DH world Championship this weekend

This place has dropped the ball big time on this one, can’t believe they can’t be arsed to even cobble together some kind of vague story.

Hang on is that the world stopping turning…

But they do have a feature on e bike sprockets!

mikewsmith – Member
Hang on is that the world stopping turning…

I’m just surprised. Although in the new age of “no videos unless we get paid” I suppose the Eurobike saturation coverage is the way forward.

At this point there is so much coverage available from people who were there etc. that I can cope that stw are not rehashing a story or trying to write one while drinking at euro bike. Either way it’s not enough to make me Mr angry

A few observations:

In the last ‘syndicate’ episode Bryce looked genuinely choked up that Peaty was leaving….can’t be good for his head game, he needs a year out and I think the idea of Peaty running a team with Josh as sole rider is a brilliant one…let’s hope it happens.

Gee is injured, he plays it down ‘robo-Gee’ style as he comes across and will rarely admit to it but it was magnanimous of him to give his spot up to Kerr for the WC run, Kerr did it justice too….anyone who thinks Gee has gone off the boil should watch any of the Red bull Hardline edits, the lad can still make world class riders look ordinary….he’s having some bad luck that’s all.

Mike Jones?….what happened?….he seemed the coming man but has now been eclipsed by Greenland, hopefully some friendly rivalry will bring them both up another notch.

Sam Dale and Matt Simmonds seem to have gone off the boil and the OAP Beaumont is making them look silly.

Re. Fairclough, when I lived in Surrey I saw him on a semi regular basis….he was always with mates at the dirt jumps in Milford, he has crazy skills but compare that to when I’ve been booked on uplift days and shared a minibus with other British pros….i obviously don’t know his training regime but on observation it doesn’t look good….still if by cocking around with Sam Reynolds and Ollie Wilkins he can make a lucrative living then why not?!….i just can’t help but think there’s unfinished business in DH there, his season when he was teammates with Sam Hill was his best, I’d like to see more of that.

Greg Williamson has been the revelation for me this year, for years I was hard on him criticising that plum Trek ride he seemed to hang on to but he’s stepped it up this season and I’m happy to eat humble pie, good on the lad.

All things considered British DH is in rude health, it must make the other nations twitch especially as we don’t have any real mountains here!….long may it continue.

Hard to call yourself the premier UK mtb site when you don’t cover the biggest story in UK mtb racing in years. But hey carry on with the Eurobike coverage that is getting minimal views and no comments.

Fairclough is an odd one, I think he probably needs to just pick one discipline and do it properly for a season. Maybe he should spend some more time hanging out with Nino Schurter and see you can have fun and train hard.

Devient, interesting thanks

If it is true about Bryceland its a shame that it got announced like that , he deserved to have control over how that got out although im not sure he is the type of person who would give a toss .
I think Devient sums it up pretty nicely , although as well as Dale and Simmonds you could add quite a lot of names who are on factory rides who haven’t performed this year , Mullally , brook macdonald , sam blenkinsop , needles etc . This year seems to have a bit of the changing of the guard feel about it

STW and most other sites (BikeRadar) must have some kind of block with Redbull perhaps – or get more click through revenues from EuroBike ads? It beggars belief the lack of coverage. In fact the magazine is pretty dull all over to be honest, compare it to Decline or Big Bike which whilst they cover the sport with a much more ‘sporting’ design, STW is dull. Perhaps STW is only for leisure riding in which case it explains everything.

Do they ever read and comment on these threads?

If it is true about Bryceland its a shame that it got announced like that ,

what announcement? all i’ve seen is rumour and conjecture.

although the warner comment about a bike made of grass was quite funny…

Claudio saying he wasn’t racing next year because of environmental concerns. Just before warners grass bike comments

Do they ever read and comment on these threads?

Probably not with any regularity, unless they are made aware of them by mods or friends. I wouldn’t expect them to.

But I am surprised, and a little disappointed, they haven’t covered the world champs, especially as exciting and successful as it was for the UK.

Dunno. How many folk that cycle off-road are actually interested in DH racing?

ah, that must have been in one of the bits where the coverage froze.

Either way it’s not enough to make me Mr angry

You seem more angry than most of the posters registering surprise at the lack of a mention regarding a World Championship Brit double on a MTB site.

Bikeradar have kind of covered it, with stories about Rachel and Danny’s winning bikes. Although it’s still a little lame, but Bikeradar seem to be going more for the road crowd now anyway.

No just bored in another airport. A stw report would basically be a rehash of story or the red bull feed. Does it add anything? The stuff from those that were there is a little more interesting. The team vids will be out shortly and anything more than a hell yeah American style back slap would be a bit much. Feels more like people want to be get their stw hate in 😉
It’s not like people are hanging out on stw to deliver the results

Watching Gee ride there Hardline course is amazing. That course should be on the DH calendar. It’s amazing.

Dan Atherton is a trail/course building virtuoso. Men from the boys that hardline course.

How many folk that cycle off-road are actually interested in DH racing?

It’s a bit chicken and egg though, if it isn’t reported you don’t hear about it and hence aren’t interested. A story about 2 GB winners would grab the attention of people who don’t normally watch downhill.

STW were pretty quick to criticise BC’s lack of support for mtb racing, but what are stw doing?

It’s a bit chicken and egg though, if it isn’t reported you don’t hear about it and hence aren’t interested. A story about 2 GB winners would grab the attention of people who don’t normally watch downhill.

STW were pretty quick to criticise BC’s lack of support for mtb racing, but what are stw doing?

Exactly – it’s a pretty big deal. Plus we did well overall really with Greenland taking the silver etc.

