I'm not sure whether to comment on the skills of Yoann and the capability of modern cx bikes..................or the design of modern mountainbike trails.
combination of the rider, bike, and the trail. i wonder if Giant would give people grief for trying to warranty broken frames from this type of riding.
I thought that the old 'groomers' thing would come up here but I think if it's fun to ride why then hell not. We're in such an awesome time in the sport atm, we have an abundance of trails to ride both groomed and natural. Variety is the spice of life, everything in moderation, etc etc
every single person on this site would punch themselves in the nuts- hard- for the chance to get to ride aline and the dirty m. these trails are icons of the sport, and a box to check in everyones life. anyone slinging shit at either of these trails have been either spoiled, lucky as hell, outright liars who have never ridden it, or f*cking one uppers who always have to say they've done better. is aline more groomed than many of the other trails in whis? sure, but that's what that trail is for, theres a helluva lotta gnar for anyone who needs it at whistler. in the end, this guy is a better rider than 99% of us, and that CX bike is being thrashed. period. full stop.
@obee1 I've been here all season and ridden A Line & DM the grand total of once each.
I must be missing the point,Mobutu they really aren't that interesting. Give me the tech in the park or the valley any day of the week.
I don't get the kids who come out here and just lap the same two trails for a week. Mental. The riding is so much better if you open your eyes and do some exploring.
Physician heal thyself!. Open your own eyes and give those two trails another go. You've been in whis a whole season and only ran dirty and Aline once? C'mon man, you gotta get some frequent flyer miles on you. I've ridden with some friends and know some bohemians who live in whistler that don't like Aline, but that's because they can't make the trannies, or they are scared of jumping, or they are just over it. I come up short on jumps in whistler regularly, but that hill can make you a better rider in every aspect of riding. those jumps are the best designed jumps in mtn biking, and you shouldn't avoid them. Hit up crank it up for a few, and then jump in the deep end dude. A whole season? And just tech riding? C'mon now, do some exploring. In truth, if you are still there, rent a car and go hit the interior. Get over to the okanagan and check that scene out. You won't be disappointed.
@Rider656 AHAHA... you're joking right? Face has some rocks, some steeps, and some gaps. It's fun and gnarly, but it isn't the most difficult, not by a long shot.
I ride my giant tcx on a lot of trails over here in the UK, I find riding it easier than mountain bike. As far as warranty is concerned giant have always said that they're bikes can withstand any trail and I've replaced my first frame with them and no worries. Nice strong bikes just the rider has to have confidence
I doubt Yoann's setup is UCI-legal. To be legal, your bars need to be no wider than 500mm and tires no wider than 33cm. His bar width is suspect. Impressive nonetheless.
They'll have to pry my 51 pound 2001 RM9 out of my cold dead hands! ( Charlton Heston voice-over recommended for full effect.....possibly even some thunder before and after Chuck's voice)
And I got told off for suggesting lots of people are over-biked and shorter travel bikes look like fun. Anyone who has been to A-line.. Could a regular mortal hit it happily on a slope bike? Or even a jump bike? Or is it just way too choppy for that to be fun?
That's right. The latest v10 is not ten. But only the latest one. All I'm saying is 241mm of travel is not new, it just surprises me that people even think it's a big deal. Since the most winningest dh bike ever, became so with approximately 10 inches of travel.
@tobiusmaximum I was just in Whistler and it was really dry and blown out.... from this vid it looks like the rain helped a bit, but IMHO a slope or DJ bike wouldn't be much fun. Even the blue trails will rattle your teeth on a stiff/rigid bike. The "flow" trails are a lot rougher than they look, and if you plan on doing laps all day, suspension is your friend. I ride an SX Trail with a 160mm Fox up front and it does well on all but the burliest tech trails. That said, I wouldn't have minded a Boxxer up front at the end of the day!
@andnyleswillriot Trestle is most definitely not a flow trail. Maybe rainmaker is, but not even this dude could do Trestle Downhill on a CX bike. Not implying this dude from Mexico knows more than a Colorado local, but couldn't disagree with you more on that bud.
@thrice most the dudes you see with big bikes there are not lapping trestle DH and bear arms/space ape. They're going rainmaker to no quarter over and over and over. Trust me haha
Picking up from Scott-Townes' point, an interesting fact for those of you who started MTB within the last 20 or so years is that once upon a time there were no braking bumps on trails - the braking bumps started only when suspension was introduced. The bigger the travel used on a trail, the bigger the bumps. Some engineer-type can explain it, I only know it to be true.
^ Yeah I feel its just the heavy traffic. If you live near or on dirt roads, you know bumps always appear at areas where you slow down. If it does have something to do with suspension, that would be cool to hear.
@scott-townes it has to do with braking, hence the name "braking bump." Cars slowing down on dirt and gravel skid, digging holes. Same goes for new riders on too much bike, grabbing brake in weird places, too late into corners, etc.
