I'm a bit conflicted on the Mick Hannah tactic of binning off World Cup rounds to practice on one track that is local to you to try to grab the win.
About 10% of me is glad this didn't pay off, however he always comes across as such a good bloke that in his case I don't mind. He did look sour towards the end, though - as you'd expect having gone so singlemindedly for the one specific win.
Just finished watching,gutted for Mick and Tracey! Almost started shouting at the TV for Tracey to get back on her bike until i realised i was the only one awake in the house.
During the commentary Rob said that Danny might be leaving Mondraker any idea where he might be headed?
Looking forward to another episode of Wyn TV now.
Watching highlights on Eurosport. Apparently Hannah Tracey is pretty good 🙄
I'm a bit conflicted on the Mick Hannah tactic of binning off World Cup rounds to practice on one track that is local to you to try to grab the win.About 10% of me is glad this didn't pay off, however he always comes across as such a good bloke that in his case I don't mind. He did look sour towards the end, though - as you'd expect having gone so singlemindedly for the one specific win.
I did say the same to my wife as we watched it live, All the riders come across as decent people, but i did think he could have gone to the last round (if fit) and competed and perhaps got a podium?
A few downhillers have been criticizing of enduro riders turning up to venues and getting in unofficial practice but it happens in downhill to .
I see the point but a world champs in sight of where you grew up your going to try and give yourself the best chance
Enjoyed watching it, heart breaking for Minnar, I fancied him for the win.
I guess the top Women all wanted it a bit too much, another wrencher.
I'm not sure if it was the 11th hour involvement from RB but they didn't seem to have many cameras, Rob and Claudio had lots of time to fill, I know the track isn't the most exciting, but looked crap today. A Non-MTBer might want what all the fuss is about.
Possibly the camera positions, but I always think Cairns looks a bit uninspiring.
Today was no different.
I think 'cos it's all enclosed by the rainforest, there's no opportunity for long tracking shots as we get at some of the rounds. So it all feels a bit disconnected to me.
Not a bad race at all though. Aside from Minnaar's rear tyre.
Bruni a deserving winner, but Hill was run of the day for me - felt like a bit like his 2007 Worlds run as he was pinning it through the upper sections.
Bad luck Tahnee & Tracey.
A bit gutted about that result: I feel for Mick.
On Sam Hill: I think another advantage of running his Mega was it was almost certainly faster to accelerate than a DH bike, and on a relatively flat track, that would have made a difference. On a steeper track, this advantage would have been lessened.
Those of you that thought the BBC commentary was bad. You should have heard the eurosport attempt. "ooh look, a bit of air" "he's going well he's done a bit of a tail whip" "he's pedalling now to get some power down"
The commentator obviously had no idea what was going on.
Mick Hannah taking time off to session the hell out of the track obviously gave him a massive advantage and I'm kinda glad to see that he didn't get the win.
It would have been quite a hollow victory, imo.
A brillant exposure for Nukeproof, no so great for Cairns. Obviously there is an element of Sam Hill being incredibly gifted, but the track obviously doesn't warrant a big bike to be competitive at the top level.
That Nukeproof has (I believe) a 180mm Lyrik so it's not like it's an XC bike. If anything I think it just proves that modern Enduro bikes are great, and can mix it with DH bikes. And 29ers still suck 😛
Watching the red bull feed, it felt like a bit of an anticlimax. I agree, the footage wasn't as interesting as WC rounds and there wasn't really anything to discuss either. The winner won because he was slightly faster the whole way down the track.
Feel a bit sorry for Slick Mick though.
Superficial - 29er worked pretty well in Juniors. 😉
Anyone know what happened to Finn in the juniors?
Really didn't expect Bruno to pull that out of the bag. But kudos to him.
Was so hoping for SH to stay within the top 3. But still a real legend. Here's to the final leg of the EWS.
Gutted for Mick. Really wanted him to take it. 😥
Gutted for Greg too. The man should look into solid tyres...
The point being a 160mm rear 27.5 enduro bike was still competitive against 190mm 29er downhill bikes.
After being told by loads of punters at the start of the season that 29ers would dominate the field.
What was the mechanism of gregs flat? Could the 29er wheels be giving Greg more grief? Extra leverage on the sidewalls during hard cornering?
More likely Enve's new rims that they claim to almost eliminate pinch flats... not affecting others on the big wheels?
Not surprised by Sam's result as a) he's a beast b) he's comfortable on that bike - arguably more than a few who have chopped and changed bikes, and c) it's not the gnarliest of tracks. Doubt he would have chosen that bike for other courses. Delighted to see him back on a DH course, if not a DH bike.
Hill is just an amazing bike rider! He kinda made it for me, a lot of the rest of the day was a bit underwhelming as a spectacle. Having a pedally section influence the results of a show race seems a bit of a farce.
Apparently minaars spoke punched through his rim and that did for the tyre.
Wow - that's a lot of radial distortion for that to be possible!
Not a surprise a enduro bike did well when the course is essentially the same one ridden back in 96 and people got down it on far crapper bikes back then.
I thought the whole course was pretty disappointing. But then after the joke that was Fort Bill it seems the UCI don't care.
