Ken Roczen on Racing Mountain Bikes

I mean…no chance (c’mon Kenny we know you don’t like hearing that! Let’s go)

But who would win at a World Cup, Ken or Dan Atherton?

I've taken a few of my moto buddies riding and they pick it up VERY fast. But world cups... C'mon Kenneth.

This will go about as far as Kerr trying to race SX a few years back. Kerr rips on a moto and a DH bike but it is not an easy transition, either way to being pro level. Not to take anything away from either sport. 

Obviously Gwin made the transition over to DH from moto within a couple years and was wildly successful. But the sport has evolved and the competition is even tighter. And Ken at 30 is already beyond the prime age for getting into World Cup if there is a 2-3 year curve before he were ready.

Has a top pro MX/SX racer ever competed at World Cup level?  Palmer is the only guy I can think of who has won a world cup DH and qualified for a pro main.  I don't recall if it was MX or SX.  I'd love to see a crossover event where the pros take turns at swapping dirt bikes for DH bikes and the other way around.

Ahhh, that makes even more sense. I just remember hearing of his fast rise to speed from Griz and his transition from moto.

I still remember the Earthed movies where all the top DH guys rode pit bikes and big motos in the off season. Back in the MSC days the top guys like Matt T and Dave Z talked about how after riding moto all winter, their perception of speed from moto made DH made feel slow. 

For sure there is a lot of carry over between the two sports but there also is so much different that there is a ramping up period. Not saying Kenny wouldn't rip on a DH bike, I just think the cards aren't in his favor to all of a sudden qualify for a world cup. It is already difficult enough for lifetime DHers to make a finals.

Josh Hill raced Rock Creek last year. Not wc level though.

10-15 years ago? Maybe. But since then the sport has gotten much more professional, competitive, and the margins are razor thin. For older competitors their success is more and more weighted on experience rather than natural ability and the boundless energy that come with youth.

This is some pie in the sky wishful thinking. 

That's right.  Amazing how fast he rode that course on the moto.  Unfathomable to me.

Do it!  Would be sick to see.  To bad there isn’t really an off season for moto dudes.  With the monster series heating up maybe there will be more pull to get these dudes to a race.  Especially if it’s only 4 hrs away by car.  

Take your moto buddy to a bike park and see what happens...

There is loads of content out there of MTB and MX pros riding together in each others disciplines. Another great on here with a riding section at 7 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7yZG4WEGX4 

I think the moto guys probably have 2 misconceptions: The jumps arn't that big and the moto guys are physically stronger. The thing is the jumps don't really matter in racing and I'm not sure how many rooty/rocky switchbacks moto guys are hitting on the daily. But more importantly, everytime you see footage of a top moto guy on an mtb, they are clearly fast but so tense on the bike! Their hips are locked and their arms are braced like they are expecting a 10m drop to flat! I think it would take a few seasons for a pro moto guy to loosen up.

I don't know about World Cup-level speed, but no doubt he'll rip. At a local race, Billy Bolt on his eeb was one of the nicest riders to watch. Mani Lettenbichler good too.

Billy Bolt did an eMTB race recently and did very well? Mani Letinnbichler has an eMTB video for Schwalbe 

He’s got manual skillz too 🤘🤘 - 

I think enduro/hard enduro (trials too) have more crossover with MTB than moto-x and these two seem about the best.

A big difference is moto guys are trained for running 20-30 minutes. Pro DH is a 3-4 minute drag race in comparison. The mental and physical output required for each activity is entirely different. DH pros are unique in their ability to get as close to 100% as possible. You can only maintain that level for a short duration. If you're not training for max effort then it will be eye-opening for the MX guys (at the WC level). 

Other issue now is how would they even go about getting to a WC? With the team points required, they would need to start at regional races and work their way up for years before a team could justify bringing them on. Not saying it isn't possible, but they would really have to commit like everyone else.

The biggest thing against Ken here is his age... 30yrs old now. Will likely get one more big contract in moto (maybe a 2-year deal). Say he wraps up his SX/Moto career at 33yrs old. At the earliest. 
It would take him at least a year of training/getting dialed in on the MTB to build up the speed required to qualify for a World Cup. And then, probably another year to be able to make finals. So he's maybe 35 at that point if everything goes smooth.   
Would love to see the attempt, etc. I think he'd probably be able to get to the point he could podium in a poorly attended regional pro race pretty quickly. But podium in a world cup in another level for sure. 

His comments are super grounded. 

He just said he'd like to give it a shot. 

I'm sure as great athletes he could be pretty quick on a DH bike. 

But let's be honest, it would take a while for him to be confident even getting down Val di Sole, let alone racing it. 

Palmer qualified for a 125 SX, he didn’t race the main though…he just celebrated, and got hammered! 😜

Sounds about right!

So your average rider at Summit, they kill the jumps but are horrible in the tech😂

Have little doubt Kenny could qualify if he put his heart in it.  But I’d hope he’d be happier just coming out to the monster us series.  The fans would go nuts to see him.  And it would bring some exposure to the series for sure.

It'll be cool to see how far he progresses.  How far will he take it if he goes for it? Won't be quick or easy but we all know he'll have so many aspects dialed in quickly.  You'd think a guy with a signature model with Canyon would be able to get a spot on their factory team if it turns out he's got the goods.

Hear me out. A special head-to-head since both are talking retirement. Tomac vs Roczen: DH, Slalom, 4X (with only two of them) or all three! Imagine rolling up to Sea Otter 2026 Dual slalom and you see some dudes named Eli and Ken line up.

I don't think the Bernard Kerr trying to race Supercross is a good comparison, you have to be at a very high level to even make it around a supercross track (not rolling everything). Where as DH someone at a reasonable level can make it down the track and hit the main line at a certain speed obviously.

I think he is just a little naïve to how big the jump is from going to getting down a track fast to getting down a track at world cup speed is. He would be perfect to have at one of the Monster regional races he would have a ton of guys wanting to help him out and it would be awesome for the sport. 

Honestly I think fitness is the least of his worries, yes to be at that top level he wpuld have to alter his training a bit to be more sprint focused but he is still in better shape than probably 99% of the world cup guys. He is also the best at first few lap sprints than anyone in Supercross which is less than 5 minutes. 

Ice Cold take: I'd rather see a young gun or privateer committed to MTB and navigating the UCI points grind get a WC slot. If he has the speed and earns his way in then that's great but I'm not going to support undermining deserving riders with wildcard entries and such. 

How many would tune in or come to a race just to see a privateer race? How many would come to see Roczen?

There is a lot of crossover between the sports but it would be very difficult for someone from either endeavor to jump right into the deep end of the other and be successful. Even a rider of Roczen's skill would require a few seasons, in my opinion, to find the little tenths of seconds that all add up to a winning race run in DH. I'd be a fan, though!