[Closed] Gravity Enduro's

Maybe the full face debate wouldn't be so feisty if more manufacturers made enduro specific helmets

Wonder if Casco Vipers are ok as FF? Do you know Steve?

They are ok on ups but if hot then unclip the chin guard and clip to the hydro pack chest strap until the next DH stage and slot back in to the helmet

Great compromise. Maybe they can be a approached as a sponsor 🙂

Not cheap either though

Having seen the damage caused by the Urge one when someone stoved their head into the ground & the chin bar tried to remove his lower lip, i'll stick with a proper FF.

I managed to wear it flat out for 50 minutes on the Mega, i'm sure I can cope for 5 minutes on a GE stage. Cheap pisspot for the transitions, job done.

Taz - Member
Wonder if Casco Vipers are ok as FF?

Assuming he'll be running to DH-style rules (which is where the UCI looks to be going) - no

Full face helmet will be compulsary on stages and a helmet must be worn at all times on transitions.
The transition route will also be monitored in 2013, no short cutting of the loop, especially not being uplifted!
Time penalties will be applied for late starters on stages and any cheating on stages, as in round 3, will result in instant DQ.
We have been pretty leniant for the first 2 years, but some people have pushed my patience this year.
The Industry backing for 2013 is amazing, we have support sponsors already and should have news on title sponsor very shortly. Category sponsorship will be open soon to.
The futures bright, the futures Gravity Enduro

Thought it was a goner. Pleased it's not. Will buy a FF if it's a requirement and I should be buying one anyway.

One other thing:
I WANT A T SHIRT! so I can out-gnar my mates in the pub.
Carry on.

Hob Nob - Is the urge not a 'normal' FF with a large breathing gap up front?

What tried to take his lip off. Was it a bad fitting helmet?

Was ponderering getting the Archi Enduro (think that is the name) so any details you have may alter that decison 😕

Nah it's a skinnier design too. See the report here: http://forums.mtbr.com/utah/crash-report-urge-archi-enduro-helmet-795542.html

Bloody hell. Ouch

Hob Nob / Legend - thanks for the heads up

Bluegrass Brave now making it's way to the top of the list

Remember that there's nothing to stop you removing any mesh/foam in the mouth-piece of a helmet to help get air in. Of course, there's a chance that mud/bugs/shit will get in too but them's the breaks

Wow not one of them then!

For 31 euros you can enter the Super Enduro races, which for Finale included a street race on the Saturday night, followed by 50k of the best trails I've ever ridden. Okay, you need a racing licence, but with a cheap flight and accommodation its probably not much more expensive than one of the UK ones all in when you factor in they're about £60 and travel in the UK is so damn expensive!

Heres a great vid of the other weekend to give a flavour of it. In my mind they're just in a different league to the UK series.

Are there any other reports of those archi enduros going? That's the only one I've ever heard about. Whereas I've heard and seen lots of normal full faces going at the chin too.

Is a Met Parachute classed as a fullface lid or not?

I just returned an archi enduro to crc. On paper its just what i wanted but it was actually very uncomfortable and felt a bit cheap and flimsy i also looked a dick in it

What's the point in having to wear a helmet on transition stages in an event like this? It's ridiculous, how stupid would you have to be to hurt yourself cycling uphill? health and safety gone mad.

rompinrita - Member
Is a Met Parachute classed as a fullface lid or not?

I wouldn't have thought so.

I've done a few "gravity" enduros in the past and with the exception of one at Innerleithen I've felt comfortable racing in an XC lid.

If rule changes stipulate FF helmets and helmets to be worn on transitions I'd have to think seriously about entering any more in the future. 😐

What's the point in having to wear a helmet on transition stages in an event like this? It's ridiculous, how stupid would you have to be to hurt yourself cycling uphill? health and safety gone mad.

Face/Palm

Not going to reopen the helmet debate here but are all transitions up hill? Several will be on fast fireoads, singletrack etc. Would you not wear a lid for riding those normally? It's normal policy to wear a lid while riding in an event. Not H&S gone mad just normal.

I've done a few "gravity" enduros in the past and with the exception of one at Innerleithen I've felt comfortable racing in an XC lid.

So, these are now just a DH race with some pedalling?
Shame.

I didn't notice riding with full face and an XC lid on a 50k ride with 1600m climbing in 25 degrees - it really wasn't all that bad, and made the descents more reassuring

...its what they've done on the continent for ages and those are the best races around?

wrecker - Member
So, these are now just a DH race with some pedalling?
Shame.

