Gwin needs a manager imo.
Also, I wonder if he still likes riding bikes.
Also, I wonder if he still likes riding bikes.
i don't think i'd go as far to say he's washed up, but he's certainly not at the level some of the other riders are.
The guy has also been chronically injured though, listened to an interview with him recently and he caught a pretty ridiculous streak of bad luck. I do think guys like Pierron have caught up to Gwin in what seems to be a lack of fear when going mach stupid that he may have brought over from moto racing, so not sure he'll be able to get to the top again IMO. I do think Troy will be killing it this year considering he now is on a bike that he was able to help design from start to finish.
No seriously. Is there racing this year? No fort william...
He is two wins away from having the most victories of All time. A record he will own,and one I’ll never see broken in my Lifetime.
Avy
And Minaar has since opened his lead
How about we look at it this way? Look at the age difference? Look at how fast Gwin racked his wins. So,I would say Gwin has some time Brother.
Avy
Anyone else amused at how "Gwiny" sounds a lot like "whiny" in your head, or is it just me? I don't think of him as much of a whiner, but still.
He's got a good shot at the record if he keeps his head in the game, avoids injurie, and gets a good bike sorted, but those are big "ifs" given what we've seen from him recently and I personally won't be surprised if he never gets another WC win and never wins World Champs. Even if he does, no way will he dominate the way he did in the past. There's just too many other guys that have stepped up to his level and beyond at this point, and more coming up all the time. Last year was pretty weird, for sure, but regardless he was unable to capitalize on Pierron's absence, and I expect it will be even tougher this year.
He's got a good shot at the record if he keeps his head in the game, avoids injurie, and gets a good bike sorted, but those are big "ifs" given what we've seen from him recently and I personally won't be surprised if he never gets another WC win and never wins World Champs. Even if he does, no way will he dominate the way he did in the past. There's just too many other guys that have stepped up to his level and beyond at this point, and more coming up all the time. Last year was pretty weird, for sure, but regardless he was unable to capitalize on Pierron's absence, and I expect it will be even tougher this year.
Gwin isn't done yet, but he really hasn't been looking amazing lately. He seems like a rider who requires 100% focus, and when he's focused he's damn hard/impossible to beat, however, the second he dips to 99% focus, his performance falls off hard. He's struggled badly with bikes that weren't quite right, teams that weren't quite right, nagging injuries and becoming a team owner seemed to nuke his entire season.
Gwin's distinct lack of rainbow stripes takes him out of the running for GOAT IMHO, even if he does edge Minaar out on total wins. WCDH has 2 championships, season and World's, you have to win some of each to really be the GOAT. Bruni is really looking like the next king right now, 5 rainbow jerseys and conservatively 10 years of racing ahead of him.
How old are you? There have been 2 undisputed GOATS and Gwin in my time following WCDH, with a few more on their way up. Peaty's record would never be broken, then Minnaar broke it. Minnaar's record will get broken, maybe by Gwin, maybe by a Frenchie, but whoever breaks it will probably have their record broken as well, unless you're a large breed dog, it'll happen in your lifetime.
Gwin's distinct lack of rainbow stripes takes him out of the running for GOAT IMHO, even if he does edge Minaar out on total wins. WCDH has 2 championships, season and World's, you have to win some of each to really be the GOAT. Bruni is really looking like the next king right now, 5 rainbow jerseys and conservatively 10 years of racing ahead of him.
i think the current depth of (ridiculously well prepared) talent - pushing an increasingly finer line between winning & binning - suggests the likelihood of a rider racking up the number of wins of a gwinn or minnaar is becoming quite low. makes for great racing tho.
Agreed. As much as I like gwin (I have met him), I don't anticipate him being as dominant as he once was. Top end of the field is more competitive than ever.
Gwin was dominating before the Frenchies and other young guns showed up to the party. They have ushered in the next level of speed and skill, leaving some of the older racers behind. Tracks have also changed, and riders have to be comfortable with the higher speeds, something they have comented on before.
Why Greg is truly amazing is the fact he has actually been able to shake it up with the new players, and stay up top without really skipping a beat. Some of the other more previously established riders havent managed to adjust so easily, and for some keep up.
Times are getting tighter between a larger group of riders, and while there are some specific riders who continue to be real contenders for top positions, there is a bigger field of potential winners for a given day/race. This is making for really exciting racing. We just need races to go ahead. The boys and girls must be hungry at this point.
