June 2017 - Good Month or Bad Month?
Downhill Racing Fans
Three wild World Cups with three different winners.
Three wild World Cups with three different winners.
For racing fans, the downhill World Cup was the best show - three venues with different winners in almost every category and unpredictable weather changes that reshuffled everyone's chances and sent teams scrambling for which tire, wheel-size or line choice could ensure a podium finish.
Beginning in June, most bets were on Rachel Atherton and Danny Hart. By June's end, however, Atherton was injured, Hart was playing catch-up, and Tracey Hannah and Greg Minnaar were sporting the number one plates. We also saw some new faces at the award ceremonies, most notably, Tahnee Seagrave, who edged out Tracey Hannah at Leogang by a half second to bag her first World Cup.
Beginning in June, most bets were on Rachel Atherton and Danny Hart. By June's end, however, Atherton was injured, Hart was playing catch-up, and Tracey Hannah and Greg Minnaar were sporting the number one plates. We also saw some new faces at the award ceremonies, most notably, Tahnee Seagrave, who edged out Tracey Hannah at Leogang by a half second to bag her first World Cup.
Tahnee finally put all the pieces together: Number one at Leogang.
So, we enter July with Tracey Hannah and Greg Minnaar dominating at Fort William, Tahnee Seagrave and Aaron Gwin on the top step at Leogang, and Myriam Nicole and Troy Brosnan taking the win at Vallnord. What happens next is anyone's guess, but it's a sure bet that we're all going to be watching.
Slopestyle Competition
Crankworx battle royale between Brett Rheeder and Nicholi Rogatkin.
Crankworx battle royale between Brett Rheeder and Nicholi Rogatkin.
Nicholi Rogatkin
Brett Rheeder.
Two Crankworx events in one month produced the best slopestyle battle we've seen in years. Canadian Brett Rheeder's convincing victory at Les Gets set the stage for an expected sweep at Crankworx Innsbruck the following week. Confident and powerful, top-seeded Rheeder was on fire in Austria, with 94.33 points on his first run, but it wouldn't stick.
Nicholi Rogatkin put on the performance of his life on his second run, earning 96 points, with a bag of tricks that defied the laws of physics. Rheeder, the last man on course, threw down everything he knew and put in a performance that probably would have won every slopestyle in the history of Crankworx, except this one. His score? 95.66 - a mere four tenths under Rogatkin's.
The magic of Innsbruck was that the course was right and everyone was on their game. It was the show that slopestyle needed to re-invigorate fans and break the long cycle of "win it on the first run" spoilers that has dampened enthusiasm for the venue. If you didn't see it, watch the replay.
Nicholi Rogatkin put on the performance of his life on his second run, earning 96 points, with a bag of tricks that defied the laws of physics. Rheeder, the last man on course, threw down everything he knew and put in a performance that probably would have won every slopestyle in the history of Crankworx, except this one. His score? 95.66 - a mere four tenths under Rogatkin's.
The magic of Innsbruck was that the course was right and everyone was on their game. It was the show that slopestyle needed to re-invigorate fans and break the long cycle of "win it on the first run" spoilers that has dampened enthusiasm for the venue. If you didn't see it, watch the replay.
 | One of the most ferocious runs the world has seen on a slopestyle course, no bones about it. |
Tech Geeks
Designers gone wild.
Designers gone wild.
When Chris Porter went public with his "GeoMetron" experiment, most designers balked when he claimed that a steep seat tube angle, combined with a slacker-than-downhill head tube and minimized fork offset could produce a better descending trail bike with acceptable cornering and climbing qualities. When Chris added thirty millimeters to his top tubes, some thought he had gone looney. Nicolai teamed up with Porter and re-designed most of its range accordingly, and now, a little more than a year later, some heady names are laying claim to the technology.
"Long and slack" are the buzzwords at product launches and "reduced offset" is the concept that everyone has has been working on for "a number of years." Transition debuted its "Speed Balanced Geometry," Specialized touted their reduced offset/slack head angle concept used on its (of all things) 2018 Epic XC racer, and Whyte, who has been playing with offset configurations for a while, launched their beautiful handling S-150 29er with moderated version of all of the above. While it is doubtful that designers at large will stretch their production trail bikes to the extent that Chris Porter is taking the concept, his influence has been set in motion and will be far reaching.
Chris Porter.
Beyond GeoMetron, BMC surprised tech geeks with Trailsync - an integrated dropper seatpost that is linked to the remote lockout device of a Fox shock. Trailsync was launched this month on BMC's Speedfox 120-millimeter-travel 29er trailbike. It's a stunner and after a month on the bike, it is apparent that the fast-reacting, one-lever system may be a game changer.
BMC's Speedfox debuted its Trailsync system that automatically opens up the shock when the post is lowered.
SRAM GX Eagle.
Game changers? I may be sardonic, but I'm calling out frame designers who still reserve that huge space above the bottom bracket in the anticipation that future mountain bikers are going to wake up one day and realize we were wrong, Shimano was right all along, and that we all need front derailleurs. Well, SRAM put the final nail in that coffin with the June release of its affordable 12-speed GX Eagle drivetrain. It's time to stick a fork in it and put that valuable space to better use - like wider suspension pivots. Until then, perhaps someone will make a tool box that screws into the derailleur bosses
Specialized designers realized that the advantages of carbon construction could allow them to build a one-sided shock mount for their Demo DH bike. It made sense, especially considering that switching out the shock on the old Demos was a time-consuming burden. Check out Orbea's new Rallon, with its asymmetric top tube and shock mount. The one-sided tension strut that parallels the shock counters the vicious loads that the chassis sees during a bottom-out event with the least amount of structure - and it facilitates servicing the shock. The significance of the two designs is that they break ground for future designers to abandon the symmetry imposed by frame configurations which evolved from the constraints of steel and aluminum and use the benefits of laid-up carbon construction to re-imagine future frame designs, and directly address issues like stand-over and wheel clearance, and better integrate suspension configurations
Orbea's 2018 Rallon is a whole new animal.
