Good Month / Bad Month: Mixed Wheel Sizes, Injuries, and Plenty of Controversy - April 2019
Bikes With 29'' Front and 27.5'' Rear Wheels
Mixed Wheel Size Bikes Are Winning
Mixed Wheel Size Bikes Are Winning
For 2019, the rules have been changed so that racers can run two differently sized wheels on their bikes, an announcement that quickly led to a whole load of mixed wheel testing by teams and racers. They've obviously found something that they like - the first two Enduro World Series events, as well as the first World Cup downhill of the season, were all won on the men's side with bikes rolling on 29'' front wheels and 27.5'' rear wheels.
So, are they actually faster? That's up for debate, and outright speed might not be the only reason were seeing this crop of mixed-wheel bikes - rider height and whether a company has a race-ready 29er may be playing a role as well. However, World Cup contenders typically don't use something without doing some timed testing to verify things.
So, are they actually faster? That's up for debate, and outright speed might not be the only reason were seeing this crop of mixed-wheel bikes - rider height and whether a company has a race-ready 29er may be playing a role as well. However, World Cup contenders typically don't use something without doing some timed testing to verify things.
There are all sorts of reasons to poke fun at the mixed wheel size combos, but isn't downhill racing all about getting from A to B in the least amount of time as possible? Last weekend's World Cup in Maribor saw the top four men finish on the same second, with Bruni just 0.4 ahead of Danny Hart in 2nd place. We're talking split seconds here, and if a top racer can make up 0.1 seconds over a handful of sections on a track because they're using two different wheel sizes, they'd be crazy not to do exactly that. Then again, weren't all the winning bikes of 2018 on the same size wheels front and back?
Young Racing Talent
The Up And Comers Are Ready
The Up And Comers Are Ready
For a long time, it looked like Peat, Minnaar, Atherton & Co. would be keeping their names at the top of the results sheets forever, but it was really only a matter of time until the young guns arrived. We saw exactly that during last season, and it's more of the same in 2019. At 27, Danny Hart was the oldest man on the podium in Maribor, with Charlie Harrison and Matt Walker (4th and 5th) being born in '97 and '99.
There were also top 20-placings for Adam Rojcek, Reece Wilson, Laurie Greenland, and Amaury Pierron, all of whom were born in 1996 or later. I've never felt so old as I do after typing that.
There were also top 20-placings for Adam Rojcek, Reece Wilson, Laurie Greenland, and Amaury Pierron, all of whom were born in 1996 or later. I've never felt so old as I do after typing that.
There are up and comers in the women's field, too, with Vali Holl putting in a time that would have been good enough for 8th place against much more experienced pros, despite having to deal with a muddier track. There's Marine Cabirou and Nina Hoffmann, too, both of who raced as juniors before earning legitimate podium contender status before turning 25. It looks like the kids are doing just fine.
Controversy
Walmart and Red Bull Stir Things Up
Walmart and Red Bull Stir Things Up
A lot of us mountain bikers like the idea of going down to our local bike shops to buy whatever it is we might need, even if it doesn't always quite work out like that. You know what a lot of mountain bikers don't seem to like? Riders going to Walmart for their new bike, apparently, with the announcement that the American multinational retail corporation plans to offer a range of carbon performance bikes garnering mostly critical comments.
The bikes will be sold under the Viathon name and initially only available at viathonbicycles.com, but they'll show up on walmart.com at some point soon as well.
The bikes will be sold under the Viathon name and initially only available at viathonbicycles.com, but they'll show up on walmart.com at some point soon as well.
Regardless of how you might feel about the news, Walmart's massive purchasing power and direct-to-consumer business model has the ability to shake up our little industry.
Speaking of angry comments, the UCI revealed that Red Bull would like to keep all other energy drinks off of the downhill podium and hot seat. Talk about a PR gaff and a half. Many racers are sponsored by other energy drink brands, but the ban, if enforced during the rest of the World Cup season, would only allow racers to drink Red Bull or from a Red Bull-branded bottle. Further fogging things up - or maybe clearing them up, depending on how you look at it - is the fact that Red Bull and Red Bull Media House have supported the UCI Mercedes Benz World Cup series for years now.
Racers Getting Injured
Broken Feet, Arms, and Shoulders
Broken Feet, Arms, and Shoulders
With the return of racing comes the inevitable return of injuries. April has been particularly hard on the pro field, with perpetual podium threat Myriam Nicole letting fans know via Instagram that she broke and dislocated her foot on April 14th, just before the first World Cup of the season.
