[dhr-racer]

i was reading though an old mag today from the early 2000's and it was an article about dh racing. it went on about trek and specialized dropping there teams, giant planning on scaling back and major trade teams being a thing of the past. this was after 2-3 years of downhill being the biggest thing. racing was dead

about 10 years later its back, once again huge advancements have been made, riders are making cash from big purse's and big sponsors again and big companys are back with teams full of talented riders....

is this just a bubble, or is this something thats going to grow bigger then it ever has?

 

[Spahman]

As long as the sport continues to be more accessible.. I don't see it going anywhere.

Bike parks are popping up everywhere! I'm sure its here to stay

 

[Racebike]

Sport disciplines experience highs and lows, like the economy. That seems like the way of things.

In 4 years time, perhaps sponsors and a lot of the people running bikeparks etc. may look elsewhere for another sport / another job / another challenge and DH riding / racing might experience a dip.

But it will bounce back, like it has before.

I may be wrong, but there seems to be a kind of "life cycle" for most sports, well, unless the sport sucks.

 

[FlipFantasia]

na, hucks to flat and super monsters are definitely coming back in a couple of years......

 

[Racebike]

......hucks to flat and super monsters are definitely coming back in a couple of years......

That would fall under the "sucks" category then.

 

[Ithnu]

The DH high has started during an economy low. My guess is that it will grow much more in the next few years as the global economy recovers. And after that, hopefully it stays. Skateboarding came and went in the 80s, then the resurgence in the 90s made it a permanent sport. Side note, why is it not an Olympic sport yet? 1/2 pipe snowboarding is and its roots are skateboarding.

I was not involved in DH/FR when it died off before, but my friends who were say it started with the race scene fading. I had just started hearing about DH and suddenly it seemed to be gone. But as long as a good race scene exists so will all other big bike type shenanigans.

 

[MDJ]

The first time around DH was the hot new Xtreme sport featured in Mt. Dew commercials. Everybody wanted to get in just like all the kooks who started snowboarding when that took off.

One of the reasons it died out before (beyond the sponsors going away - I'm talking about the riders) is because how stupid the sport became. Everyone was racing to build 50 lb bikes with 4.5 Gazzo tires, Monster Ts and seats off their Motos. Buy a video from back then and all you see are hucks and straightlining down a pumice covered mountain. Lame.

All of the kooks of the day rode their beasts with full armor around on the streets jumping curbs. It was embarassing. Also, the trails at the time were lame - still mostly fireroads to singletrack with no jumps, berms or good features. I left the sport along with a lot of other people I know.

I think it's a little different now. The sport and technology have matured and the trails/parks are getting better and more progressive all of the time. There will certainly be ebbs and flows but I think it's here to stay now and should keep growing

 

[ianjenn]

The first time around DH was the hot new Xtreme sport featured in Mt. Dew commercials. Everybody wanted to get in just like all the kooks who started snowboarding when that took off.

One of the reasons it died out before (beyond the sponsors going away - I'm talking about the riders) is because how stupid the sport became. Everyone was racing to build 50 lb bikes with 4.5 Gazzo tires, Monster Ts and seats off their Motos. Buy a video from back then and all you see are hucks and straightlining down a pumice covered mountain. Lame.

All of the kooks of the day rode their beasts with full armor around on the streets jumping curbs. It was embarassing. Also, the trails at the time were lame - still mostly fireroads to singletrack with no jumps, berms or good features. I left the sport along with a lot of other people I know.

I think it's a little different now. The sport and technology have matured and the trails/parks are getting better and more progressive all of the time. There will certainly be ebbs and flows but I think it's here to stay now and should keep growing

Not sure where you are riding but the trails here have been the same since around 99' and they are still sketchy!

But again there was only racers in this area back then so that may explain itself.

