Check out some of this year's World Champs riders and bikes with their custom paint jobs, custom threads, bigger wheels and even a dropper post here and there.
how come some guys are running some short ass travel bikes ?
one of the original uci rules of downhill states you must have atleast like 7.5''s of travel so how come they are getting away with basically mountain bikes not downhill bikes? FTW MAYURN !!!!
Its a shame the one race of the year where you can go all out and get as patriotic as possible and not everyone does it, its that there choice or the team managers I wonder.
On another note the UCI banned skin suits as they gave the sport of DH a bad look, now if Mitch Ropelato's bike is not doing that then I don't know what will. Until I see 27.5 or 29" wheels win on a track like Val Di Sole or Vallnord I do not want to see them. So happy to see Santa Cruz and Chain Reaction keeping it real!!! Big travel and normal wheels.
Its all about the variation. if the champs were held on super steep techy tracks each year then it wouldn't give riders like Graves and Hannah a chance to shine. goes both ways, if the champs were held on tracks like PMB each year then you wouldn't see riders like Hill, Hart, Blinky etc do well. Thats my theory anyway.
Mitch Who ? riding a crap bike is the only way he will get any attention, I always thought Minnaar being on the UCI was a bad move hence the reason the SA even got a world cup race but hopefully the enduro bike gets to him as much as skin suits did and he gets them banned! Looking forward to the negative probs on this one.
I know timed training isn't everything (or anything for that matter), but Mitch is second to Stevie. He's been using 29ers on mellower tracks for probably over a year now. If it works for him, why not?
"mitch who?" mitch ropelato that's who. if you're good enough to be on specialized's factory dh team you're pretty f*ckin good that and the fact he's won alot of shit, maybe not a world cup but he's more versatile than most world cup dh riders
Internet would disappear into a black hole if that Ghey f*****g XC bike wins a DH world Chumps, thats what the champs would turn into, not good for South Africa as a DH rep! But bloody heck Jared Graves pinning it on a SB66 as well.
in my eyes the are mountain bikes not downhill bikes
if you want to race a downhill race then you must have atleast a 7'' travel frame its one of the original rules these new style 650b bullshit gay ass 29ers sweepstake mofo shit is annoying, keep it real or just fuck off all together with you ''enduro bikes'' have we forgotten they are just AM bikes enduro is just a new marketing name shitting hell this is more pathetic than twerking
I just read the uci rules for Dh. It says no Lycra or tight fitting clothing, but nothing about wheel size or how much suspension travel you have to have, so as there ain't any skinsuits, they can ride whatever type of mountain bike they want! Maybe the new wheel sizes and short travel bikes will shine through? After all, if it wins races, people will buy it.
Minnaar is current World Champ, has 3 Word Cup overall titles to his name, has been racing for years. Surely he does not benefit from racing a "flat" course more or less than anyone else. He has proven himself on all the tracks all around the world. May the best athlete win tomorrow. One life!!
Elanto, DH racing existed long before 7" of travel was ever even an idea, so WTF "original" rules are you talking about? A DH bike is a "mountain bike" ya silly goof!
No because i have the balls to pedal my dh bike, haha and yes i had a enduro bike, and a rare one at that, know of the corsair marque if not then YOU clearly know nothing !
keep the enduro short travel bikes off the Downhill circuit, stop being such fags about it and ride your mur funkin downhill bikes you bunch of pussies
this is kinda off topic but what happened to josh bender? Is he still alive ? what bike does he ride? Does he still have those super monster ts? Also he should totally ride rampage that would be sweet.
I can see why Mitch is running that bike but its a bit sad that people have to consider riding enduro bikes on a supposedly dh course. I would like to see the UCI use gnarly courses such as champery, schaldming, val di sole, vallnord and others including fort bill and MSA. But then again, the UCI don't like doing things logically...
@corywilliam, Bender helps in designing the Rampage courses now, and judges comps. Interestingly enough, the most recent video clip I've seen of him was him hucking a road gap on a 29er...
gwin's head is shot dude, you can see it in how he acts and carries himself. he needs a new team or bike to get some believe back, the longer he stays in his current setup the further his form is going to fall.
@Elanto........banned. hahaha! Funny. I knew id heard your name somewhere. You were on another post the other day spouting how you are ball fast on any tack and people in videos are slow and how do you start racing. Lol. Now your on here giving advice on the biggest race on the circuit and what bikes to ride, yet youve never done one race. Man, you are one sad big headed individual, no wonder you have been banned. Learn from this and come back a better person....Div!!!!
@Elanto........banned. hahaha! Funny. I knew id heard your name somewhere. You were on another post the other day spouting how you are ball fast on any tack and people in videos are slow and how do you start racing. Lol. Now your on here giving advice on the biggest race on the circuit and what bikes to ride, yet youve never done one race. Man, you are one sad big headed individual, no wonder you have been banned. Learn from this and come back a better person....Div!!!!
calling it now, it is not the bike , it is the rider.... to me it is going to be the top three and the after,, Smith 1st. Hannah 2nd, and Hill Third with Gee comeing in at 4th and if he does it again and he might just take it all the one and only Minar... got a feeling but I am still pulling for Stevie Boy Smith to take it all and take the next two final races of the DH series this year. If not both than One cause I still have faith in Samuel I will crush anything Hill....The End..Any bets///
This is first class prediction. You must have spent a lot of time studying the form books. You obviously haven't spent much time studying English. f*ck it, who cares? Danny Hart hasn't either and he f*cking rips!
