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2012 UCI World Cup DH Live Video

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Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
did the actual racers forget about or count hill out like ridemonkey or are they/dirt awesomely trolling the forums? e-speculate on...

Who do you think will be the biggest threat to the top three steps of the podium this year?


Aaron Gwin: All the main dudes.

Greg Minnaar: Gee and Gwinny have shown they can be up there year after year, I expect them to do the same this season.

Gee Atherton: Depends who goes quickest!

Danny Hart: Aaron Gwin, Greg Minnaar, And Troy Brosnan/Brook MacDonald.

Steve Smith: I don’t see Gwin, Minnaar, and Gee slowing down. Those guys are always consistent but of course there will be new faces.

Brook MacDonald: I think there will be a mix just with everyone stepping it up so it will be good too see a mix of riders up there in the top 3.

Cam Cole: If I were a bookie at the betting agency I would be sweating about picking favourites for 2012.

Troy Brosnan: Troy Brosnan.

Justin Leov: One of the Kiwis!

Josh Bryceland: I can’t see Gwinny getting any slower.

Steve Peat: Big air, Ratty and Old School.

Sam Blenkinsop: Brook McDonald, Danny Hart and Gwin.

Andrew Neethling: A threat to the usual top 3? Too tough to say.

Brendan Fairclough: Ben Baker
 
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General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
A couple things to consider about Hill, but don't let it get in the way of speculation:

Came back from injury and beat everyone at MSA Worlds in 2010 after missing almost the whole season.

Started 2011 under-prepared of his own admission but managed to be about .4 of a second off the podium in So Africa, not exactly off the back. Got humbled for sure at Ft. William with something like 9th place and 4.5 seconds down, then got 5th at Leogang. Misses the whole season again and takes 7th at Champery with a pretty ugly run.

Not exactly what is expected of him, but ad some new-found motivation and proper off-season preparation and it's not at all unreasonable to see him getting right back into the mix where he left off. Doubt he was going balls out in the Aussie nationals given that he can't really afford to get hurt and miss a 3rd WC season, and he was keeping pace with Troy just fine.
 
adrock33

adrock33

Monkey
May 7, 2002
149
0
kentucky
see that's the thing, the last 2 years i've heard a lot of "he's gonna be back in top form", and that has truly yet to materialize. which is a real shame, since he's one of my fav riders to watch, and when he's on his A game, he's got an A game that few others have.
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Yes, everyone has said that too, but they still didn't take in consideration the fact he was dealing with injuries. We will find out soon enough.
 
stiksandstones

stiksandstones

Turbo Monkey
May 21, 2002
5,078
25
Orange, Ca
Kovariks dominating days, I'd say he was on gear that was better than most (that being the Intense chassis) and his suspension was pretty decent, compared to others...he went through wheels, thats for sure, but so did others. CK has never been on substandard gear IMO, if anything he has always been on one of the best chassis you can get in racing.


Cant Climb said:
Kovarik also raced in the era of "Substandard Gear", there was good gear and lousy gear, there were at least a half dozen races and maybe more where he blew up wheels, doubles flats......stuff like that.
Probably on courses where he was trying to go mental and his gear couldn't take it.

Not comparing Hill and Kovarik. This started while talking about 'post injury' fall off.....time will tell with Hill.
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norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,516
1,738
Warsaw :/
stiksandstones said:
Kovariks dominating days, I'd say he was on gear that was better than most (that being the Intense chassis) and his suspension was pretty decent, compared to others...he went through wheels, thats for sure, but so did others. CK has never been on substandard gear IMO, if anything he has always been on one of the best chassis you can get in racing.
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I don't think anyone was suggesting intense was the problem. He had major wheel, tire and tube problems.
Stick do you remember what rims was he runnning?
 
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General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
Exactly. How many people remember Minnaar went 2.5 years without a WC win between Angel Fire in '05 and Ft. William in '08? He had a nagging shoulder injury as well.
 
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'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
General Lee said:
Exactly. How many people remember Minnaar went 2.5 years without a WC win between Angel Fire in '05 and Ft. William in '08? He had a nagging shoulder injury as well.
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he was also still on the podium for 11 out of 14 rounds during that time and only missed one race. of those 11 rounds he was top 3 for 10 of them.
 
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General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
norbar said:
I don't think anyone was suggesting intense was the problem. He had major wheel, tire and tube problems.
Stick do you remember what rims was he runnning?
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Kovarick ran Intense 4-ply tires and some heavy-ass intense rims, on one occasion the spokes were soldered together (i think?) where they crossed to try and keep them together at Mt. Snow. It wasn't his equipment so much as his inability or unwillingness to back off 1-2% in a few places on that track to get down the hill in one piece. Gotta hand it to him though, he went flat out even when he could have dialed it back and still won.
 
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General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
'size said:
he was also still on the podium for 11 out of 14 rounds during that time and only missed one race. of those 11 rounds he was top 3 for 10 of them.
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That a good point. Can't really compare Sam to that since he's only entered about 6 or 7 races since '09. But among those he did manage a 5th with a crash, a World Champs win, a podium, and missed podium by .3 seconds, and 3 top 10's. Whith shoulder injuries and a recovering ACL.

It's all speculation of course, but assuming he is healthy I will be surprised if he is not on pace this year.
 
norbar

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,516
1,738
Warsaw :/
General Lee said:
Kovarick ran Intense 4-ply tires and some heavy-ass intense rims, on one occasion the spokes were soldered together (i think?) where they crossed to try and keep them together at Mt. Snow. It wasn't his equipment so much as his inability or unwillingness to back off 1-2% in a few places on that track to get down the hill in one piece. Gotta hand it to him though, he went flat out even when he could have dialed it back and still won.
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Intense mag 30s? It's a bit insane if he managed to kill them.
 
Cant Climb

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
stiksandstones said:
Kovariks dominating days, I'd say he was on gear that was better than most (that being the Intense chassis) and his suspension was pretty decent, compared to others...he went through wheels, thats for sure, but so did others. CK has never been on substandard gear IMO, if anything he has always been on one of the best chassis you can get in racing.
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Intense Tires weren't substandard....?..are they even decent now..?..(after 13-14 years of developement)...plus his wheels were exploding..

Manitou forks were pretty good back, I'm sure he always had a fresh rear Manitou shock....Intense was good then....
 
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