[DIRT-HQ]

More Go Pro shenanigans.

Adam Brayton takes a trip down the Pietermaritzburg WC track.

http://dirtmag.co.uk/worldcup/category/Videos/dirttv/dirt-1234848.html

(The internet is sooo bad here in PMB that it's taken 5 hours to upload and I can't even watch it to make sure it's okay!

Oh and I had to miss The Tipping Point premiere too )

 

[primo661]

Tipping point was brilliant! Internet sucks balls, dont you feel sorry for me? I live herelthumbsdown:

 

[Leppah]

Woah. Lots of high speed areas. There are some good sized booters in there. Looks like a fun course to ride. I don't know about racing it though. Lots of pedaling. I'm a lazy guy. I like to just sit and go downhill while i kick my feet up and relax.

 

[luiz carlos]

More Go Pro shenanigans.

Adam Brayton takes a trip down the Pietermaritzburg WC track.

http://dirtmag.co.uk/worldcup/category/Videos/dirttv/dirt-1234848.html

(The internet is sooo bad here in PMB that it's taken 5 hours to upload and I can't even watch it to make sure it's okay!

Oh and I had to miss The Tipping Point premiere too )

Well...I was going to ask about Rob an John podcast. But if the internet is bad....things are hard to upload

 

[Total Heckler]

Yeah, holy cow on the high speed sections and the jumps. It would be a blast to be able to ride that course!

 

[davet]

that chest mounted cam doesn't do it for me. Half the screen was covered with bike and handlebars for most of it. I think a helmet mount would be better.

 

[rayhaan]

that looks amazing, so much fun and brayton is seriously hauling ass! have to say I like the chest mounted cam, gives a nice different perspective instead of the standard helmet cam.

 

[norbar]

This track has Greg Minnaar writen all over it. It's a South African conspiracy I tell you!

 

[bdamschen]

That track looks super fun.

Tipping point was brilliant! Internet sucks balls, dont you feel sorry for me? I live herelthumbsdown:

Don't think you'll have that too much longer. I hear there's a new fiber pipeline being laid to africa.

 

[ciszewski]

so is it safe to assume the live feed won't be live, rather a play-back 2 days later?

If it is, that sucks tons...

 

[tk1085]

Not very tech but boy was he shifting looks fun as hell

 

[gonefirefightin]

looks like some pretty good air time on that course, big jumps

 

[dhrookie]

Looks fun, But A WC course it is not. LAME! I think Snowshoe would put on a better course than that. Where's the rocks, roots, and tech? Looks to me like a long BMX track.

 

[Jettj45]

Looks fun, But A WC course it is not. LAME! I think Snowshoe would put on a better course than that. Where's the rocks, roots, and tech? Looks to me like a long BMX track.

Yeah that looked like a lot of single track and just flat boring trails. Unfortunately World Cup locations are not chosen according to the courses...

 

[DIRT-HQ]

Well...I was going to ask about Rob an John podcast. But if the internet is bad....things are hard to upload

Hey Luiz, yes you're right internet is bad but the Rob and John vid will be up soon.

 

[Leppah]

MIght not be WC worthy for all of the WC snobs. But we'd kill for a trail like that out here. Looks like it flows, has rocks, drops, turns, speed, and booters. Hard to have all of that on one trail.
I love riding DH. But that doesn't mean that i always have to ride the gnarliest rock garden on the mountain or the hardest thing around. That trail might not be hard for the WC pros. But i'm sure they are taking lines in places that are making it harder. And i'm sure Brayton is making it look way easier than it probably is.

 

[norbar]

MIght not be WC worthy for all of the WC snobs. But we'd kill for a trail like that out here. Looks like it flows, has rocks, drops, turns, speed, and booters. Hard to have all of that on one trail.
I love riding DH. But that doesn't mean that i always have to ride the gnarliest rock garden on the mountain or the hardest thing around. That trail might not be hard for the WC pros. But i'm sure they are taking lines in places that are making it harder. And i'm sure Brayton is making it look way easier than it probably is.

You know that you can make drops, turns and booters and have a speedy trail on any mountain of vert. drop. You can even bring some rocks

It's really not that special. I may be spoiled living in europe but man I live in the eastern part where the trails started getting serious 2 years ago and now all of them on the nat. cup look like that and some are even a bit more techy. Such trails are fun to ride but you don't make World Cups on A-Line either(well A line actualy has more turns ). DH should be a test of skill not pedaling efficiency. It's good that they are trying to take more and more races out of the old continent but for the love of god the venues should be comparative to the euro spots. I don't know how it is for the rest of the RM but in my opinions the tracks should be more like Schladming, Maribor, Val di Sole and Champery.

