DTShane

I love the idea however without the support of the industry you would never have all the top athletes. Companies like Rockshox, Fox, Shimano, SRAM, Trek, Specialized, etc. all want the bragging rights, and the athlete contracts specifically state that they can NOT ride anything other than what they are contracted to ride. OK all the marketing/legal BS out of the way, I love this idea and I think we might all be surprised at how well some XC riders descend tech terrain as well as how well some DH riders climb. As much as I would want to see my favorite riders (Sam Hill, Troy Brosnan, Tawnee Seagrave, Greg Minnar, and Marine Cabirou) absolutely crush it, I wouldn't bet against Nino, Yolanda Neff and the rest. It would truly be epic and no matter who won we would all find excuses as to why someone else did not (the course was too climbing focused, the course was too technical, etc,etc, etc.). If nothing else, the results would blow up the servers on Pinkbike!

Typical PB!! A professional is giving you information for free and some people can only criticize. This man is a professional trainer, its his job. If you choose to take his "free" advice then be happy its free, if not then do what you want instead. Thanks for the info coach Dee, keep em coming!

How did the bike thieves know there were bikes in the van in the first place? Looks to be an un logoed van no?

I think most of the Americans here are still thinking NFL. To the rest of the globe Football is something else, you know a sport where you actually kick the ball. To my understanding, the salaries of a Soccer player are quite small compared to the NFL league minimum of $510,000. That 510k is to do absolutely nothing but warm a bench!!!!!

I just learned of this today. I rode with him and his whole crew back in the late 90s/early 2000's both in Moto and DH. I was never close friends with him but we always talked for a few whenever we crossed paths. We've not spoken in person for a few years but have messaged a few times via social media. I know that he was a very skilled rider and active person so this does come as a bit of a shock. While I'm not even going to imagine what his family is going through, I know that his friends are morning his passing but celebrating his life. While I haven't shared trail or track with him in a very long time, I will morn the lost opportunity to do so again, but I am cherishing some very fond memories of racing against him and sitting by a group in a makeshift CO race camp telling shred stories the day. My very next ride will be dedicated to you brother and I will do my very best to live a little more in the moment in honor of all our fallen brothers and sisters in shred.

DVO make a solid product! They are user tunable and serviceable. Everyone in that building rides, and they are constantly testing and making improvements. Trying to take on Fox and Rockshox is no easy task, but these guys have something worthy of that challenge. If you get a chance to ride one of their demo bikes this summer, try it out.

Almost every top rider (Enduro, DH,XC, Road, MX, SX, etc.) uses a coach. The amount of knowledge and constant progression is key. There is a reason that Aaron Gwin, hires a coach. Does he know how to lift properly, absolutely. What he also knows is that his job is to race DH, his trainers job is to monitor each movement and constantly tweak his form, push him beyond his perceived limits or hold him back when he sees him falling out of the proper form. There is so much to be gained by a trainer. You can bolt on a hop up kit for your car that will get you more horsepower and anyone with tools and some patience can do it. If you want your car to perform at its peak, you take it to a professional that is very good at what they do. Training is EXACTLY the same!

I personally think that trying to belittle someone that is offering knowledge is a much larger travesty than trying to make a living. The riding books Lee has written were all along with a very well respected professional rider. While Lee himself is an accomplished rider, raced pro DH for several years, he still enlisted the help of Brian Lopes in his MTB skills book. In the BMX book you reference there are several top pros that helped, including Jason Richardson (Dr. Jason Richardson actually). Many of the skills from BMX and MTB crossover as far as technique are concerned. As for the RipRow, maybe you should try one before you call it junk. As far as anyone being a tool, the only tool here is knowledge, either learn or move on to another article, its simple...

Pretty typical PB comment posting here I see. Someone offers up some science based advice and the keyboard trolls bash and trash. First, lets bash the math because maybe your personal dimensions don't fall into the theoretical average .OK Lee offers up the Pro calculator to help, then its bash and trash because you either don't want to do the math or the math indicates maybe you should ride something other than what you believe. Bottom line here is that most of these articles are offering to help in some way. No one is saying you HAVE to follow the advise of others. If you like 26" wheels ride them, same with 29", same with long low bikes, same with short reach bikes. The point is you currently have a choice. As the science is catching up with trends there may be some things that don't work out. How about this, we thank those people that take their personal time to try and offer us some helpful advise? Should we choose not to follow it, then that is at our personal discretion. But we should still be thankful that someone took the time to try and offer the help! Thank you Lee for the insight and helpful advice!

Maybe this should be called Race of the Year? Event, could be a festival, consumer demo, etc. Of those, Sea Otter, Roc d Azur, Sedona MTB fest, etc. would all qualify. Races are awesome and I love them, however, the sport as a whole isn't just about racing. Most people just ride, and they are the vast majority and should be represented don't you think?