Yep, Reece excellent on the commentary

Agreed!

That was very entertaining, Vestavik’s run especially. Reece is a natural commentator, hope he can do more with it.

Well, not too much. Every race he commentates on is one he’s not riding.

The coverage seemed better than before – I counted 31 cameras for each run. That seems more than for a DH event.

That was great entertainment , Reece is a natural . Could be the next Peter Allis given his love of Golf . Brages run was a blast , what a boss. I’m guessing trek weren’t to keen on Reece racing given hes world champ or maybe still hurt from the big WC crash . Kudos to all those riders , Lewis Buchanan was really good considering I doubt he has hit anything that big before.
Great event , would be great to watch I’d imagine.

Really enjoyed.it, great to see likes of lewis who barely leaves the ground doing ok. Scary as balls track, explaining to the mrs i would probably struggle on the first drop after the start gate…

Degrees harder than a wc downhill!

I noticed the amount of cameras but I didn’t count them. The track was considerably more well covered than a WC.

Matt Hockenhull, what a guy!

That was fun! Brage is a total beast. Lewis on the enduro bike, and Tommy G looking super-smooth. To be fair, anyone getting down that in one piece, or even just having the courage to start, are winners in my eyes.

The fact that there are only 20-odd riders definitely helps the coverage. It’s just not nearly possible on a world cup race. And Reece was superb. But I’m hoping he’s got a long racing career ahead of him rather than in the booth. He can get back in there once he’s retired.

The best Hardliine that I’ve watched. Nice to see the weather not really playing a part.
Shame Joe Smith crashed as he was flying.

The YouTube coverage had been great from a few of the racers, really turns it in to an event. Just a shame not to have spectators, even if limited.

The winning ride.Makes me wonder why I bother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWXLcQQxZ9c

Grab your wallpapers – https://www.pinkbike.com/news/finals-photo-epic-red-bull-hardline-2021.html
Stunning 🙂

Finally got my wife to watch cycling that isn’t slopestyle. She loved it.

Amanda was there: https://singletrackworld.com/2021/07/red-bull-hardline-2021-trackside-gallery/

Thought it was excellent this year. Exciting, close racing and proper comradery between the riders. The downtime pit bike racing looked hilarious!
But does anyone know why riders like Andreu Lacondeguy, Sam Reynolds and the Fest series riders weren’t there? I thought it might be a sponsor clash – but Brendog is a Monster rider so……

But does anyone know why riders like Andreu Lacondeguy, Sam Reynolds and the Fest series riders weren’t there? I thought it might be a sponsor clash – but Brendog is a Monster rider so……

I was wondering the same thing somewhere up the thread.

Nico Vink used to do it IIRC, but I think Thomas Genon was the only freerider in the line-up this year? So I assume it’s evolved into something intended for the DH and “freeracer” community.

Imagine the excitement of seeing Andreu mixing it up with those guys, though I wouldn’t want to see too many freeriders diluting the racing vibe. This was the best Hardline ever ‘cos it felt like a proper race.

I’m confused. It’s supposed to be super hard  but you can race very well on an enduro bike. When that happened at a WC DH everyone claimed it proved the course was too easy

I’m no expert but I’d have thought some of the jumps and potentially ferocious landings would be too much for anything other than a big chunky double crown fork when taken at speed.

Somebody with skill and dexterity to place a bike mm perfectly could probably do it all on a lesser bike but, to race it without risking disaster, a full on Dh bike is the best option.

Do you call this an ‘enduro bike’?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRvze4qho4-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I would 100% take that thing down a DH track in preference to the DH bikes I used to own… the last of which was about the time that Hardline started… when they were still on 26in.

Lewis had full DH triple crowns on his enduro bike, and a dropper seat post.

Did anyone else think Gaetan Vige was Yoann Barelli when watching various YouTube posts from Bernard and Brendog.

It’s supposed to be super hard..

I think I’ll take Bernard Kerr’s word for it.

chakaping

I was wondering the same thing somewhere up the thread.

Nico Vink used to do it IIRC, but I think Thomas Genon was the only freerider in the line-up this year? So I assume it’s evolved into something intended for the DH and “freeracer” community.

I don’t think it’s an event for those guys, even the big step up was made too difficult to flip or trick this year and tricks are what those guys are about. No tricks and the prospect of wet rocky tech isn’t going to appeal either, however dry it ended up

Yeah at the end of the day the stopwatch favours the DHers. 5.9, 5.9, 6.0 is competition but it isn’t racing.