Home âș Forums âș Bike Forum âș WC DH coverage have we reached a consensus.? đ€
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WC DH coverage have we reached a consensus.? đ€
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oldfartFull Member
Not sure whether to subscribe to GCN Plus or Discovery Plus both are ÂŁ6.99 a month cancel when the season has finished, YT was ok for Semiâs but a 5 minute review of the top 3 didnât really do it .
3sharkattackFull MemberYou canât even buy a pint for ÂŁ6.99 in some places. Itâs a small price to pay to satisfy your curiosity.
oldfartFull Membershark attack it was more of a question about which if any had better coverage.
superstuFree MemberDisc+ didnât seem any better or worse than red bull. Searching for the event and finding it was a bit painful just as it was with red bull, but the coverage was good, I enjoyed it.
Canât compare to Gcn as obviously didnât subscribe to both but thought it was fine. One thing the timings seem quicker and more accurate which is better than waiting for red bull who often seemed to struggle to have accurate live timings.
1zerocoolFull MemberFrom what I saw last week it seemed ok. And itâs only going to get better as they do it more
suspendedanimationFull MemberDiscovery was good. Happy with that. Will likely cancel post season.
frogstompFull MemberLooks like the 25% Cyclo-cross Social Podcast discount GCN+ is still live â brings it down to ÂŁ30 for the year.
chrismacFull MemberI thought it was better. It was good to see more of the track and each run. I particularly like the drone shots and some of the wider shots that showed the speed and gradient well. There is room for improvement in the commentary but Rob Warner took time to learn his craft and Iâm sure so will Cedric and Ric
fingerbangFree MemberIâve taken the plunge and subscribed to Prime and then discovery plus. Watching the coverage now, although canât tune into live menâs final. Do they do a replay of the live show tonight a la RedBull?
fingerbangFree Memberreece Wilson is a natural TV performer but surely heâs a full time professional still so just a temporary commentator?
oikeithFull MemberIs GCN a diff commentory team to that on Discover+? Iâve only watched via Discovery+ and had Ric and Cedric.
chakapingFull MemberAfter another round, I think my opinion is settling.
The commentary was poor IMO.
Ric was just repeating most of Cedricâs lines, it felt like they were reading from a big book of downhill platitudes and they were worryingly slow on the uptake. I could see what had happened to Dannyâs front tyre about 5 secs before they finally clocked it.
Also the on-screen timing desperately needs the current fastest time displayed as each racer gets near the finish, so we can judge if theyâre gonna do it or not.
And the top 5 or whatever needs to be bigger, so we can see instantly where theyâve slotted in.
Iâm watching on a big TV, must be horrible on a mobile device.
mark88Full MemberDo any of them have a highlights show worth watching?
Iâve not subscribed to anything yet as Iâve not been able to watch the racing live and hoped thereâd be a Youtube highlights show worth watching.
ossifyFull MemberGCN+ and Discovery are they different then?
Different cameras, timing graphics, but the same commentators? Or both exactly the same coverage?
Also, I havenât managed to watch any yet, on which one am I least likely to get spoilers if I search for the finals? đ
1BruceWeeFull MemberIâm quite happy with my GCN+ subscription. I just subscribed for the whole year as I wanted to use it for watching the TdF and the Giro as well.
I figured they might have some documentaries that are worth watching during the winter months as well.
nickcFull MemberAfter another round, I think my opinion is settling.
Yep, mine as well. I think itâs at least as good as RedBull, and better in some places The camera coverage on both DH and XC tracks is better, especially the drone camera work on the Motorway section and the main DH section of the XC last weekend. I like the format, of the qualis and semis, and that it rewards consistency, and makes every one faster and faster on the hill. I donât mind Ric and Cedric and Bart, I think theyâre getting into their stride, Ric repeats himself a bit, but Iâll cut him some slack until heâs had a bit more practice, comparing him (with comparatively little experience) with Rob whoâd been doing more than a decade with Red Bull and Freecaster is a bit unfair.
ayjaydoubleyouFull MemberAlso, I havenât managed to watch any yet, on which one am I least likely to get spoilers if I search for the finals?
watching the full show of finals (top 10 women, top 30 men) you wont see the result being spoilt on GCN+ at least. This year youâll have to scroll through 7 road race highlights to find the mtb, which is a slight improvement over RB where there were random cliff diving, motorcross and rap battles to navigate.
