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Supercross has the whole Alpinestars medical unit which is all tied in with paramedics that can attend to riders on track then transport them if needed to the on site trailer ,this is all done as one cohesive unit working together on the track and in the medical facility on site all trained and working together. The fact that DH has a sort of cobbled together crew of local paramedics and a local contracted doctor is ridiculous. They don't understand the sport and the injuries that come with it and are unfamiliar with one another probably all following different protocols...

I think Amaury might be looking for the same doc or team of docs to be at all the races. Supercross has this (right?). So they the doctor[s] get to know the racers as individuals and their idiosyncrasies to be better able to know if/when a racer should get checked out after a crash. This works for supercross, but not sure it'd work as well in dh. The number of riders showing up to dh is way higher, fewer races, less money etc. Also, did Amaury get checked out after his crash? Sounds like he tried to tough it out...

I don't understand the idea that safety is an all-or-nothing deal. Small things add up. Making thoughtful efforts in the areas surrounding the track where a rider will likely end up in a crash seems like a reasonable ting to do, and won't affect the racing at all. Since crashing is inevitable when people are pushing the limits, doesn't it make sense to lessen consequences of a mistake when there is an easy solution? I also want to make a point about the onsite doctor. Having a full-time doctor with the World Cup that goes to all races and understands...

What's the point of having a B Zone if it isn't going to be cleaned up? You can look to almost any other racing sport to see how track boundaries are specifically designed to help mitigate risk. All auto racing tracks are designed with space on the outside of critical corners to give a buffer from hitting a structure, or if there is no room, the walls are specially constructed to absorb impact. Or look at ski racing, which takes place on these same mountains, and notice the layers of different types of fencing, and the pads on the trees...

What sucks is the UCI highlight video of the last EDR race was almost 30min long and only 3 minutes of that covered the e-EDR race at the end of the video. It seems like the lack of coverage is because of the ebike haters are always whining and complaining about it. They should have equal coverage or a separate highlight video of their own.

Wow! “EDR-E is pretty disgusting”? That seems overly harsh and unwarranted. But dudes who wear leotards or spandex and shave their legs when they ride XC is cool though right?😂👍🏼 So then is any other sports competition that isn’t 100% human powered also disgusting and are they all decided by the person who has the best equipment and not rider or driver skill?? That is one of the stupidest and ignorant statements I’ve heard in along time. The only difference between a regular mountain bike and an emtb is some pedal assistance on the climbs. EMTB’s have little to no...

Sounds like Amaury is looking for someone to blame, make up some lies and not take responsibility for his own actions. As other mentioned he raced with a concussion just to win the world cup overall in previous seasons. " could have been avoid with a clean B zone maybe?" When has the B zone ever been clean? Same track last year within the 1st 18 seconds had a bush on the outside of a corner directly next to the track, 22 seconds in the same, 26 seconds both side of the track is littered with bushes and trees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7w6nJAoOFU...

I get where he is coming from but what if said stump was 5 or 10m away and he just so happened to fly through the air that fair and so the same thing, the sport is dangerous thats for sure but there are so many issues you could look at and then we would start seeing races on smooth open roads which also are a danger as tracks like that get to fast so whats the future flat smooth wide open tracks with shicains in them to bring the speed down ? On another note talking about safety didn't...

I see both sides of the safety issue, it indeed is a sport based on risk... My day job is commercial construction management, safety is a huge part of the job. Safety is like anything, it can easily go too far... I for one, watch the streams and am sometimes mortified by a few conditions that seem needlessly unsafe. Most of it is small stuff like having provisions for if/when a rider were to ride off the side of a huge wooden drop/ramp. To not have the area just off course at least evaluated and had a once over, is...

First, all the best to Amaury in his recovery. Such bad luck lately, but I am sure he will be back when everything is healed and still will be riding bikes better than anyone else. I agree to some extent that the courses should be as safe as possible, but honestly there is so little that can be done. DH racing is a very dangerous sport, and WC riders take the biggest risks. Someone goes flying out of control head first almost at every race weekend, and as @bizutch said we can't expect every rock or stump gets padded. It...

After all the talk (complaints) about how gnarly VDS was last year, adding dirt in many sections feels like an appropriate and necessary response. I'd bet it still changes a lot and roughens up through the weekend, especially with some rain. Also 100% down with the addition of a few shitty, awkward corners. That's what DH needs to separate people as we continue to trend towards fast/straight tracks. So stoked for this weekend!

Just to echo others thoughts, I wouldn't be looking to use full travel on a 180mm fork all that often. I'd want to leave the last little bit for the "oh my God I'm going to die" moments. As embarrassing as this is to admit, I can often go through an entire summer without bottoming out my fork. Yes, that is a reflection of my age (no more intentional hucks to flat), but it also is a reminder that suspension is there for control first, then comfort. The idea you should be bottoming 1-2x a ride is silly. On that...

I'm REALLY confused. If you're falling off track, why is anyone responsible for what you land on? The wall ride at Leogang doesn't have a ceiling. The rocks in the ground at Ft. Bill don't all face away from you. You can't pad every tree. Heck, I'm still of the mind of "why the hell are we padding trees?" It's a 2 wheeled balance bike screaming down only a few dozen mountains even want to take the risk of having us. He's talking about landing on his head on a rock off course. What all in the world could you...

Sounds like buddy maybe just rode a properly bled and bedded in pair of codes for the first time (with the stealth levers). Amazing how proper brake maintenance and well setup rotors/pads with straight alignment can make a world of difference.

How do you feel about motocross? no fitness involved there… just who has the fastest motorcycle 😂 I agree e bike racing is kinda stupid but still.

i thought the same. aside from the top 10 seconds of lenzerheide, it was the same as last year and leogang was the same too, right? i haven't watched dean vid yet, but the low-slung, non-breakable tape seems to be a significant problem, taking out a few riders as they snagged it and went OTB after blowing off course. @dolface - yep, EDR is off until september 1 and after VDS this weekend, the next race DH isn't until august 23 - world champs are in the middle of all that, however. re: rob and eliot in the cwx dh...

The "negative" track comments are a little odd. Seen as it looked to me as if Lenzerheide was almost identical to 2022 version? And Leogang was dry in the woods for the first time ever, so if it had of been dry in previous years it may have looked similar? We are only two races in, I'd let ESO tape a few more tracks before coming to a conclusion? Agreed about the commentary. Gracia needs to study up or get the boot. Ric needs to speak more and shout less

b practice lenzerheide/leogang is up. we recorded a post-lenzherheide show only to have the podcast platform decide to not record anything but 2 hours of black video and flat audio. hence the delay and double-up w/ both lenzer and leogang https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/vitals-b-practice-podcast-lenzerheide…

Yeah not a fan aye. I’m kinda glad shimano is way behind on the wireless stuff, more cable actuation for me! Although their 12s has been problematic for me. The derailleurs last on the order of months to weeks depending on riding location. Maybe I’ll just dig out the old X01 11s along with that indestructible one piece cassette and drop some chainring teeth. Keen to see how the supre drive gets adopted!

Considering two Meta models come with the current ('old') GX cable actuated drivetrain, I kinda doubt there is going to be a GX Transmission that's not AXS.