The notion that only skidding creates braking bumps is false. Tires are in a constant state of slip during braking and cornering. Find fresh dirt. Roll across it without braking. Now come at the same spot with speed and brake aggressively, but without lockup. Go look at your tracks and tell me again that only skidding makes braking bumps.
Yeahhh, I never said braking had nothing to do with it.... just responding to the guy who said suspension was the reason for the bumps. Who cares though, haha.
I can tell by his moves that was a mtn biker in disguise. Sometimes mtn bikers wear lycra and ride bikes with drop bars. The give away are the full finger gloves.......a true roadie wouldn't be caught dead wearing those things.
Basic Roadies and Mountainbikers talk a bunch of smack and think just their own kind of riding matters.
CX riders figured out that it's not about the bike, it's about shredding and being CX'y. They usually also ride trail and road and a bunch of other bikes.
@dontcoast you are right on the first part, but i think roadies are worst on that sense i myself ride road bike mostly on the week too train for the races, and enduro or fh on the weekend's, so do a bit off both, but i had a few funny situations once when i was coming home on a road(i was on a enduro bike) and a roadie passed me and i sticked on his back, and was a lot of funny seeing him sprint to get away from me and he couldn't, or once where i was on my road bike and paced another roadie doing a bunny hop to a curb with a ramp, he looked at me like i was doing some kind of sin
basically MTB rider's have a bit of anti licra attitude, while most roadies really hate something that has suspension and has larger tires with knobs
As somebody with family members who race Road/TT/CX and XC my experience has Tought me one overwhelming fact. Weight is the number 1 all consuming factor as this aids speed as they ride along in a crouched aerodynamic position.
I on the other hand bounce around behind them with my 160mm of travel and a grin on my face.
That video shows some superb skill but just why? To me CX is simply a way of making mountain biking far too serious and far more uncomfortable.
@J-McBride too serious and uncomfortable? i thought having fun on whatever ridiculous equipment you bring and learning to push your limits and see new lines was part of the fun? I can see how it's not for everyone, but for me alternating riding the same trails with a CX and AM bike keeps things way more fun and fresh.
I do that too that. Is the best! I think every mountain biker should do it at least once. Sticking behind a roadie on a full suspension bike and they not being able to lose you. The look of pure hatred is golden they probably go and buy expensive parts afterwards.
Seriously, downvoted? Maybe this one person did know that Yoann is a mountain biker, but I recall a lot of the early comments being along the same lines, and this one had floated to the top. (Not sure where the other ones went.)
Unless 23 of you have do much enduro backlash rage that you dispute whether Yoann Barerelli is a mountain biker.
@metaam It did show him hitting the first one into Dirt Merchant.. Its not huge but it stops 1/2 the people who ride up to the trail head in their tracks haha
I was on the chair behind Yoann yesterday and wasn't quite sure if he was being serious about doing Dirt Merchant! Rode the whole run expecting to see him in a heap somewhere! Fair play to him, he's got some skills!
He went over root sections really fast, he was carrying major speed, even if it was groomed, you could see him hit ruts in berms, making those gaps, on drop bars, so much weight on the front, leaned over, its really impressive anyway you cut it!
I was always sniffy about cx back when I was a young fit roadie and raced mountain bikes, it was neither one or the other... I bought one last year when I finally admitted my back could no longer put up with road riding to replace the uber carbon road weapon...after the first ride I was grinning and felt terribly guilty when I got back to see my two full sussers looking at me with hurt in their eyes...
Some of the trees in the 2nd half looked so close he almost hit his bars on narrow cross bars... how would you even fit with wide MTB bars? Never ridden the trail so it could just be the video's perspective...
Crankworx 2016 is going to be the year that all the companies start sending riders down the bike park on the most (on face value) un-park bikes ever. To prove their reliability etc. I love it!
Kind of makes you laugh(ashamed) how much BS we buy from mountain biking magazine "tests" about travel and wheel size etc.... that guy just crushed it on a fully rigid 10 speed!!!! FTW!!!!!
this is truly awesome! hahaha
when he rolls through the bumps it's just nice hahaha
there's an austrian rider who rode down one of the rockiest tracks in austria with his road bike! haha
French riders are so awesome. All the top EWS and World Cup DH frenchies are crazy skilled with no regard for danger. And funny too. You gotta love a fast frenchie with a stashe going down A-line on a CX bike.
Pretty impressive. Having ridden those trails on my Mach 6 I can only imagine how rough it was on a cross bike. I did not see him hit any of the gap jumps on Dirt Merchant, now that would be impressive.
Got a cx bike and have always said most mbt trail these days, unless real rocky could be ridden on one, but it's the fact he stays on the drops the whole time! But suppose he had to otherwise he can't brake.
