2025 World Cup Downhill / EDR - Bielsko-Biala, Poland

FMD Orbea...did you see that trailer? That's gotta be a 100k+ set up on its own. 

$100k+ hahaha 
A nice, decked out Sprinter Van is like $200k USD.  
That thing is $450k+  (They do mention having guy do a bunch of the work in-house--so many didn't pay 'retail') 

Tahnee said her dad and 2 other guys built the entire thing in 6 months.  She showed pics in her insta stories of the process.  They literally started with a low deck flat bed trailer and built the entire thing.  As a fabricator, I am truly impressed.  

If there was no hourly rate for 1 guy(who was tahnee's dad) and the other two... hourly rate + a bit of fab and wood/steel etc + no overhead to pay(this is the huge part, $100ph for a business employee vs say $35 helping wage??)
maybe one of them can wire it or even getting in a 'i love men' sparky, its probably not a huge job, especially if done in 6 months by 3 guys.

If you got it built by a business who has a sh1t load of expenses... that instantly boosts the price.

The company i work for wont offer someone a 12month contract but theyll get a temp 12 month contractor in at $120ph..... mind boggles me

200k for a Sprinter!!! tell me you live in America without telling me you live in America! 

Got to remember it was built in house by mates in the UK, probably alot of favours and free time used, the truck bed was probably an older used one, nothing close to paying through the nose for a profesional company to custom build it brand new, and not at USA labour rates, i dare say just materials were the biggest bill, they have done a stunning job, but i'd say mostly thanks to hard work, not money, although still will of cost alot, just probably less than other teams spend on new trucks.

Is it just me or does it feel like the fashion shoots have stepped up a level this year?

The first WC DH Wyn TV of the season! 

EDR practice from today looked frigid!

Onboard with Moi Moi - 

Can we get a Vital Pre-Race podcast? I feel like I'm lost without it.

I totally disagree with Brunis words in that video of Adding WEIGHT to DH BIKES - PIT BITS, when he says that he wants a fast race start with the good stuff and not a mudder/carnage.. he is clearly aligned to spectator friendly . Dont get me wrong, he is a boss, can ride any condition.. but mudder/carnage will make it skill based more than reckless-deathgrip-kamikaze  type of race.. 

well, technically, 100/k + also means 500/k

ok i'll show myself out.

Bielsko-Biala press conference with DH and EDR competitors:

I know we have this info on the first page of this thread, but here's a quick reminder of the key racing moments on the schedule this weekend:

All times are UTC+2 (EST+6/BST+1/CEST):

Saturday, May 17

08:00 – UCI Enduro World Cup
12:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying 1 Women Elite
13:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying 1 Men Elite
14:15 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying Women Junior
14:40 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying Men Junior
15:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying 2 Women Elite
15:50 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualifying 2 Men Elite

Sunday, May 18

11:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Junior
12:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Junior
13:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Elite
14:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Elite

Anyone know if Ella Svegby at Trek is injured? She's not registered to race, or even in Poland AFAIK

and what’s up with heather wilson? couldn’t find her yesterday in the vital fantasy?

Sounds like he doesn’t like not being protected and the fact he could crash in qualifying and he could have a massive hole to climb out of for the overall.  To me mud races are fun because anyone can win not the teams who spend the most money having an advantage.

Maybe they forgot to lube them 🤷‍♂️ 

What's up with Jackson's Shimano brakes?  Looks like electrical tape covering the name, and the hose end looks different - a weird boxy shape.

Hmm, perhaps not the game changer some were thinking? For sure if true it's a bit of a roller coaster for Gates after the highs at the IXS race in Fort Bill and Hattie's result in Pietra Ligure.

My racing hot take for the hour:
I dont like doubling up Enduro and DH on the same weekend.  Too much content to watch.  If they want to use the same venu do them on back to back weekends.  Then we get more racing spread out throughout the year and multi discipline athletes can race both. 

In other news, cold seems like a weird reason for a belt to break.  Especially since its not that cold out and most other applications those things are used for are operating in much worse temp ranges.