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love this question! i'd make an IROC for downhill (at least what i remember IROC (international race of champions) from the 80's being...maybe it still exists?). X number of venues with X number of pre-selected racers run the same bike, suspension and tire manufacturer. each venue bike, suspension and tires change. brakes, cockpit and drivetrain can be whatever they want the series has no UCI affiliation. example - val di sole, everyone is on specialized, ohlins and maxxis - les gets, commencal, fox and schwalbe - MSA trek, rockshox and continental - last race of the season is riders choosing...

Build a continental race series, 1 series based in North America, 1 in Europe and 1 in Oceania for juniors and up and comers to compete for real prize money, and try leverage that as a feeder system into an elite level competition that replaces the UCI shitshow.

People interested in mtb gear performance and mtb athlete performance have never had easier access to data than we do now. But I think the insights it's possible to draw from those data are pretty limited by some members of the comment section's refusal to think about inconsistency. Yeah, it's super exciting when the top 5 are sitting on the same second. No one wants to take the excitement away, but you may also here for what can be learned and maybe applied to another rider or the next race. So it's not to be a wet blanket on the...

For years I had CX neighbors on the Blood Vampire whatch list. Vlad did it wrong. It’s absolutely impossible to forget to update them. It’s your own personal responsibility- nobody “forgets”. No excuses

This is a major responsibility of the athlete at that level. They all know it and deal with it. It's part of their daily/weekly routine. For someone at the level of a Van Der Poel or whatever, they probably have a very close trusted associate that manages some of it. But Vlad likely does it himself (as most all of the XC pros in MT and knows the importance of it. If you followed doping in road cycling over the decades, Whereabouts checks are VERY important to the process. Athletes used to know when they were going to get tested...

Here is the data in graph form. His finishes in EDR for 2022, 2023 & 2024. It appears he is merely inconsistent, not handicapped by his bike. He will no doubt have an explosive placing once or twice. You're simply viewing his results with "recency bias".

What did his wife think though?

The coverage itself, aside from the lead commentators brain numbing commentary, has been fantastic in 2024. Things that must change though: Scrap semis, or at the very least, stream it live for free on YT. Allow top 60 to compete in finals, highlights package for 30-60 riders before full live coverage of the final 30. Increase the women's field to 20 riders and broadcast them all.

Hit the nail on the head with the last paragraph. Viewers/riders/fans/whatever you call them were far more tolerant of mistakes errors and missteps from the RBTV coverage as it was free. By charging for it, WB by default has set the expectation that there is a certain level of quality that needs to be delivered if they expect people to pay money for it.

Red Bull was not filming every rider and they couldn't always piece together a full run from a 30-60 guy... There is only a quarter of Alex Fayolle's winning run in Lourdes the year before Martin won in La Bresse. It's easy to forget that RedBull had more than their fair share of flaws and had to continually keep learning how to broadcast DH racing. The same applies to WB, just with far higher consequences being a paid service rather than a glossed up drinks promotion.

Personally I don’t think full runs has made for better dh finals viewing. I’d much rather the focus be on having the best tracks. Including very long tracks where elevation and track design make it possible. Then simply film the best sections (biggest features and most technical sections where line choice and variance in speed is common plus the finish line). Personally I have found the new finals format to be more boring than the old one. Semis/lcq becomes a necessary evil. But offers a lot of points and has zero coverage. And let’s face it by race day there...

More from the point of view that he’s been on fox for his entire career even when that meant moving the full team over from rockshox. Plus as far as I’m aware specialized are the only team that Ohlins support at a factory level.

Having watched John Kirkcalide win on a 26" Rocky Mtn RM9 w/ a 24" rear wheel & 3.0 Gazzalodi tire, I can confirm that it is ACTUALLY the rider at this point. If you're off the pace on anything branded w/ legit components, it's you, not the bike.

Dakotah's endgame:

Like Jason said, Dak has seen the light. He's the prophet of the Church of the tall Stack. And as a 6ft+ dude who's always thought that the front end on his own bike wasn't tall enough, I for one welcome these experiments. Hopefully this will ruffle some feathers in the industry, once Dak inevitably wins a world cup on his new setup. Tall stack is going to be the new "long, low, slack". BTW, I'd absolutely buy some "Stack Norton"-signature bars. Mondraker, make it happen!

MARCO OSBORNE IN TENTH!!!