Rachel Atherton
Shoulder injury ends the longest winning streak in WC DH history.
Shoulder injury ends the longest winning streak in WC DH history.
"All good things come to an end," is the oft' repeated adage that Rachel Atherton occasionally used to remind fans that, sooner or later, another woman was knock her off the top step. Before she crashed in practice at the Fort William World Cup and dislocated her shoulder, the fastest woman in the mountain bike world was showing signs that something was amiss. Rachel has been training well. The Athertons routinely train in Southern California during the off season, where she was blazing fast according to all reports. The POV video she filmed while practicing for the Fort Bill round of the British Downhill Series a week before the World Cup, however, suggested that she was physically off form, which may have been the reason that she opted out of the race.
Ready to rock? I think so. Thirteen seconds between Rachel's qualifying time and second-place Tracy Hannah at the Fort William WC.
Whatever may have been bothering Rachel at the BDS round was behind her at the World Cup the following weekend. She smoked the field in qualies with a 13-second lead over Tracey Hannah and appeared to be well on her way to extending her unbroken string of wins well into the 2017 season. On the practice lap before finals, however, Rachel crashed and it was Tracey Hannah who would be the first woman other than Rachel Atherton to stand on the top step at a World Cup Downhill or World Championship for over two years. I'm sure that takes some pressure off of Rachel, but like most of her fans, I wished it had gone down differently - with Rach' at full gas in a head-to-head battle for the hot seat.
Enduro World Series
Hey, are we having fun yet?
Hey, are we having fun yet?
Rain has plagued every EWS race this season, and June? June was the worst. The series that proudly touted professional enduro racing should challenge competitors at the highest levels of their technical and physical abilities has hit the jackpot. Nature must have overheard that conversation, and said, "You want tough? Okay, I'll give you tough," because nobody is having fun any more - except, perhaps a handful of Frenchies, who allegedly used their home-court advantages to sweep the podium spots at round five in Millau, France.
Millau capped off the EWS "month of mud" and proved to be the breaking point for many competitors. Milau entertained guests with 80 kilometers of steep transfer climbs, mixed in with some greasy-slick, survival descents, and was staged in a cold downpour for much of the two-day suffer fest. Soggy competitors are wishing for just one dry race, perhaps to remember what that may have been like. Next stop, the EWS sets sail for
Millau capped off the EWS "month of mud" and proved to be the breaking point for many competitors. Milau entertained guests with 80 kilometers of steep transfer climbs, mixed in with some greasy-slick, survival descents, and was staged in a cold downpour for much of the two-day suffer fest. Soggy competitors are wishing for just one dry race, perhaps to remember what that may have been like. Next stop, the EWS sets sail for
Adrian Dailly pushes through the weather in France.
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There's totally no reason Trek's and SRAM's MTB R&D branches are here other than the mediocre weather during the winter.
Pretty sure the majority of their testing is done in the PNW though, which isn't California
On a season full of rain.
Seriously?? Are you salty or what? The French dominance on Millau EWS doesn't prove anything. As said in the comments, riders from all over the world are well above good in those conditions too. Weather is part of the game, if you don't like it, then launch an Indoor Enduro series!
By the way, as hard as it can be, I am pretty sure they have lots of fun in mud conditions.
Millau was an amazing race and venue. The home field advantage comment is probably not related to the rain. It is more likely to be based on the fact that the time for practice was too short to even fully pre-ride (arguably a good thing for enduro) and that the tracks were what the rest of the world thinks of as quintessentially French (tight, technical, awkward turns where flow is challenging to find and there are very few chances to put down power).
It is clear that this type of track favors the type of riders that France produces because the terrain and trail history is reasonably common throughout the country.
If the rest of the races this year had more balance - i.e. Some favor power, some endurance, some technical skill - instead of the rain swinging the balance to the primarily technical side then perhaps Millau would have received the credit it deserved.
Hard to be positive on the sport when most of the riders are grumbling about the races.
As for trail and offset, it was only a matter of time before bike manufacturers started paying more attention to what has always been a serious consideration in motorcycle design.
Shimano was and still is right. We do need front derailleurs and manufactureres in Europe has realized that there is huge demand for it. For next year at lest one big producer in Poland is working on a long/slack frame with mounting for front derailleurs added. What we don't need is ridiculious 4x teeth cog the size of a dining plate.
Europe has some great natural trails to ride and that why front derailleurs are still in high demand.
Mark my words.
I can often appreciate the overlap in gears when running 2 x 10. I also hate the large shifting gaps/bridges between gears on 1 x drivetrains.
What the heck does that mean?
I'll be keeping my front gears on bikes that actually need a range for you know, going up steep hills in wales or not spinning your legs like mad at 15mph on a fire-road. And not have to spend the best part of a grand for approx 18-52% less gear range (compared to a bike of a decade ago i might add), while barely saving any weight at all.
But still, she practiced, like everyone else. She got injured, the others didn't, end of the story.