 

[FullMonty]

I hope so. As long as we don't go back to the days of stupid elevated wood structures and 15'-20' hucks to flat landings (thank you Dangerous Dan,) that the North Shore seemed to propagate throughout the world (sorry everyone!) we won't need 50 lbs. bikes to survive that crap.

 

[stiksandstones]

You can blame Lance for the first big bubble bursting. When the big guys started leaving (Trek with Ronning and Sharples, Giant World Team with myles, warner, rune, etc...Specialized with spaniards, llanes, etc...) It is when Lance started winning the tour, all eyes were on road bike sales.

I don't think you will see the salaries of the mid 90's for a long time, if ever (Top guys making $500k and many top chicks making $100+).

 

[John Jameson]

^^^ what he said. Americans are so fickle in our choosing of whats popular. How popular was road biking in the US pre-Lance? You had the hardcores and thats it. Now, every corner I go around has a fat-ass d-bag in a Postal/Discovery/Astana jersey creeping down the road. Thank Lance and his copious amounts of HGH for shifting the spotlight off dh (and mountain biking in general for that matter).

 

[SuPaFlY]

look at it this way. In 50 years when winter is just a fond memory, how will resorts keep money coming in? Exactly, so when were all old farts crapping out pants, most people will have a rig in their garage. And racing isnt back to pre 2000's it was massive in the early 90's, and tapered off thanks to Norba, lack of sponsors, accessibility, the closing of mammoth, and big bear, and roadie lust. Its coming back tho, thank god!

 

[gemini2k]

Now, every corner I go around has a fat-ass d-bag in a Postal/Discovery/Astana jersey creeping down the road. Thank Lance and his copious amounts of HGH for shifting the spotlight off dh (and mountain biking in general for that matter).

Am I the only asshole, who when he sees some roadie wearing the polka-dot red and white jersey yells: (no matter the setting) "Hey it's the king of the mountains!!!"

Which is VERY often here in Socal

 

[dhr-racer]

Am I the only asshole, who when he sees some roadie wearing the polka-dot red and white jersey yells: (no matter the setting) "Hey it's the king of the mountains!!!"

Which is VERY often here in Socal

the owner of the shop i used to work for had a full rudy project penis helmet for TT that i saw him riding with by himself one day with the attachable sunglasses and all......... when i asked him why he said quite rudly.... i was on my tt bike so i needed my tt helmet........ i just shook my head

 

[Steve M]

Pretty much every sport like this (bmx, skating, snowboarding, etc) has seen a similar kind of life cycle - first of all it's the original inventors/innovators that do it for a few years before anybody takes notice, then all of a sudden people latch onto it, big sponsors get on board and there is tons of money in it all. After a few years of this however, the sport gets lame because it ends up being so commercial, trendy and no longer new/interesting/cool, and the trendwhores disappear taking the commercial/sponsorship dollars with them. "Professionals" struggle to make a living, then over the course of a few years, the die-hards keep at it and eventually build the sport back up on a more stable, self-sustaining economic base. At this point, professionals are back to making some kind of a living out of it, the fad element has disappeared, and the top level of the sport starts to really boom and progress at a pretty ridiculous rate.

For anyone who's interested, read The Ride of My Life by Mat Hoffman. In addition to being one of the most ****ing insane, hilarious books I've ever read, it has a good documentation of BMX going through exactly that cycle.

 

[Pslide]

I'd agree with Socket. The first time around the boom was largely around the hype of a new extreme sport. This time around racing has not come back because of hype or big money, in fact there is a distinct lack of big money now. Instead, folks are working hard to put races on because they love the sport. I think there is a much stronger backbone to the sport now than back then.

