[gonefirefightin]

I can't believe you guys even respond to such a clown. Gonefirefighting is a troll with zero knowledge, just looking for an argument.
Not 1 thing he typed is factually correct. Greg and Gee have the most wins out of any U.S riders?? Really?

What? hardly gee, Rachel and I am hardly a troll, look up the facts for yourself, its all out there.

 

[Gary]

American podiums?

 

[sethimus]

American podiums?

riders with imaginary friends win made up races no one in the real world of downhill has ever heard of

it‘s like that time when the nfl had a european league. no one remembers those

 

[Gary]

Neko MULALLY's results

Neko MULALLY's event results from 2007 to 2024

www.rootsandrain.com

using your retarded scale of excellence our very own seven foot tall national treasure of downhill Ben Cathro has more podiums listed on roots and rain than Gwin or Neko.
As successful a (domestic) racing carrer as Ben has had he'd be the first to agree he's never been in the same league as Aaron. And I'm fairly sure Neko would say the same.

 

[Westy]

I probably have over 100 podiums. Just sayin'

 

[Gary]

 

[gonefirefightin]

using your retarded scale of excellence our very own seven foot tall national treasure of downhill Ben Cathro has more podiums listed on roots and rain than Gwin or Neko.
As successful a (domestic) racing carrer as Ben has had he'd be the first to agree he's never been in the same league as Aaron. And I'm fairly sure Neko would say the same.

How exactly are career podiums a retarded scale of gauging a riders overall performance?

 

[Westy]

How exactly are career podiums a retarded scale of gauging a riders overall performance?

A lot more weight should be put on the more competitive races, World Cup, World Champs and specifically wins over podiums in those events.

 

[Gary]

Exactly this.

how long a carer, how many and which races entered also makes a massive difference.

I'd be surprised if any top 10 WC rider were not to podium in their national domestic races.
Oh.. and America just doesn't have the talent at domestic DH races compared to many other countries. UK for example.

 

[toodles]

Connor Fearon just snapped up the Aus Nationals title on a Forbidden Dreadnought with 180mm Boxxer. Epic work, wonder if he'll be using that setup at WCs or whether they'll have a DH rig ready

 

[schwaaa31]

Looks like Brosnan went down and didn’t finish. Not a good start to the season. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaMXyHuhdyf/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[Trekrules]

Brosnan broke his ankle with that crash, that is real bummer he will miss the first world cup race.

 

[Happymtb.fr]

indeed really sad for Brosnan...

 

[slyfink]

I don't know for sure, but I think this is bad news for racing:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/discovery-to-broadcast-world-cup-coverage-from-2023.html

I said it in the comments, I'll gladly pay to watch a broadcast of the races, but I'm not buying a cable subscription, or even paying for access to their full catalogue of whatever they offer... I hope this doesn't mean the end of watching DH racing for me.

 

[canadmos]

I don't know for sure, but I think this is bad news for racing:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/discovery-to-broadcast-world-cup-coverage-from-2023.html

I said it in the comments, I'll gladly pay to watch a broadcast of the races, but I'm not buying a cable subscription, or even paying for access to their full catalogue of whatever they offer... I hope this doesn't mean the end of watching DH racing for me.

That sucks. Red Bull put into the sport and didn't really ask for anything back, from its viewers at least. At they make it super easy to watch live or watch the replay - yeah it's not perfect, but it works most of the time.

Hopefully it's free and hopefully they don't screw with the format too much. It's a race and not some sideshow parade with a bunch of drama.

If they are going to charge money, will some of that go towards the riders? I'd hope so.

 

[Westy]

That sucks. Red Bull put into the sport and didn't really ask for anything back, from its viewers at least. At they make it super easy to watch live or watch the replay - yeah it's not perfect, but it works most of the time.

Hopefully it's free and hopefully they don't screw with the format too much. It's a race and not some sideshow parade with a bunch of drama.

If they are going to charge money, will some of that go towards the riders? I'd hope so.

They will probably turn it into a reality show. Riders will be required to be polygamous/800lbs/naked/inbred and the winner will be voted on.

 

[SuspectDevice]

everyone here is really old. do you not remember when mtb racing was actually on TV?
Like, live dual racing on Saturday night on Eurosport… and some norba race from wisconsin on at 2am on ESPN2 on a Wednesday in January..

The media content wasn’t great but “real” tv means significantly more earning potential for athletes than “captive” redbull TV.
Actual auditable viewership numbers mean more potential for real sponsorship for athletes and teams.

