Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series returns to action this week at Solitude Mountain, with qualifying on Friday, July 17, and Group A finals on Saturday.
I heard something interesting today... And I gotta say, the comparison makes sense to me..Frameworks today is what Yeti was back in the day.. Small team...
I heard something interesting today... And I gotta say, the comparison makes sense to me..
Frameworks today is what Yeti was back in the day.. Small team that found the talent gave the opportunity and support to succeed.
Thoughts?
Well,
When Conroy’s dad helped him buy Yeti 20+ years ago, Yeti sorta became Yeti again… The late Scott/early Volant years were the only time I can recall Yeti not being as invested in bike racing as they were in Agoura Hills or Durango, but the entire mtb racing world collapsed in on itself at the turn of the millennium anyway.
Yeti painted themselves into a corner with the decade they spent focused on Enduro(after shuttering their ownership of Mountain States Cup), but they opened those sample molds for pumptrack and dh bikes a few years ago and have been finding young guns(and Richie and Cami!) to pilot them with plenty of success.
Ultimately Yeti changed the most fundamentally in 1997 when Scott gave John Parker his walking papers… It took Conroy’s ownership(and Fox Factory) to get the team program back on track.
Neko and Logan have built DHSE into one heck of a great series, and Frameworks into a desirable brand built on the back of race results, but they are doing it with everything they learned in a life of being mountain bike racers.
The Yeti magic was that MTB racing was brand new and that Parker, Herting and FTW knew enough about flat track motorcycles, road bike racing, BMX and Hollywood hype to network with a bunch of disparate athletes and create a well-rounded super-team that earned media and race results in equal measure.
The late 80’s and early 90’s were a very different time in mtb racing though… Technology evolved weekly(like the summer of ‘88 when the Yeti team designed the first 2-finger brake levers, cutting and welding multiple prototypes every week for Shimano, forever moving the market away from 4 finger motorcycle levers), NORBA had a full-time national competition director whose sole job was to build up national level racing. Yeti just had to find the right folks and build them the right bikes.
The Mullaly’s started racing on decent bikes when they were still little (less than a hundred pounds), but in the very lowest moments of american mtb racing. The drive of their dad to get them to the domestic races that mattered was pretty obvious, and the Mullaly boys and the Shaw boys became the primary kids from their generation to get the rare opportunity to sign a contract that could take them overseas. The Boys saw 15 years of world cup racing firsthand before the economic opportunity arose to start their own bike project.
Like the Yeti founders and current ownership, Frameworks is born and bred on the racetrack, but Frameworks is more involved with creating regional and domestic race opportunities than any other American brand in the last 25 years.
Frameworks isn’t the New Yeti, it’s one cog in the Mullaly family quest to make bike racing better.
Lachie, Troy Luke and Jackson also racing. See if anyone else comes but it’s and extra 4 hours of practice plus seeding and race runs ahead of the September World Cup
Eleonora Farina walks away from her spot on MS Racing to get back into the game on her own terms, taking some pressure off herself to try and find her form again. Good look Eleonora!
Eleonora Farina walks away from her spot on MS Racing to get back into the game on her own terms, taking some pressure off herself to...
Eleonora Farina walks away from her spot on MS Racing to get back into the game on her own terms, taking some pressure off herself to try and find her form again. Good look Eleonora!
I wish her all the best.
I hope she'll be able to race at Les Gets in August. Her win there in 2024 was epic, finishing more than 6.7 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher (Johnset) and 20 seconds ahead of 3rd place despite the challenging conditions.
In seeding for Saturday’s Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series race at Solitude in Utah:
Maylei Leaneagh went fastest among Pro Women. Kailey Skelton, current Series leader, had a DNS. (At last year’s US Open Maylei’s belt snapped right at the top of the hill and she still managed a 3rd place finish behind only winner Aletha Ostgaard and Camille Balanche.)
Dante Silva finished first among Pro Men, 1.3 seconds ahead of Series points leader Nate Kitchen. (Dante entered only 1 UCI World Cup race last year, qualifying P10 in Q1 at Lake Placid and finishing 16th in Finals.)
This is a nice recap of the series season so far and a look at today's race.
After today, the series heads to Big Bear for the US Nationals next week and then takes a break until September, when it wraps up with the US Open at Deer Valley.