 

[primo661]

I don't know how it is for the rest of the RM but in my opinions the tracks should be more like Schladming, Maribor, Val di Sole and Champery.

Because if they were all like that it wouldn't reward the guys that know how to use their pedals.

 

[norbar]

Because if they were all like that it wouldn't reward the guys that know how to use their pedals.

Maybe yes but you can make a beefcake downhill track like St. Anne that seems a bit more varied. A trail for the bigger/stronger guys but one that seems less strait and at least takes some time to get used to instead of trying the best gear ratio . I'm not bashing the trail overall as it looks hella fun but when I see a world cup track I want to be like "wow, I want to ride this so much.". Also I always thought dh should be more focused on skills and less on pedaling. Big guys can still rock the tech trails but if you are born with less pedaly genetics you are ****ed on some trails and can be overtaken by potentialy worse downhillers.(but I maybe complaining about how little progress I make in the gim )

 

[General Lee]

Because if they were all like that it wouldn't reward the guys that know how to use their pedals.

That is total rubbish. You don't win at places like MSA or Ft William unless you have some solid pedaling skills. the best tracks require a combination of pedaling strength and bike handling. I won't argue that a course is too pedally if it has enough of a technical challenge to balance things out a bit.

Pedaling is an aspect of DH racing for sure and there isn't a guy on the podium who isn't super fit, the problem I have with tracks like Canberra and this one is that they lean too far towards a skill that is not the primary focus of DH racing and does not put enough emphasis on testing bike handling skills. like everyone there has been saying, though, it seems they have done a good job with what they have (weather permitting?). from the looks of it this track is far better than the one that will be used for worlds. Cool looking track, but when it comes to testing the best riders in the world, their equipment, and their skills it doesn't really pass for what i'd consider a 'proper' world cup track.

 

[norbar]

That is total rubbish. You don't win at places like MSA or Ft William unless you have some solid pedaling skills. the best tracks require a combination of pedaling strength and bike handling. I won't argue that a course is too pedally if it has enough of a technical challenge to balance things out a bit.

Pedaling is an aspect of DH racing for sure and there isn't a guy on the podium who isn't super fit, the problem I have with tracks like Canberra and this one is that they lean too far towards a skill that is not the primary focus of DH racing and does not put enough emphasis on testing bike handling skills. like everyone there has been saying, though, it seems they have done a good job with what they have (weather permitting?). from the looks of it this track is far better than the one that will be used for worlds. Cool looking track, but when it comes to testing the best riders in the world, their equipment, and their skills it doesn't really pass for what i'd consider a 'proper' world cup track.

Well you seem to be the more articulate than me today. Word

 

[rayhaan]

...from the looks of it this track is far better than the one that will be used for worlds. Cool looking track, but when it comes to testing the best riders in the world, their equipment, and their skills it doesn't really pass for what i'd consider a 'proper' world cup track.

I agree 100% on both points.

 

[luiz carlos]

Just saw the walk course on Freecaster...Ok not maybe the best track of the world...but looks funny.

 

[ronan]

so is it safe to assume the live feed won't be live, rather a play-back 2 days later?

If it is, that sucks tons...

they stream via satellite

 

[General Lee]

The stock mount doesn't allow the camera to be tilted up much, but I found a pretty simple fix that seems to work well for me.

use the 2-way mount that comes stock with the camera, line up the upper left corner of the camera with the corner of the harness, and you get a much more forward-looking picture. i adjusted it down a few degrees for a few runs and it still looks plenty forward but shows more of the top tube, the riders arms, and sometimes their knees as well if you want that sort of shot. I won't bother reposting the links to the vids since they are in a thread i posted yesterday, but here's a pic of the set-up.

 

[DIRT-HQ]

Maybe it's just me. but it seems every video i've seen using the go-pro chest mount is angled too far down unless the rider is sitting a lot. The stock mount doesn't allow the camera to be tilted up much, but I found a pretty simple fix should you guys over at Dirt care to test it out.

use the 2-way mount that comes stock with the camera, line up the upper left corner of the camera with the corner of the harness, and you get a much more forward-looking picture. i adjusted it down a few degrees for a few runs and it still looks plenty forward but shows more of the top tube, the riders arms, and sometimes their knees as well if you want that sort of shot. I won't bother reposting the links to the vids since they are in a thread i posted yesterday, but here's a pic of the set-up.

Cheers General, I'll try that tip and try and get it dialled for round #2.

 

[mfreak]

i like the course, but i like fast flowey trails. i am from michigan and its my second year riding so i havent seen what the world has to offer for downhill, maybe one day my mind will be different. also if you ever wanted to see downhill go more mainstream (espn xgames) even bigger and better places to ride. my 2cents