No absolutely not. Inners had the most elevation but went as follows (but possibly not in this order)

S1 - Cresta DH track
S2 - Alistair Lees Enduro track. Top half is fairly dhish but then gradually flattened right out before a short sharp climb towards the end
S3 - fast then flat and pedally, then steep, then flat, then fireroad, then steep, then flat, then steep, etc 🙂
S4 - down (but not dh bike worthy), then very pedally section of Inners Red, followed by the lower part of an old dh track
S5 - Inners 'tunnel' which is fast but fairly flat, 'new luge' with race links which is hardly wild, fire road sprint/soul destroyer, Jane's Lane (lovely non-dh bike singletrack), then the end of the Inners red XC.

The only stage that would've been fast on a dh bike is S1, the rest would've been horrid!!

Legend there was a touch of Future Tense in there 🙂 If the pedaling remains then the Full Face becomes less pleasant.

That sounds ace legend. The kind of thing we all enjoy riding. Without full face helmets.

Mike, Steve has been promising that fitness will be tested even more this year....... mind you that could just be due to oxygen restricting helmets 😉

legend - Member
Mike, Steve has been promising that fitness will be tested even more this year....... mind you that could just be due to oxygen restricting helmets

That and the accurate timing 😉

Looks like it's going to be interesting. I think the local events like the Pearce ones may be the winners as trapsing up and down the country for a series expensive.

yeah there's no way I could do the full series, probably just Inners, Hamsterley and maybe Eastridge. Plus the Inners winter races, anything that pops up north of the border (which currently stands at nothing)

Parr - Member
Time penalties will be applied for late starters on stages

Surely the "penalty" is simply that the clock starts ticking at a rider's predefined start time? Or isn't it predefined start times? (sorry, don't know UKGE setup).

Looks like it's going to be interesting. I think the local events like the Pearce ones may be the winners as trapsing up and down the country for a series expensive.

That's the other thing that's putting me off for next year, it gets expensive in both time and money taking part in a national series. Local races would be great but I think the biggest hurdle in my locality would be finding a venue.

mikewsmith, eff off with your facepalm.

If there is a downhill transition then can't people (all responsible adults after all) make their own decisions as to their personal safety ie keep their FF helmet on, rather than having to force unnecessary H and S bullshit onto them for the great majority of the transitions which will be uphill and slow?
I've been mtbing for over a decade and have never seen anyone manage to headbutt anything while riding uphill.

I saw a couple at GT a while back cycling uphill in open face helmets with full face ones strapped to their backs and it really was a wtf moment. I thought at the time 'only at Glentress' but it seems I was wrong.

Spaceman, if you are cycling in a race, you are going to have to wear a helmet, whether its uphill or downhill. The transition is still part of the race. Do you know of any UK cycle race that you dont have to wear a helmet??
I do agree that the type of helmet you use should be your decision, but if the organisers say you have to wear FF, and the event is something I want to do, then I'll just have to put up with it.

For 31 euros you can enter the Super Enduro races, which for Finale included a street race on the Saturday night, followed by 50k of the best trails I've ever ridden.

Agreed - by far the best event I have ever taken part in. Enrico and his team have absolutely nailed the format.

Are there any other reports of those archi enduros going? That's the only one I've ever heard about.

I think that's a pretty one sided report and speaking to several riders, we think his helmet actually was badly fitted, hence it moving round. I have an Archi Enduro and a Down-o-Matic - both are really solid fit and the only way it could rotate on his head is if he hasn't fitted it right. But heaven forbid someone should paint a balanced view on the internets......... 😉

So for a none FF wearing rider who's never ridden a Gravity Enduro event before what would THE event to attend next year as an introduction?

The link to the Tweedlove POC King and Queen Of the Hill looks good.

I take your point Superfli but would still have to disagree.

It's obviously a no brainer that you wear a full face helmet when racing at high speed downhill, just seems idiotic that you would have to carry a separate helmet only for cycling generally uphill, as no one will be happy wearing a full face cycling uphill for any length of time.
So you then have to go to the trouble of carrying an open face helmet on your back while racing downhill at speed, I'd say this was more likely to cause a serious accident than cycling uphill without a helmet on. If the helmet is poorly attached and comes loose or slips it could interfere with bike control or get caught in back wheel. Also if you crash there will be an awkward shaped object on your back which could increase the chance of injury. I know these risks are small but still more likely to be a factor in a serious injury than cycling uphill bare-headed.

superfli - Member

Do you know of any UK cycle race that you dont have to wear a helmet??

