2023 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

[SwissVan]

4 hours ago, MilkManMike said:

Wonder what this result is going to do for the reputation of the “RockRider” brand...really solid ride from Dabua there.

Yeah more than a solid ride, this RockRider brand must have something special under the paint

Very happy to see Pidcock take the win from that last climb

 

[Baracuda]

10 hours ago, DJuice said:

Bring back those Manitou R7 from around 2006 in lumo green.

 

I love the way Manitou and Suntour are at the front. Guys winning on a bike finalised a week ago. Goes to show, the engine is ....

[MilkManMike]

Anyone willing to take bets on how long it's going to take for the UCI overlords to ban suspension changes during race weekends?

https://escapecollective.cc/cervelo-turned-a-full-suspension-bike-into-a-no-suspension-bike/

 

Can't see why they don't allow them to swop bikes between the XCC and XCO races. In that spirit, they should force Grand Tour riders to use the same bike for the TT that they ride on the normal stages....

[DieselnDust]

I was a bit surprised by how the big names from last season under performed this weekend. The season is back end loaded so maybe I expected too much 

[DieselnDust]

12 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

Anyone willing to take bets on how long it's going to take for the UCI overlords to ban suspension changes during race weekends?

https://escapecollective.cc/cervelo-turned-a-full-suspension-bike-into-a-no-suspension-bike/

 

Can't see why they don't allow them to swop bikes between the XCC and XCO races. In that spirit, they should force Grand Tour riders to use the same bike for the TT that they ride on the normal stages....

I don’t think this will be banned. It reduces costs and as long as cervelo makes it available to privateer racers or will probably catch on as it saves teams having to buy 2 bikes. It’s really clever actually 

[Eddy Gordo]

Would be interesting if the come up with something slightly flexible along those lines.

[Headshot]

The coverage was actually better than RBTV - I don't miss Warner on XCO and the racer interviews were also done swiftly as were the short highlights. RB missed opportunities to do trackside reports and Bart is coming into his own without the Warner repeating everything  and trying to steal the show. My wife says he likes Kate who asks him the right leading questions. The drone follow shots and a bit of on bike footage was great. WBD for the win. Even their app is better. 🙂 

[Headshot]

11 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

I don’t think this will be banned. It reduces costs and as long as cervelo makes it available to privateer racers or will probably catch on as it saves teams having to buy 2 bikes. It’s really clever actually 

It might be clever but I suspect they will ban it. Its also of dubious advantage in the age of shock lockouts and many ST courses are quite rough anyway. Lets see.

[MilkManMike]

20 minutes ago, Headshot said:

It might be clever but I suspect they will ban it. Its also of dubious advantage in the age of shock lockouts and many ST courses are quite rough anyway. Lets see.

Im with you on being pretty sure they will come up with a reason to ban it. I agree its a smart solution though until such point. 

I still think the riders should be allowed to choose between their bikes for the short course and the XCO, I dont buy the “it saves money” argument. No rider competing at world cup level only has one bike. I am pretty certain the sponsors supply them all with a number of bike, including a decent race hardtail. Letting the youth see their heros racing on HT bikes will help cycling a lot by showing people you dont need a top of the range full suss to be a good rider.

The benefit of this solution by Cervelo is both in efficiency and in weight. Even the best lockout rear shock will have some give, and then the obvious weight saving, which matters a lot at that level of riding. The short course tracks may be rough, but a 120mm front travel, modern geo hardtail with high volume tires is more than capable of handling that terrain as well as most dual sus XC bikes…. its the riders body that takes more strain on the HT, and over the 20 or 30 minutes of a short course race, that isnt so much of an issue.

I think if they werent forced to use the same bike for both races, pretty much everyone would ride the XCC on a hardtail.

[MilkManMike]

34 minutes ago, Eddy Gordo said:

Would be interesting if the come up with something slightly flexible along those lines.

you mean like a slighty compressible polymer bushing… wouldnt that be revelutionary😁

[Headshot]

42 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

Im with you on being pretty sure they will come up with a reason to ban it. I agree its a smart solution though until such point. 

I still think the riders should be allowed to choose between their bikes for the short course and the XCO, I dont buy the “it saves money” argument. No rider competing at world cup level only has one bike. I am pretty certain the sponsors supply them all with a number of bike, including a decent race hardtail. Letting the youth see their heros racing on HT bikes will help cycling a lot by showing people you dont need a top of the range full suss to be a good rider.

The benefit of this solution by Cervelo is both in efficiency and in weight. Even the best lockout rear shock will have some give, and then the obvious weight saving, which matters a lot at that level of riding. The short course tracks may be rough, but a 120mm front travel, modern geo hardtail with high volume tires is more than capable of handling that terrain as well as most dual sus XC bikes…. its the riders body that takes more strain on the HT, and over the 20 or 30 minutes of a short course race, that isnt so much of an issue.

I think if they werent forced to use the same bike for both races, pretty much everyone would ride the XCC on a hardtail.

I agree it is a silly rule in the first place.  The track this weekend was very HT friendly. 

[DJuice]

I did not see the ladies race, but they compete on the same bike in XCC and XCO?

Looked like the "old" epic in the XCO.

[Jono]

18 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Not just Rockrider but their suppliers too. Suddenly Manitou is on the map again

I'm running a Mezzer Pro, it's Manitou's trail/enduro fork. Very impressed with it. Super supportive and highly tunable with their irt system. 

https://hayesbicycle.com/products/mezzer-1

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, MilkManMike said:

Im with you on being pretty sure they will come up with a reason to ban it. I agree its a smart solution though until such point. 

I still think the riders should be allowed to choose between their bikes for the short course and the XCO, I dont buy the “it saves money” argument. No rider competing at world cup level only has one bike. I am pretty certain the sponsors supply them all with a number of bike, including a decent race hardtail. Letting the youth see their heros racing on HT bikes will help cycling a lot by showing people you dont need a top of the range full suss to be a good rider.

The benefit of this solution by Cervelo is both in efficiency and in weight. Even the best lockout rear shock will have some give, and then the obvious weight saving, which matters a lot at that level of riding. The short course tracks may be rough, but a 120mm front travel, modern geo hardtail with high volume tires is more than capable of handling that terrain as well as most dual sus XC bikes…. its the riders body that takes more strain on the HT, and over the 20 or 30 minutes of a short course race, that isnt so much of an issue.

I think if they werent forced to use the same bike for both races, pretty much everyone would ride the XCC on a hardtail.

There are a lot of privateer riders who aren’t fully sponsored but can jy their bikes at reduced costs. This is at World Cup elite level. Not everyone w rides for a factory team

[Frosty]

8 hours ago, MilkManMike said:

Anyone willing to take bets on how long it's going to take for the UCI overlords to ban suspension changes during race weekends?

https://escapecollective.cc/cervelo-turned-a-full-suspension-bike-into-a-no-suspension-bike/

 

Can't see why they don't allow them to swop bikes between the XCC and XCO races. In that spirit, they should force Grand Tour riders to use the same bike for the TT that they ride on the normal stages....

They aren’t allowed to swap frames, but tyres, wheels and (it seems) suspension can be swapped out. 

[Eddy Gordo]

8 hours ago, MilkManMike said:

you mean like a slighty compressible polymer bushing… wouldnt that be revelutionary😁

elastomer damper