Just as in the past, watch the womenâs first, as the commentators may or may not spoil the womenâs result during the mens race if they are partners/siblings/teammates/same nationality of whichever man is on screen.
chakapingFull MemberAnyone whoâs yet to watch the menâs final, youâll really notice Ric parroting Cedric now that Iâve pointed it out.
Yes they seem to have got more of each run on camera, but just to be fussy â Iâd rather see the riding from a static camera than a drone or cable cam.
MSPFull Memberyouâll really notice Ric parroting Cedric
I think that Ric is trying to take what Cedric says and expand on it, but Cedric is just spouting meaningless cliches, so after repeating it suddenly finds he has nowhere to go. IMO Cedric is bringing no information or insight to the commentary that as an ex racer you would hope for, Ric is trying but needs a better co-commentator. He does fine with Bart in the xc, but then Bart has been doing it for years also, but in the xc Bart makes good points and Ric gets him to expand. In the downhill Cedric rarely makes any point on the racing that can be expended into a conversation to inform the viewer.
fingerbangFree Member<p style=âtext-align: right;â>Fwiw Iâve just cancelled my discovery plus sub thru amazon due to fact that no commentary! I had to watch the race runs with the final arena euro pap soundtrack which quickly lost its appeal. Iâm sure theyâll get their act together at some point but not giving Amazon money till itâs sorted</p>
mashrFull MemberHe does fine with Bart in the xc
i generally donât watch much XC but had it on yesterday and noticed the commentary was better. Far more the commentator and expert someone mentioned earlier. Much easier on the ears
My on it hope is that they donât experiment and bring in Pagey
chakapingFull MemberI think that Ric is trying to take what Cedric says and expand on it, but Cedric is just spouting meaningless cliches, so after repeating it suddenly finds he has nowhere to go. IMO Cedric is bringing no information or insight to the commentary that as an ex racer you would hope for
Great comment, very perceptive.
I donât think that lets Ric off the hook though. They both seem awkward and lacking insight IMO.
Itâs just the wrong people for the job.
ossifyFull MemberIMO Cedric is bringing no information or insight to the commentary that as an ex racer you would hope for
This is what I liked about Elliot Jackson â lots of detailed knowledge and explanations of interesting things that might otherwise be missed about the riding and certain features.
1fingerbangFree MemberI seem to remember elliot jackson was pretty underwhelming to begin with but he grafted, spent a lot of time on the hill and chatting to racers and really worked on the craft. And brought a lot of insight.
gracia was commentating on the french feed for redbull wasnt he?
Anyway, i have nothing to say. Iâm out of the game thanks to amazon
1chakapingFull MemberElliot was pretty good, but Iâd have chosen Tracy Hannah as co-commentator.
She was great at picking up little nuances in a riderâs run, and her voice worked well.
Or Wyn Masters might have been brilliant at it, if theyâd given him a try out.
ossifyFull Membergracia was commentating on the french feed for redbull wasnt he?
Yeah, so youâd think heâd be used to it by now. Also I want him to be good, simply because he endorses my bike (Production PrivĂ©e) đ
Anyway, havenât heard it yet, hopefully soonâŠ
Werenât some people saying that the commentary wasnât enabled by default and you have to turn it on in the settings or something? I was probably going to go for Discovery+ too as I have Prime and it seems simpler to keep it together.
nickcFull Memberi generally donât watch much XC but had it on yesterday and noticed the commentary was better.
Everything happens a bit slower and youâve more time to talk about things. DH, youâve go 3 mins to talk about interesting this about the racer, his/her timing, their bike, line choices, all the while looking for potential upsets â like Dannyâs flat.
Not easy.
MSPFull Membergracia was commentating on the french feed for redbull wasnt he?
The problem could be that now not commentating in his own language he just canât form the sentences fast enough to share his knowledge, so ends up with just really basic statements. I am pretty sure I have seen him in some vids and his English was pretty good, but commentating on a live race is a whole different kettle of fish. As said above, action can come quite thick and fast on a downhill run, must be hard to have to translate your thoughts into a second language.