 

[yopaulie]

Pretty much every sport like this (bmx, skating, snowboarding, etc) has seen a similar kind of life cycle - first of all it's the original inventors/innovators that do it for a few years before anybody takes notice, then all of a sudden people latch onto it, big sponsors get on board and there is tons of money in it all. After a few years of this however, the sport gets lame because it ends up being so commercial, trendy and no longer new/interesting/cool, and the trendwhores disappear taking the commercial/sponsorship dollars with them. "Professionals" struggle to make a living, then over the course of a few years, the die-hards keep at it and eventually build the sport back up on a more stable, self-sustaining economic base. At this point, professionals are back to making some kind of a living out of it, the fad element has disappeared, and the top level of the sport starts to really boom and progress at a pretty ridiculous rate.

For anyone who's interested, read The Ride of My Life by Mat Hoffman. In addition to being one of the most ****ing insane, hilarious books I've ever read, it has a good documentation of BMX going through exactly that cycle.

I couldn't agree more. I would also add that now the people DHing(Most of them) are doing it because they love it not because they want to LOOK cool and hip.

 

[jonKranked]

Downhill is dead.

Long live downhill!

 

[Big J]

Am I the only asshole, who when he sees some roadie wearing the polka-dot red and white jersey yells: (no matter the setting) "Hey it's the king of the mountains!!!"

Which is VERY often here in Socal

lol...yes you are....make sure you make the green light otherwise they'll strangle you w/ their spandex.

J

 

[bizutch]

The "Popularity" of the sport and the income scales that chase them are not the result of anything about the sport itself. Popularity is driven by media. Media creates advertising opportunities. Advertising creates desire. Desire drives sales. Sales have a ceiling. We hit that ceiling, which was a pretty small ceiling. Media realized it quickly and withdrew. Everything else was a trickle down effect.

The reason for the "revival" of DH is again media. This time it's online media driving the popularity. The scale of the drive is smaller this time around in a sense, but spread far quicker! Racers are getting paid again, but this time mostly on the international level and that is at a lower pay scale than the prior cycle, BUT I'm willing to say a larger amount of money than the previous cycle. It's just spread to more teams than ever before. The few most elite riders are all still in the triple digits. But in this cycle, there will most likely be more middle tier riders earning a somewhat reasonable income.

One acquantance was offered a factory ride with a $10k salary with all expenses covered during the last cycle. During this cycle, I'm guessing he might get $20k. Not much but when all your travel, food, lodging, clothing, etc is paid for...it's a good payday for 9 months of work.

 

[MDJ]

Not sure where you are riding but the trails here have been the same since around 99' and they are still sketchy!

But again there was only racers in this area back then so that may explain itself.

Yeah, I heard the trails still suck down there.

 

[GoodbyePorkPie]

DH 4eva bro

The heady days of the 90s maybe gone but its been going from strength to strength, 2010 should rock Chamery is back Worlds at Mt St Anne can't wait!

Worlds been won on Flats and Peaty won this year its def on the up

Saying that the US needs to get its **** together lol..

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

DH 4eva bro

The heady days of the 90s maybe gone but its been going from strength to strength, 2010 should rock Chamery is back Worlds at Mt St Anne can't wait!

Worlds been won on Flats and Peaty won this year its def on the up

Saying that the US needs to get its **** together lol..

It COULD happen...yeah, maybe. We're trying to claw our way back from the dark corner of the closet that we've been cast into for several-to-many years now.

Yes, NASCAR...I'm looking at you!!!

 

[GoodbyePorkPie]

It COULD happen...yeah, maybe. We're trying to claw our way back from the dark corner of the closet that we've been cast into for several-to-many years now.

Yes, NASCAR...I'm looking at you!!!

Hope so we need a strong US not just the odd one who makes it onto the WC

More working together to attract sponsors back, seem like too much fighting against each other and not enough whats good for the sport instead of whats good for me, put the hand up not out, too many excuses blaming all sorts of factors.

When ya got one of the richest countries, just need to find solutions and get the base right again and it will come and the talent will rise through again with the right attitudes and attraction for big sponsors.

Getting rid of skin suits was a good start, that's another reason DH is on the rise lol.

Euro's have such a can do work together attitude, still not easy but they get it done, and no blaming and excuses.

