Watched him do a run on the Friday on the PMB course, landed the jump into the finish and his shock (and mountings) exploded. Another dude fetched the spring and the bits. Surprised nobody else has posted on that because it doesn't exactly inspire confidence. That being said, WC riders aren't exactly your everyday consumer and have an otherwordly ability to break shit.
If you look at the bikes they're riding they aren't the same designs at all as the Demo 8 - they're riding two rear stays in this race whereas the production bike and the staple Demo 8 is a triple rear stay setup. Might explain the explosion - not sure why they're riding such a different rear designed set up - it may be that's just how the 27.5 frame looks now...
Yes, they are riding one off prototype bikes for this race. I am not a big Demo fan, but those bikes weren't demos and all companies push limits with failures and success on prototype designs.
The more I hear Gwin talk and describe how he approaches things the more I am warming to him. As Waki said in another post, it is hard to like someone who wins all the time and generally people root for the underdog, but nevertheless I think the quiet, (non-stop winning) Gwin was a touch hard to get behind. It's great to hear him talking through his thoughts on the place, the runs, etc and not something we saw too much of in the past
Agreed. He doesn't talk smack. He is very put together for a 26 year old (I am 40). He just gets the job done. Quiet doesn't necessarily mean someone is a prick. Also, how can you not like someone who is just that good? Back in the 90's I was a huge Nico fan when he was winning everything in DH. Liking really good riders doesn't mean you DON'T like the underdog or other riders as well.
love or hate Gwin....he is pushing the sport and i think more than any one single rider, as fans we all want to see what these bikes can really do and we want to see progression. Stevie and Gwin are pushing DH MTBing the same way Anderson Silva and Johnny "bones" Jones pushed the level of skill and competition for the UFC. Cheers Beardless!
I love that Tomac and now Carter have put so much effort into helping Gwin. It's like he's bringing back American racing by channeling the last great American racers.
P.S. I miss playing Eric carter on Downhill Domination.
Stoked for Gwin but way too early to say he's back. This time last year he won Sea Otter (not part of WC of course) while riding an Enduro and we all know what happened after that on steeper, rougher courses while riding a Demo. But... I hope you're right!
I think he's back. He did in PMB what he used to do, get a huge gap at the beginning and then keep it all the way to the bottom. We'll see if he can do it on the technical tracks aboard a Demo, but for at least the next track I bet he stays on the 650 Enduro rather than go back to smaller wheels. Racing the Enduro certainly helped him get that gap at the beginning because of the better pedalling efficiency.
The only thing that might keep Gwin from winning on the technical tracks might be his teammate or Bruni.
Exactly... Gwin still had the fastest top split and speed trap, despite a much more technical track than last year. He bested the full-on DH rigs on the part of the track they should have excelled on. Quite the opposite of winning Sea Otter ( on a 29'er mind you ) or Graves going from 24th to 3rd after the pedal last year at PMB.
His way of talking is a bit annoying for a reserved Brit and there's a few too many cliches in what he says but you can see that both Troy and Gwin were confident and focused going in to their runs and that must be in no small part to EC's constant motivation and help he seemed to be providing. Definitely seems like an inspired decision to get EC on board.
That kind of "cheesy" super positive attitude is infectious. This ain't football (our kind). You want a coach who can relax his people and put them in a good mood even if he has to be a bit over the top.
Awesome to see Gwin get his stride back again. Great guy and I wish he didn't get so much shit from the DH community, he shut alot of people up by winning.
I'd say to a point obviously it's a bike. But all of the bikes on the WC circuit are great. It's not like you can just hop on a Devinci and ride as fast as Steve Smith. I'm sure any WC rider is faster than any of us on a cheap bike.
To anyone who feels the need to hate on Gwin.....Watch the interviews he gave with Dirt Magazine recently then watch the video above. If you can't respect Mr Gwin, then you have no business being a part of this sport.....FACT!
@bakalaka, interesting what you say. While watching the race I noticed how effing hard his rear suspension was! Maybe a reason for such explosion? It's well known Gwin does ride suspension pretty hard.
Would have liked to see a bit more about Troy on the video! The kid is shredding, just need to build a bit more muscle and then watch out!!
Im really happy for Gwin and Specialized...they both, im sure have put in crazy amounts of effort to accomplish this very cool win...But I really don't like the whole **one off** custom bike stuff for a particular track...I like seeing dam near production bikes that consumers can actually buy racing and winning on these tracks.. Hopefully for the rest of the season we can actually see some Demo 8's wearing the victory badge..
the DH fork is only 180mm. The stock EVO comes with a single crown 180mm fork so the BB should be close. I have the 26" version and a Demo... the bb is lower on the demo with sag.