What was the mechanism of gregs flat? Could the 29er wheels be giving Greg more grief? Extra leverage on the sidewalls during hard cornering?
Yeah that's probably it mate.
Well, did he rip the tyre off the rim like I've seen a few riders do under hard cornering - or did he pinch flat?
Edit: Just read this, cheers.
Apparently minaars spoke punched through his rim and that did for the tyre.
Bad luck or nasty rim design then!
But then after the joke that was Fort Bill it seems the UCI don't care.
What was wrong with Fort Bill?
nickhit3 - Member
£10 says Minaar retires.
I'll take that bet, he was up for next year and loving being on a bike that fits him. Top fella and gutted for him
Tom_W1987 - Member
Well, did he rip the tyre off the rim like I've seen a few riders do under hard cornering - or did he pinch flat?
Yeah tyres are all good, Marshy gave me them after the race
Got to say I loved being here for the race, watched the last few come in with Adam & Gee with the rest of the GB guys, Everyone was gutted for Greg and stoked for Bruni.
Sam was a happy chap afterwards (well SRAM booked a bar out for an after party which was nice of them)
Didn't see any of the ladies after and it must have been after we all packed up that the result changed.
Course was a hard one really, not much room to spectate and a tough slog up so I stuck it out in the bar where we were making a lot of noise track side
Probably this bit.[img]What was wrong with Fort Bill?
[/img]
Oh and somebody asked about Juniors up there.
Finn Fluffed the rock garden exit and that was the time he lost.
The point being a 160mm rear 27.5 enduro bike was still competitive against 190mm 29er downhill bikes.
At a this particular venue. Let's not overstate it.
Yeah the other point is he is one of the best riders of all time, at his fittest and probably strongest who was super motivated to win at home.
On the mick and hollow Victory comments I do think think any of the riders I spoke to cared. There was aot of hope he could do it there.
As a fan of bikes, and racing in general, I managed about 20 minutes & turned it off.
Dull.
It wasn't great, but I thought that was more down to the coverage of the race being poor. The host broadcaster obviously wasn't at the same level of production as we are used to with Red Bull TV and the world cups.
On a general note of DH race coverage, they need to get live on board footage into the races or more cameras (both would be nice) to help fill in the blanks. It's not great when we have no idea what's happened in a racers run because they've come off on a bit of the track which is not covered. They also need to keep the split times up on screen (the 1st split is never shown until later in the run) so we can see how they are doing. All we have is the commentators trying to guess if someone is having a good run.
All we have is the commentators trying to guess if someone is having a good run.
They have the split times all available as they happen - it's on the Tissiot Live Page for the race, we were watching them all afternoon.
Red Bull have really stepped it up this year with things like the comparison on course and how far ahead of the time a rider is.
I guess lesson is get RB to do it next time.
At a this particular venue. Let's not overstate it.
But everyone has kept saying that 29ers are suited to less steep courses. 😆
Whenever they don't perform as expected, supporters shift the goalposts. 😀
Red Bull have really stepped it up this year with things like the comparison on course and how far ahead of the time a rider is.
Completely agree. That live timeline thing is very good as is the red green and amber section comparison they show at the finish line.
The sample size of 29ers in DH is too small to give us any conclusions yet (though I'm confident they won't disappear).
I cringe when I hear people say "well 29ers can't be that great 'cos Gwin won the WC series on 27".
He's Aaron ****ing Gwin, the most-dominant rider of his generation and soon to be the GOAT. We might never see a better DHer.
He's won in a bog at MSA and with no chain at Leogang, so I'm sure he can pull a few seconds back on a marginally slower wheel size.
When he gets a 29in Tues nobody else will ever win again (maybe).
I cringe when I hear people say "well 29ers can't be that great 'cos Gwin won the WC series on 27".
Just as much as I cringe when folks tell me I should be on a 29er cos I'm tall. 😆
It wasn't that long ago that every amateur downhiller was complaining about 27.5 wheels and saying they weren't going to catch on. It's all bikes so just chill.
Just as much as I cringe when folks tell me I should be on a 29er cos I'm tall.
It's only a matter of time.
It's only a matter of time.
It's not, I've had one...
It is, you haven't had the right one.
Managed to watch the replay without knowing the result. Fewer cameras than there were for last year's Cairns race which was a shame. Still really enjoyed it though - Worlds always bring surprises!
Couple of weird things to do with the coverage:
You could hear the commentator at the finish line say that Tracey Hannah was back at split 1 before we got to see it, which kind of removed the tension 🙁
On the intro to the mens startlist, you could hear Nigel Page commentating in the background - what channel was this for?
I think you don't often see the first split time until later in the run because depending or your starting position depends on the gap between riders. You're probably watching one rider finish whilst the next one is already well into their run.
[quote=AlexSimon ]
On the intro to the mens startlist, you could hear Nigel Page commentating in the background - what channel was this for?
BBC
as is the red green and amber section comparison they show at the finish line.
Not for me... I'm colour blind AF. 😀
Yep so at 30s gaps (most of the field) you would be getting split 1 about 3 riders back. They go to 1min gaps for the top 20 I think then 3min for the top 10, those are the only ones I'd expect to see full runs of. We could all see the massive timing screen live and the run on TV started after they hit that line