Would love to see the ranks fill with US riders again like the old days where Tomac, Palmer, Rockwell, Cully, Lopes and others dominated, and more US women too, often forgotten but there;s another whole 50% market here to attract business and potential sponsorship exposure often undervalued, plus more US riders helps raises everyone's game, ya got the talent just need focus and good people and a strong serious domestic MTB series like the 80s and 90s.

Bring it back

 

[rosenamedpoop]

There is a lot of talk here of resurgence happening now...

From some guys that have been involved for the last two decades, what elements of current DH do you see as evidence of resurgence? Stik?






.

 

[stiksandstones]

There is a lot of talk here of resurgence happening now...

From some guys that have been involved for the last two decades, what elements of current DH do you see as evidence of resurgence? Stik?

I have been in the race scene since 86'ish (going to puerco DH's, Rockhoppers, mammoth 'worlds', etc...) and as has been said many times here, the mid 90's were the sports peak. Peak in the way of athletes making real livings (men and women by the dozens making six figures), peak in the way of media exposure in main stream print media and on television, all of this was huge for the sport while bike companies were selling VERY little DH specific bicycles, it was all fueled by what we have all said in here as well-that it was something new, 'extreme' etc... agencies all wanted a piece of this new sport.

You ask what elements would prove evidence of a resurgence...well, someone like Sam Blenkinsop (a rare podium appearance rider and seemingly pretty low on the marketing capability totem pole) rumored to have landed a pretty decent financial deal with lapierre is a good guage of things happening. Also some of the high end bicycle companies, like an Intense Cycles having record sales is another good gauge, and there are other companies selling record numbers of DH specific bikes. But for us race fans, it has not really translated into the days of yesteryear with the high salaries, high prize payout at events, numerous numbers of events, promoters PAYING riders just to show up, live TV coverage all the time (yes we have freecaster.tv and that is tremendous), articles on certain athletes on main stream websites and magazines/newspapers, I mean, USATODAY was doing race results and mini interviews from ALL the norba nationals back in the day for an example. Hell, Promoters were paying ME to come to euro events (Bercy Indoor events and Salt Mine races).

If you guage it by money made and exposure, we are not having a huge resurgence...but if you guage it by quality of bikes/components, 'some' better pricing on DH bikes, cooler places to ride, better race tracks, fun factor, then I think you might have a case?

The OP asked if DH will stay around, well, it never really left ya know. Just compared to what it was it may have seemed like it. I compare things in the last couple years to the way it was before the first big boom, where most of the people doing DH did it because they LOVED it, the high paying days created an enviroment where it seemed like people just became paycheck riders, just doing it because they could.

And if you ever think DH stuff tanked, try poking around motocross right now. I am in that scene a bit doing photos and that bubble has bursted and left sh1t all over the place.

 

[rosenamedpoop]

^^ Thanks Stik

I wasn't following DH until about '99 and wasn't racing until about '01... I hear all the time about the golden days of DH, but I really wasn't a part of it. It's great to hear from somebody like you what was what.

Do you think DH racing is going to benefit from the growing pains it's gone through? More industry maturity? Or bottom-line business as usual?





.

 

[cecil]

imo, bikes are better, trails are better, more lift access resorts opening every season. if you want to race you can do it way cheaper than mx

 

[Lelandjt]

Racing died down because of reduced sponsorship money. There weren't many (really any) bike parks or DH shuttling areas so the whole sport died with it. A lot of mountains would hold a race but that was the only time all year that they ran the lifts for bikes. Even mountains that allowed lift accessed riding (Mt. Snow) only had XCish trails to ride except for race weekends. DH bikes were also rarer, more expensive, and mechanically fickle.
Now there are TONS of places to ride a full-on DH bike. There's lots of cheap and used rigs available and the bikes require much less maintenance so new riders don't get turned off so easily. The "good old days" of DH were more old than good. This is the golden era.