Awesome
Between this video and then watching all the carnage/crashes in the Vuelta yesterday and today, I have gotten my fix for the weekend, all thanks to that crazy 700c wheel size.
First off, mad respect for Yoann! Great rider, world class talent.
For perspective on your comment, keep in mind this is one run, edited. The really big jumps and drops not included.
Lars shredded his klunker for several days during Crankworx (many runs) and repeatedly whipped the Crabapple hits during whip-offs as well as pounding laps on A-line, Dirt Merchant etc, during very rough conditions at the time.
Mad respect for Lars. Mad respect for both. I would not even attempt either bike. Serious skills!
Damn. I love my new 650b Wilson but this almost makes me ashamed of myself for the type of trails I mostly ride it on lol w.e at least its really fun&exciting overkill!
Why the hell not? He's got skills to burn, and he's obviously having fun. There's a fine line between life-affirmingly stupid and just plain stupid. Looking at the grin and listening to the giggles, I'd say his exploits here are firmly in the former category
Dude chill man. People do crazier shit and crash all the time on the same trails while riding a mountain bike. This guy knows what he's doing and if the event of a crash does happen he probably knows how to bail.
Someone at Whistler should be fired for letting this clown on the mountain. If he snuck on he should be charged with trespassing. At anytime his bike could have failed and killed him putting Whistler in a no win situation. This stunt ended up with him face down in the dirt and risking other riders safety in the park.
Someone at Whistler should be fired for letting this clown on the mountain. If he snuck on he should be charged with trespassing. At anytime his bike could have failed and killed him putting Whistler in a no win situation. This stunt ended up with him face down in the dirt and risking other riders safety in the park.
you will see even worst from rideres with full supension bikes
you are talking about a pro athlete, and as you can see even with that bikehe is riding well, going to ground every one goes
Whistler is the place to push the limits. I doubt a professional racer would not take that risk without knowing he could be successful. And if you know Whistler or have ridden it, you know there are many greater risks to riders than Yoann Barelli.
Personally, I loved the video. It does take a dh bike to ride Park day in day out. Too much abuse to bike and rider. Anyway just my opinion. Ride On.
is aline more groomed than many of the other trails in whis? sure, but that's what that trail is for, theres a helluva lotta gnar for anyone who needs it at whistler.
in the end, this guy is a better rider than 99% of us, and that CX bike is being thrashed. period. full stop.
I must be missing the point,Mobutu they really aren't that interesting. Give me the tech in the park or the valley any day of the week.
I don't get the kids who come out here and just lap the same two trails for a week. Mental. The riding is so much better if you open your eyes and do some exploring.
Yo an is a bit of legend though
AHAHA... you're joking right? Face has some rocks, some steeps, and some gaps. It's fun and gnarly, but it isn't the most difficult, not by a long shot.
I rode back then. I'm going with not enough bikes on trail to create braking bumps. A tire pressurized with air is after all a form of suspension.
CX riders figured out that it's not about the bike, it's about shredding and being CX'y. They usually also ride trail and road and a bunch of other bikes.
(Gross generalizations that generally hold true)
Also this video was the best thing ever.
i myself ride road bike mostly on the week too train for the races, and enduro or fh on the weekend's, so do a bit off both, but i had a few funny situations once when i was coming home on a road(i was on a enduro bike) and a roadie passed me and i sticked on his back, and was a lot of funny seeing him sprint to get away from me and he couldn't, or once where i was on my road bike and paced another roadie doing a bunny hop to a curb with a ramp, he looked at me like i was doing some kind of sin
basically MTB rider's have a bit of anti licra attitude, while most roadies really hate something that has suspension and has larger tires with knobs
I on the other hand bounce around behind them with my 160mm of travel and a grin on my face.
That video shows some superb skill but just why?
To me CX is simply a way of making mountain biking far too serious and far more uncomfortable.
I do that too that. Is the best! I think every mountain biker should do it at least once. Sticking behind a roadie on a full suspension bike and they not being able to lose you. The look of pure hatred is golden they probably go and buy expensive parts afterwards.
Unless 23 of you have do much enduro backlash rage that you dispute whether Yoann Barerelli is a mountain biker.
Bikes, any bike = fun!
I don't care how many times he may have fallen, he's got balls of awesome for pulling that off!
200% respect!!!!
For perspective on your comment, keep in mind this is one run, edited. The really big jumps and drops not included.
Lars shredded his klunker for several days during Crankworx (many runs) and repeatedly whipped the Crabapple hits during whip-offs as well as pounding laps on A-line, Dirt Merchant etc, during very rough conditions at the time.
Mad respect for Lars. Mad respect for both. I would not even attempt either bike. Serious skills!
DB@EB
Wonder why.....
From looking at his previous comments it would appear that he has a very negative attitude, maybe he should tae up Road Biking??