He's a great rider to watch on the course for sure, stylish and fast.
'

QFT - I too get kinda bummed hearing people bitch about the track they have to ride. I think I've liked every track I've ever seen...sure some more than others, but seriously how rough is your life if you have to spend all week shredding in the fycking Austrian Alps.

Love Blenki's style and really hope his hard work continues to pay off with more podiums next year.

:thumb:
 

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
Brendan has every right to be whiny.
Claudio upstages his performance at every race simply by hacking his way down the course previews.
That guys the only rider Scott needs to field on the WC as far as branding is concerned.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I'm sure Peat would do alright at Enduro, but I'd like to see him doing some work with the WC TV coverage for redbull.
Steve Peat commentating with warner INSTEAD of any instance where nigel page is available.........

That would truly be thrilling news™. I don't give a rat's ass about who rides for whoM, that's change I could believe in.
 
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dondon

Monkey
'

QFT - I too get kinda bummed hearing people bitch about the track they have to ride. I think I've liked every track I've ever seen...sure some more than others, but seriously how rough is your life if you have to spend all week shredding in the fycking Austrian Alps.

Love Blenki's style and really hope his hard work continues to pay off with more podiums next year.

:thumb:
For the record. Every top rider. Smith, Gee, Minnaar, Hill, Blenki ALL complained about RSA and Leogang tracks. Regardless if they do well there or not, so dont give Brendan such a hard time just because he doesn't do as well as the others there.

IXS has Pila, Maribor, Schladming and Val Di sole among others next year. I imagine riders like Brendan would do better on tracks like that. I would rather see the UCI on some of those tracks next year than RSA Leogang and Windham.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
For the record. Every top rider. Smith, Gee, Minnaar, Hill, Blenki ALL complained about RSA and Leogang tracks. Regardless if they do well there or not, so dont give Brendan such a hard time just because he doesn't do as well as the others there.
Funnily, I convinced some of my non-riding or only XC riding friends to join for watching WC/champs races online and they were most impressed with RSA, Leogang and Hafjell courses. Guess big jumps and speed makes racing look cooler than bouncing down a steep hillside at "slow" speeds. Maybe something to consider when people want to grow the sport.
 

peecee

Monkey
Apr 27, 2012
232
42
Australia
Guess big jumps and speed makes racing look cooler than bouncing down a steep hillside at "slow" speeds. Maybe something to consider when people want to grow the sport.
Slow you must be watching the slow mo replays or have never been to a steep track with WC riders racing it.

Maybe XC would be more watchable if all the woman looked like Emily Batty and the men didn't have to get off and carry there bikes still (bigger wheels are meant to make riding over rough terrain easier ppfffttt)
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Slow you must be watching the slow mo replays or have never been to a steep track with WC riders racing it.

Maybe XC would be more watchable if all the woman looked like Emily Batty and the men didn't have to get off and carry there bikes still (bigger wheels are meant to make riding over rough terrain easier ppfffttt)
You didn't catch these little "" around "slow", or did you? I know how insanely fast they go, however my friends don't. What I wanted to say is that the courses that the riders dislike the most seem to be the ones that impress non-DH riders (yes, I know it sounds weird, but there are people outside of RM)/the general public more than the steep gnar tracks that we think are cool. So if the riders are interested in growing their paychecks then they should not mind these courses. :)
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,188
19,155
Canaderp
Funnily, I convinced some of my non-riding or only XC riding friends to join for watching WC/champs races online and they were most impressed with RSA, Leogang and Hafjell courses. Guess big jumps and speed makes racing look cooler than bouncing down a steep hillside at "slow" speeds. Maybe something to consider when people want to grow the sport.
Perhaps this has to due with how cameras magically make steep trails look pretty flat and "easy". That and RSA, Hafjell and Leogang all had awesome camera viewing angles and setups. Compare that to Andorra where you only got a glimpse at a very small portion of the track.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
Perhaps this has to due with how cameras magically make steep trails look pretty flat and "easy". That and RSA, Hafjell and Leogang all had awesome camera viewing angles and setups. Compare that to Andorra where you only got a glimpse at a very small portion of the track.
Unfortunately steep hills = bad for TV coverage :(
 

Mo(n)arch

Turbo Monkey
Dec 27, 2010
4,441
1,422
Italy/south Tyrol
since 2012 the ixs european cup is the official uci european downhill cup ;) the logo should give you a hint:



Well, sh!t.

Now that you say it, I remember it.
I am still rooting for the indipendent serie.

Or at least something like a "one pedally track per year" clause.
 
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jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
^^

His responses at least seem promising. Being exposed to so many outstanding DH riders in the UK, hopefully he recognizes the value of the discipline and will perhaps read RM to figure which tracks are too easy and boring.