Danny Hart fucking kills it first and yeah I did not metion about the sleeping Giant did I cause there is always a sleeping Giant and this guy here feels the same way you do ,, Danny Hart is a Crusher for sure and He won it a minute ago and on any given day can win it again . I mean not disrespect for the Queen...I will say that Peaty with be in the top 10..He always has a bitchin looking frame every Worlds...Last year he had the Flag on there in Gold flake I think... So to end this before it get's out of control, yeah the sleeping Giant will awake,,soon
I want Graves to win on the 180/150 Big wheel SB just to A. Point out to the UCI that dh actually has to be DOWNHILL. B. To show just what is possible in a modern day trail bike. And C Just to hear the response from the forum funkwits
I'd like to see Hill or Smith crush it and win, but part of me wants Graves to own everybody by 6 seconds or more. He's been a monster all season in the EWS. I bet the final stage at the Whistler EWS round was more demanding than the SA DH course and its only 1/4 the distance. He had over 20 seconds into Barel and 30 seconds into Jerome on that stage. Graves got my vote for this one. He's got the skills and the fitness to dominate.
Jared Graves and Ropelato have insane respect from me for entering a world champ's on a trail/AM bike. So tell me again why you need 200mm when there's guys out there with a lot less? If I was on Santa Cruz I'd really like to give the Bronson a shot on that course.
I like Gwin to win! Hope anyone doesn't forget Aaron was 1st and 2nd on Pietermaritzburg for the last two years. So he can definitely put out a good outing here.
Minnaars bike is sic as and color layout out of this world, the whole Syndicates is pretty cool but GMs thats worthy of a champ dude, like the 26" Zenith too 27.5" just looks weird, will say out of the funny wheels sizes Ive always liked the KHS version just seems well designed from ground up, not just tweaked this stretched that screwed this n that. Local dude Louis Hamiltons bike props for getting pic in PB bro, looks sick and dialled, Banshee sic as do the Doctor Evil boi's on the undead, Bulldogs Trek, even Hills bike in Wallaby jersey colours sorta pops and looks cough cough AB fan choking saying this looks sic. Hopefully he goes better than the poor as Wallabies tomorrow, wouldn't wish that on anyone sorry Aussie bros!
If dropper posts are needed...Not a true DH course. If riders decide to use non-DH bikes because they feel a true DH bike is too much, (such as Spec. 29 Enduro, and other Enduro type bikes)...not a true DH course.
According to the UCI bank account, it is a true DH Course
BTW....love the photos of the riders with no names. Why did you post them pinkbike?
to be honest i'm surprised they are all running proper dh tyres, would have thought the conti boys would be on black chilli rubber queens or barons, cos they roll faster and probably have enough grip
Loling at all the bike talk people need to rember this is a race, these are racers and there out to win they don't care what you think about their bike choice
Holy f*ck DH bikes have gotten to be such messy, crude & just totally retarded looking contraptions. I miss the elegance of the late great Intense M-1. It's like after exhausting nearly every gimmicky way to squeeze a shock, they decided to see how many ways they could needlessly mangle the frame tubing. WTF's the next gimmick gonna be, something like unnecessarily larger wheel sizes?
Yeah I seen chuck on a Raleigh Super tuff burner he smoked everyone by 13 seconds but the silly sausage was wearing a skin suit so uci booted him out.....true story
About time I jumped into this whole wheel size thing. I've just git back into biking and at the min only have the one a 24" dj bike I some times use on the local down hill trails so there for that makes me not only cooler then the 29 and 650b riders but also cooler and manlier then the 26" riders trash talking the big wheelers an my son rides same trails on a 16" wheel now he's 'Ard core.
one of the original uci rules of downhill states you must have atleast like 7.5''s of travel so how come they are getting away with basically mountain bikes not downhill bikes? FTW MAYURN !!!!
On another note the UCI banned skin suits as they gave the sport of DH a bad look, now if Mitch Ropelato's bike is not doing that then I don't know what will. Until I see 27.5 or 29" wheels win on a track like Val Di Sole or Vallnord I do not want to see them. So happy to see Santa Cruz and Chain Reaction keeping it real!!! Big travel and normal wheels.
But bloody heck Jared Graves pinning it on a SB66 as well.
It says no Lycra or tight fitting clothing, but nothing about wheel size or how much suspension travel you have to have, so as there ain't any skinsuits, they can ride whatever type of mountain bike they want!
Maybe the new wheel sizes and short travel bikes will shine through?
After all, if it wins races, people will buy it.
Downhill bikes are mountain bikes?
Balls? I think legs was the word you were looking for...
He won on this track in 2011 and can 2nd there last year, of course it suits him.
#1 Louis Hamilton #2 Maximilian Bender #3 Santiago de Santiago
definitely!
I mean look at the detail www.pinkbike.com/news/Video-This-Is-Peaty-WORLDS-Bike-Check-2012.html
According to the UCI bank account, it is a true DH Course
BTW....love the photos of the riders with no names. Why did you post them pinkbike?
Or Smith because he is probaply the coolest guy in the World Cup Circus.
No Gwinner?
Graves. I have a feeling!
1st : Atherton
2nd : Graves
3rd : Neetling
Runner up : Peat