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bnflynn Added a reply to Where do you get your MTB enjoyment from?
3/14/2024 4:15am I used to race, and I liked the challenge of new trails or going faster on trails I knew. But now that I have kids, I'll ride anything just get out on the bike for a while. Same with skiing; I grew up racing, and only ever wanted to ski downhill. Now I will happily do a short XC ski...
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bnflynn Added a reply to The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread
2/15/2024 3:37am I don't know if this is still the case, but Giant used to have basically 2 completely separate lines of bikes. They had a full line of budget bikes you would find at basic outdoors or sporting goods stores, and the high end line you would find at dedicated bikes shops. My initial assumption is that they will sell the...
bnflynn Added a reply to how much do frame design aesthetics matter to you?
2/15/2024 3:29am Sounds like a lot of people want one more option: "Performance over looks, up to a point. Sometimes it's just too ugly" All the bikes I've owned have looked good (at least I thought they did at the time), even though I was mostly looking for performance and fit.
All-MTN-MTB Liked a reply to forum topic Is it the Bike or the Rider?
1/19/2024 9:11am
Taking into account how talented a rider must be to get to a competitive place in the world cups and how far the bikes have progressed, I would guess that it is 70% rider's mental ability, 20% rider's physical ability, and 10% differences in frame and component technology in the present day. I have no data to support those percentages other than gut feel. To expand on the guess above, I feel like a rider that's in a bad spot mentally will never be able to approach the track speed where they are at their physical limit, or the limit...
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bnflynn Added a reply to Is it the Bike or the Rider?
1/19/2024 9:10am Let's say there is a perfect bike for a given rider's size/proportions and riding style, then they could get 100% of their potential from that bike. There is no bike that will make a rider better than their skills (mental and physical), but having a bike that doesn't fit will keep the rider from reaching their potential. So that is...
bnflynn Added a reply to Weight vs mobility in dh racing
1/10/2024 11:32am I seem to remember Richie Rude saying he lost around 25 pounds when he started working with Graves when he was switching to enduro. Loic wants to be the final EDR champion? Ok, ok. My understanding of the strength element in DH is really about the ability to take a big hit, not necessarily to intentionally plow through everything. I'm...
bnflynn Added a reply to Why Do High-end Integrated MTB Bar/Stem Combos Exist?
12/15/2023 10:24am I can see how this works for road bikes, and maybe even when paired with a specific frame model. But given the wide range of head angles, if you put the same bar/stem on different frames, you would end up with different roll angles. I realize there are a lot of people who wouldn't notice, judging by some of the...
bnflynn Added a reply to 2024 Racing Talk
12/14/2023 10:51am I think this is the right take. The current audience for MTB racing is small compared to those other sports. The goal is to bundle MTB with the mainstream sports in order to maybe get some of those people to watch MTB, not the other way around. This is their plan to grow the audience. I don't know how good...
bnflynn Added a reply to 10 year old downhill bike
11/14/2023 5:04am A lot of the changes from 2013 to now are down to bike length, and as mentioned before, wheel size. Frame angles are similar, and the suspension will still be decent. So if the bike fits you, it will be a good bike. And building on what was said before, the moving parts should all be checked and possibly serviced...
bnflynn Added a reply to DH's Potential for Mass Viewership Outside of MTB Participants
10/12/2023 5:33am I'm having a hard time following all the people who argue that having 30 people in the finals will eliminate the possibility of a breakout performance. They are not limiting the entries to 30, so you could still get someone with a high number plate who puts in a strong qualifying run. And this really isn't much different than it...
bnflynn Added a reply to All Things Rampage 2023
10/5/2023 9:41am One thing to keep in mind about scoring is that the numbers are relative, and only have meaning within the current competition. A score of 90 from today is not the same as a 90 from any other year. The numbers are only used to rank the riders. The judges could make their lives easier by automatically giving the first...
bnflynn Added a reply to 2023 Racing Talk
9/7/2023 4:20am F1 does have feeder categories. And although it's not the model I would want to follow, it does have some merit. There is a women's series (formerly Formula W, now F1 Academy). And Formula 2, the feeder and mostly junior series runs the same tracks the same weekend as Formula 1. So fairly similar to juniors in WCDH now. But...
bnflynn Added a reply to LES GETS World Cup Downhill 🔴 FREE, LIVE RACING & RACE TALK 🔴
9/6/2023 8:59am There was a post recently (that I can't find) saying that the elite teams needed to field at least one rider at each round or they would lose their status. I was assuming that after Thibault was ruled out for the rest of the season, meaning all of the Muc-Off elite riders are out with injury, they picked up Maples...
bnflynn Added a reply to 🔴 FREE, LIVE RACING & RACE TALK 🔴 VALLNORD World Cup Downhill
9/1/2023 9:32am For the guys ranked 31-60 in the standings, the UCI ranking points are probably more important than the World Cup points anyways. They definitely got lucky with that schedule change, but they shouldn't have to get lucky just to keep the points from a race run.
bnflynn Added a reply to Pit to Racer Communications During Race Runs (DH)
9/1/2023 9:12am I'm mostly in agreement with others here that telling the rider to adjust during a run wouldn't be helpful. The one place I do see it being useful for a rider is after a crash or a flat. Let the rider know how much they really lost, and if pushing is still helpful. If someone told Jackson last week he...
bnflynn Added a reply to 🔴 FREE, LIVE RACING & RACE TALK 🔴 VALLNORD World Cup Downhill
8/28/2023 5:04am When I read this, I thought it was correct. But then looking at the results sheets from this last race, when they had a finals with more than the expected 30 / 10 riders, they only awarded points to the top 30 men and top 10 women? Or does the results sheet only show World Cup points, in which case...
bnflynn Added a reply to 🔴 FREE, LIVE RACING & RACE TALK 🔴 VALLNORD World Cup Downhill
8/25/2023 7:47am Very tight times in men's qualis. 11 riders missed the cut by less than 1 second, and 24 by less than 2 seconds. I still feel like I prefer more technically difficult tracks that separate riders more. Super fast tracks like this invite more risk taking, and at the same time leave no room for mistakes, as there is just...
bnflynn Added a reply to ALL THINGS DH WORLD CHAMPS 2023
8/3/2023 10:25am With the junior men and elite women fields not reaching their quota, maybe they should let a few more of the junior women race in the final? I don't seen much of a downside, and it would give these young women a little more experience on the world stage, hopefully helping to get larger women's fields in the future.
bnflynn Added a reply to 2023 Racing Talk
8/1/2023 6:05am I have mixed feelings about how they used the course markings to narrow and chicane the trail. In general I like the idea of doing this to control speed into dangerous features. But watching this video I found it difficult to see the riding line. I think maybe it comes down to the use of just poles without tape. My...
bnflynn Added a reply to 2023 Racing Talk
6/28/2023 6:03am 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...