Did Downhilling Ruin the Sport? Discuss...
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FairfaxPat
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downhill
You know, the first races for Mountain Bikes were the REPACK DOWNHILL series of races here in Fairfax and I think they built UP the popularity of Mountain Biking-getting it more well known among the planet's bikers. Of course technology reared it's head and the bikes came to resemble Motocross machines, along with the protective armor that the motorcycle crowd had developed-but what's wrong with that? I ride a 5 inch travel full suspension bike all the time and it's so comfortable I'll never give it up. These bikes came about because of downhill racing, and disc brakes too-wonderful additions to our gear. The continued development of downhill machines will trickle down to our everyday rides-they say racing improves the breed, so what's wrong with that?
You know, the first races for Mountain Bikes were the REPACK DOWNHILL series of races here in Fairfax and I think they built UP the popularity of Mountain Biking-getting it more well known among the planet's bikers. Of course technology reared it's head and the bikes came to resemble Motocross machines, along with the protective armor that the motorcycle crowd had developed-but what's wrong with that? I ride a 5 inch travel full suspension bike all the time and it's so comfortable I'll never give it up. These bikes came about because of downhill racing, and disc brakes too-wonderful additions to our gear. The continued development of downhill machines will trickle down to our everyday rides-they say racing improves the breed, so what's wrong with that?
Heres my thoughts on this.
Back in 1988 my mates and I got our first MTBs - a collection or Ridgebacks (601/2's - remember those), Specialized Rockhoppers and Saracen Trekkers. We all thought our bikes were indestructable - we rode them everywhere and we rode them hard. Some of us progressed and started racing :shock:
FF to 1990 every event we went to in what was to became NPS had XC, DH, Hillclimb, Trials and later Dual Slalom. Some of us entered all the disciplines but still all owned only one bike :shock:
I remember racing the 1991 NC at Beddgelert (Snowdonia) and pretty sure it was the first time DH was included. It was basically a fireroad but it was the first time I ever prepped my bike for a 'specialist' event - I fitted a 52 tooth chainring. As it was and due to the course a Raleigh road pro won it anyway :roll:
But that was it - the thin end of the growing wedge. People started prepping bikes for events. Soon we all had DH and XC bikes - mine were the same DBR Axis and Axis Pro but one had shocks. Some of my mates had specialist dual slalom rigs. And then bikes started to evolve and I'll get to my point.
Nowadays anyone starting to ride MTBS thinks that for their bike to be indestructable it has to have 5" of travel. They look at fully rigid or even short travel hardtails as not being up to the job. I laugh when I ride my regular loop on one of my retro bikes - all the other guys on Modern 5" travel bikes - the biggest drops offs there aren't even hardcore enough to damage my Discdrive
DH didn't kill the sport - the sport almost hit self destruct, ably assisted by the corporates who kept pushing us to buy more and creating a perception that "you need 5" of travel to ride offroad sir!"*
(*and maybe if you live in Fort William or Durango or Les Arc you do. On the Dunstable Downs I know you don't!)
Back in 1988 my mates and I got our first MTBs - a collection or Ridgebacks (601/2's - remember those), Specialized Rockhoppers and Saracen Trekkers. We all thought our bikes were indestructable - we rode them everywhere and we rode them hard. Some of us progressed and started racing :shock:
FF to 1990 every event we went to in what was to became NPS had XC, DH, Hillclimb, Trials and later Dual Slalom. Some of us entered all the disciplines but still all owned only one bike :shock:
I remember racing the 1991 NC at Beddgelert (Snowdonia) and pretty sure it was the first time DH was included. It was basically a fireroad but it was the first time I ever prepped my bike for a 'specialist' event - I fitted a 52 tooth chainring. As it was and due to the course a Raleigh road pro won it anyway :roll:
But that was it - the thin end of the growing wedge. People started prepping bikes for events. Soon we all had DH and XC bikes - mine were the same DBR Axis and Axis Pro but one had shocks. Some of my mates had specialist dual slalom rigs. And then bikes started to evolve and I'll get to my point.
Nowadays anyone starting to ride MTBS thinks that for their bike to be indestructable it has to have 5" of travel. They look at fully rigid or even short travel hardtails as not being up to the job. I laugh when I ride my regular loop on one of my retro bikes - all the other guys on Modern 5" travel bikes - the biggest drops offs there aren't even hardcore enough to damage my Discdrive
DH didn't kill the sport - the sport almost hit self destruct, ably assisted by the corporates who kept pushing us to buy more and creating a perception that "you need 5" of travel to ride offroad sir!"*
(*and maybe if you live in Fort William or Durango or Les Arc you do. On the Dunstable Downs I know you don't!)
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My view is that DH nearly killed MTB .
too much money went into DH races and brands started to design very expensives DH bikes , and spent a lot of money on teams .
Problem was that TV never came , expensive DH bikes never sold , and a few big names went bust ( like Sunn, GT etc....) .
And I still dont think the sport has recovered , there are no big teams , only 5 or 6 world cup races , americans dont come to race in europe any more as they cant afford it , and only a few europeans go to america if they need the points .
The Grunding world cup used to be great, big teams , big names etc....
too much money went into DH races and brands started to design very expensives DH bikes , and spent a lot of money on teams .
Problem was that TV never came , expensive DH bikes never sold , and a few big names went bust ( like Sunn, GT etc....) .
And I still dont think the sport has recovered , there are no big teams , only 5 or 6 world cup races , americans dont come to race in europe any more as they cant afford it , and only a few europeans go to america if they need the points .
The Grunding world cup used to be great, big teams , big names etc....
mtb has changed massively, very niche now as mentioned by others. i really dont see how DH killed it? racing generally has taken a downturn, NPS XC attendance is waay less than it used to be as well remeber. people prefer the more enduro style events.
anyone ever needs proof that DH is a massively growing sector, take a trip to cwmcarn, the uplift service there is booked up for ages in advance. theres kids riding mtb who've only ever known DH & have no interest in XC!. cwmcarn is busier for the DH than it is for the XC trail!
its already been mentioned, but given how our founding fathers of the sport, CK & others started by hauling bikes on the back of truck to the top of Mt.Tam & bombing down the other side, well it flat out amazes me that XCers have such resentment for DH! heck, I guess this is a retro forum so its always gonna be that way
anyone ever needs proof that DH is a massively growing sector, take a trip to cwmcarn, the uplift service there is booked up for ages in advance. theres kids riding mtb who've only ever known DH & have no interest in XC!. cwmcarn is busier for the DH than it is for the XC trail!
its already been mentioned, but given how our founding fathers of the sport, CK & others started by hauling bikes on the back of truck to the top of Mt.Tam & bombing down the other side, well it flat out amazes me that XCers have such resentment for DH! heck, I guess this is a retro forum so its always gonna be that way
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