The current redbull coverage is all-time good- but unless you live in a country where a territorial broadcaster buys the feed, the local Chevy dealer probably DGAF about lending you a van for the season, etc.
To expand mtb athletes relevance outside social media metrics, they neeeeed tv. imo

 

[6thElement]

The advantage of the streaming feed is we get to watch everything live if the time works out, or watch the replay at a convenient time.

If a race conflicts with a hand egg game in Murica or turning left in cars, I know which will end up on delayed broadcast at 3am.

 

[iRider]

everyone here is really old. do you not remember when mtb racing was actually on TV?
Like, live dual racing on Saturday night on Eurosport… and some norba race from wisconsin on at 2am on ESPN2 on a Wednesday in January..

The media content wasn’t great but “real” tv means significantly more earning potential for athletes than “captive” redbull TV.
Actual auditable viewership numbers mean more potential for real sponsorship for athletes and teams.

The current redbull coverage is all-time good- but unless you live in a country where a territorial broadcaster buys the feed, the local Chevy dealer probably DGAF about lending you a van for the season, etc.
To expand mtb athletes relevance outside social media metrics, they neeeeed tv. imo

But then the rights holders should also be required to make the footage available. Every year I cannot watch the DH world champs race because the rights are with a local broadcasting company that decides to only to show the XC race. Need to work my way around geoblocks to see the Red Bull feed.

 

[jackalope]

Wonder if this also means the end of Warner (and Elliot Jackson/Tracey Hannah) announcing the races? I know Warner has other announcing gigs, but it'd be shame if they replaced him with some blow hard hype man who doesn't know fuck all about WC racing....although I guess that might open the job up for someone like me.

 

[maxyedor]

everyone here is really old. do you not remember when mtb racing was actually on TV?
Like, live dual racing on Saturday night on Eurosport… and some norba race from wisconsin on at 2am on ESPN2 on a Wednesday in January..

The media content wasn’t great but “real” tv means significantly more earning potential for athletes than “captive” redbull TV.
Actual auditable viewership numbers mean more potential for real sponsorship for athletes and teams.

The current redbull coverage is all-time good- but unless you live in a country where a territorial broadcaster buys the feed, the local Chevy dealer probably DGAF about lending you a van for the season, etc.
To expand mtb athletes relevance outside social media metrics, they neeeeed tv. imo

Yep, people always bitch about riders not earning enough for what they do, but how the hell are you going to earn money with no proof that anybody even watches your sport?

That’s the reason roadies make more despite being really, really boring compared to WCDH.


To the nay sayers, fear not, this is a modern world and there are bootlegs of everything availableon the internet.

 

[canadmos]

I guess we (or they, the athletes) just have to wait and see I guess. I'd wager a bet though that this will have little impact on payouts to the athletes being broadcast, but it'll have more benefit for the profits of Discovery and the UCI.

 

[jackalope]

I also hope this doesn't signal Red Bull becoming less of a sponsor resource for WC riders and MTBs in general.

 

[iRider]

Interestingly, it looks like Red Bull got kicked out by the UCI:

UCI ruilt RedBull Media in voor Eurosport

De Wereldbeker mountainbiken van 2022 is de laatste die te zien is via RedBull Media House. Het Oostenrijkse bedrijf tilde de sport de laatste tien jaar naar een veel hoger niveau, waarbij het mountainbiken inzichtelijker werd voor een groter publiek. De UCI kiest er echter voor om van 2023 tot...

www-wielerflits-nl.translate.goog

 

[jonKranked]

everyone here is really old. do you not remember when mtb racing was actually on TV?
Like, live dual racing on Saturday night on Eurosport… and some norba race from wisconsin on at 2am on ESPN2 on a Wednesday in January..

The media content wasn’t great but “real” tv means significantly more earning potential for athletes than “captive” redbull TV.
Actual auditable viewership numbers mean more potential for real sponsorship for athletes and teams.

The current redbull coverage is all-time good- but unless you live in a country where a territorial broadcaster buys the feed, the local Chevy dealer probably DGAF about lending you a van for the season, etc.
To expand mtb athletes relevance outside social media metrics, they neeeeed tv. imo

I'm just worried Bear Grylls will be commentating and trying to sell us his sports drink.