It's tough to predict how Gwin will perform because it's been a while since we have seen him on pace. Unless he picks a win/podium soon I expect it will knock his confidence. When he is on he is fast, but seriously the Frenchies and some other young riders are absolutley hauling and it's going to be tough to claw any win from them.
Why Greg is truly amazing is the fact he has actually been able to shake it up with the new players, and stay up top without really skipping a beat. Some of the other more previously established riders havent managed to adjust so easily, and for some keep up.
Times are getting tighter between a larger group of riders, and while there are some specific riders who continue to be real contenders for top positions, there is a bigger field of potential winners for a given day/race. This is making for really exciting racing. We just need races to go ahead. The boys and girls must be hungry at this point.
It's tough to predict how Gwin will perform because it's been a while since we have seen him on pace. Unless he picks a win/podium soon I expect it will knock his confidence. When he is on he is fast, but seriously the Frenchies and some other young riders are absolutley hauling and it's going to be tough to claw any win from them.
Just my unpopular opinion: Gwin should have stopped racing after his winning streak like Nico did.
Peaty and Minnaar have collected their wins over a long periode of time, Nico did in a couple of years. Gwin could have done the same: dominate the sport for a period of time and then leave.
But if he has fun racing and doesn't care not being at the sharp end of the competition anymore, more power to him.
Peaty and Minnaar have collected their wins over a long periode of time, Nico did in a couple of years. Gwin could have done the same: dominate the sport for a period of time and then leave.
But if he has fun racing and doesn't care not being at the sharp end of the competition anymore, more power to him.
I'm surprised people think Gwin isn't competitive anymore? He's had some rough years of injury etc, but he's the second most experience World Cup winner and that goes a long way. A return to good health and he definitely got some podiums or wins left in him I'd say. The rest of the field has gotten stronger to be fair, but if Gwin can keep it upright he's a real chance.
I do wonder if he'd perform better as a rider on a team, left to focus purely on performance and results.
I do wonder if he'd perform better as a rider on a team, left to focus purely on performance and results.
he clipped a tree or something near the beginning of the most recent windrock race and didn't fare too badly, so it seems like he's still got some pace; there were some decent riders there.
Before or after riding Shimano brakes?In his heyday he would NOT have clipped a tree.
So it looks like the Rona was gods plan to put Gwin back on top of the overall in 2021.
Double Leogang...
Double Leogang...
I think Danny might be my favorite rider....
But little fella just doesn't have the horsepower.....
I love the way he rides but he certainly doesn't look like an athlete,. Could be nature but he looks like I do when I just sit around and drink beer.
Isn't he on the stronger, less likely to fail brakes right now (according to RM wisdom)?
I can tell you from some very well informed and Danny knowing sources that you're not wrong. Which puts his talent into an even more impressive context.
I don't know the guy but he doesn't seem to be having much fun at the races these days. I could be wrong but it feels more like he's simply doing a job to get paid. And that's fine, he's put himself in a position to make some pretty good cheddar riding his bike, so good on him. I'd also imagine that the feeling of unfinished business helps to motivate him these days. But regardless, I'm not getting a feeling that it's all about the good times for him at this point.
Everytime I see Gwin he is on a new prototype Intense, that tells me the confidence in the bike is most likely not 100% there.
He is getting older, got married, appears to be in a great spot financially. These three elements do not usually lend well to a professional athlete being focused and hungry like he was on the way up and when he was dominating.
Guys like Danny Hart and Minnaar proved many times a top tier talent can pull off a win when nobody is expecting it. I think Gwins total domination years are in the past but I would not be surprised to see him win a handful more before he hangs it up.
He has had race runs that just left me in total disbelief, 8 seconds at Val di sole, 3.5 seconds at Windham, Chainless, MSA in the wet, pure magic. The guy is obviously a different breed when all the stars align, I hope he can find that again.
He is getting older, got married, appears to be in a great spot financially. These three elements do not usually lend well to a professional athlete being focused and hungry like he was on the way up and when he was dominating.
Guys like Danny Hart and Minnaar proved many times a top tier talent can pull off a win when nobody is expecting it. I think Gwins total domination years are in the past but I would not be surprised to see him win a handful more before he hangs it up.
He has had race runs that just left me in total disbelief, 8 seconds at Val di sole, 3.5 seconds at Windham, Chainless, MSA in the wet, pure magic. The guy is obviously a different breed when all the stars align, I hope he can find that again.
Ya, you could say it seems like he's not on a trajectory to dominate like in the past. But competitive athletes, the really really good ones anyway, will always be competitive athletes. Look at Tom Brady. Eff that guy. But somehow he keeps playing and winning. I expect nothing less out of Gwin. Guess we'll see!
