The first three stages of racing have concluded at the Nevados de Chillan stop of the Enduro World Series, with Jared Graves taking the lead for the men, and Anne Caroline Chausson coming out ahead for the women. Three more stages will take place tomorrow, and it's possible that the steep and technical sixth stage could be the deciding factor for who will emerge the winner on Sunday afternoon.
Elite WomenElite Men
Jared Grave's Yeti SB66 after the finish of day 1.Full results
Where's dan Atherton?
"Well, you know, after smashing my %^&ing pelvis and following up with almost %^&*ing bleeding to death I decided to just drink a few beers and %^&* all the ladies Jerome could have had if he didn't train so much."
Graves would have been in what place, if he were on 650B, in your opinion?
Think about that for a second, will ya?
The better athlete will win.
Happy, pedant?
(And ya, strange how comments are censored)
Think about it, how often does 26 do well at world cup xc racing? 29 offers a clear advantage. The same would show in Enduro if 27.5 offered anything close to what 29 does for xc.
The better athlete will still win.
Actually, the best current XC athlete, Nino Schurter, consistently wins on 650B, just like he did on both 26 and 29 inch wheels previously.
"It is not the arrow, it is the archer that truly matters."
Great athletes will find a way to perform/compete so that they get on the top steps.
Or as stated in the last olympics by the Dutch speed skating coach about the Under Armour failure.
"We have found something that makes the suit very fast, It's the man in the suit."
But hey... If you think any wheel size will make you faster - buy it. Always nice to have nice arrows.
I think you might be the only person ever who is hurt by the accusation of "athlete", According to your own words, what would you call a person with strength, endurance, and refined skills?
Why are participants in team sports dumb, btw?
29" marketing made us think 26" wheels hang up too much and roll too slow, now 27.5 marketing tells us 27.5 rolls over nearly as well while maintaining 26" agility. We have seen a concerted effort to highlight bigger wheels positives, while highlighting 26 wheels negatives. On top of that we've been told 26" will be fazed out scaring people out of buying new 26 stuff.
What do you think would happen to 26" sales if 2014 bikes were at least 1/3 26" and only the positive traits of 26" was highlighted while only highlighting the negative traits of bigger wheels?
I was ready to buy a 26" wheeled bike this year. I had stocked up on tires, built myself some wheels and everything. A 27.5" wheeled bike landed in my lap and I jumped on it. A 29er I wouldn't touch, but I have always seen a need for one. Like for example, huge guys on 29ers make a lot of sense. Small people, not so much.
Given that there are still good options for 26" wheeled bikes on the market, people are still buying bigger wheeled bikes. I would argue most of those people would be better off on 26" wheels.
I'm curious how the tone will shift when/if JG starts competing on the Yeti SB-67 that he's been testing.
Jared Graves and the Santa Cruz DH team are the last hope 26" wheels have to survive in the high end racing market, the weight of the 26" fans is on their shoulders.
This is a big year for the future of little wheels. Little wheels need to win some races or they face the all mountain and DH chopping block as all the big brands are trending towards 26.
hillclmbr, I never said your favorite 'athletes' are dumb, just team sports.
www.sportssuck.org/links.htm
It seems to me the heated comments are not driven by whether 26 or 27.5 is faster, but by the fact we have been force feed the benefits of 27.5 while being told 26" is inferior.
I know you think it's all rider and equipment doesn't factor in, but MTB is man and machine, not barefoot running. Clearly there's no silver bullet wheel size even though we are being told 27.5 is just that.
I have one 26" and two 29" bikes, and I can win a Cat 1 XC race on any of them, because I have what it takes to win races. Any particular bike isn't going to change the outcome. Horses for courses - I might not win on a 6" bike, regardless of wheel diameter.
I also have a broken Ventana singlespeed frame that I'm trading in on their replacement program for a hearty discount. I'm going to get their 160mm 27.5" frame for a go at Enduro™ , since that seems like the smart way to go.
I played soccer from elementary school up through college, and soccer players are apt to be just about the most intelligent group of sportsmen that one will find, team or no.
You're more likely to crash on a bigger wheel bike because of the increased speed combined with less agility. Here is the formula I scientifically configured:
More speed + decreased reaction time = more crashes.
Not to mention a slightly higher center of gravity. It's probably only a slight difference between 26 and 650, but when you get on the wagon wheels things are much more likely to go awry and end in carnage.
I'm sure there are some gentlemen soccer players but when I think of soccer I think of riots, urine bombs, threats against referees, decapitating referees heads, fans fighting fans, etc. A simple sport other than that.
And GO CG!!!!
Hahaha
Jeremy Arnould - got dammit! Tomorrow #PutInWork
Leov & Galy, doing good!
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This thing would be over already.
Jared is awesome.
Where is Manuel Ducci?..