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Every loss should be tragic to anyody but it feels harder when that's someone I've been shuttling and practicing with for the last few days. Just doing our things together brings a sense of brotherhood, Unlike some other sports, I really feel a strong bond and sense of community in DH racing, especially in this field of the cat1 19 to 70+. All these guys are true heroes, dedicated racers only doing it for true passion. The pros are cool but the cat1 is truly the core of the sport, we are the guys buying gears, supporting local events and...

Ronan to Mondraker. it's a Dunne deal.

I would have to agree on a physiological basis. DH Mountain biking is performed mostly in the sagittal plane of motion, with some frontal plane motion as well. It's a fairly straight forward sport movement-wise. Example: You don't need to be a top level yogi master in order to be a DH racer like rock climbers have to be for example. This might be why I don't see many average riders stretching before they ride. As you old PT saying goes: "If you don't USE it....you LOOSE it." Meaning, if you don't work on mobility stuff, you will loose it...

The heavier rider moving loose terrain around thing is very real. A light rider can find support in places a heavy rider would just blow apart. At 250lbs x 6’4” I get jealous watching friends rip into ruts and loose berms that I’d just scrape off the map. That said, the weight advantage when plowing is also very real. When I follow smaller guys way better than me through chunky straight line stuff I end up right up their ass and hard on the brakes very quickly. That last sentence is making me a little uncomfortable for some reason.

I thought a big part of Bruni's bulking up, which for me originates from the Gee Atherton school of training, was a lot to do with injury prevention. As in, bulky/stronger guys can brush off bigger and more crashes in practice? I don't want to turn this into another "aero" thread, but when I go road cycling with my wife (-15kg and much thinner waist), regardless of the bike (I.e. I have observed this across many different bikes) she always pulls away considerably from me on descents despite no braking, which I can only attribute to my much wider shoulders...

This has been such a good discussion to read, all around. Nice input folks. Fun to read.

Mobility and carrying extra weight (assuming muscle) are not mutually exclusive (unless you're a serious strength athlete). For JG's bike to move under him doesn't require extreme levels of mobility however it will require most of the things identified here already, namely: Strength, power endurance, high VO2, reaction time and the ability to relax muscles (that’s a deep one to go into and TBH is based on the comments of Dr Stu McGill). Given that DH is an all body sport, isolating parts of the body in pursuit of performance (rather than correction) wouldn't likely provide a great deal of...

100% - Im 193cm tall and weigh around 102kg + kit. Ride and XL bike and combined weight on e bike around 130kg / regular bike 120kg i reckon? I will never be as nimble on a bike as smaller dudes, just not gonna happen. Im a good rider, and have ridden for years and can hold my own but i often find when im following shorter guys they A - sit lower in the bike and can corner far harder, and brake much later. B - can navigate corners with a lower centre of gravity while my head is...

@EBlackwell Less mass under braking makes a lot of sense. Good call. @bnflynn in combat sports featherweights are quicker than heavyweights with large movements like throwing a punch or a kick. But do you think that smaller movements like steering adjustments are as applicable? I can see so for an over-built body builder but I guess less so for athletes at a more natural weight with a mobility and agility focused training. I guess this is getting too into the weeds but that info may be available in some sports medicine journal, any experts please chime in!

Dak said the same thing on B Practice podcast

I think there is something to the higher weight, less mobility thing, but to me that isn't the major thing that makes Jackson's riding different. The biggest thing I see is Jackson's corner speed on steep terrain, which I put (in part) down to his light weight allowing him to brake later and slow himself down for corners more easily than a heavier rider. Jackson seems to be able to gap into sections, clearing over bumps and holes, and then slow himself down on a dime. A heavier rider like Loic or Minnaar wouldn't be able to brake enough for...

I think both the rider weight and height difference make a difference. It's something that Minnaar talks about in Vital's interview. The difference in body position for a 5'7" rider (Goldstone) and a 6'2" rider is huge, especially considering the stack only changes by 10mm between a size M and size XL V10. A shorter rider can ride with a more vertical torso and more centered on the bike. With the rider being such a major component of system weight, it matters more than other disciplines. There's only so much structure available in the tire lugs, the terrain, frame members...