I think Gwin is the same kind of athlete as Semenuk: they go in 100%, and if something goes off track by a tiny bit, they concentration is lost and they just give up entirely. We have all seen almost miraculous recoveries in the middle of a run from Pierron, Minnaar, Greenland... But never from Gwin.
Also, on related news, Minnaar's recovery from the 'rona seems to be taking more time than he anticipated. Let's hope he didn't catch that nasty "long COVID" variant, and has enough time to prepare before the season starts.
Also, on related news, Minnaar's recovery from the 'rona seems to be taking more time than he anticipated. Let's hope he didn't catch that nasty "long COVID" variant, and has enough time to prepare before the season starts.
Did Gwin ever race for fun? Honest question, he was MX guy who couldn't quite make the cut in Supercross, then started monkeying around on bikes, he was good at it so he became a pro, but I never got the feeling that cycling was his real passion in life. Nothing wrong with it, if somebody paid me enough to live like Gwin to do pretty much anything, because that's what a job is for, getting paid, I'll taste test dog shit for a McLaren.
Mountain biking generally only attracts people passionate about the sport because it pays shit unless your in the top 5-10. Gwin managed to get into the sport right at the top where the pay is okay, and move up from there. Had he been forced to work his way up through the ranks dirt-poor like the Masters brothers, I doubt we'd have ever heard of him, he doesn't seem to have that "hitchhike around Europe and sleep on the floor passion for the sport. He's approached his career totally differently from the majority of the field, and has the dominance to back it up, or at least enough to get him where he is today. Credit where credit is due, no matter how much passion he does or doesn't have, he changed the game in terms of product endorsement by putting starry eyed passion aside and doing business like a businessman, and the younger guys coming up now are going to benefit from it in a big way.
Agreed, something isn't right with how he gets along with that bike. Not the first time he's struggled seemingly due to the bike. Remember when he rode for Specialized and the Demo nearly ended his career? Hopped on the Gwinduro and he was right back on top. The YT worked pretty well, if I'm remembering right he put it on the top step either the first or second time he even raced on it. Intense, not so much, maybe frame version 784 will work?
Well, he did win a WC chainless, and got what, 3rd? on a flat, so there's that. He seems to need his mind right when he gets to the start hut, if he gets that right, he's golden. Problem is, he hasn't seems to get that right in a while.
I forget which interview or podcast it was, but in one of them, Gwin hinted that he pretty much didn't ride for a good portion of last year and that he doesn't ride as much normally.
The guy obviously has natural talent on a bike and everything, he's proven that. But like you kind of say, it sounds like biking isn't his passion in life. It must be hard for him to keep up to everyone if he isn't out there riding. Like the Wyn's, my interpretation is that those guys ride because they like/love to do so, not because they have to.
But in contrast to previous brands, Jeff can build him everything he desires within a week. So that rather points to the fact that he does not know what works for him.
With YT he got the first win at the first race on a stock frame, later when he started experimenting he struggeled (e.g. proto 29er).
In the recent interview with Downtime podcast, it's made clear that the switch to Intense was last-minute and unplanned, due to miscommunication with YT Mob and Gwin being effectively dropped.
I'll keep saying it: he needs to pony up some $ to pay an effective manager so that he's not spending time negotiating, building a team from scratch, booking flights, helping Intense design a bike etc.
If he focuses at what he's good at: training and racing, he'll probably end up with better results and making more $ in the long run, even if that payroll to a manager hurts at first.
I'll keep saying it: he needs to pony up some $ to pay an effective manager so that he's not spending time negotiating, building a team from scratch, booking flights, helping Intense design a bike etc.
If he focuses at what he's good at: training and racing, he'll probably end up with better results and making more $ in the long run, even if that payroll to a manager hurts at first.
That would have an effect for the start of 2019, but something similar happened when he switched from Trek to Specialized. His overall performance on Intense does not seem to be any worse than for his Specialized years as can be seen here:
Round Up: The World Cup Race Bikes of Aaron Gwin - Pinkbike
Yetis, Treks, Specializeds, YTs and more
Todd Schumlick is the team manager, so most likely he does all that team admin stuff. Gwin is the team owner though, so I assume he is more involved than "just a hired rider" on the team.
I would not count the prototyping and testing work as negative, he can quickly get the bike he wants, test crazy ideas and such. So that should help his performance and not distract from it. Maybe the should start using data aquisition equipment to test the bikes and suspension, similar to what Loic and his team does, and not rely on Jordi twisting the right knobs.