The Syndicate's Luca Shaw went down while training in San Romolo, Italy, but his broken collarbone wasn't confirmed until he tried to ride during practice at the Maribor World Cup, while YT's Angel Suarez waited until qualifying to injure his shoulder.
It wasn't just the downhill crowd, either, with Pole's EWS racer Joe Nation breaking his arm badly enough to need surgery and a bunch of hardware. The New Zealander came home 13th at the Tasmanian round, but there's no word on when he'll be back on the circuit. Also on the sidelines is Katy Winton, who's decided to sit out while recovering from multiple concussions.
The Syndicate's Luca Shaw went down while training in San Romolo, Italy, but his broken collarbone wasn't confirmed until he tried to ride during practice at the Maribor World Cup, while YT's Angel Suarez waited until qualifying to injure his shoulder.
It wasn't just the downhill crowd, either, with Pole's EWS racer Joe Nation breaking his arm badly enough to need surgery and a bunch of hardware. The New Zealander came home 13th at the Tasmanian round, but there's no word on when he'll be back on the circuit. Also on the sidelines is Katy Winton, who's decided to sit out while recovering from multiple concussions.
Atherton Bikes' World Cup Debut
A Near-Win and a 26th
A Near-Win and a 26th
With carbon tubes bonded into 3D-printed titanium lugs, Gee and Rachel's new race rig is probably one of the best looking and most interesting bikes in the World Cup pits. That aside, the Athertons were likely hoping for a better debut for their namesake brand; Gee ended up 6.3 seconds down in 26th, while Rachel was much closer in 2nd at just 0.8 back from Tahnee Seagrave. Let's not forget that standing on the second step of the podium at a World Cup race is a hell of a feat, but she was surely hoping for a debut win given that, well, she wins a hell of a lot of these things.
One race doesn't sum up a season, though, and there shouldn't be any doubt that one (or both) of the Athertons will ride that new bike to a victory soon.
One race doesn't sum up a season, though, and there shouldn't be any doubt that one (or both) of the Athertons will ride that new bike to a victory soon.
Greg Minnaar in Maribor
Bad Weather Foils the GOAT's Qualifying
Bad Weather Foils the GOAT's Qualifying
The last time the World Cup circus pulled into Maribor was in 2010 when Greg Minnaar took the win, but things were a lot different nine years later. Saturday's qualifying saw Minnaar and some others face a rain-soaked track that was massively slower than what a lot of the field had to deal with, and sometimes it's just not your day.
A crash placed the South African way back in qualifying and watching the race from the sidelines come Sunday, reminding us all that not even the GOAT gets it right all the time.
A crash placed the South African way back in qualifying and watching the race from the sidelines come Sunday, reminding us all that not even the GOAT gets it right all the time.
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
I think the fact that this innovative and relatively unproven tech survived a track like Maribor under the Athertons is testament to the construction.
Tahnee and Loic have been on the up for years now and are world class athletes with full factory support, sometimes they might be faster on the day. And only split seconds down? Yeh that's probably a decent bike.
Excited to see how the bikes evolve as the season progresses, and what the production product looks like.
As if its out of the ordinary for Gee to have less than great results these days. And obviously Rachel is doing just fine and remains in a battle with Seagrave from race to race.
Stupid post PB.
I have guys in the aerospace industry tell me all the time that we underutilize rivets. Maybe old technology can be beneficial with new design?
People are used to seeing rachel win. When she doesnt win her first race on the new bike, rightly or wrongly, thats gonna affect sales. Being the best is a double edged sword...
Never heard football audience whine on piss beer makers.
Evian/volvic DHWC
Lets see -- last year she was 4 seconds off Myriam Nicole in Losinj, 10 seconds off Seagrave and Nicole at Fort Bill, 6 tenths ahead of Nicole in Leogang, a tenth off Seagrave in Val di Sole, 5 seconds off Seagrave in Valnord, 1 second up on Seagrave in Le Bresse.
She had two races where she dominated by 5 seconds or more last year (MSA and Lenzerheide).
The fact is the top of the ladies ladder has gotten a lot tighter since she went on her winning streak. Her coming in second by 6 tenths to Seagrave in Maribor is not surprising whatsoever, and it is completely silly to blame the new bike. It is 150% within the realm of normalcy regarding results in the women's WC.
So you say Gee and Rachel were expected to win, because of their company, but Gwin, Neko and Moir shitting the bed on a new team was different? Or how about the Syndicate? Greg not making finals for the first time is arguably a bigger disappointment.
How about some perspective?
The young guns were on fire this race, which is shown by the amount of young riders in the top 10/top 20.
Times were also tight overall.