That track was brutal, so fair play to the quick boys and girls getting done that in one piece. It really did feel like a proper end to the season.

If Josh is going, it is a shame but with Peaty leaving and him appearing to struggle with form after his ankle, he just doesn’t seem into it.

Sam Dale and Matt Simmonds seem to have gone off the boil and the OAP Beaumont is making them look silly.

Dale seems to be getting caught up in the trap of dicking about a lot too. Maybe they just had a bad season.

Fairclough is a hugely talented rider and makes a lot of stuff look effortless but doesn’t seem to have the drive to train like a beast etc (on the face of it anyway). But he seems happy and is making a living having a fun – fair play (even if it seems like a waste of talent from where we are sitting). Perhaps there is more mileage in being a ‘brand ambassador’ than a racer?

STW were pretty quick to criticise BC’s lack of support for mtb racing, but what are stw doing?

Completely agree. I didn’t expect an in depth article with interviews etc (like Dirt), but surprised at the lack of acknowledgment of a brilliant achievement for the Brits.

Completely agree. I didn’t expect an in depth article with interviews etc (like Dirt), but surprised at the lack of acknowledgment of a brilliant achievement for the Brits.

Agreed, a 5 minute article – Headline, 1 paragraph and a “more to come later” to a link to the official results page is all that’s needed if the staff are working all hours at Eurobike.

/edit. Besides – what a race!

Dunno. How many folk that cycle off-road are actually interested in DH racing?

Quite a lot, from my experience.

its up now. Finally.

scotroutes – Member
dragon » Hard to call yourself the premier UK mtb site when you don’t cover the biggest story in UK mtb racing in years.
Dunno. How many folk that cycle off-road are actually interested in DH racing?

Well, there is a 9 page thread on the topic of downhill, you are currently posting on it. I cant find a topic on Up the Buttress, but that had an indepth article up pretty sharpish and I’d venture is of a more niche interest than the DH World Champs.

I guess the Fairclough question will be answerable by the man himself in about 20 years. It depends if he is going to be happy with a load of videos of him showcasing his amazing talents whilst, essentially, dicking around. Or would he be happier if he’d actually given himself a fair crack at being the ‘best’ in a much more empirical sense?

I would have just loved to see him as fit as a fiddle really sticking it to the others and winning World Cups.

I don’t think Brendog has ever been quickest on any of the splits at a WC DH race, and surely if he was quite as naturally fast as you think then he would have been?

There’s a 22-page thread on tractors but I’m not expecting to see Mark and Chipps doing back-to-back tests on Fords and MF’s anytime soon 🙂

How’s Manon? Broken collarbone?

here’s a 22-page thread on tractors but I’m not expecting to see Mark and Chipps doing back-to-back tests on Fords and MF’s anytime soon

Maybe they could do a feature on tractors used for DH uplifts across the UK? 😀

cloudnine – Member
How’s Manon? Broken collarbone?

Yup. A season to forget for her really. I’d like to see her back to her 2014 best.

Things change with money.

Chortling at a bunch of fat knackers, IT middle managers and trail centre warriors saying Brendan is dicking about and wasting his/ everyone’s time 😆

World cups & champs results: https://www.rootsandrain.com/rider758/brendan-fairclough/results/2cnt/?org=21&s1=6&y=700

By my reckoning over his entire world cups/ champs races, he’s finished on average in the top 14%. In addition, barring a couple of outliers where he’s probably had a mechanical, he’s finished on average less than 5% slower than the race winner.

Totally dicking about

I’d like to see her back to her 2014 best.

I think her 2014 best was due to a bad year for Rachel.

The issue with Brendan for me is that he’s constantly average. Top 20 is a great achievement, no doubt, but to do it year on year with no real improvement just feels disappointing when he’s hailed as having such prodigious talent. All the best guys seem to have average seasons, or bad results, but they always seem a threat / outside chance at least. Not with Fairclough. Look at most of his “nemeses[/url]” for example. Bernard Kerr, Eddie Masters, Thirion, even Ruaridh Cunningham – even though he’s technically beaten most of those guys more often than he’s lost, they all feel to me more like podium contenders. That’s fine, but I don’t think he deserves this mythos he has.

they all feel to me more like podium contenders. That’s fine, but I don’t think he deserves this mythos he has.

Maybe it’s due to more than results, as I said before great nice bloke with a sense of humour that seems lacking among many these days. Probably something STW doesn’t get though.

I don’t think Brendog has ever been quickest on any of the splits at a WC DH race, and surely if he was quite as naturally fast as you think then he would have been?

He has been in the past. He nearly won Schladming (I think it was ’09) when he was winning and had an off, still podium’d the result in 5th though.

He has his niche, when he & Sam joined Specialized, UK demo sales went through the roof, and subsequently remain buoyant. He sells a lot of bikes and kits for his sponsors. Some do that by winning races, others do that by taking his approach.

It’s always interesting to compare him to the absolutely professional approach to racing the Atherton’s take. I’d be fairly confident of the number of Gamblers sold over the number of Fury’s.

He’s very good & very savvy at what he does. It works well for everyone involved.

Brendog’s a star!
Met him at Crankworks were he came 2nd in the DH race,2 secs off the winner Remi Thirion.
My son thought he was cool! 8)

I think her 2014 best was due to a bad year for Rachel.

True up to a point, but there was more competition in 2014 – both Nicole and Ragot were racing. Competitiveness in the Women’s has dropped right off this season – at least Nicole was back for the Worlds.

Is anyone else having problems getting this to play on chromecast? Other redbull shows seem to work