A few notes on the Pro DH Series after yesterday's race at Solitude:
Kailey Skelton and Nate Kitchen remain in 1st in the overall standings, with 2 races remaining.
The Series goes to Big Bear Lake next week for the US National Championships. Defending champs are Kailey Skelton and Ryan Pinkerton.
If I'm reading the race results correctly, besides winning the race Kallie Stewart also picked up the women's $500 Hole Shot Award with a fastest 1st sector time (by .003 seconds!). Tyler Ervin finished 17th in the race but had the fastest 1st sector and took the men's Hole Shot. [I didn't check the amateur results, so I can't guarantee that Kallie and Tyler won the awards. Amateurs are eligible for them.]
Anyone here race any of the EDR's in the open classes (non pro's)? If so, how was it?
A recent trip to Switzerland and the coverage from that EDR makes it look like it could be a fantastic 4 days of riding/racing in an age appropriate category...
Wonder if we see Ronan Dunne back at the next World Cup. That could shake up the title points getting another top contender back on the track. And Loic too but feel like he’s further out from returning
The US Nationals are this weekend at Big Bear Lake in the 4th race of the Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series.
Qualifying is Friday, July 24, and Finals for the Pro category are on Saturday. No live stream, as far as I know, but live timing will be available (https://www.prodownhillseries.com/timing).
I'm not sure when registration closes, but some World Cup racers are currently registered: Aletha Ostgaard, Frida Ronning, Aaron Gwin, Luca Shaw, Dylan Maples, Ryan Pinkerton, and Richie Rude among others.
Defending US Champs are Kailey Skelton and Ryan Pinkerton.
Since there is no Vital Fantasy for National Champs I'll put my predictions out there in writing to see how they hold up! Who ya got for the Stars and Stripes sleeves?
Predictions for Downhill: Pro Women - Maylei Leaneagh. Pro Men' - Ryan Pinkerton.
Predictions for Dual Slalom: Pro Women - Jordy Scott. Pro Men - Nick Nestoroff
They might be ok on a flat bar graveler
Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series returns to action this week at Solitude Mountain, with qualifying on Friday, July 17, and Group A finals on Saturday.
As far as I know there won't be a live video stream but there should be live timing (https://www.prodownhillseries.com/timing).
Full event schedule is at: https://www.prodownhillseries.com/event-info/solitude .
We'll have UncChats, Vital RAW and Pit Bits coming from Solitude. See you there!
Downhill Southeast Race Replay and Vital RAW from Rock Creek this past weekend.
I heard something interesting today... And I gotta say, the comparison makes sense to me..
Frameworks today is what Yeti was back in the day.. Small team that found the talent gave the opportunity and support to succeed.
Thoughts?
Well,
When Conroy’s dad helped him buy Yeti 20+ years ago, Yeti sorta became Yeti again… The late Scott/early Volant years were the only time I can recall Yeti not being as invested in bike racing as they were in Agoura Hills or Durango, but the entire mtb racing world collapsed in on itself at the turn of the millennium anyway.
Yeti painted themselves into a corner with the decade they spent focused on Enduro(after shuttering their ownership of Mountain States Cup), but they opened those sample molds for pumptrack and dh bikes a few years ago and have been finding young guns(and Richie and Cami!) to pilot them with plenty of success.
Ultimately Yeti changed the most fundamentally in 1997 when Scott gave John Parker his walking papers… It took Conroy’s ownership(and Fox Factory) to get the team program back on track.
Neko and Logan have built DHSE into one heck of a great series, and Frameworks into a desirable brand built on the back of race results, but they are doing it with everything they learned in a life of being mountain bike racers.
The Yeti magic was that MTB racing was brand new and that Parker, Herting and FTW knew enough about flat track motorcycles, road bike racing, BMX and Hollywood hype to network with a bunch of disparate athletes and create a well-rounded super-team that earned media and race results in equal measure.
The late 80’s and early 90’s were a very different time in mtb racing though… Technology evolved weekly(like the summer of ‘88 when the Yeti team designed the first 2-finger brake levers, cutting and welding multiple prototypes every week for Shimano, forever moving the market away from 4 finger motorcycle levers), NORBA had a full-time national competition director whose sole job was to build up national level racing. Yeti just had to find the right folks and build them the right bikes.
