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The skinsuit thread

should skinsuits be banned from world cups?


  • Total voters
    169

P.T.W

Monkey
May 6, 2007
599
0
christchurch nz
To stop pointless ranting about skinsuits clogging up other threads.i thought id start this one so people can rant on here.
My question is....should skinsuits be banned from worldcups???
and how would you police it?
 

Ithnu

Monkey
Jul 16, 2007
961
0
Denver
Can a person wear armor with those? If not, I could see where people might have an advantage over someone who races with armor and can't wear one.
 

rockwool

Turbo Monkey
Apr 19, 2004
2,658
0
Filastin
Can a person wear armor with those? If not, I could see where people might have an advantage over someone who races with armor and can't wear one.
You've probably seen pics of Greg Minnaar in skinsuit and armor but haven't thought of it. He's big, but not green giant big.. ;)
 

FlipFantasia

Turbo Monkey
Oct 4, 2001
1,659
492
Sea to Sky BC
Win...or look cool? Racing=winning. Skinsuits=winning. I like skinsuits because I like winning.
H
top 5 in the last world cup didn't have skinsuits, and one wore particularly baggy pants at that....you can wear stuff that's not skin tight and not excessively baggy and still kick ass without looking like a roadie clown, eg. MinnGNARR......leave the lycra for the doped up roadies and xc racer geeks....
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Was discussed before. Skinsuits are bad for sport promotion. Kid's will not like a sport that requires you to wear a condom. No new kids for the sport (contrary to what many think) are essential if it is to develop.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
If it's legal and it helps you get an edge then who cares. I was talking with Herndon once and he said when he was at Ft. Bill last year he wished he had a skinsuit just so he could stand up without getting knocked over by the wind. He said lots of people were switching over to them because the 40+ mph cross winds would catch any loose piece of clothing like a sail.
 

davet

Monkey
Jun 24, 2004
551
3
How about a few questions first..

what's the history behind not wearing them? Some kind of gentlemens agreement years ago? Who was the agreement between at the time?

Which courses would benefit? I would think that unless there's sustained high speed sections, or huge cross winds like at Ft. William they wouldn't be that much of an advantage.

Just how much of an advantage are they? Some say between 5 and 8 seconds at FW. Any hard testing done?
 

big dan

Chimp
Oct 12, 2007
82
1
Brisbane, Australia
While they dont look that great i can't understand why people would ban them. On fast open courses they would be a definite advantage.

there was something in dirt a while back about a team doing some testing and they were quicker.

As for turning people of the sport i really dontthink that would happen. Most people i know who do not have a knowledge of DH are actually surprised we wear baggy stuff. They assume it is cycling therefore we would wear the tight gear.
 

sriracha

Monkey
Jun 9, 2006
496
0
805
i'd rather see a ban on bmx'ers and fixy-hipsters wearing girlz jeanz.

oddly, neither of those industries seem to be crippled by emo-stylez.

maybe DH'ers should start wearing girlz jeans for improved aerodynamics and increased coolness factor.
 

mattmatt86

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2005
5,347
10
Bleedmore, Murderland
Some of my friends make fun of me if I show up for a ride/race with matching jersey and shorts. Bottom line is, when it comes to the "fashion" aspect of riding gear you're never going to please everyone.
 

bdamschen

Turbo Monkey
Nov 28, 2005
3,377
156
Spreckels, CA
what's the history behind not wearing them? Some kind of gentlemens agreement years ago?
It probably had something to do with the top pros realizing that even with a scorching fast race run, they still didn't look all that impressive in cold weather. :clue:
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
FWIW: Mark Weir uses a skinsuit when he races Super Ds as do other riders in such events. But he rides baggy Fox stuff when not racing.

Kind of interesting discussion. A lot of people on here would spend 500 bucks in shock upgrades to help them shave some seconds off their times but wouldn't be caught dead in a 80 bucks skinsuit that would do the same on a fast course. :confused:
Skinsuit=cheap speed on the right course. :imstupid:

And yes, you can wear them over protective gear. ;)
 

CBJ

year old fart
Mar 19, 2002
12,861
4,157
Copenhagen, Denmark
Looks are subjective and people can wear what they want but skin suits looks very uncomfortable and for that reasons I don't wish for the racers it becomes what they have to wear. To me this sport and even top level racing is about having fun and I can't see the skin suite helps the fun factor.