Every downhill race without an uplift! Always people riding up with their helmets attached to the bike.

Also many existing enduros- it's hardly a new idea. At the ones I've done, everyone who chose a fullface was riding the transitions without helmets, and no reason not to. More likely to trip in the car park than fall off on the climbs.

the trip up is not part if the race in a dh event though.
not wearing one on enduro transition, does this not affect the race organisers liability? I have seen riders not wearing them, but not sure how the organisers would take it.

Spaceman. It the way it is, no point bitching about it.

I think Superfli has nailed it. Must be insurance implications as the linking stages are part of the 'race'.

TBH if the rules say you have to wear a helemt then you either wear a helmet or you don't enter. Surely it is as simple as that?

Anyone use a Bluegrass Brave?

If so how do you rate them and how do they size up. My head in 58cm which is top of medium / bottom of Large.

Thanks

Must be insurance implications as the linking stages are part of the 'race'.

I'd imagine so. Most organisers are riders - it's the risk averse landowners and insurers that create the extra restrictions.

As you've said - them's the rules. Either take part or don't. But don't whinge about something you can't change.

andyrm - Member

As you've said - them's the rules. Either take part or don't. But don't whinge about something you can't change.

The BC rules are not yet issued- Steve's made it the rules for his series- which is as it should be, since every event is different, and the organisers are best placed to judge it. Frankly, he's selling out rounds so I reckon he can afford to introduce an unpopular rule that'll stop people from racing.

But for everything else, it's not yet the rules, and it's absolutely something that can still be influenced, so saying "Stop whining, there's nothing you can do about it" is daft.

When you look at succesful high profile events, like the tweedlove enduro, and see how unfit a fullface helmet would have been for some of the stages, it's kind of unmissable that there's a problem with blanket rules.

Pretty sure wearing helmets between stages was mandatory at the 2011 and 2012 Gravity Enduro series, but many people (me included) didn't stick to the rules, don't know of anyone that was penalised.

Seems like there`s not really a helmet designed specifically for this (pretty new) sport (apart from the urge ...and that maybe flawed?)
The other thing with full face helmets is the debatable possibility of causing more pressure/damage to the neck in a crash, maybe leading to possible use of neck protectors and the pros and cons of them etc etc.
Where is the line drawn?
Some main things that attracted me back to competing again was the simplicity of the sport and options to chose what you want to ride in/on, making it a really fun weekend.
Personally, I feel fine in an open face helmet and I used to ride mx in an open face (mostly)!
Some helmets back then (arai/shoe) had detachable chin/face guards and they seemed pretty tough.
Ok, that was a long time ago, but I would have thought that type of design would be more suitable for this sport ...maybe?

I rode 3 of the UK gravity enduro series this year. I started wearing one of these :

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=25068

It felt like too much of a penalty on the sections with fireroad sprints though (i'm not that fit and I was struggling to breathe.

So I switched to a met parachute, but I felt outright frightened in that some of the time, especially dyfi.

I'm glad that proper full face is compulsory next year, everyone will be in the same position and I wont be tempted to run a ridiculous, unsuitable helmet

looks like a winter event from the enduro 1 team

We might have a possibility of running a 'Fun' New Year winter enduro for the 6th January at Aldershot, Hants. Places will be limited to 120 riders only as we need an early finish and there will be fun prizes for winners of each category as this won't count towards the 2013 series.

let carlos know you are interested here

So, these are now just a DH race with some pedalling?
Shame.

Hummmm, me think you should ride more DH, or more enduro, or more of both.
Enduro comes mainly from around here. It's meant to represent the spirit of mountain biking (aka riding your bike off road on mountain trails). So you need to be fit and be able to "shred the gnar" to the power of sick. Hence the timed stage and timed cut liaison and the no reece rule. When you ride with your mate, you ride up all the way (fitness) and them you "race" them to the bottom of the hill through a very techy, twisty rocky and steep trail (the gnar thing). So enduro (why the gravity) are supposed to be something very different to DH and XC. But hey they are so last year. Wait until XMB start to get fashionable ;-).

juan - Member

So enduro (why the gravity)

Because of round-a-muddy-field-racing pinching the name and refusing to give it back.