Posts
315
Joined
12/11/2011
Location
colorado springs, CO, USA
Fantasy
First post/link was blocked?
US Open weekend feels like the right time for a 30-year throwback to the classic NORBA National era.
I’ve been slowly digitizing and archiving all our old 90s VHS tapes so this history doesn't get lost. Here’s the 1996 Deer Valley National broadcast on ESPN. My better half, Leigh Donovan, took the double win in Elite Women’s DH and Dual Slalom that weekend!
It was an awesome event, though as the team wrench back then, I vividly remember we went through some wheels and the dust was pretty savage on fork seals.
Thanks for posting this a great trip down memory lane.
How often were you replacing seals? How did the Outland frames hold up that season?
Outland season for us was 1996, we ran outland frames with Mongoose decals, season prior in 1995 when leigh won worlds, we rode handmade Nicolai frames with mongoose decals (And the last 2 seasons on Mongoose, were Intense M1's with mongoose decals....we basically started that whole fad of riding for a bike brand that did not make DH worthy bikes and the moment Leigh and Lopes rode Palmers intense-it was game over "we have to ride that frame")...so that being said, the outland season was insane; we headed to first world cup in panticosa Spain, I brought 2 spare front ends in addition to their built bikes. First day of practice, they cracked the frames-both Leigh and Brian, I built up the spares and those broke on day 2. I called Byron Friday (BMX legend who worked for mongoose) to come fly out with more frames and lots of JB weld, so he arrived 30 hours later...this was back when it was many days of practice. It was a total shit show.
Outland welded up some beefy versions for the next race, and we eventually were going through frames less. The little vpp linkages down below were total garbage too, a dodgy bushing setup with c clips. Being a race tech in the 90's was literally the worst job due to the inferior product and sending your athletes (and in my case, my girlfriend, down a mountain knowing something would fail).
The Rockshox era was pretty damn good actually, on seals, the only place we had severe trouble was mammoth-that pumice ate seals alive, if you notice some mammoth coverage, boxxers had big rubber boots in later years which sacrificed performance but we could make it through a weekend.
Wrenches these days, having luxury time to put oil in hub bearings and solder spokes, pfffff
P.S. added a couple dozen more videos, gonna keep adding them.
I've been doing the same thing with my old VHS tapes! I've gone through about 5 tapes so far, about 50 to go. I made a whole new Youtube channel just for it - Downhill Rewind
1997 Deer Valley
1998 Deer Valley
All this Deer Valley talk- Bart McDaniel’s winning the DS there over Lopes in ‘97 still stands up as one of the most exciting Saturday nights of my life.
It was certainly a heck of a lot cooler than Bender’s huck in the parking lot earlier that afternoon.
With the crowds of kids Utah can turn out to spectate, it’s a real shame that the USOpen crew quit running DS… The worlds simplest grass slalom is still so much cooler than a pyramid of giza sized whip-off jump.
I had heard those frames didn't hold up well. I was at Mont Ste Anne in 96 to see Leigh win the world cup race, and raced there in 97 on a Mongoose that actually held together for the weekend.
Thanks for sharing these stories add more anytime you can! Such a great era of DH racing.
Bender’s huck was way later than ‘97.
It was during the 02-05 era.
It was before 2001. I walked over to the Bender retaining wall in 2001.
Stupidest thing you could ever see in person.
Vertical wall to a massive ditch to pavement. It was impossible then & it would be impossible now.
That had to be the most depressing thing to watch.
I was trying to find a video to see what you guys were talking about and found this article.
https://www.deseret.com/2000/7/31/19521190/stunt-biker-taken-to-hospita…
Okay, I was also wrong. Year 2000.
I was there (and 14 it turns out, the first year I would’ve attended). The rumblings around the pits before the jump was interesting.
If you are between 5'8" to 5'11" it seems like it is still a good enough fit. Sam Hill and other shorter pro riders doing "retro" ride videos don't seem to be too bothered. 6ft and up, probably not. I have an "XL" 2013 V 10 with a ridiculous 445mm reach, I'm 6'2" not so much. I loved the long low and slack while it lasted.
Hah! I raced Deer Valley in 2000 as well! And watched the Bender retaining wall drop. Was very much a SMDH moment.
I've always wanted to hear the view point of someone watching him do it live. I mean...I saw the wall. The ditch.
What was it like looking and knowing you were gonna see him wreck...and knowing it would be gruesome.
@Grave I found it. It's this first one.
Can't explain it without seeing in person how terminal that parking lot is until you're there looking up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Vwl9Iso3d/
More gruesome angle:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DACmoBnRxx1/
Post a reply to: 30 years ago-Deer Valley NORBA National coverage