Is DH getting quicker?

PB Forum :: Downhill
Is DH getting quicker?
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Posted: Aug 31, 2014 at 20:56 Quote
Yes, no doubt things are faster, but the difference with downhill is the tracks are also advancing, If you look at the tracks they used to race on, the bikes these days and the riders these days would have no problem racing those old tracks. Downhill has drastically gotten faster and tracks have gotten rougher.

The bikes have made a massive difference. When we compare v10 to a glory the difference is pretty much nothing it all comes down to rider. But when we compare modern bikes to older 10 yr old bikes than yes no doubt the bike played a massive role in that. But they have opened the way for harder tracks too.

O+
Posted: Sep 1, 2014 at 13:28 Quote
I find it interesting because in other sports where saving time is, essentially, the thing that drives technical progression and design it's very easy to measure even slight increases or decreases (motorsport in particular, but also in disciplines like track running and riding).

Because so much of downhill is on tracks that may not be the same day to day, let alone year to year it must be hard for the manufacturers to prove that the next big thing is actually a big thing.

Posted: Sep 1, 2014 at 14:12 Quote
twade76 wrote:
I find it interesting because in other sports where saving time is, essentially, the thing that drives technical progression and design it's very easy to measure even slight increases or decreases (motorsport in particular, but also in disciplines like track running and riding).

Because so much of downhill is on tracks that may not be the same day to day, let alone year to year it must be hard for the manufacturers to prove that the next big thing is actually a big thing.

True but it doesn't stop them trying.

Would be interesting if there could a be a track made to be easily fixable and hard wearing enough to find out , then again you still don't know if the bikes faster or the rider.

Posted: Sep 2, 2014 at 13:01 Quote
Rachel Atherton's comment from Fort william this year kind of says it all. She thought the new bigger wheels felt so much faster. Then you see a before picture from the national and an after from the WC. The track had been kind of buffed out......so yeah feel kind of is just that feel. Not fact

Posted: Sep 2, 2014 at 14:21 Quote
Of course it is. I see progression in everything at a mad rate. In terms of BMX, I remember Matt Hoffman saying that backflip tailwhips should be possible. Now, I've heard of backflip triple whips. Backflips were out there. Now people are busting triples. Dane Searls flipped 60ft 8 years ago or so. Now Cam Zink has flipped 100ft. Nose wheelies used to be really rare, now they're just another trick. Heck, I see 14 year olds flipping out of the bowl at skateparks. There was a video on PB not that long ago of a ten year old with ten tricks he wanted to do before he turned 11. 720 flyouts? double tailwhips? Yep, a ten year old.

Woodward runs training where dirt jumpers meet gymnasts and spend time on trampolines. They also have better physical therapy. And surgery has progressed too.

In terms of guitar, there are 10 year old kids playing Yngwie Malmsteen's most complicated guitar parts cleanly. Sure the guitars are easier to play than a strat, but still.

You see a video of doing something and you realise that it's possible. So, you're inspired. Then you can slow down a video and see how it's done. Then you chat to friends about it who talk you through it. Even if they're on the other side of the world. And then you can easily find the equipment that will help you do it. And it probably won't break that quickly as it's been designed for what you want to do.

Posted: Sep 9, 2014 at 13:45 Quote
The limits area always being tested, and the technology is only getting better. More people are riding mountain bikes nowadays, so there is a wider variety of talent. Downhill is getting seriously faster.

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