 

[gonefirefightin]

 

[jonKranked]

beat me to it

 

[jackalope]

We need a new production house: Neko TV

N-TV (maybe have Neko in full kit standing on the moon with a USA flag): the next main sponsor for WC DH. Instead of Mercedes, the vehicle sponsor would be his shuttle bus and obviously Oscar Blues would be the "energy drink" sponsor.

Make WC sponsorship great again.

 

[Gary]

Do any of you guys ever think you may be being a little optimistic over what sort of WC results Neko is actually still capable of?
Hasn't it been 5 years or so since he scored his last top 10 result? and although I'm also really enjoying his bike development videos I don't think his new bike is doing anything better than an off the shelf TREK.

 

[gonefirefightin]

Do any of you guys ever think you may be being a little optimistic over what sort of WC results Neko is actually still capable of?
Hasn't it been 5 years or so since he scored his last top 10 result? and although I'm also really enjoying his bike development videos I don't think his new bike is doing anything better than an off the shelf TREK.

Who is to say, He may not be in the top tier right now but a lot can be said about confidence and training without borders or management. I think he is still the underdog but is doing it very well.

 

[Gary]

and I wish him well.
but the proof of whether he's "doing it well" is yet to be seen.

 

[jstuhlman]

i'm stoked on what he's doing but agree with @Gary - first place against no one on a crap track in costa rica means nothing. curious to see how he'd fare against better US competition at somewhere better/closer to an actual WC track like Windrock. anyone know if he's doing the race there in early March? only a few weeks 'til go time either way...

 

[FlipFantasia]

He seems genuinely happy and stoked on what he's doing, and it would be awesome if it does translate into WC results....but I'm not convinced it will at this point.

 

[jackalope]

I don't think anyone is or was suggesting he was going to start winning or podium hunting WCs. But if he starts putting up consistent top 20 or 30 results, that would be a big step in the right direction. As we know, so much of going mach WC is confidence and head game, and if he's in a good head space because he genuinely likes the way his bike performs, I'd wager he can put up some very solid results.

Besides, the surname Mulally doesn't sound French, so he's not allowed to win anyway.

 

[Westy]

I don't think anyone is or was suggesting he was going to start winning or podium hunting WCs. But if he starts putting up consistent top 20 or 30 results, that would be a big step in the right direction. As we know, so much of going mach WC is confidence and head game, and if he's in a good head space because he genuinely likes the way his bike performs, I'd wager he can put up some very solid results.

Besides, the surname Mulally doesn't sound French, so he's not allowed to win anyway.

When he said he was more nervous for a race than ever it made me think he has so much more personally invested in this season than he has had riding for a team. A lot of people need a certain spark to take them to the next level. If his results do improve this year I wouldn't credit the bike.

 

[trib]

I think the idea that he needs to win a world cup or even podium at worlds level to prove himself is a little unfair. I'd say consistent top 20 would be more than impressive

 

[jackalope]

When he said he was more nervous for a race than ever it made me think he has so much more personally invested in this season than he has had riding for a team. A lot of people need a certain spark to take them to the next level. If his results do improve this year I wouldn't credit the bike.

While I would never say he's going to jump 40 spots just because his bike is somehow magically better than the Intense, I do believe he'll be more confident on it and likely have better results. Its all interconnected imo.

 

[jonKranked]

seems like riders and teams didn't get much of a heads-up on this: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/burning-question-what-do-racers-and-team-managers-think-about-discovery-taking-over-the-world-cup-rights.html

wrong thread dingus

UCI / Discovery channel

pretty big topic, figure it deserves its own thread. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/discovery-to-broadcast-world-cup-coverage-from-2023.html RIP Redbull WC. sounds like they had the rug pulled out from under them. feels like they were really hitting their stride too (although there are still...

ridemonkey.bikemag.com

 

[slyfink]

wrong thread dingus

UCI / Discovery channel

pretty big topic, figure it deserves its own thread. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/discovery-to-broadcast-world-cup-coverage-from-2023.html RIP Redbull WC. sounds like they had the rug pulled out from under them. feels like they were really hitting their stride too (although there are still...

ridemonkey.bikemag.com

d'oh! (but in reality, since the teams and riders didn't know about it, I suppose it could be treated as a racing/team rumor?!?! , plus, that thread is now about riding with Ben in Champéry...)

 

[sethimus]

Jared Graves Officially Retires From Racing

After fourteen years of racing with Yeti Cycles, Jared Graves announced today he is retiring from full-time racing. His final race was the Australian National Championships last weekend, where he won the short-track cross country race, finishing his career on the top of the podium. Graves will...

www.vitalmtb.com