Brook is out for the rest of the season to have shoulder surgery. I wouldn't be surprised to see Blenki on the podium the way he has been riding.1.Smith
2.Hill
3.Brooke
4.Minnaar
5.Gee
Brook is out for shoulder surgery...the competition is top notch right now!! Exciting time for WC action1.Smith
2.Hill
3.Brooke
4.Minnaar
5.Gee
Pretty sure this IS the last world cup.So watching the Specialized vid from World Champs, looks like Gwin is opting out of this one? He talked about hitting his shoulder and going home to have it checked out and only maybe doing the last two world cups.
Hafjell and Leogang are the last races of the season.Pretty sure this IS the last world cup.
Whoops, that's awesome!There is one more at Leogang dude.
unless he was physically beating them off the track and not just on the track, i dont see how that would apply.The faith angle is an added twist, and even though it's "just bike racing" you can't help but think about things like karma, etc.
I think Gwin's head is done. I suspect that he has little to no confidence at this point and just wants to crawl under a rock for a bit...after all, he is rock Jesus. Regardless of what he is saying, I have to think he regrets the decision he made, and whether it's bike related, the program or everything in between, I wonder if he would do it again if given the chance.
I recall reading as some point, (possibly stated by Stik?) that he had the opportunity to work with a bunch of friends and that influenced his decision. I'm not sure if that is true or not, but if so, I wonder how they are feeling about encouraging him to change a winning formula.
As usual, I am just a clueless speculator but it keeps me entertained..
Does Minnaar have a restraining order against you or does he just voluntarily let you swing from his nuts like that all the time? Maybe he uses it for training to stay focused under pain.It's pretty fascinating to see Gwin crap out so fast and completely immediately after moving to Specialized under the circumstances in which he did. The faith angle is an added twist, and even though it's "just bike racing" you can't help but think about things like karma, etc.
Anyway, given the pressure drop after last weekend, a stoked and relaxed Minnaar is gonna make everyone taste the rainbow in Hafjell.
Well, you could be right there, but like you say, we will never know...at least until Gwin retires and does a candid interview. Will be really interesting to see what he thinks about it all. Even good guys make mistakes and screw stuff up.Don't mind at all. You seem to be saying it's all about character. I think the point some of us are raising is that there are questions about Gwin's character given the circumstances of his departure from TWR, and those questions are surprising given his emphasis on faith. We will probably never know the real truth, but on the surface, leaving the way he did seems contrary to what you are saying.
First, I don't interpret any of the previous Gwin related comments on this thread as "hate", mainly just poking fun at whatever we can being the intraweb and all (e.g. Sam Hill's eyebrows, Stevie not wearing socks, Troy looks like he's 12, etc...)I don't get the gwin hate...
The dude seems to be a pretty friendly stand up dude who made a team switch when the discussed contract wasn't offered. He dominated a bunch of races. More power to him, and I hope to see him back to form at some point here. He obviously felt natural on the session, and obviously doesn't on the demo. Specialized and Gwin will figure it out, build a new bike for him or whatever, and he'll be back to winning races.
In the mean time, everybody else gets to enjoy some long deserved time in the spotlight winning or podiuming races they wouldn't normally have won now that the top guy is figuring **** out. Its win win - specialized will have to come out with new DH bike so everybody stops complaining about stays, Gwin will be back on form dominating the race circuit, and steve smith and gee atherton, who have been working so hard for some wins finally get to have a few while Gwin is on a break.
To be fair, Sam Hill's reign of domination started ending when he switched bikes too (to specialized no less). I'd be really curious to see one of these riders stay on the same brand and see what happens.I also think it's laughably presumptious to assume he would still be winning a lot of races if he was still with Trek,Hell, Gwin got straight up beat last year at the French course, injury free (as far as I know anyway) and on the Session.
<-full retard.This thread has gone full retard.
Never go full retard.
didn't sam hill continue his dominance on the unwinable bike for another year, before succumbing to injury and not coming back at the same level as his peers?To be fair, Sam Hill's reign of domination started ending when he switched bikes too (to specialized no less). I'd be really curious to see one of these riders stay on the same brand and see what happens.
kind of? he won the overall, but it was pretty close. it came down to the final race, I think he only won two races that season and the points race was pretty tight. That was also the year peaty took champs. Not nearly the same dominance that he had on the sunday.didn't sam hill continue his dominance on the unwinable bike for another year, before succumbing to injury and not coming back at the same level as his peers?
Also he smoked everyone in qualis in andorra without a chain and again at MSA in both qualis and finals. He kind of smoked them at schladders to. He did however almost die hucking of the ski slope in andorra in finals.kind of? he won the overall, but it was pretty close. it came down to the final race, I think he only won two races that season and the points race was pretty tight. That was also the year peaty took champs. Not nearly the same dominance that he had on the sunday.