GribsFull MemberI was intending to pay to watch the finals this weekend but the commentary on the semiâs really annoyed me so I went out instead. Nina Hoffman had a good run but lost 3-4 seconds on the final corner. They seemed to completely forget this for the subsequent runs when people were a couple of seconds back and then went faster at the finish. The mens was slightly better but there doesnât seem to be any consistency in the amount of a run they show with some riders getting barely any coverage. Iâm definitely missing the key sector and virtual straight comparisons from Red Bull.
ayjaydoubleyouFull MemberNina Hoffman had a good run but lost 3-4 seconds on the final corner. They seemed to completely forget this for the subsequent runs when people were a couple of seconds back and then went faster at the finish.
this has always been the case. this week Rachel had a stunning top section/first split and then slowed. never mentioned when comparing times to the later riders.
doesnât seem to be any consistency in the amount of a run they show with some riders getting barely any coverage
agree with this. dont know if its technical issues like with the drones, or somebody has decided we should see some finish line shots of the new hot seat occupant instead, but it seems unfair on the riders.
fingerbangFree MemberThe problem could be that now not commentating in his own language he just canât form the sentences fast enough to share his knowledge, so ends up with just really basic statements. I am pretty sure I have seen him in some vids and his English was pretty good, but commentating on a live race is a whole different kettle of fish. As said above, action can come quite thick and fast on a downhill run, must be hard to have to translate your thoughts into a second language.
Fabian Barel never had that problem :) i know what you mean though though
Apropos of nothing,Gracia is one of my riding heroes. My mate was in the bike park at les gets years ago when a load of them were sessioning a large double, with lots of kids either joining in our watching. CG turns up on the start ramp back flips it first attempt to everyoneâs amazementlardmanFree Memberone things that pretty shit, is that even with the âentertainment and sportâ pass on Disco+, it wont let me watch DH highlights?
Is anyone else having this issue?
MugbooFull MemberThey arenât actually ruining my experience but they do miss an awful lot of important things donât they. Hopefully they will improve.
That said, for me, its worth ÂŁ7 a month to watch the DH.
frogstompFull MemberI think the overall coverage has been very promising so far â especially some of the extra camera shots. The commentary could be improved (and hopefully will with time) but I felt that a lot of the time with the RB coverage too. Not sure about the semi / final configuration â you get more racing on the day but it does dilute the excitement for me a little bit.
For those that asked previously, GCN+ does appear to have full semi and final race replays available.
For anyone looking to geek out over the stats, Pinkbike have really upped their post-match analysis this year.
muggomagicFull MemberYeah I think the commentary team will get better as they go. It took time for Warner to get good once he wasnât allowed to just get pissed up with Pagey.
As mentioned above, they do seem to completely forget important things which happened just a few minutes before that would affect the split times. Think Ric is trying to squeeze his âFun is fast and fast is funâ (whichever way round it is) catchphrase in at every opportunity, time will tell if itâll be as memorable as âLook at the time!â :D
I think Cedric does give a bit more in terms of colour commentary than Claudio did, seems to do a better job of spotting if a rider has gotten off line and telling us what is going on where I think Claudio would do a Joe Rogan and just say âwoooooahâ a lot.
My only thing with the new format, is itâs a bloody long day if you wanna watch it all. I was almost willing it to finish by the time we got to the top 10 men. Think Iâll be a bit more selective and just watch the men and womenâs finals in future.
chiefgrooveguruFull Memberâ As mentioned above, they do seem to completely forget important things which happened just a few minutes before that would affect the split times.â
Itâs crazy how bad they are at that! Youâve literally just watched someone go quickest despite messing up the last sector, then the next rider is just off the leaderâs pace and theyâre saying âhow can they find a second at the bottom of the track?!â
Itâs so rare for someone in the menâs to be quickest on all the sectors, but the benchmark is always whoever is in the hot seat, and how they achieved that time is fundamental to this kind of comparative time trial style commentating.
chakapingFull MemberYouâve literally just watched someone go quickest despite messing up the last sector, then the next rider is just off the leaderâs pace and theyâre saying âhow can they find a second at the bottom of the track?!â
Rob & Claudio used to do this sometimes as well, it was infuriating.
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