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Incoherent. We have. More independent media than ever. Better insight from vlogs and socials than ever. A live broadcast. Insanely fast young racers, more new tracks than ever and 9-10 races per season not including Worlds. And yet. It's a "bad direction"?

Completely agree. Being protected because of past success feels a little too much like participation trophies to me. No thanks. Keep the pressure to perform on everyone. There are way more than 30 men who can compete on any given day, and that’s what makes it so good right now. Like I said before, the cream will still rise to the top, and the best riders will be there at the end of the season. But I do agree it would be nice to actually see the qualy runs though.

Hottake, The new Q1 and Q2 formats are great and I much prefer it over rider protected status as its probably the most fair way to narrow the field down. Does it mean some really popular riders lose out? Yep. Does it also mean that seasonal consistency is more rewarded in WC overall standing points? Also yes. Seems odd to have both protected riders AND riders trying to qualify all in one group. It's either we lock the field to the same 30 riders for each race or everyone needs to qualify for finals. No offense to riders like Danny...

Brosnan gonna show up with donuts

G10 PRJCT is rolling out world cup grade front rotor guards. Pretty sweet product for crap conditions and will protect the caliper and rotor while tailgate shuttling etc. Just picked up a Fox 40/220 rotor model and the fit/finish is great. https://www.g10prjct.com/collections/rotor-guards

Park bikes shouldn’t have droppers and dinner plates on them

Can we get a separate thread for requesting separate threads so it doesn’t clog up this thread?

I've been to Primoz' neck of the woods and would like to add that: You should absolutely go to that neck of the woods to ride if you get a chance. Primoz raced cross country for years before switching to longer travel bikes, and was fitter than me when we rode together. He's a great host and I cannot recommend Bled Cream Cake enough. However, I would not recommend eating it right before a 87 F/31 C mountain bike ride with Primoz. Primoz, I'm still right about heavier tire casings and softer compound. Fight me. Most power-based training plans emphasize...

I wrote this on Pinkbike but will crosspost here to as I firmly believe ABS should not be involved in WCDH. I'm all for innovation in DH and I am absolutely fine with electronics in suspension but I strongly believe that ABS has no place in competitive DH. Braking ability and threshold braking are massively important skill that do separate riders. Having a system that would theoretically allow a rider to just full pull brake but not lock the wheels would be a huge advantage on most tracks and certainly would for low grip tracks or conditions. Formula One as...

Hmm. Do I get to decide when it’s a sustained steep or recovery is necessary? Cuz I spent like an hour yesterday desperately clicking my gravel bike’s shifter in search of an even lower gear. I’m old, been drinking too much beer and eating Trader Joe’s peanut butter cups, and now I gotta deal with the knowledge that I have suboptimal gearing? Eff it

More deets on new Ochain B1 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/chainrings/ochain/r-chainring-sp… TLDR: SRAM has taken over manufacturing and has improved the tolerances and sealing of the system to keep stuff from getting in, increasing service intervals. They’ve also introduced an external travel adjust upgrade kit to convert internally adjustable models. And the new B1 models are only available for SRAM 3/8-bolt cranks and Bosch’s CX5 motor. No more Shimano/Race Face models. I’ve ridden one for almost three months and it has faired way better than any Ochain I’ve had in the past. No creaking, no need to clean it out yet. The elastomers...

Absolutely this. Once you unleash a gaggle of hyper-loose DH pros on the track, it's a whole new ballgame. I for one think it looks great for racing...all that open space and tons of off-camber to separate the the riders, it'll be a lot harder than you might first think to put down a run at race pace here...

People said the same about Poland, but it really cut up and turned into a great track. This will probably shape up to be one of the most interesting races in modern DH. A new country, with a level playing field in terms of pit setup, on a track with more flat corners and tight tree line choice will mean we could see some dark horses really shine here. An unexpected good result at the first race of the season could really jumpstart the rest of their season and a career. That's what we all want, a cool story. Loic...

Test lap of the Korea DH track:

@notthatbryan - crazy story! and yeah, i forgot "syncopy" in the term. the human body is fascinating. re: fantasy, i think we'll keep normal timing after Q2 like last year and will discuss rider values. thanks for the input, everyone.

I think some tweaks to scoring, not when the lockdown happens, would be good. I don't recall the exact rules. It did feel that it was more of a math challenge instead of who would win as far as points go as the season went on. Possible put heavy points on the top 5 and way less on the other results. Make it more of a rifle and not a shotgun approach.

Much better name for Vali's vlogs than the weird "It is what it is" of the past.