that would be Vail Worlds in '01, no mechanic and a cracked frake that had to be swapped night before the race.Yeah I don't think anyone can honestly belittle his "comeback".
*Nico's Alarm clock*: beep! Beep! Beep!
Nico: YAAAAWN...STRETCH.....Hmmm.I think I'll try racing DH again for the hell of it
Naysyaer: But Nico! You haven;t been practicing!
Nico: *Shrugs*
Two days later: *see post #74*
Come on, when Vouilloz was actually IN the game, Peat was never able to beat him. Onesy twosey races on occasion....He came close in 2001? when he was in the points lead, but then he crashed at Grouse and messed up his shoulder I think?
Had Vouilloz stayed in, I'm sure Peat would have always been nipping at his heels. But I guess Nico had nothing left to prove or accomplish, so he retired. And what race was it when Nico's bike tech was MIA so he had to wrench his own bike?
Peat is great...and I know you're sticking up for your friend, and that's cool....but come on...you know deep down, the Alien was super human when it came to DH.
Ya, I mean, who cares about another set of rainbows right?2001 and 2002 werent great for him, except for the championship wins.
Finished 2nd in the WC overall to Minnaar by a bee's d*ck in the most closely contested series ever. Spent alomst all of '02 out with injury and didn't race . . .Agreed, done so much for downhill, more than anyone really.
Peaty has been at the top of this game all that time. Nico almost faded away in the world cup series. 2001 and 2002 werent great for him, except for the championship wins.
If people are going to keep driving the stupid Peaty v Vouilloz comparison it would help to at least get some of the facts straight.
Talk about putting words in my mouth!Yeah I don't think Nico was too far out of his element....maybe not good enough for him personally, but hardly a failure by any other standards (except maybe Stik's).
Maybe I also favour Vouilloz because he and I are about the same size. I got a kick out the fact that a not-so-big dude could be the best in the world. Generally, if you're 5'9" 150 lbs, you're not much of a force to be reckoned with in the sports world. Nico would be an obvious exception to that rule.
REally? I thought he was a wee dude....Nico's closer to 6' and a lot more than 150lb. oster_oops:
Hill on the other hand is about 5'9"
some of the stuff in this thread is really entertaining. . .
He's French, that would be a "Oui" dudeREally? I thought he was a wee dude....
Nico was winning races on a glorified XC bike. It is a completely different race these days.
QUOTE]
That last WC looked pretty similar to something that a glorified XC bike could've been used on.
Wasn't Nico in "the circus"? That vid had some good courses. I don't think an XC bike would've really held up on those courses.
He received his honorary through charity work/donations.From what I've read, it was only briefly mentioned. Peat received his honorary doctorate for what he's contributed to the sport, not only because he's an amazing racer.
Oh man the 'facts' just keep getting better and better.Nico was winning races on a glorified XC bike. It is a completely different race these days.
Not quite on par with the bikes out today. I'm also pretty sure those Sunn bikes where miles ahead of the competition at the time.
yes that was Deer Valley.Peat came unclipped, did a little dance around his bike, got back on and went onto win the race anyway.....Deer Valley?
What a loser....that's also the race where Nico qualified with the fastest time for DS - on his DH bike...
I mean, if you just watch that vid you know he is still fast... way fast! Look at how he corners.
Steve Peat does not have a piece. Steve Peat eats the entire cake.Nico had large piece of the cake, let the old man have a tiny piece for once!
To give you guys that dont already know an idea of how far ahead of the competition nico's bike was, that bos kit that they selling now has pretty much exactly the same damper that nico had all those years ago. At the pietermaritzburg world cup I was talking to Patrick Morewood about the bos suspension and his thoughts on it while he was doing some testing with Rennie and when he told me that they are pretty much internally identical my jaw hit the floor. It just makes you think how much of an advantage he had over the competition when he was on bos stuff. Imagine Hill, Peat or Minnaar on the bikes they have now and then having their competition riding their bikes with the old hc2 damped boxxers and a vanilla rc. Im not taking anything away from the guy, he's a legend and I do realise that he won worlds a few times before he moved to bos. You also have to consider the circumstances that he won those stripes in, DH was a small, emerging sport and all it took was one man who figured out that training and preparing before hand had a huge influence on the result and he happened to be that man. Once we realise that, we then see that it would be impossible to repeat nico's domination in our sport. What I'm saying is that you cant compare any of the greats and decide who is the best of all time. Its really no point arguing about it.
Not quite on par with the bikes out today. I'm also pretty sure those Sunn bikes where miles ahead of the competition at the time.
Barel said himself in interview that it took him 4 years at the Pielle track to EQUAL the time he put in on his sunn while riding his kona.. each bike was taylor made for the rider with a team of mechanics dedicated to setting it up for each individual rider.^ Watch yourself, I used the "nico, francois, cedric, ACC, etc.. have WAY better equipment INCLUDING disc brakes" argument once and got a lecture over it.
To give you guys that dont already know an idea of how far ahead of the competition nico's bike was, that bos kit that they selling now has pretty much exactly the same damper that nico had all those years ago. At the pietermaritzburg world cup I was talking to Patrick Morewood about the bos suspension and his thoughts on it while he was doing some testing with Rennie and when he told me that they are pretty much internally identical my jaw hit the floor. It just makes you think how much of an advantage he had over the competition when he was on bos stuff. Imagine Hill, Peat or Minnaar on the bikes they have now and then having their competition riding their bikes with the old hc2 damped boxxers and a vanilla rc. Im not taking anything away from the guy, he's a legend and I do realise that he won worlds a few times before he moved to bos. You also have to consider the circumstances that he won those stripes in, DH was a small, emerging sport and all it took was one man who figured out that training and preparing before hand had a huge influence on the result and he happened to be that man. Once we realise that, we then see that it would be impossible to repeat nico's domination in our sport. What I'm saying is that you cant compare any of the greats and decide who is the best of all time. Its really no point arguing about it.