The Mullaly’s started racing on decent bikes when they were still little (less than a hundred pounds), but in the very lowest moments of american mtb racing. The drive of their dad to get them to the domestic races that mattered was pretty obvious, and the Mullaly boys and the Shaw boys became the primary kids from their generation to get the rare opportunity to sign a contract that could take them overseas. The Boys saw 15 years of world cup racing firsthand before the economic opportunity arose to start their own bike project.
Like the Yeti founders and current ownership, Frameworks is born and bred on the racetrack, but Frameworks is more involved with creating regional and domestic race opportunities than any other American brand in the last 25 years.
Frameworks isn’t the New Yeti, it’s one cog in the Mullaly family quest to make bike racing better.
Freshy B Practice for La Thuile and Andorra 🤘
Is vital Raw coming back to the World Cups for the second half of the season?
Lachie, Troy Luke and Jackson also racing. See if anyone else comes but it’s and extra 4 hours of practice plus seeding and race runs ahead of the September World Cup
With no raw and no wyn did the race even happen?
Stoked to see some smaller series getting the attention!
Unc Chats Track Walk from Solitude Pro Downhill Series #USDH
Riders Interviewed
Lawlor will be at Worlds, Whistler and Lake Placid.
Praise be.
Praise B practice
I need to rip the intro from these to start the podcast haha
Raw action from Pro DH Solitude!
Eleonora Farina walks away from her spot on MS Racing to get back into the game on her own terms, taking some pressure off herself to try and find her form again. Good look Eleonora!
I wish her all the best.
I hope she'll be able to race at Les Gets in August. Her win there in 2024 was epic, finishing more than 6.7 seconds ahead of the 2nd place finisher (Johnset) and 20 seconds ahead of 3rd place despite the challenging conditions.
In seeding for Saturday’s Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series race at Solitude in Utah:
Maylei Leaneagh went fastest among Pro Women. Kailey Skelton, current Series leader, had a DNS. (At last year’s US Open Maylei’s belt snapped right at the top of the hill and she still managed a 3rd place finish behind only winner Aletha Ostgaard and Camille Balanche.)
Dante Silva finished first among Pro Men, 1.3 seconds ahead of Series points leader Nate Kitchen. (Dante entered only 1 UCI World Cup race last year, qualifying P10 in Q1 at Lake Placid and finishing 16th in Finals.)
This is a nice recap of the series season so far and a look at today's race.
After today, the series heads to Big Bear for the US Nationals next week and then takes a break until September, when it wraps up with the US Open at Deer Valley.
Pro Results for Solitude PDS. Some super tight times all around!
Top 12 Men and Women - full results found here (it defaults to seeding time, so hit the "finals" tab to see race)
Stay tuned for race day Unc Chats as well as some G-Out action.
A few notes on the Pro DH Series after yesterday's race at Solitude:
1st - $4,000
2nd - $2,000
3rd - $1,000
4th - $750
5th - $500
Race Replay and Race day Unc Chats from Solitude
Anyone here race any of the EDR's in the open classes (non pro's)? If so, how was it?
A recent trip to Switzerland and the coverage from that EDR makes it look like it could be a fantastic 4 days of riding/racing in an age appropriate category...
G-Out Project from Solitude
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/g-out-project-solitude-pro-downhill-series
Wonder if we see Ronan Dunne back at the next World Cup. That could shake up the title points getting another top contender back on the track. And Loic too but feel like he’s further out from returning
The US Nationals are this weekend at Big Bear Lake in the 4th race of the Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series.
Qualifying is Friday, July 24, and Finals for the Pro category are on Saturday. No live stream, as far as I know, but live timing will be available (https://www.prodownhillseries.com/timing).
I'm not sure when registration closes, but some World Cup racers are currently registered: Aletha Ostgaard, Frida Ronning, Aaron Gwin, Luca Shaw, Dylan Maples, Ryan Pinkerton, and Richie Rude among others.
Defending US Champs are Kailey Skelton and Ryan Pinkerton.
#USDH National Champs track walk with Luca Cometti - Unc Chats
Since there is no Vital Fantasy for National Champs I'll put my predictions out there in writing to see how they hold up! Who ya got for the Stars and Stripes sleeves?
Predictions for Downhill: Pro Women - Maylei Leaneagh. Pro Men' - Ryan Pinkerton.
Predictions for Dual Slalom: Pro Women - Jordy Scott. Pro Men - Nick Nestoroff
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