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Some people will do anything to win. The fact that amateurs will dope to win Cat 1 / 2 /3 races proves this. So I’m sure someone has considered mechanical doping for DH. I think that my main question is whether there are silent motors that, say, a crowd in a rock garden wouldn’t hear? Personally, I prefer my analog bike over my ebike for downhills, first because it’s much more nimble, but also because it’s 31 lbs (instead of 56), but finally, because I like the more “free” feeling of the analog bike. On a downhill, to me, the...

Could definitely get something in a bike. Sure. wynTV had the same scanner dude with his iPad, they’re walking around checking 40 bikes every XC race…may as well check DH bikes. Maybe they are? Still only caught that Belgian girl (and her crime family) in any discipline ever. Long time ago. This podcast on her started fun but never really paid off https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ghost-in-the-machine/id1723841408 I’d welcome some more cheaters. They’re not doing anything about the speedsuits so maybe we need some straight up motors to get em going. Maybe as we get closer to full-on desperation time for next season someone...

True but I think a “cheater” motor would be tiny and add a few pounds and just give the rider an extra few watts. The battery would only have to last for about 60 seconds. The trick would also be to make it so you don’t blow second place out of the water by 10 seconds, would look super suspicious. Guys are already strapping weights to their bikes. A little 2 lb motor and battery would probably be welcome on the weight side and the assist side. Any rider or team getting caught would probably end the teams career, team...

Oh no the euros will finally be forced to watch at off hours 😂

More non EU race venues seems like a huge win to me. Would've liked to see more US races but still a positive move imo.

I hope in the future there is a 63 year old gwin ripping windrock in a rb helmet. 😂

South Korean DH and XC round in 2026 just got confirmed

rumor is south korea is a night race too. pro race results and some photos from Solitude Pro Downhill Series. https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/news/results-and-photo-blast-pro-downhill…

Full qualifying/seeding results from Hardline - big congrats to Lou Ferguson who becomes the first woman ever to complete a full top-to-bottom run at Hardline Wales (following up her success at Hardline Tasmania where she and Gracey Hemstreet were the first women to complete that course in 2024). As per usual, any rider who completes the course whether in practice or training should be able to ride in the finals, regardless of seeding results. Note that finals are now at 3am PST (12:00 CET) on July 27, the event has been moved forward in the day to account for inclement...

Don’t know a lot about labor politics outside the U.S., but respectfully, labor unions really can take credit for getting US workers the 40 hour work week and the weekend. Labor unions did that, and it took about 60 years of organizing before FDR signed the Fair Labor Standards Act into law in 1938: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/sep/09/viral-image/does-8-ho…

(at least they didn't run a half off flash sale and then enter administration after taking as many orders as possible)

Without unions we wouldn't have the weekend. Don't know why kids earning good wages out of school would ever be a bad thing. I'm sure if there were better union protections for workers in the MTB industry, we'd see a lot of brands still kicking.

... UNLESS it was the original purpose of the thread

Completely off topic, but here is what seems to be a pretty final Whiteface WC track map:

My version of what I think Robot was saying is that the issue is the industry is run by enthusiasts. I intentionally use "issue" instead of "problem," because I want my bikes designed by people who are passionate about riding bikes. But mixing passion for the sport with running a business in the sport can lead to the sort of irrational exuberance we saw during the COVID boom. I don't follow the financial news closely so I may be way off, but can you imagine the CEO of General Motors saying, "We just build the trucks we want to drive"...

No so sure about the strategy of, in fairly quick succession, having a huge sale and taking a bunch of people's money, sending them an email telling them neither the bike nor a refund are imminent, and then launching a new version of a bike called the "decoy."

All I want to say is, Jeff, please don't leave! and Robot/Charlie, we still love you!

This might be the only mtb forum where people actually get along 84 pages in, talk about REAL books in both finance and philosophy, and say sorry. Long live vital

Very much this; I've learned a tremendous amount from this thread alone, and have been delighted and surprised at how civil and thoughtful the conversation has been. Jeff, I hope you reconsider and feel welcome to return but either way, thank you for sharing your time and expertise so freely, it's a been a real pleasure to be a beneficiary!