Cmon,it's not the slow season anymore, no need to create content out of thin air anymore. Time to get bacl to some quality content.
and its not that much tbh, theres 55g of sugar in a 500ml can of monster, and thats the highest quantity of anything bar carbonated water. so maybe 15-20% at most isnt water, so its still 400ml of water i wouldnt drink as water.
tbf i have 1 monster and about 2l of no added sugar ribena a day, its not that bad if your not drinking full sugar coke, i cut out almost 1.5kg of sugar each week by stopping drinking full sugar fizzy pop.
Mx don't really have an engine ? Mx don't really have wider tyres on the back than the front ? Or you think mx riders don't really accelerate out of the turns ?
Comparing mx and DH bikes is a non sense.
Yes of course, those were the rules in 2018.
Yes, shorter riders can now exploit the faster rollover of the 29’er front without the seat buzz thanks to the 27 rear wheel.
However, from my experience, the true advantages of mixed wheel sizes are cornering and steeps.
Mixed wheel sizes corners better. The bike dives into corners and rails with confidence. Think about it, the rear wheel naturally tracks an inside line. A smaller radius wheel for the smaller radius line. Plus, smaller rear wheel increases torque, better for accelerating.
If you draw a line between the front and rear axles, the line is parallel on equal wheel setups but on mixed wheel sizes, that line is now at a slackened angle. This makes mixed wheel sizes more comfortable on steep sections.
This is just not true and just contributes to the nonsense. If you are going to report on an issue, report it correctly. Riders are not required to drink from a Redbull branded bottle (which would obviously be an issue if they have another drink sponsor). The UCI and Redbull made it clear that if they don't want to drink from a Redbull bottle they can simply use a plain unbranded bottle. These are two completely different scenarios.
pulpmx.com/2011/09/30/is-there-a-g-o-a-t
Ricky Carmichael was the GOAT of MX, which stands for The Greatest Of All Time which is what Muhammad Ali was called in the 60's when he was boxing and was given to RC in an interview by former rider Matt Walker.
/stats Nico V.: 10 Worldchamps ( 3 junior 7 elite)
4 Worldcup Overalls
16 Worldcupwins
+ a couple of EWS and the Megavalanche
/stats Greg M.: 3 Worldchamps
3 Worldcup Overalls
23 Worldcupwins
even if you count a Worldchamps win as a regular Worldcup, which of course does no justice to Worlds its a draw in wins. Nico won more overalls still. And thats just counting DH.
Why in the hell would they do that? It just seems like such an obvious no brainer to NOT list the race winner next to a replay.
large amount of pisstaking from the five grand plus plumber/sparkie crew at my local track as im riding a 2012 Zesty
Good weekend:
large amount of pisstaking when said Zesty knocks ten secs minimum off their times for a segment.
couldnt give a shiny f*ck bout strava segments tbh, but nice nonetheless
Smaller back wheels were also used by some others at the time, like Karpiel to name an example. And lots of freeriders I knew were putting 24" x 3" Gazzaloddis on wide rims on the back of any big bike really, not necessarily designed for it (incl. hardtails with dual crowns
I dont drink redbull as cat spray is better for you.
Water drinking 26er here. Slightly injured (shoulder and foot) and still hoping for a podium in Vets at the BDS in Fort Bill next weekend (was wanting the win before getting injured now... wanting the win but being realistic against most of the best vets in the country).
I might have tested a 27.5 V10 v my 26... I still have my 26. Performance over fashion. (Gotta love being an engineer).
My keyboard warrior effort at Fort William last weekend trying to get ready for this weekends BDS at Fort William (I re-separated my shoulder 3 weeks ago and damaged my foot which has put back my riding a bit) , there are stops as George, who dropped me on the top section had sore hands due to it being our 7th run (all sub 5:30), George is an Ex-Propain Junior rider)and so much better at cornering than me and generally faster. I was happy that this is 5:13 pace on my trusty old V10.5.
m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156328797658321&id=508318320
I hope the video works.
to tie by that rule.
Always has been...according to who? In no other sport with an annual championship like the WC Overall is the greatest athlete undeniably determined by who has the most career race wins. Add the MTB World Championship race to the equation and judging the GOAT gets even more complex.
When attempting to rank athletes, all their accomplishments have to be analyzed in context. In many cases it’s subjective. We have to somehow find the correct weights for race wins, WC overalls, and World Champs wins. Then when you start comparing across generations it gets more convoluted because the seasons might have all been the same length and competition levels vary. At the moment the best arguments can be made for Nico or Minaar, and Gwin—if he picks up at least one World Champs win.