[Westy]

Doesn't Rachel have like twice as many wins as Minaar?

I know women's isn't as competitive but let's face it, DH is a niche sport. If the best athletes in the world were attracted to the sport most of the legends would simply be also rans.

 

[Avy]

He simply got older Avy.
The peak of his window of achievement was one of the most awesome ever but just a lot shorter lived than Greg's. Pretty much everyone's is.

That trek Gwin smoked everyone on was a good bike in its day but not particularly advantageous over competitors' bikes at the time.

Kinda funny seeing Josh's name in a discussion about greatest of all time. He peaked for like a season and a half before blowing himself up, bowing out and chilling out.

I’m gettin Old,shit. When I was young,I truly felt nothing could hurt me. I felt if I stay active,with sports,that my body would last a long time.

I remember tryin to bunny hop between the V of an Oak Tree which had a dirt slope backside for the landing. Not to much dirt before you were on cement. You had to Hop the curb,then Hop between the tree within two bike lengths. Street riding in Stanford Universty at night. I had a Full Face and NShore elbows on. Fucking back wheel clipped the tree sending me Face first and Snapin my elbow. I could not breathe,as the impact knocked my air out. On top of that,I wanted to puke. I could not get the strap off my Helment with my gloves on and only one hand. It was Bad,destroyed the Helment,if I was not wearing it,cheek,teeth nose would have been toast.Went to therapy for a long time and she still won’t go straight. Fuckin makes really loud pops all the time.
Sounds personal Avy,I know.

When I see the Pro BMX guys in a cement bowl without a Full Face I just cringe. The Last guy to rock a fullface was Mira.

Back to Gwin. I don’t know why you brought up Trek,but since you did. Is it not the same bIke but longer and a pulley,no pulley?

Avy

 

[Gary]

I don’t know why you brought up Trek

Because that's the bike he was destroying the entire field on.

Yes. The TREK session is still in use. But certainly a different bike now.

 

[aaronjb]

For me,I Love Gwin because he is the first American to play with the Big Boys. Not just play in the SandBox,but Stuff it thier Face. It should be Black & White,but that will never happen. Whether it is he had an injury,or,his team was garbage,or his Bike was gabarge,we agree to disagree. All sports are the same on this matter,save for a few. The Goat of our sport tome is Greg. Unless Gwin can give me a couple wins,it will be Greg.

Avy

You're trolling, right? I can think of a dozen or so Americans who were in the mix at the top for the decade of the 90s.

And the GOAT is Anne-Caroline Chaussson, no arguments to the contrary allowed.

Americans disappeared when USAC gobbled up NORBA and Vance Legstrong and his early backers who ended up running USAC all but killed mountain biking in the US. National federations (British, French) were coming into the 2000s with decent feeder programs, while in the US the industry regulars and programs like the RS Devo team were tripping over themselves to prop up mediocre SoCal bros. Some East Coast rippers never got the shot they deserved in DH in the late 90s/early 2000s because they lived on the wrong coast.

 

[Gary]

British, French ) were coming into the 2000s with decent feeder programs,

You're joking, right?
Unless by "feeder programs" you mean bank of mum and dad

 

[aaronjb]

MEANWHILE, listening to Warner/Jackson/Hannah this morning is refreshing.

 

[Gary]

9secs!

Warner, Eliot and Tracy are far better at this. 'Its just a shame the top WC riders don't do crankworks too. Can't really get fired up as a spectator without them.

 

[Avy]

You're trolling, right? I can think of a dozen or so Americans who were in the mix at the top for the decade of the 90s.

And the GOAT is Anne-Caroline Chaussson, no arguments to the contrary allowed.

Americans disappeared when USAC gobbled up NORBA and Vance Legstrong and his early backers who ended up running USAC all but killed mountain biking in the US. National federations (British, French) were coming into the 2000s with decent feeder programs, while in the US the industry regulars and programs like the RS Devo team were tripping over themselves to prop up mediocre SoCal bros. Some East Coast rippers never got the shot they deserved in DH in the late 90s/early 2000s because they lived on the wrong coast.

No Brother,I am not trolling. Please list this dozen you speak of. King,Palmer,all of them were a flash in the pan. We are talking ”Goat” here.

Anne is a women,I agree with you,she is the Goat,but we are talking about men.

Avy

 

[iRider]

9secs!

Warner, Eliot and Tracy are far better at this. 'Its just a shame the top WC riders don't do crankworks too. Can't really get fired up as a spectator without them.

Now Finn Iles is better than the pro commentators at Disco.

 

[Gary]

Reece is better than a lot of high level mainstream sports commentators. If he fails to get back to the top tier at racing I can see his career going towards that a lot earlier than you'd expect.

 

[Gary]

You're right @Avy.. There haven't been a dozen US WC DH racers at the top in the history of UCI DH and Gwin is the first you could truely call dominant. Back in the 90s the US was fairly strong in all mtb disciplines though especially in the early 90s when the sport was in its infancy. A lot US riders names are synonymous of those days. But that doesn't even mean their careers were super successful or dominant outside of the US.
It's a relatively new sport and there probably haven't yet been a dozen dominant racers worldwide.

