@winston77 Yeah because using "gay" as a pejorative doesn't make you sounds like a f*cking moron. Instead of being fascinated and stoked by the fact that we have option and technology suited for whatever type of riding you feel like doing, we should just bitch at the fact that, even though most of you have never ridden a 29er, it's not the norm. For the love of the sport stop bitching about wheel size already!
Aaron runs whatever he wants. He had an SX, an Enduro 26, an Enduro 29 and a Demo to pick from that day. We'd have given him a tricycle if he wanted that as well.
Sorry Jason, but the kids here have decided that anything other than a 26" full blown DH bike is a joke. I guess you guys had better ignore your sales numbers, market research, as well as feedback from your customers and only sell what they want. Oh and don't you dare let your pros be seen on anything else, that is if you want your company to survive.
And some day it might be POD. Why people get upset so much over POD is just beyond me. I've seen PODs I think were crap, but I don't let it get me mad or angry. Seems kind of silly to get so upset over something so silly right?
Say what you want about it but it looks to me like he's coming in preeeeetty hot into that section. Anybody who's raced sea otter should be able to see that but maybe its just me. 29ers only seem dumb if you can't go as fast as possible, luckily for Aaron Gwin he gives zero fucks so it obviously isnt an issue what wheel size he's on.
@tetonlarry how can you say that if you've never raced sea otter though? It's nothing but small bumps and carrying speed, two of the things 29ers excel at.
@tetonlarry, having raced at Sea Otter and watched as the other pros descended this year, it was plain to see that everyone was rocking something different -- there were massively built DH bikes, trail bikes, 29ers and 650b, all with some mashup of components that they were hoping would give them an advantage. It was anyone's race to win, and Gwin simply won. That's it. Whether it was because of his wheels, his attitude, his practice laps, the special underwear he was wearing or that he simply laid down the most perfect run, we'll never know. However, I do know that in this photo, he was f*cking pinned. He rode strong all weekend and is, by no means, being 'made soft by his use of a 29er'. Have you ever ridden a Specialized 29er? The one Mitch Ropelato won Fontana on is amazingly fun and responsive -- yes, I just said 'responsive' in reference to a 29er. It's all bikes. We all love bikes. We all love riding our bikes. Get over it.
My point is that until you race Sea Otter, until you meet Aaron Gwin, until you watch the races, and until you get off of Pinkbike and actually ride your bike, you have no room to talk.
Big brother keeps editing my comments. This is a Canadian site right? Freedom of speech in Canada is protected as a "fundamental freedom" by Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Censorship is both an incentive and reason to the performance of certain expressions, attitudes, and behavior, and how a society chooses to organize its system of social control. It contends that we have more to fear from the economic groups who have the power to control the media through ownership and advertising than the state itself. Mass media of communication is no longer a reflection of ideas in the community but are part of a class structure.
tetonlarry- It's a privately run website where the owners are responsible for the content posted on it, including content from users. I have no clue what you're writing because I don't care enough to read it but... shut it with the "freedom of speech" bull malarkey. It's silly.
Your freedom of speech ends when you agree to the Terms of Service to use the website, that's the facts of life. I don't know if they are censoring you, because I too haven't bothered to read up on what you've been saying, but I find it muy difícil to believe they would be.
Fair enough. I get it. I'm over it anyway. I learned a lot about how fair, honest, and open this site really is through this experience. I cannot kill the idea of 29ers for legitimate DH by myself. Time will handle if for me.
The problem is that you think you alone hold the definition of what "legitimate" DH is when I could probably guarantee you that definition varies from Pro to Pro. The fact you're so worried about a wheel size is a little silly mate. It's a wheel, it's a bike, and we all ride them.
In photo journalism, the historical context is hugely important - It's not some Joe Blow holding his daughter at the beach. - its Aaron winning a pro DH race on a Specialized 29er trailbike - and it is well lit, the colors are great and the composition is nice. Five years from now, when the definitive story is written about the conclusion of the DH wheel-size debate, this may be the one photo that illustrates it. There is room in the blue sky to the left to insert a killer headline ".002 seconds was all Gwin needed to crush the 26-inch wheel."
Sounds like the debate is already settled in your mind Richard. Honestly, it's settled in my mind too but with the opposite conclusion. 5 years from now we will all be laughing about that time everyone thought 29ers would be used in real downhill races.
Regardless of what the 'wheel debate' conclusion is, Richard is still making a good point that you clearly missed tetonlarry. And with a race that was as tight as this years Sea Otter DH, .002 seconds was enough to crush an extremely tight field. Who cares what wheels people will be on in a few years, the point is that this shot represents the first major downhill race won on a bike with 29" wheels, regardless of how important you think that fact is.
I didn't miss that point. The fact that Gwin only won by .002 seconds, and is considered the fastest in the world suggests he may have won by a larger margin if he was on a 26" bike. Sea Otter is an enduro race without an uphill section. It is not a Dh race. Besides, you don't "crush an extremely tight field by .002 seconds". If he won by 2 or 3 seconds I would agree that he had crushed the competition.
@stillmrg stop liking your dinky photos. Not pod worthy. The composition isn't great. Over edited and the rider isn't very interesting. The idea of having the streets behind it all is good though!
Of Gwin? Winning on a 29er? In off-camber, moon-dust soft dirt? During a pro race? Where the winning margin was 0.002 second? Damn, you must go to some pretty insane local races every weekend.
I love that people are on here hating on Gwin, hating on this POD, worrying about wheel size and debating each other over whether or not __________ (insert random part, random rider, random bike fact here) actually won this DH race or that one. Oh wait, no I don't.
How about we start riding more, complaining less, digging more and fighting for trail access, positive publicity, more publicity, better cooperation and changing our sport and the world instead?
That would be awesome for people to have intelligent discourse. But come on, you know where you're at. You know the reputation that follows the demographic here. Everything is "gay" this, "gay" that.
Regardless the ''historical view'' people somehow see this, On photographic merit this photo lacks it and the worst of it is the guy has some nice photos from sea otter as well but they pic this?
whats with people hating, he's pinned! and that turn is hard as f@ck to rip down. he ripping it hard than all you complaining about the pod, get on ur bike n' go ride...