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They want it to be as big as it needs to be to satisfy their profits. They really don’t care if it’s “big” for the benefit of the sport, only if it’s a benefit to them. The two don’t align and never will which is the crux of the problem.

The whole 'growing' the sport thing pisses me off. I'm not sure how restricting access to the top level of competition whilst refusing to help establish a pathway to get there 'grows' the sport. I'm not sure how basically destroying top flight enduro 'grows' the sport. The want to 'grow' subscribers to their broadcast to increase it's 'value' so they can charge sponsors,teams and venues more. Who does that help exactly?

Define elite. If a privateer qualifies to race in the elite category doesn't that make them an elite rider? If they get down the track faster than someone with a factory ride haven't they earned the right to race? There are numerous team riders that rarely qualify for finals.

He lost view of what is good for the sport versus what is good for the WB stakeholders. I'm also always baffled when anybody claims DH is too long and complicated when few of the most popular sports are baseball and football, even the most popular cycling event is the fucking endless hours long Tour de France...It's also pretty insulting for the viewers who would be too dumb to understand an offroad time trial. Everybody wants to compare DH with Formula 1 but have you ever watched a Grand Prix without falling asleep on the couch? I see zero evidence...

metaphorically speaking

I want to gouge the guy’s eyes out with my thumbs

Sounds increasingly like after 30 years, WC DH as we loved it will be over... I for one don't care to watch a curated liste of "elite" teams race each other and pretend their are the best in the world haha. I never pay for sports, but I surely won't even try to watch now.

Another quote about feeder series " I firmly believe we have to do that (catches himself again)........err I mean when I say we I mean we as a community ........not we as Warner Brothers" He talks about the lower football leagues as an example......The premiership give between £500,000 and £5million to every club in the lower divisions. WB want other people to do all the legwork and then they get to keep all the money.

To be honest he's closer to Saruman. Good interview. The closest Ball has got to any form of honesty. Bullet points. 1. Confirms that they want Wc to be Elite only. 2. Says it's not their job to support a pathway to actually becoming elite. 3. Their goal is 'growth' to 'increase value'.......but only in casual viewership and value to themselves 4. The path to this is 'simplifying' the sport ie making courses shorter, shorter broadcasts. 5. That everyone needs to stop complaining. Wb are not in this for shit and giggles. They are here to make money. It's value...

haven't watched, is his transformation into Gollum complete?

Looked through the thread and didn't see anything on this bike. New Obrea or just some rebadged bike I'm brainfarting on?

How did they determine protected status? It seems to be based off current MTB World Series standings but that seems odd considering everything else is based on UCI ranking and this race is technically separate from the series. Pretty silly anyone is protected and even sillier they have qualifying, let alone qualifying that doesn’t even determine start order.

Thats the new „Shredda Front“ Ebike Tire (with radial casing),launched with the Albert, it has absurdly tall knobs, even higher than the Dirty Dan. There is also the rear version, which has the exact same profile as the albert, only a bit taller and spaced a little bit further apart. I have the rear one on my dh bike up front currently to test on the weekend, as the albert is nowhere available here atm.

If I remember correctly, in a podcast Greg said that his deal includes after he retires, running the team, developing the bike. I would imagine he wants to have a similar role like Peaty does with Santa Cruz.

in our interview w/ him earlier this year he made it clear he'd still be involved w/ the team even if not racing at the WC level.

Not to sound like a dick but I hope most people ignore this. 1) Martin is one of one. You don't ride a bike like him and neither do I. 2) According to the telemetry data I've seen, most (good) riders do in fact use their brakes for ~85% of a descent. Even Neko just noted at the WC level guys are on their brakes 80% of a run. 3) The whole point of a brake is to take kinetic energy and turn it into thermal energy. The more "room" a system has with respect to heat management, the better...

On the Propain Website you can already spec the Enduro Supersoft Contis, haven‘t seen that elsewhere.

Nooooo. Please don't tell me that same BS nomenclature is now going to migrate over to cable operated components as well. I'm not sure I can take it.

There's something comforting in knowing that no matter where you are or the level you ride, it will always be wonderful weather before and after a weekend, but rain on your ride 🙄