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Wouldn’t be Rampage without confusing judging. #1 blew everyone else out of the water and barely won.

I’m sorry, but Daprela doesn’t ‘deserve’ anything. Racing at a World Cup level is a privilege not a right. It’s beyond just being fast, you also need to have certain aspects of professionalism and be enjoyable to be around. Regardless of what actually happened in the ‘incident’, his continued behavior in the aftermath is uncouth and any team should be hesitant for that alone.

I'm not proud of my country right now, but I am proud of Dak.

I root for Dak more than anyone in the field. Not because he is American. I like his story. Getting into the sport later in life. Grinding as a privateer. Coming from a humble background and a part of the world far from any DH trails. And then, sort of like Benoit, just improving year after year to the point that he was one slippery turn from winning the rainbow stripes. Now after a massive injury he got back to 4th place on 1.5 legs. Insane. I like his style too, sneaky smooth and smart racecraft. At MSA I thought...

so much wrong with your statement! i hate (current) america but love dak

It's sad reading nonsense like this. The same wheels won him a World Cup a few weeks ago. Mondraker on the same wheels got 4th & 5th in this race. Mondraker runs the same tires as all 3 of the men's overall podium.

Don't think anyone who saw Meier Smith (even before he signed at Giant) didn't think he'd win a World Cup. Hindsight being 20/20, there was an edit of him hitting a park in Australia few years back I immediately thought he would win World Cups. There is something about his combo of power & reaction time that is unmistakable. Think he'd won sooner, but like so many others, he took a few monster injuries that "delayed" his 1st win. Also...let's shout out to our Vital member @Sugarbrad on his World Cup winning mechanic skills! Not often the forums have a...

As former rim destroyer of a team, I can speak to it. NOT a "blame" thing toward Dunne. Ronan generates force & power with his back, hips & thighs. His speed & insane carving ability are from a center/rear weight bias that produces powerful burst. Who doesn't LOVE to ride that way. BUT...we all can destroy rear wheels with that technique. I always shifted to a center bias to save rear wheels on race weekends to get by w/ only 1 spare wheel . Hated to race like that. I'm all for his riding style. When he's on & gets...

Since you don't understand this, I'll explain. World Cup teams annihilate wheels all week long. Most of the wheels can make it back to the pits. A new wheel goes on for the next run. No one says a word & it gets rebuilt. One team...1 rider this weekend....annihilated SIX wheels before Finals. Their teammate nuked only ONE wheel a week after smashing multiple wheels. That plays out w/ every team & you aren't privy to it. Pros don't melt over wheels. It's been that way since the beginning. Every pit, every rider is cracking or splitting wheels. They just...

It was a cracked rim, not sure what do you want them to do with that

The amount of rims with spokes still attached (hub removed) that I saw kids walking around with this weekend would say otherwise to your comment about hiding broken parts. I believe Jackson went through one rim where last time at MSA he went through even more. He bent his bash guard and chain ring (my son has the ring) this weekend. They just change things and carry on.

Just wanted to chime in, and I know I’ve said this here before, but this is one of the hardest parts of being a privateer. Hard to fly halfway across the world with five spare wheels, let alone have them set up and waiting in the car park with rotors, cassettes, and tires mounted. Being able to confidently obliterate wheels in practice with no consequences is a pretty huge advantage when practice time is so limited. The alternative to spare wheels is running too much tire pressure (which obviously sucks) or riding gingerly (which kind of defeats the whole point).

For once I have to agree wholeheartedly with Bizutch. Wheels are disposable for a team at this level. At certain races as a mechanic I built 15 wheels in a weekend for racers. Sometimes they were 1 run wheels, sometimes they lasted two days. But not one person on my team at a WC raced on the same wheels they practiced on...especially at MSA. Wheels are disposable goods at a WC level. dead wheels at a race mean absolutely nothing.

The rumour I've heard is that YT is dead-dead, not just the race team. I did not view it as from a credible source which is why I did not post it here when I heard.

YT liquidation?

Curious, I know its slightly different but how does this not violate e*thirteen's patent?

We are truly flattered, DT.