Now if we could just get Aaron to end sentences with something other than "so...yeah..." He has our So Cal speech patterns deeply ingrained. He is one of the most laid back, calm people I've ever had the fortune to talk with, but consequently, he is not a great conversationalist. Not a lot of small talk with strangers. As a rider - when he is on - he is devastating and I am hoping for that kind of a season from him. I hope Stevie is in top form when he returns, because I would love to see these two punch it out all season. Then I'd like to hear them do interviews together and have a "dialect" off... All of the Englishmen on this forum would cringe.
People signed him and other top level athletes, to be just that, athletes, he was not signed to do a tedtalk. People have no idea what it takes to be the best, it takes so much out of you, leaving little for the reality show moments.
Not all pro athletes can have all the same personalities. I'd like to hear herzalot do an interview, we all have faults. Easy to criticize behind a keyboard.
My commentary was not intended to be criticism, just observation. I think both guys are awesome, although I've never met Stevie. He seems as humble and genuine as a guy can be. We all speak with our own dialects - makes regional travel more interesting. I really would like to hear them together - the regionalism would be awesome. I thought Aaron's interview on Redbull TV right after he won was one of the best post race interviews I've heard, giving props to the right people, humble, team oriented and thankful. @jaydawg - sorry, I don't think I'll ever be interviewed for my bike-riding prowess.
Can't wait till smiths back and we can truly see how the chips fall. I think it's gonna be a better season then how last season panned out with Atherton and Smith. This will have to be a season to remember!
Eric carter seems like such a cool rad coach, im sure he knows what hrs doin an sayin! Still cannot believe gwin won, congrats........so sick.. keep it gwinin!
Saint4life, it doesn't have 3 stays cause it's not a demo. It's just an enduro evo with a float 40..... sick setup and one we saw at rampage with Montgomery and the dorado
By the standards of behaviour of DH fans, Stevie is lucky to be injured, otherwise by the beginning of the summer he'd get as much internet hate as Hill, Gwin, Minnaar and Gee got in previous seasons. That is regardless of results. The underdog gets sympathy, the reigning champion gets crap. People want to see progression from Zero to Hero! And they love to turn a Hero to Zero.
jdotr - by the statistics, the behaviour of Brits towards anything related to Aaron Gwin, is pathetic... so you may want to take the jam smudged "MURICAH" thumb out of your bum. This Wrold Cup bit with it's actors is nothing more than entertainment, you have nothing to do with DH racing on that level so just sit back and enjoy watching it unfold, you may learn something! If some of you actualy listened, you may hear that those great athletes are tired of the stupid hype and speculating around what they are doing. Gwin And Smith said it quite clearly in the interviews. Shut up, just watch and enjoy it.
I agree with that.. People keep saying to much things but they don't know that they are talking about.. AG is a awesome and proved he's the best rider of the world for 2011 and 2012. Hope he's really back this year. But, as AG fan I'm a little worried ( not about him) but about demo 8s =/ let's see it this year and hope I'm wrong
"Their all smiles now"? Who taught you English? They are = they're. Also, I never understand what Waki's points are in any of his comments. But then he is just a troll.
AndreLamanna - Aaron talked about Demo in the interview for Dirt, that he likes it and that it was not the bikes fault with his last year results - so a good thing we can do for the lad and probably ourselves is to believe him... apparently it is him riding the bike, so no other man can know better, even Specialized engineers.
redrook - as far as my knowledge of Scottish culture goes, that I learned from the tales by Billy Connolly - you are clearly from Edinburgh...
Oh look out, the yanks have awoken.... I've gone from +5 to -1 in about 15 minutes!!!! Ha ha. You can't tell me you think he looks 26? My nutsack looks younger than he does.
I'll happily admit I've a face like a bulldog licking piss off a stinging nettle but the way he talks and the overall maturity that comes across combined with how he looks would suggest someone ten years older. Not just a look thing, but part of an overall impression on the maturity beyond his years. I was genuinely surprised he is 26 and always thought he was early to mid 30's!
It would be interesting to see what happened.
Would have liked to see a bit more about Troy on the video! The kid is shredding, just need to build a bit more muscle and then watch out!!
I'm not nitpicking, just genuinely interest to know...
I thought Aaron's interview on Redbull TV right after he won was one of the best post race interviews I've heard, giving props to the right people, humble, team oriented and thankful. @jaydawg - sorry, I don't think I'll ever be interviewed for my bike-riding prowess.
So, what bike are you planning on running the rest of the season??? Carbon Status?
jdotr - by the statistics, the behaviour of Brits towards anything related to Aaron Gwin, is pathetic... so you may want to take the jam smudged "MURICAH" thumb out of your bum. This Wrold Cup bit with it's actors is nothing more than entertainment, you have nothing to do with DH racing on that level so just sit back and enjoy watching it unfold, you may learn something! If some of you actualy listened, you may hear that those great athletes are tired of the stupid hype and speculating around what they are doing. Gwin And Smith said it quite clearly in the interviews. Shut up, just watch and enjoy it.