UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships on the BBC [contains spoilers p4]

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

What was wrong with Fort Bill?

Probably this bit.

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 **** 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.

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

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 **** 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).

So we’ve gone from 29ers will wipe the floor with 27.5 bikes – to….actually….it’s skill that matters.

Who’d have guessed that?

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.

Yup, because the results this season have really indicated that we’re talking about margins as great as a couple of seconds here.

In general, this years riders ended up where they were expected to be in terms of ranking. Two second gains would have resulted in some quite big upsets.

So we’ve gone from 29ers will wipe the floor with 27.5 bikes – to….actually….it’s skill that matters.

That’s not what I said at all.

Your teachers must have had a frustrating time with you at school.

Take a look at say Greg and his results, he has seen a boost on the 29r, every time he is asked he just says it’s a bike that fits him thats what makes the difference

Man it was boring, course was either too long, flat or both. Either way I made 4 attempts to watch it and still didn’t make it to the last 3 riders.

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.

That may well be but it doesn’t tell us what’s happening, only that they are up or down on time. The fact that the commentators are saying they are crashed becasue of some muck on the riders knee is cringe-worthy.

That was in response to somebody saying they didn’t have the times till they were on screen. for every top rider we saw lots on screen where we were but I’m a little hazy on the details for some reason – dehydration was a big risk out there!!

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but why no dropper posts ?

The sight of so many of the riders pedalling furiously down the final stretch with their knees up to their chins seemed a bit odd to me !

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but why no dropper posts ?

It’s DH – nobody has got a dropper post sponsor 😛

I think some DH frames wouldn’t have a long enough seat tube to take a dropper. (interruptions from welds, pivot points etc.) But the thought crossed my mind.

I also wondered why more didn’t try it on an Enduro bike.

But everyone has kept saying that 29ers are suited to less steep courses

No they haven’t at all,most folk have just said “let’s see”

Genuine question.
If Gwin is on a 29’er next year, will it be because he wants the best bike, or because YT want to sell a load of 29’ers (assuming they get a 29’er DH bike ready) to the small amount of people who buy DH bikes who already have the 27.5 version? How will we know?

Droppers made it in Ft William one year whent he motorway was longer and less MX jumps.
Though another thing to forget, Gwinn forgot to unlock is shock at one point – though it was termed as just a firmer firm option to his normal fairly firm setup

If Gwin is on a 29’er next year, will it be because he wants the best bike, or because YT want to sell a load of 29’ers

Look at the team that has got it right with the 29r (v10) they worked with Greg to get it right, it was driven together to develop the right bike. Looking at how analytical he is on every video that makes a lot of sense. If Gwinn want to put the time in then he could probably get there

YT won’t make a 29er unless Gwin wants one.

I dunno if he’ll want to race on one, but I’m sure he’ll want to try one. He raced the Enduro 29er in domestic US DH races before IIRC, so he is aware of the advantages.

Anyway getting through the pics I may have forgotten I took… not posting the after party ones…



Elliot practicing his faces

Button was stoked

Smiles for Miles

Yeah shit happens

Always like to be made to look short

MWS, you actually have a bit of the Gwin about you! 😆

if only the beer had been in shot would have cleared up any doubt!!

But hey got to love those guys, just wander in have a chat drink some beer and chill out.