i think the demise of the BDS was focusing on the elite and forgetting it’s the average joes that make up the numbers and therefore make it profitable.

I know the guys that run our local series (woodland riders racing) and whenever try and run the harder tracks the numbers are right down.

Si Patton drove both series into the ground?

The post I was answering said the national XC series is struggling too, has the sly bugger been running that without us knowing?

BES and BDS….do keep up Chap 😉

The demise of the uplift at Inners and Ae will also have a massive detrimental effect on the Scottish scene. Nothing on the horizon to resurrect that as far as I’ve heard???

Rowan sorrell and uplift hamsterely both were up and showed interest at inners, dunno about Ae, but its gone quiet since. Shame.

I race 3 or 4 enduros a year , tweedlove stuff and dunkeld and muckmeddon stuff , I’m crap . 3/4 of the way down the field but I love doing it . I think that’s what enduro does so much better than downhill , is allow people like me to have a go . I would give downhill a go but to be honest I’m just not good enough to ride those courses and the fact I’m approaching 40 and have a family the consequences of getting it wrong on a downhill course are to much for me . Having said that the inners d/h stage at last years king of the hill was brilliant.
Also I wonder if more people find mountain biking a bit later in life and how many people start downhill in say their 30s . If your relatively new to biking enduro offers a much more accessible route into racing .

The barrier to the likes of Uplift Hamsterely etc is they will probably want a full time operation rather than just weekends, to make it financially viable. The problem that then creates is traffic volume on the road, wear and tear on the forest road plus the trails.

I really think it’s due to trail bikes being better and giving people an alternative that is maybe better suited to their weekends.

When I raced I knew quite a lot of people and had a pretty wide circle of friends. No one I know now races DH. Pretty much everyone still rides but not DH.

Hoping that somehow we still produce talent for the world cups. But with this situation it’s only going to get harder.

Inners and ae couldn’t support a daily uplift IMO, but tbf Tally made a decent living from uplift Scotland over the years.

How did they get those Elephants to do that!!

I’m just not good enough to ride those courses and the fact I’m approaching 40 and have a family the consequences of getting it wrong on a downhill course are to much for me . Having said that the inners d/h stage at last years king of the hill was brilliant.

I think some people overestimate what a lot of DH courses are like 😉

http://www.descent-world.co.uk/2017/08/09/what-does-the-future-hold-for-national-and-regional-dh-mtb/

Interesting read , not sure about the social media stuff but the whole f1 comparisons not helping grass routes is an good point I think

Good article! Having never raced downhill (done about ten enduro races) or even attended a race, I don’t know how accurate it is but it certainly makes sense. I’m sure if the rider on it had the balls to hit gap jumps my trail bike would be plenty fast on most UK DH courses! 😉

http://www.descent-world.co.uk/2017/08/09/what-does-the-future-hold-for-national-and-regional-dh-mtb/

Interesting read , not sure about the social media stuff but the whole f1 comparisons not helping grass routes is an good point I think

I can see the argument about social media, think it’s definitely had an influence on the need to race to make it big in mountain biking.

That article brushes over the effect enduro has had in my opinion.

I live in the south west, so not a huge amount of DH venues within a days drive, however what venues there are, also tend to use the same tracks for Enduro races. To me (as I don’t have a dh bike) I’m never going to bother racing DH when enduro gets me more time racing for a similar price.

I think some people overestimate what a lot of DH courses are like

But isn’t that a big part of the problem then? DH is always portrayed as the most ‘extreme’ branch of MTB so you can’t blame people for coming to the conclusion about the likely difficulty and danger of the tracks.

I’ve found this thread an interesting read despite only a passing interest in DH. It doesn’t seem that surprising that it is struggling given that you not only need a niche bike to do it but a van to haul you up to the top. It’s not exactly accessible in that format

I think some people overestimate what a lot of DH courses are like

Only been to a couple of DH races to spectate but they’ve all had chicken runs on the big features.

There has to be an element of that though – DH and its associated events like rampage have absolutely traded on the ‘super max hardcore to the X-treme’ element, waiting for the next big crash, so it’s hardly surprising when people say ‘Not for me thanks’

i wouldn’t associate rampage with DH racing.

Rampage is not a DH event and therefore has nothing to do with it.

I just think people aren’t prepared to risk their bodies for what is, ultimately, a hobby. Being successful at DH racing requires skill, fitness, but also a willingness to accept the consequences when it goes wrong, which it does for even the very best.

I just think people aren’t prepared to risk their bodies for what is, ultimately, a hobby. Being successful at DH racing requires skill, fitness, but also a willingness to accept the consequences when it goes wrong, which it does for even the very best.

Having badly broken my ankle almost seven years ago (which is causing increasing problems) and almost broken my neck four years back, I’ve basically lost the ability to lay it all on the line. I ride with too much of a safety margin and it’s only random factors that have me off, which made last year’s enduro races rather frustrating in terms of times and position. I imagine DH requires even more risk taking to put down a good time.

I’m sure I read Steve Peat saying that when you’re going at absolute full tilt race winning pace it’s often not fun anymore.

See I do have a DH bike but like the specialist bit of kit it is there is a certain way to ride it or you’re just slower than on a trail bike….my situation in other words!
I’m sure if I spent all year on it I’d get there but life’s too short.

So, in light of these new BDS rules for single crown bikes I’m going to Langollen with my Trance SX 650b (160mm fork, 158mm rear conversion and 26 inch back wheel to drop the rear of the bike and further kick out the forks to slacken out the HA)…. It’ll either be a hoot and the saving grace of dwindling entries or riders like me on inappropriate bikes will die in a wreck on the hillside as we’re woefully out of our depth!

I’ll be reporting back after next weekend from my hospital bed.

Good on ya Deviant. Interested to hear how you get on.