MuddyBrit

Comment about the actual live coverage (not the crappy 3-minute highlights) - This isn’t news, but it continues to be absolutely staggering that the so-called premier DH event isn’t even set up to show the full runs for any rider. So many runs where a rider was in the green, or close to it, at split 1, and then 2 seconds down at split 2 - and no one has a clue why! I understand you can’t do that for 80 riders, but surely you could do it for the last 10 at least! It’s like if the football world cup only broadcast the second half of all the games!!

Looks like it shares a frame with the Polygon Siskiu, right? Would be curious to compare specs & pricing (or maybe they are not acailable in the same countries?). That siskiu is a few years old now, but geo still good. I bought a T8 3 years ago for $2400, think it’s a bit cheaper these days

"the English punk rock that influenced his style and attitude growing up" - that took me way back to the days of my big angry brother listening to punk in the late 70's, and then I felt kinda old when I realized that Arctic Monkeys are the equivalent for young Kade! Love this edit. There is something so compelling about watching an expert rider riding trails that I know I could ride - there's no comparison between how I would do it compared how they can do it, but there is at least a faint line connecting us both! I'll happily watch and appreciate a 120ft canyon gap flip, but that's other-worldly for me, I don't feel so directly connected to it, like I do with this kind of edit.

I know this is all about the bike (which is beautiful and awesome), but this is the first time I've ever seen "Tacky Chan" tyres and I really want them (and unlike the bike itself, there's a chance I could afford to buy them)

Well, I guess it's only a matter of time before we see e-slopestyle, e-Downhill, and e-Rampage!

I thought the section in the trees that featured in Ben's "inside the tape" video took out more of the male riders (I didn't get to see any of the women's race since it was so early). Anyway, nice video Ben, as always! I'm really happy for Charlie, but I have to admit I didn't find the race all that exciting overall. My idea of "exciting race" correlates pretty strongly to having the podium placings change a lot over the last 20 riders. It was a bit anticlimactic to see quite a few riders get green on early splits and then crash. Still, that's how it goes sometimes, eh? Still, don't want that to take anything away from Charlie, who put it all together in a way no other rider was able to, and deserved the win!

@RadBartTaylor: You're only including the $1k trade-up each year, but not the initial ~$2500 you paid upfront to buy the first bike. Anyway, pedantics aside, I have zero proof that my approach is going to work out for me yet, so I guess I'll have to get back to you in 3-4 years on that!

By that logic, over 5 years you'd spend $7500 just to ride an average bike (I'm calling a $2500 bike "average" in this context), doesn't seem that great of a deal to me. Especially when you consider the risk of switching bikes, e.g., you might start with a bike with perfect geo for you, but the next year's model just don't feel right. I'd say it's better to buy that value bike and keep it for ~5 years while selectively upgrading components as deals come up. I bought a Polygon Siskiu T8 a couple years ago, and recently got a nice deal on upgrading the weakest components (brakes). I would consider better fork and/or shock later. This logic is based on the assumption that you are starting out with good geo and a frame that'll last well.

Wish I could upvote this enough times to push it to the top of the list! Enough has been said about the broadcasting let’s talk about the race! It’s been a really exciting start to the season. Great stories for the elite winners this weekend and last

Loved this! My only tiny regret is that I didn't read the article to get more backstory before watching the video ... ho hum, I guess I'll just have to watch the video again!