not trying to be rude, especially knowing this is for free, but how da hell we can watch full coverage 2h womens xc race, 2h mens xc race, and only top men dh race with barely two course cameras?
They're both very different beasts to cover. DH is a much trickier event to cover than XC. Much in the same way Rally is covered in a much different fashion than say, F1.
Well think of it this way, when you watch over racing events, how much coverage do they give the slower racers who are pretty much guaranteed to not perform well? Hardly any, if any, at all. It's all on the faster/better drivers or motocross racers, etc... That's because that's what everyone wants to see. Providing coverage of the racers who aren't the, I guess "stars", costs money and is less likely to provide the same ROI that providing coverage of the more exciting racers would.
I'm sure I could word all of that better. But I have an awful hangover and just can't be bothered.
The cameras are already there. Why not show racing instead of chatting over rubbish? Loads of people have favourite lower riders. And you get to see more crashes.
but in supercross or f1 for example, all the riders are racing at the same time and of course they'll show the faster. But in dh they could show everyone. As lochussie says the cameras are already there, and the live broadcast has already started. Instead of showing the replay of the womens race and chatting over rubbish, they could film all the riders
It might have something to do with the fact that there are probably 500 or more XC riders to every Dh rider.
We just have to accept that we have a low key, minority sport. XC is big enough to be in the Olympics.
Highlight of WC...watching Pendrel, Premont and Batty cross the line...we all erupted in a cheer!! It was a great feeling to be at the end to celebrate with the tons of fans....and the rain just held off long enough too...tomorrow DH WC!!!!!!
but shorly a few grams more weight wouldn't make that much difference . Think ive the time they can make up on the steep rocky bits .they would have more confidence = faster time
weight and efficiency. i used to race XC. by the time i reached my prime, i gave up my full suspension and used a hard tail instead. where a race can last for hours, each gram and pedal efficiency counts
This wil come with time. Most XC racers are very conservative and don't like to change much especially when adding weight.
You can bet that some companies are working on lighter weight droppers then you'll see them in XC. The advantages on tougher courses are undeniable.
Three good reasons why you don't see dropper posts in Pro XC or other upper-caliber XC racing -- 1) Believe it or not, some people have enough skill and confidence to ride all types of terrain without ever lowering their saddle. 2) It's not that often they'd find a feature on an XC course where they'd want to lower their saddle much, if at all. 3) On a superlight XC race bike, adding a pound at the highest point of the frame can make the handling feel wonky. Then there's the work involved in dragging more weight around a course, when it's really not necessary.
I've used dropper posts (2008-2010) and found them not worth the extra weight and maintenance requirements. I know plenty of riders who never drop their saddle no matter where they are. But I watched a pro XC race last July where a few of the riders had dropper posts. The course had an "A-line" section that included a gap stepdown and was good for at least 5 seconds compared to the "B-line" route-around, and a few racers chose the dropper post for the A-line. But most of the racers were skipping the A-line.
bogey may be correct that weights will decrease significantly, but thus far in dropper post history they're really not getting any lighter -- they're getting heavier. Maybe the Thomson will change that.
As said, XC is about efficiency, the majority are on HT's still for that reason.
As said in the footage, even with the fox remote electronic lock out, the flex added from the linkage is enough to make a difference.
If you know a pro XC rider, some of them can hang it out pretty high up in Dh also, so rider skill is not in question.
There is no point putting your saddle down to catch someone who has left you on the climb, all you are doing is getting more tired climbing to try and play catch up.
