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The E-word thread. EWS

saruti

Turbo Monkey
Oct 29, 2006
1,173
75
Israel
if I was getting free rims every day, I wouldn't give fucks about them too....
 
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dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
Ews proving it really is the place for retired dh folks
Hard to argue with a 1.5 sec differential after a day of riding. Kinda of how Hardline makes the synchronized swimming-like choreography of rampage look stale and rehearsed.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,423
6,313
UK
the part time ews participation of acutal members of the downhill elite shows that you have to be even more damn good ride/practice/train quite differently to win in the ews.

else minaar and co would have easily won when they raced there.
Enduro is still a shit sport in my eyes... but it did make me happy to hear Sam has won one on flats.
 

Mo(n)arch

Turbo Monkey
Dec 27, 2010
4,458
1,457
Italy/south Tyrol
The EWS should change their name to MTBWS and host 20 races
  • 10 DH races with courses all over the world on natural terrain. Things like the natural terrain in La Thuile, Switzerland, South America. Stream it live.
  • 10 enduro races with two day-multiple stage races. Courses also all over the place. Maybe with a timed XC loop in it. Don't stream it live, but make good highlight videos.
  • The serie should start in March and end in October. Half a year of racing, half a year offseason.

  • Whoever is the best guy in all of these races is the MTBWS - champion. And there should be a specialist serie for Enduro and DH, similar to the alpine skiing layout.
  • Bring Rob Warner into it to comment it.
  • Fvck UCI
  • Change the rainbow jersey to something like this:
  • Profit!

Oh and congrats to Sam Hill. Did he win on flatpedals?:D

Edit: After rereading this post, I should add, that maybe 4X, Dual slalom and XC should be added aswell. 4 different disciplines with an overall ranking. I am no alpine skiing fan by no means, but the format they have is pretty damn dialed.
 
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atrokz

Turbo Monkey
Mar 14, 2002
1,552
77
teedotohdot
the part time ews participation of acutal members of the downhill elite shows that you have to be even more damn good to win in the ews.

else minaar and co would have easily won when they raced there.


well, an actual DHer just won one, after getting 2 second places this year... (Sam IS still racing DH).
Then, there's several top 10 appearances by current WC DHers. Multiple top 20 results for guys racing to "have fun" "not taking it seriously". Then, the fact that several of the top guys were former DH champions or DH racers.

Then the clincher, the fact that multiple WC DHers are doing well at it, one just won, against the fact that there has never been many Enduro racers who cross over to DH well, barring Martin Maes. It's probably a safe bet to say (I'll take this bet as well) that there won't be a full time enduro racer (who hasn't raced WC DH before) win a WC DH race, ever. $5 on that bet for the next few years.

So there's that theory out the window. Seems you have to be even moar damn good to win a WC DH, but just about everyone here except you already knew that. :P

(not to say EWS isn't damn hard, or the pros aren't immensely skilled. Just come on, stop with the crazy theory that eeking tenths at mach chicken with one shot isn't where the top talent resides.)
 
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sethimus

neu bizutch
Feb 5, 2006
5,267
2,387
not in Whistler anymore :/
well, an actual DHer just won one, after getting 2 second places this year... (Sam IS still racing DH).
Then, there's several top 10 appearances by current WC DHers. Multiple top 20 results for guys racing to "have fun" "not taking it seriously". Then, the fact that several of the top guys were former DH champions or DH racers.

Then the clincher, the fact that multiple WC DHers are doing well at it, one just won, against the fact that there has never been many Enduro racers who cross over to DH well, barring Martin Maes. It's probably a safe bet to say (I'll take this bet as well) that there won't be a full time enduro racer (who hasn't raced WC DH before) win a WC DH race, ever. $5 on that bet for the next few years.

So there's that theory out the window. Seems you have to be even moar damn good to win a WC DH, but just about everyone here except you already knew that. :P

(not to say EWS isn't damn hard, or the pros aren't immensely skilled. Just come on, stop with the crazy theory that eeking tenths at mach chicken with one shot isn't where the top talent resides.)
woosh
 

fwp

Monkey
Jun 5, 2013
415
410
Hill is the man. Crushing dreams on a flat pedal, skinny wheeled, aluminum pig. I love it! He should have raced on a 26er just to be a dick.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,423
6,313
UK
Interesting.

