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Downhill WC 2018

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
2018's DH WC is ahead of us and as I am writing this rumors about the teams are either confirmed or forgotten.

Here are the dates:
April 21/22 – Lošinj, Croatia, DHI
June 2/3 – Fort William, Great Britain, DHI
June 9/10 – Leogang, Austria, DHI
July 7/8 – Val di Sole, Italy, XCO/DHI
July 14/15 – Vallnord, Andorra, XCO/DHI
August 11/12 – Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, XCO/DHI
August 25/26 – La Bresse, France, XCO/DHI
September 4-9 – Lenzerheide, Switzerland, World Championships XCO/XCR/DH

In 3,5 months it's on! Who do you guys think will take it?
Gwin and Minnaar will definitely give their best but I hope that Hart now in a new team, Brosnan who tasted victory during 2017 and hopefully Bruni will be there as well and make this season very exciting to follow.
I want to see Jack Shark Attack "Yeah" Moir on a podium. He seems to be such a laid back guy when riding and of the track.
Vergier definitely got the means to be on a podium too, he just needs to pull it together, relax a bit and stop trying too hard.

What do you expect from this season?
 
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jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
I'm not counting on Greg to put up a fight against Gwin.
greg was on form last year, his bike however, was not. plagued by mechanicals. hopefully SC gets that sorted for this year. Not sure how many more seasons he has, he's getting up there in age. i wanna see him stay on his game.
 

'size

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2007
2,000
338
AZ
last years results :

ft bill


leogang


vds


vallnord


msa


la bresse (last raced in 2011)
 

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
410
400
Bruni wins one this year. Gwin wins his usual 4-5 races with at least 1 or 2 Legendary WTF? runs. Rachael dominates every race including worlds.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
plagued by mechanicals
Who will be Minnaar's mechanic this year?

@'size you've got good eyes! ;)

Concerning the women's field, I hope to see more of Pompom and Miranda Miller than an absolut domination from Rachel hopefully without injuries from her side... the battle for the second place is not as interesting as the battle for the first place
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
no mechanic could have prevented some of the bad luck he had
I like Greg a lot, and really respect how he keeps upping his game to the level of the up and comers. But I really wonder how much of it was luck, and how much of it was riding just beyond his limits, and not having had the time to really gel with the new bike and wheel size?!

If anything, I expect him to be fully prepared and accustomed to his new equipment this year, and really have a feel for the limits. With his skill and experience, he should be able to flirt with that line while keeping the rubber side down.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,288
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
I also wonder if Gwin will show up on a 29r. YT just released their line up for 2018, and if I'm not mistaken, there is no 29" Tues.

Yet last year, Gwin was pretty open about wanting to get on a 29r, if only to test it against his current bike. I can't imagine YT would say no to that...

Maybe @atrokz has some insight?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
no mechanic could have prevented some of the bad luck he had
It's not luck. It's wheel size based. They wanted to push a new wheelsize without the rims and tires to support it and there you go.

ALL of his mechanicals involved wheels. But boy he just rode over stuff when his bike was in once piece!


I'm betting this year he puts up a good fight. Because after last year if they don't have good rims and tires to give him, he needs new sponsors.


The shit with his two piece frame (somehow by the grace of his awesomeness) had nothing to do with his race run.


Also it's january, WTF are you people doing? People in the southern hemisphere like 'size and hacktastic should be posting riding pics.
 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
1,907
1,252
SWE
Minnaar had actually really good results for the first 5 races of last year (except in Lourdes because of the weather turning) and the wheel related problems were only toward the end of the season. Because of that, I would tend to say that he had a pretty dialed in set up on the wheel side of things, nevertheless he might have tried another set up in the middle of the season, maybe, to give Gwin a chance for the overall?

Having a new mechanic is quite a change. Minnaar had build a relation with Marshy over the years since 2012. He has to have a lot of trust in his new mechanic so that he can achieve the highest level of mental fitness. Then they need to be on the same line when communicating and the mechanic has to translate what the the rider expresses he wants to what the rider actually needs which can be, but not always, the same thing.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
I don't really care who wins or what team anyone is on or what tyres they're using.
I just want to see world class spills n thrills.
My predictions for the most spectacular entertainers this season are

Mike Jones
George Brannigan
Danny Hart
Laurie Greenland
Aaron Gwin
Adam Brayton

Just hope they, along with a few "wild" cards. Deliver ;)
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
Hey Gary, does it hurt a little bit that the french have a better chance of winning a race than the brits do?
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
They don't

I like the French. One of my children is even French.

You're probably thinking of the English with your buthurt enquiry. I don't care which nationality wins. I've even been happy to see a ginger American win a few times.
 

FlipSide

Turbo Monkey
Sep 24, 2001
1,376
804
I expect to be drinking beer at 9AM watching the European World Cups.

I'm hoping for a win from Loris and Jack Moir, podiums and/or exciting runs from Finn, Brayton, Atwill and Mike Jones.

...and hopefully nice previews from Jackalope if he can take some time-off from his busy crossfit-yoga training.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Minnaar had actually really good results for the first 5 races of last year (except in Lourdes because of the weather turning) and the wheel related problems were only toward the end of the season. Because of that, I would tend to say that he had a pretty dialed in set up on the wheel side of things, nevertheless he might have tried another set up in the middle of the season, maybe, to give Gwin a chance for the overall?
Think back.

What changed later in the year?


https://www.bikerumor.com/2017/08/05/prototype-maxxis-dh-mountain-bike-tire-spotted-greg-minnaar/?shared=email&msg=fail
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Oh.. So you think track bitching started in internet forums with links to POV video? Aww... how sweet.

Track bitching has been around as long as track building/race taping has. Never heard Warner or Vouilloz' views on Kaprun?

Vouilloz (1994) Kaprun WC on a GT Zaskar HARDTAIL



I was helping build local DH tracks around then and mates were running low key DH races on them. Track bitching happened even at races with a £10 entry fee. Ridemonkey didn't start the trend.
 

William42

fork ways
Jul 31, 2007
3,908
634
They don't

I like the French. One of my children is even French.

You're probably thinking of the English with your buthurt enquiry. I don't care which nationality wins. I've even been happy to see a ginger American win a few times.
I just noticed you placed a lot of English riders on your list of riders who might win, but forgot to add riders that might actually win (like Loic and Loris). Figured that you were one of those English loyalist Scottish who voted against independence.

Oh well, my mistake, back to complaining about birth canals, or tracks or whatever.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
I just noticed you placed a lot of English riders on your list of riders who might win,
I didn't post a list of riders who might win. I posted a list of riders who's riding/crashing I find highly entertaining.
Fuck wasting my life caring about which sports person wins a sporting event.
I'm here for entertainment, nothing else.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
that Vouilloz pic - are those the SL-TIs? OG DH weight weenie.
Nico was known to send decals back if they were too heavy so yeah he was indeed an OG DH weight weenie.
Think you're right about the fork. I'm no expert on Mag21 varients tho. didn't get my first suspension fork until '95 (Judy then a DHO)
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,194
4,419
That was a Judy sl... lightweight XC fork with ti. As always though, it only had to last one run and he was a lightweight too.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,479
4,719
Australia
That was a Judy sl... lightweight XC fork with ti. As always though, it only had to last one run and he was a lightweight too.
Nah the Judys didn't have the tapered legs. That's a Mag 21 SL I'm sure - the Judys weren't even around in '94.