On a different note skinny jeans are cool!
 

big dan

Chimp
Oct 12, 2007
82
1
Brisbane, Australia
I think it is important to clarify that your average sport or expert racer probably isnt going to start racing in skins, its only really an option at the top level, ie. those who are top 80 at world cups and even then, only on the right course.

At the top level it is all about winning and if that requires a bad looking suit so be it.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
Shouldn't this be phrased, "should motogear be banned?"

It's a bicycle race, the competitors need to dress like bicycle racers.

Dressing up like a Redneck Clown does a whole lot to keep talented bike riders away from downhill. The whole sport looks like a halloween pagent. What's next, dressing up like Nascar Drivers?

Before downhill gets accepted by the mainstream (which it never will, nor does it need to be, we've been there, and done that ( it was called the mid-90's...and everyone was wearing skinsuits, btw)), it needs to get accepted by the general bike racing public. Baggy motogear is just so phenomenonally stupid looking and unprofessional looking to the rest of the cycling community...
 

bikerpunk98199

Turbo Monkey
Apr 24, 2005
1,313
0
the hood
Shouldn't this be phrased, "should motogear be banned?"

It's a bicycle race, the competitors need to dress like bicycle racers.

Baggy motogear is just so phenomenonally stupid looking and unprofessional looking to the rest of the cycling community...

What 'motogear' are you talking about? If your talking about like Troy Lee Stuff i see no problem with that. I do agree though that bagginess is very unprofessional and looks retarded. I do not think that to be excepted by the cycling community though we should start wearing lycra or spandex. Just not wear baggy shorts or shirt and more tightish for fitting shirts (that sounds extremely gay...). Look at trials, I would have to say they have it way worse than downhill/ freeride/ dirtjumpers they ride bikes with mostly no seats, funky gear ratios and rims that have been grinded with squeeky brakes. they are at the other end of the bike spechtrum: trials_______everything else_____ fixie hipsters.Don't Get me wrong I'm not picking on trials, I rode trials for quite a bit.
 

skinny mike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2005
6,415
0
come this fall, i plan to only race downhill in a skinsuit, on a 5" trail bike nonetheless. :cheers:

seriously, the sport is just a bunch of people trying to see who can ride a bicycle down a hill in the shortest amount of time. the sport is already ridiculous in the eyes of most people on earth, who the hell cares if they think we look ridiculous as well?
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,155
355
Roanoke, VA
What 'motogear' are you talking about? If your talking about like Troy Lee Stuff i see no problem with that. I do agree though that bagginess is very unprofessional and looks retarded. I do not think that to be excepted by the cycling community though we should start wearing lycra or spandex. Just not wear baggy shorts or shirt and more tightish for fitting shirts (that sounds extremely gay...).

Do you understand the meaning of the word "gay"?

It doesn't appear so... Yes, I am talking about TLD, or any other moto gear. It has no performance advantage, only detriments. The only conviecable exuse for baggy **** would be in training, where it would be cooler(talking about temperature), and could withstand crashing better, but for actual racing, against a clock, it is literally, retarded.

Retarded does not equal gay.
 
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NJMX835

Monkey
Feb 17, 2007
605
0
Highland Lakes NJ
Do you understand the meaning of the word "gay"?

It doesn't appear so... Yes, I am talking about TLD, or any other moto gear. It has no performance advantage, only detriments. The only conviecable exuse for baggy **** would be in training, where it would be cooler(talking about temperature), and could withstand crashing better, but for actual racing, against a clock, it is literally, retarded.

Retarded does not equal gay.
You're right, retarted does not equal gay, skinsuits = gay.

So you get your way & all the top pro's start wearing the fruit suits, do you really want to see all the 'weekend' racers wearing skinsuits like they where TLD or Royal gear now?

I think I may start wearing one just to show everyone there are consequences for this sort of action, you've been warned....
 

Alloy

Monkey
Aug 13, 2004
288
0
thousand oaks, ca
There's usually one guy in a skin suite at the local races... he never wins. One time I think Waylon pulled out a skin suit on a extremely windy day and won the race... most others were crashing because the wind. That was good strategy.

I say leave them be... If you're man enough to take the verbal abuse a skin suite brings you deserve the time advantage.
 