I think I speak for the whole RM DH community when I say the full live coverage of this shit cannot be televised sooner.

 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,794
5,176
Australia
I think I speak for the whole RM DH community when I say the full live coverage of this shit cannot be televised sooner.
Thank you. Your input has been noted.

Watching the highlights vid on PB showing the Masters brothers, Blenki, Hill, Ratboy, Graves and Rude getting hell rowdy on little bikes down slippery, muddy, natural tracks was horrible. I don't know how it could compare to the excitement of watching the coverage of Pietermaritzburg, Stromlo or Cairns. I'm such a squid.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,794
5,176
Australia
Try to watch this without sound. It is boring. IMHO fun to ride yourself, but boring to watch, at least compared to full on dh.
Truthfully I actually did watch it the first time without sound haha. The lunchroom at work isn't the place for blasting up the sound on the tablet.

I truly get that Enduro will never compete with DH for balls-to-the-walls wild riding and pure speed. And it's always going to be compromised by the bikes needing to be pedalable. But its ages from WC DH right now, and we have a damn good show from some of the World's best DH riders smashing bikes.
 

Flo33

Turbo Monkey
Mar 3, 2015
2,130
1,364
Styria
Truthfully I actually did watch it the first time without sound haha. The lunchroom at work isn't the place for blasting up the sound on the tablet.

I truly get that Enduro will never compete with DH for balls-to-the-walls wild riding and pure speed. And it's always going to be compromised by the bikes needing to be pedalable. But its ages from WC DH right now, and we have a damn good show from some of the World's best DH riders smashing bikes.
Agreed.
 

schwaaa31

Turbo Monkey
Jul 30, 2002
1,510
1,115
Clinton Massachusetts
Truthfully I actually did watch it the first time without sound haha. The lunchroom at work isn't the place for blasting up the sound on the tablet.

I truly get that Enduro will never compete with DH for balls-to-the-walls wild riding and pure speed. And it's always going to be compromised by the bikes needing to be pedalable. But its ages from WC DH right now, and we have a damn good show from some of the World's best DH riders smashing bikes.
It has no affiliation with UCI, correct? I thought I read that somewhere. If so, good on them.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,918
1,213
Anyone else think Richie Rude's bike looked nice?

I always liked the attention to detail in the Yeti/Fox factory builds.

 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,423
6,313
UK
Try to watch this without sound. It is boring. IMHO fun to ride yourself, but boring to watch, at least compared to full on dh.
I actually find it even worse WITH sound.
Graves always seems to be fucking whining isn't he? even while eating. is he vegan or something?

The riding footage did indeed look shit... drums or no drums
 

Mo(n)arch

Turbo Monkey
Dec 27, 2010
4,458
1,457
Italy/south Tyrol
Anyone else think Richie Rude's bike looked nice?

I always liked the attention to detail in the Yeti/Fox factory builds.

Yeti's usually are a total piece of art. Interesting setup though. SB5 with 127mm rear and 170mm front travel.
Steep but not too bumpy?!
Oh, and then this thing:
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,794
5,176
Australia
No UCI in this case also means no doping controls! :cheers::rockout:
Which is great to establish a solid base for the "spirit of enduro"...:pleasantry:
Wouldn't you be pissed off if you were doping and still got beaten by a bunch of WC DHers doing it for some cross-training who are subject to UCI drug testing... You'd want your money back on the EPO.
 

toodles

ridiculously corgi proportioned
Aug 24, 2004
5,794
5,176
Australia
PB full coverage if your paint at home is already dry and your grass is growing too quick to watch without getting flustered.

 

Happymtb.fr

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2016
2,048
1,418
SWE
Wouldn't you be pissed off if you were doping and still got beaten by a bunch of WC DHers doing it for some cross-training who are subject to UCI drug testing... You'd want your money back on the EPO.
Sure! :)
It would be interesting to know how many of the top 20 enduro riders are also UCI riders tho.

But don't let me be misunderstood: I like enduro! I have been racing and even been part of the organisation for a few national events here in Sweden.
But I see 2 caveats in the EWS. First having no drug testing is ridiculous and second the time officially allowed for practice is so small that local people and members of the wealthiest teams will have an edge compared to other competitors since they will know the tracks better. If you compare to DH, the track is short and the time for practice is quite long so that everyone can get a fair knowledge of it.