 

[Gary]

in no particular order my list of successful US WC downhillers would include:
Cully
King
Rockwell
Tomac
Lopes
E.C.
Voreis
Palmer
Gwin
Who have I ommitted? Greg Herbold?

 

[toodles]

in no particular order my list of successful US WC downhillers would include:
Cully
King
Rockwell
Tomac
Lopes
E.C.
Voreis
Palmer
Gwin
Who have I ommitted? Greg Herbold?

Houseman actually did win one WC too, even if it got stripped for devils lettuce infringements.

 

[Gary]

Houseman actually did win one WC too, even if it got stripped for devils lettuce infringements.

Grouse?
Yeah. Houseman got lucky with the weather. in the hotseat just before the rain fell . Pascal in 5th was the only wet track rider to get close.

 

[aaronjb]

in no particular order my list of successful US WC downhillers would include:
Cully
King
Rockwell
Tomac
Lopes
E.C.
Voreis
Palmer
Gwin
Who have I ommitted? Greg Herbold?

This is a great list. You see those names at the top of World Cup and World Champs races throughout the early-to-late 90s.

Avy was saying that Gwin was the first to "mix it up" with the big boys, which is a ridiculous thing to say, even in his weird (perhaps contrived?) broken English.

And then there's the women - far more American women faring better in the 90s.

 

[Avy]

This is a great list. You see those names at the top of World Cup and World Champs races throughout the early-to-late 90s.

Avy was saying that Gwin was the first to "mix it up" with the big boys, which is a ridiculous thing to say, even in his weird (perhaps contrived?) broken English.

And then there's the women - far more American women faring better in the 90s.

You are on Crack. The subject was Goat. Nobody is a bigger fan of USA than Avy. You think I am a young punk who know’s not? You think I am not aware of Garys list?
Fuckin Please,I was just given my thoughts and you come out the shrubs with Bows and Arrows.

As for Women,I will not bother with you’re dumb ass thought.

Avy

 

[Redwood Mulch Chucker]

In Avy's defense, none of the guys on that list had any sort of Gwin level success. Even when there were more WC races on home soil.

Tomac was 2nd overall in 1993, King and Rockwell finished 2nd/3rd overall in 1995 . A few smatterings of wins and podiums here and there, but that's it until Gwin came on the scene.

3rd overall in 2010, 1st 2011 and 2012, 2nd 2014, and 1st 2015, 2016, 2017.
I'd say that is 7 years of "mixing it up with the boys", or just plain kicking their asses.

Tomac is the 2nd most winning US rider with a meager 3 WC wins to his name. The majority of that list, although US bad asses, are just top 20 pack filler and slalom/4X guys.

 

[jonKranked]

The level of not caring has reached new heights for me this year. Two races in, I haven’t even bothered to watch the runs. Anyone else in the same boat?

yea, the whole uci/disco nonsense just turned me off it completely.

 

[OGRipper]

yea, the whole uci/disco nonsense just turned me off it completely.

Huh. Personally it would take more than a little extra faffing with a new app to turn me off watching the best of the best. And the coverage has been pretty good already, even if there's room for improvement.

 

[jonKranked]

Huh. Personally it would take more than a little extra faffing with a new app to turn me off watching the best of the best. And the coverage has been pretty good already, even if there's room for improvement.

i honestly haven't even bothered with the app. just how everything was handled before the season even started. i posted the below over on vital and it largely sums up my thoughts:

given discovery's broadcast experience and resources, combined with the literal *years* of RB broadcasts to benchmark against, coming out of the gate below the quality that RB had built to ***and charging for it*** is simply unacceptable.

i've still watched vital raw edits and team highlights, and checked the results, and i think broadcasting the jr's is a HUGE step in the right direction, but what it boils down to is that this was clearly a cash grab by the UCI, and the product that discovery is putting out simply is not worth paying for at this time.

 

[OGRipper]

Your call man. Everyone's situation is different. Depending on your taste it's like, less than dinner for two for an entire season of racing across multiple disciplines. Anyway, this has all been discussed and I'm not defending UCI or Disco, just saying these changes won't keep me from watching.

 

[jonKranked]

just my thoughts. i'm not trying to convince anyone not to watch. i even still feel conflicted about it, but i also know that none of the money i'd spend to watch the races would be going to the riders. side note here: i barely watch TV anymore, in part b/c i'm busy doing other things. so i'm just spending more time riding my own DH bike this summer.

 

[sethimus]

hill‘s comeback officially canceled

 

[jonKranked]

hill‘s comeback officially canceled

flat pedals win foot surgery

 

[SuspectDevice]

I’m with John,
I haven’t been consuming anywhere near as much race coverage this season as i have in the past 29 seasons, except, obviously, watching the Downhill Southeast recap shows.