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
Was discussed before. Skinsuits are bad for sport promotion. Kid's will not like a sport that requires you to wear a condom. No new kids for the sport (contrary to what many think) are essential if it is to develop.
It is a good thing ski racers switched to wearing baggy clothing or that sport would be dead.....oh wait they all wear skinsuits. Your logic is way off. I just spent the last three days with a group of kids at a training camp. They had no problems wearing skin suits for training.

No one is going to get rich riding DH. This is not a debate about getting or losing sponsors(I would love to see actual proof from these people that say skinsuits scare away all the sponsors). You race to win and that is all that matters. If you are a true racer the advantage of wearing a skinsuit is a no brainer and something you would do. Why we do not have more riders wearing skin suits is mind boggling.

The Ft. William mens podium had no skin suits, the womens top two spots did. I would like to see someone logically deny that if Sam wore a skin suit he would have placed higher than fifth.

How many times do you finish 1 second out of first place before you would switch?
 

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
There's usually one guy in a skin suite at the local races... he never wins.

A skin suit alone is not going to make anyone a winner. It is just a tool to help the overall rider. You could almost compare skin suit vs. no skinsuit to the advantage of sticky tires or hard compound tires. One is going to give you an advantage, why not take that advantage?

Of all the choices you have to make training and setting up your bike, you make the decision based on the advantage it will give you in a race. Now when it comes to skin suits the advantage no longer matters it is how do I look.:crazy:
 

gemini2k

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2005
3,526
117
San Francisco
Wow, its amazing to see how many people here miss the point of this thread. "If its legal and makes u faster: do it!" That's NOT THE POINT. They obviously make you faster. Its the same question as whether or not to wear a visor on your full face. Obviously taking them off would make u faster, but you would look "literally retarded". The point is, if you make it illegal, then everyone looks cool, and nobody has a competitive advantage. Why would you want to make something as stupid as your clothing and element for competitive advantage? I mean, top racers are already tools of promotion, why make them look even more retarded by wearing skin suits. (p.s. people who aren't pros and wear TLD **** are literally retarded. Old tshirts and army surplus camo pants FTW) Rant over
 

skinny mike

Turbo Monkey
Jan 24, 2005
6,415
0
to me, if i was a sponsor and i watched this vid then i would be given the impression that professional mountain bikers are much more focused on looking good than they are about trying to go as fast as they can possibly go by using every legal option. sure, while i think that a skinsuit isn't the key to riders looking more professional, the fact that the pros are badmouthing something which is proven to be more aerodynamic, thus faster, shows that they lack professionalism.

plus i find it funny how many mountain bikers act pissy when someone asks them where the motor is on their downhill bike and yet they are dressed up just like they are about to race motocross.
 

iRider

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2008
5,648
3,089
You're right, retarted does not equal gay, skinsuits = gay.
Isn't the "rainbow" jersey gay too? :rofl:

So you get your way & all the top pro's start wearing the fruit suits, do you really want to see all the 'weekend' racers wearing skinsuits like they where TLD or Royal gear now?
Funny Troy Lee gear is mentioned so often in this thread. Didn't they make a flames skinsuit in the mid-90s that racers like Eric Carter used when he was on the Rotec team?

I think I may start wearing one just to show everyone there are consequences for this sort of action, you've been warned....
:stupid: Hehe, I was planning on the same thing. Using it just to piss the style police off.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I remember being at Sea Otter, Watching the Pro women. Thinking this is cool, these chicks are fast.... WHen all of a sudden there is a flash that goes by me. I thought what teh hell was that, Later I foundout it was Marla Streb sporting her skinsuit only win. I thought it was hot. If the guys want to wear them, go for it, if it is an advantage and it is leagal to use in a race, its your option if you want to take advantage of it.
 

bikerpunk98199

Turbo Monkey
Apr 24, 2005
1,313
0
the hood
Do you understand the meaning of the word "gay"?

It doesn't appear so... Yes, I am talking about TLD, or any other moto gear. It has no performance advantage, only detriments. The only conviecable exuse for baggy **** would be in training, where it would be cooler(talking about temperature), and could withstand crashing better, but for actual racing, against a clock, it is literally, retarded.

Retarded does not equal gay.
Do you mean in todays mtv society or in actual webster terms? I say gay b/c what i said had potential to sound homosexual... any ways. I don't see how it would be better for crashing my moto pants have more padding in them than baggy shorts or baggy camo type ****e. How is it 'retarded' to wear moto stuff for racing? if your talking about time wise some moto stuff is pretty tight to the skin, almost like a skin suit except not gay:monkeydance: