Do StW posters not like Downhill ?

I'm pretty sure, quite a lot of stw posters don't even ride bikes, let alone watch DH ?

Not many. Most see the forum as somewhere to centre left to very left middle class people to talk politics. If your luck there is some gravel. It’s like the way the magazine is going unfortunately.

I’m looking forward to it. I hope tannee can catch pompom for the win. I don’t think we are likely to see a men’s winner this year. It’s unlikely Hatton will retain as that happens so rarely and I don’t see who else could. One or 2 in the top 10 is my best forecast

I agree that i am surprised across cycling media in general that there isn’t more on Heather Wilson, what a star!

But, jeez it’s hard to get into it this year as it’s so hard to find where to watch it. Currently watching teh women’s WChamps, and the coverage on this is awful. You get about 20 seconds of each run - 5 secs of the top and 15 secs of the end of the run. Utter shite.

The demographic here tends to middle-aged middle class men I believe.  🙂  A young mans sport really

DH is the only mountainbiking type thing that makes anything like decent telly.  Its the only one I will watch but I have no passion for it.

Men’s DH is live at 14:30 on discovery+. That’s where I have been enjoying the season so far. It’s less than a couple of pints a month

It's obviously cheating just riding downhill. If you don't suffer riding your bike up the hill, it doesn't count. Also, many of those so called "professionals" look very unkempt, long scruffy hair and they look like they're wearing their pajamas. Bet most of them don't even own a tie.

I'm watching it right now. I've seen almost every race since the Freecaster days and before that it was Sprung and Earthed.

I don't talk about it on here because it's all slippers, pizza ovens and gravel bikes.

We’re all over on Pinkbike.
(Ranting about the coverage)

Is it on BBC? I can't find it on iPlayer?

I used to be an F1 petrolhead (been to Silverstone, would watch all the races) until it disappeared behind a paywall and the free coverage was crap.

Same with DH - I've had loads of DH bikes, rode Les Arc and Morzine many times, been going to Fort William WCDH for many years and then it went behind a paywall and/or the coverage became crap.

These interests aren't the centre of my world so as soon as it's becomes even slightly more difficult than it was then "I'm out"

It's on Red Button, as opposed to iPlayer, which is a bit unhelpful IMHO.

Country listings

I just watched the womens race on Tiz. So far the mens race is obscured by a UCI screensaver.

It's on the BBC red button but not until later tonight.

We went out early to ride Cutgate so we would be back in time to watch the women's and the men's on Discovery +

I'm probably not the norm on here.  Ride bikes, like DH and a women

I like riding down hills

They make watching the live DH so difficult I've stopped bothering since the red bull TV days. Plus the coverage is usually not that great, I get that it's hard to film the whole course but 2 minutes of a 5 minute run showing the same jump or section of woods with that awful chainsaw background that the fans there seem to think is the thing to do just makes it a little boring, especially if conditions are good.

I think a lot on here are “wheels on the ground” riders and don’t really relate to it.

I don’t talk about it on here because it’s all slippers, pizza ovens and gravel bikes

To be fair the pros could ride a gravel bike down the DH courses a lot faster than the AVG STWer could ride down the course on a DH rig

Part of the problem watching downhill for many of us over-the-hill riders is it makes us feel useless and envious… so we turn our heads and pretend it doesn’t exist ?

...it makes us feel useless and envious… so we turn our heads and pretend it doesn’t exist ?

That's what I do with all of the 'What should I do with all this money?' threads on here.

I used to follow DH, not since it's paywalled though. I'm very much a wheels on the ground rider, not that I ride much.....left wing politics and pizza ovens are far more my kind of thing.

Edit: I'm watching via BBC website now....commentary....good lordy.

I'm getting the men's live on the BBC iPlayer.

Anyone got a link to the right page on iPlayer? Can't find it anywhere.

Edit: I'm in. Had to Google it. The navigation in the site is worse than Red Bull used to be .

I find it boring to watch...last 30 seconds of the run might be something but generally, it is boring as it is 1 rider and some shots of bits of the track. I find the xc more interesting as there are fights for positions all along the way - from lead right down to last...seems to be far more interesting to watch. All highly skilled riders (they all have to be to compete at that level - in any discipline), but watching just doesn't interest me.

I find it dull to watch live or on a screen. It's basically time-trialling in PJs. If you had a bunch start, with teams and you made them ride up to the top of the hill as well then you might have a chance at finding the best mountain biker. The only DH race that makes sense is Downieville, maybe Megavalanche.

I’m getting the men’s live on the BBC iPlayer.

Good shout from the Zappa fan. Ta.

I forgot about Pink bike.

Just had a look, might login again.

Forums look fun..... But how many ?.

And you can have an Avatar 🙂

With an infinite amount of time I'd be watching all the footage I could, but with a finite amount of time I'm just going to watch what I can relate to most and whatever is most easily televised, which to be fair is usually road riding which also benefits from being a bit of a rolling soap opera at times!

Same goes for riding in general, DH is just waaaaaay too high maintenance and time intensive. If I can't do it from my doorstep it's not happening, which is why I'm a fully blooded up gravel convert.

I guess people aare also susceptible to aligning with a preferred 'culture'. Sadly young rad dudes and dudesses on DH bikes just aren't mine any more!

I don't think STW has any real responsibility to cover it, used to be you would buy Dirt for DH and Singletrack for most else, simples!

Rose with the British enduro men's champion (well behind) last weekend will be cheering on Phoebe Gale today because I taught her and she's a really nice human. Won't play it on discovery until Mrs 100th gets home.

Tdf is the only cycling (actually sport) I watch and mostly just to see the helicopter shots of the french countryside.

I watched both the women's and men's races.  The commentary was still awful but the actual racing was great even if the course was a little dull (largely single line and flat out).  Proper edge of seat stuff for the last few runs of both even if my fantasy DH team went down in flames.  I really fancy a trip to Andorra now as the scenery looked epic 🙂

I find it dull to watch live or on a screen. It’s basically time-trialling in PJs. If you had a bunch start, with teams and you made them ride up to the top of the hill as well then you might have a chance at finding the best mountain biker. The only DH race that makes sense is Downieville, maybe Megavalanche.

I think yacht racing would be much more entertaining if they gave them cannons.

Is this where we're discussing the race then?

I really liked Tracey Mosley on commentary (it was Tracey Mosley, right?).  Someone should sign her up ASAP.  It was so refreshing when you think you see a rider making a mistake and then the commentator actually confirms it rather than just completely ignoring it before asking for the tenth time, 'He's 4 seconds behind going through the final split, can he make it up in the final sector?!!'

No Ric, he can't.  We already know that he can't and your trying to inject drama into every run is annoying.

I think yacht racing would be much more entertaining if they gave them cannons.

Exactly. I have similar proposals for soccerball too, especially the supporters.

I love Downhill but kind of lost interest when Redbull pulled out. Seems like it has passed from one rent seeker to another without a care for expanding distribution or coverage.

I don't even know where to watch it now.

Gwin / Minaar / Atherton / Hart days were so good.

Crazy thing is if there was a button on this website or Pinkbike that said watch for $x and I could just watch it then I would pay. Roping me into some subscription where I have no interest in the rest of the content, no thank you.

Hart days were so good

Has anyone told Danny he's done?

Crazy thing is if there was a button on this website or Pinkbike that said watch for $x and I could just watch it then I would pay. Roping me into some subscription where I have no interest in the rest of the content, no thank you.

I agree with this.

I like DH, but I’ve only seen the highlights since the coverage changed and I’m not going to subscribe to discovery

What sillysilly said.

Massive fan of DH and the STW fantasy table has lot of teams, so plenty of interest. Mind you my team is last, so what do I know?

I love riding down hill, but I'm not really interested in the competitive aspect of it. I do like watching Rampage though, or at least the highlights.

OP.... In years gone by the was plenty of chat about the races and the season.

I think since RedBull's coverage stopped interest declined.

Not many. Most see the forum as somewhere to centre left to very left middle class people to talk politics. If your luck there is some gravel. It’s like the way the magazine is going unfortunately.

Yeah.... And the editors probably drink RedBull.

I still watch it sometimes, used to watch it religiously but I think I overdosed on it at some point, it started to feel a bit samey (which is a daft thing to say considering that performance-wise we've been in a golden age of the sport, but, ah well).

Used to race occasionally, badly so maybe that helps with a bit of a connection, having rattled down fort william in like 7 minutes does help you really appreciate the difference.

I really fancy a trip to Andorra now as the scenery looked epic 🙂

Word of advice. Don’t go in the 2 weeks before a race. They close both lifts and all the trials, including the ones that drop down the other side of the hill to public access. The whole park gets shut down. Don’t ask me how I know….  Let’s just say I’m glad we found out before arriving and had a motorhome

Gwin / Minaar / Atherton / Hart days were so good.

The racing has never declined in quality though it's consistently brilliant year in year out. There's always entertaining riders, rivalries, wild runs, devastating losses etc.

Right now we've got Bruni the professional winning machine vs Pierron who is quite possibly the fastest man to ever set foot on a DH bike. There's the agonising wait for Dak's first win, the Irish invasion.

Despite the efforts of the suits in glass towers to ruin everything in search of some none existent pile of money, the racing has survived.

I can't wait until Warner Brothers get bored and drop it so someone else can pick it up.

The racing has never declined in quality though it’s consistently brilliant year in year out. There’s always entertaining riders, rivalries, wild runs, devastating losses etc.

Despite the efforts of the suits in glass towers to ruin everything in search of some none existent pile of money, the racing has survived.

Gotta agree with this - despite the ups and downs of the various broadcasters the racing (and stories behind it) has always shone through.

There's a YouTube video of a couple of riders going down Snowdon - that told me enough that it's something I'll never be able to do.

I don't really get my rocks off watching other people ride bikes. Or do sport really. I like riding bikes. And I ride bikes for pleasure to travel to and through scenic places.  Quiet places, maybe with a friend or two. Used to be competitive - not any more.

So yeah - DH isn't for me. Even less so being a 'fan' of other people doing it. And yeah - I'm now middle aged; but I don't think it'd done much for me at any age.

Just watched some highlights, dammmmmm Loic and Pieron are crazy fast.

Criminal it doesnt get better coverage. Needs to be subsidised somehow and just pushed live to a service without a paywall.