Hell i spend more time reading race coverage from 20 years ago in my stacks of old magazines than I do analyzing recent results.

I can’t really put my finger on why I’m not interested this season… except for how little written coverage there is. If i’m not at an event, I’d much rather read about it than have my brain sucked out by video, whether it’s the 20min edr recaps or the live XCO and DHI footage, I’d really rather just read some quality reporting than wade through hours of meh video….

 

[Fool]

I can’t really put my finger on why I’m not interested this season… except for how little written coverage there is. If i’m not at an event, I’d much rather read about it than have my brain sucked out by video, whether it’s the 20min edr recaps or the live XCO and DHI footage, I’d really rather just read some quality reporting than wade through hours of meh video….

Misspent Summers is the media outlet for you!

 

[Sandro]

As ze Germans say, the appetite grows when eating. Written coverage never made a lick of difference to me, it's actually watching the races that gets me excited about the races. Funny that.

Cedric might be annoying, but my brain has already developed internal French noise cancelling and after the first two races, I'm more excited than ever aboout the World Cup and feel I've already got my money's worth. None of the money I never paid to Red Bull ever made it to the riders either and if you want to spend your time doing other things instead, go right ahead, but I don't see how this is specific to Discovery. The main problem I see is that the barrier to watch is higher - they should broadcast the first race of the season for free or have some pre-WC event.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Bicycle racing is the only sport I follow or know even the slightest thing about, and I have never really enjoyed any of the “bike racing on tv” that I have been exposed to.
TV, even TV on the Internet, still sucks.

 

[konifere]

I've subscribed for the year to GMBN since 5 months would have been the same price, but I don't think I'll watch any of the other series/shows outside of DH. The only times I watch tv (including series, movies, etc.) is the DH broadcast in the summer.

With all that said, I miss Rob Warner and Elliot Jackson, but I can stand Cedric and the other dude. I tried to watch Crankworx this weekend with Rob and Eliott on the booth, and it was nice, but I don't have as much interest in other series outside of UCI. I just want to see all the riders together, not a part of them. It was still entertaining though.

My ritual for a DH WC is :
-Listening to the Downtime and Moving the needle podcasts
-Religiously watching the Dialed series with Jordi
-Watching WynTV
-Checking Vital and Pinkbike's preview stuff
-Can't miss any Pit Bits slideshow!!
-If I feel like having more appetizers, I sometimes watch Bernard Kerr's videos until I get motion sickness from the shaky camera action.
-Refreshing VitalMTB and Pinkbike pages twice every hour to make sure nothing passes through my WC filter.

 

[Sandro]

My ritual for a DH WC is :
-Listening to the Downtime and Moving the needle podcasts
-Religiously watching the Dialed series with Jordi
-Watching WynTV
-Checking Vital and Pinkbike's preview stuff
-Can't miss any Pit Bits slideshow!!
-If I feel like having more appetizers, I sometimes watch Bernard Kerr's videos until I get motion sickness from the shaky camera action.
-Refreshing VitalMTB and Pinkbike pages twice every hour to make sure nothing passes through my WC filter.

Good lord, you people are commited. I can manage the live broadcast with maybe a sprinkle of Cathro or Raw on the side, but have no idea how I would find the time for all the other stuff. This season I already have the addition of watching Juniors, but thankfully that's during work hours

 

[iRider]

You know why many of us are not excited about the DH races anymore?
Missing race predictions by @jackalope , that is why! Get on it!

 

[konifere]

Oh I forgot VitalRAW in my list, how could I! I have more free time this year since the Fantasy DH leagues don't exist anymore.

 

[Gary]

Good lord, you people are commited. I can manage the live broadcast with maybe a sprinkle of Cathro or Raw on the side, but have no idea how I would find the time for all the other stuff. This season I already have the addition of watching Juniors, but thankfully that's during work hours

Sounds like you work too much

 

[Sandro]

Sounds like you work too much

Mostly that, and contracept too little.

 

[sethimus]

Sounds like you work too much

all the world cups so far have been on saturdays.

will somebody pleeeeease think of the bikeshop clerks

 

[jonKranked]

all the world cups so far have been on saturdays.

will somebody pleeeeease think of the bikeshop clerks

View attachment 196044

bikeshop seems like it would be a great place to show a world cup race.

 

[sethimus]

bikeshop seems like it would be a great place to show a world cup race.

our target customers are the vaude wearing, geriatric 50+ golden agers of switzerland.

 

[jonKranked]

our target customers are the vaude wearing, geriatric 50+ golden agers of switzerland.

that's not a bike shop then, that's a boomer nostalgia center

 

[sethimus]

technically a bike gear shop that also sells bikes. we have everything one could ever need, in stock.

not pretty, but pays good.

 

[SkaredShtles]

our target customers are the vaude wearing, geriatric 50+ golden agers of switzerland.

Where u at in Switzerland?