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I have the Dakine bag and used it on a couple trips now and prefer it to the evoc bags I had borrowed off friends in the past. I find the wheels fit better, large frames fit without issues without having to get an 'XL' bag and it's significantly lighter so bike and bag (just) stay within most airlines limits for a regular piece of luggage without having to strip everything off the bike.

I don’t really have an opinion when it comes to inter-rider relationships, ‘good for them’ is as far as I’ll comment. I was amused at the commentary from the lads on the B-Practice podcast acknowledging the middle-aged male audience, and not knowing whether or not it was newsworthy. But I fully agree with you: no room WHATSOEVER for it in the live broadcast, just like we don’t need a slo-mo of the top part of the run while the rider is still on course. Your point about Myriam shows just how out of balance it was, and the bottom line...

I'm wondering if there will be a mechanism for teams to be promoted/relegated to and from the feeder series', or if it'll be a closed shop like F1 and the only way for riders to hit the big league will be to hope spots will open up in one of those 20 teams. If it's the latter I think that'll be truly terrible for the sport.

What colour did Chris Ball get his Ferrari in after all of this?

Yes, he wanted to save energy. He was just here to check the track for next year world champs, and he said it's a very physical one.

so there's a video that's not mine to post, but it has been guinea-pigged. not sure when that stuff will hit the airwaves (has it already? i haven't looked at insta in a while). the rider OJ'd a tiny bit and rode out easily, but the jump seems to work fine. as most here have said however, it's probably not about the jump not working...it's the what-ifs of something going wrong on the way to the jump. a bernard headtube dismemberment on the g-out at the bottom of the ramp? tire going flat? pedal slip? random shit happens and nothing...

One of the things I love about this sport are stories like Ronan's. Watching him on WynTV where they talk about him getting the privateer award 3 years ago, to winning his first WC race (massive kudos to Wyn and GT for what they're doing). It'd be such a loss for stories like this to become a thing of the past if WB/D continue to push the sport the way they seem to be set on.

This is the thing - in this case more coverage of each run does not mean the coverage is better overall. Now, instead of having all of the key features and most technical sections with each run being action packed, there are all of the more boring bits thrown in as well which I think makes each run more less interesting...

IMO the hate towards Warner Bros/ Discovery/ the UCI is completely warranted. They took a reasonable product from RedBull that was FREE, added a paywall, started dismantling and taking apart the sport we love and seem content to just throw out crappy coverage. They are not following through with promises to grow the sport and cutting the numbers of riders is only going to reduce the prospects for future talent - would Ronan be winning this w/e if racing as a privateer back then (2021) was as difficult as it is now...? I haven't watched since the first free semi...

I think one thing that has worked against them is that they have made a lot of noise and claims about how they are improving things and growing the sport. They have then fallen short on promises made on numerous occasions. From what I remember RB never got into the habit of blowing their own trumpet, instead they just got on with providing great coverage of WC events, alongside bringing ground breaking events such as Rampage and Hardline. Don't talk the talk if you can't (or won't) walk the walk.

The coverage is only part of the issues with UCI/WBD Enduro is being sidelined, geographic spread of events is shocking, rider numbers are being cut, privateers being priced out of racing, etc.. I'm in Scotland and ESO bought out our national series then canned it without explanation, and have ignored any questions about it. The Tweed Valley EWS round had a five year contract in place with landowners and they canned that after two years. They also screwed local riders by halting a major trail development to run the XC World Champs on the site, then bulldozed what they'd built...

Good list, and a few more (albeit minor): - Not talking about the splits until 10-20 seconds after they are on-screen - Show where we are in the running order (I saw it once, before the Dak's run "1 rider to go". Yeah, no sh*t). - Stop showing run times in green I don't mind paying if the product is good but it needs to 1. be easy and 2. not come bundled w/ a bunch of other crap I have zero interest in.

Having Aaron in the booth has saved the commentary.If it was Ric and Cedric I would'nt watch at all. Ric has'nt got any better this season, he is just not very good in the booth. I mute any time they cut to Josh or the other person. If 'official' means bland generic and corporate......then yes it's more official. Blurry drone footage is pointless. Feels like less track coverage than RB. Not televising semis feels like a way to cut the field without cutting the field (a lot of teams/riders will pull out due to lack of coverage next year) and...

I would like to see him in the start gate this year, but if he doesn’t show up it won’t be the end of the world.

Gee Atherton just posted a story at a Saudi investment fund meeting, pretty sad if that is where they will be getting money from https://www.instagram.com/stories/gee_atherton/3286042004994581973?igsh…