Did Downhilling Ruin the Sport? Discuss...

[cce]

never had a problem with DH riders. it's dirt jumpers and trials riders that irk me.

a dj'er of my acquaintance calls XC (or "just going for a bike ride" as i have always referred to it) boring. he then goes and spends a day sitting in a field, periodically riding his bike towards a ramp.

 

[scant]

never had a problem with DH riders. it's dirt jumpers and trials riders that irk me.

a dj'er of my acquaintance calls XC (or "just going for a bike ride" as i have always referred to it) boring. he then goes and spends a day sitting in a field, periodically riding his bike towards a ramp.

ahh is that was it is? maybe the problem is turning the pedals? IE XCers need to turn the pedals a lot. DHers, trials, dirtjump etc generally dont!

I know rob warner in the past called abercarn NPS DH (a few miles from me & 1 of my fave local DHs his fave DH as it doesnt require any pedalling! for kicks they've had chainless DH runs there before now & the times are only around 3seconds slower!

 

[kanerdog1x1]

wow, what a discussion......i started riding bikes (without stabilisers) in 1983, my first bikes were bmx's obviously, and i got my first mtb in about 1990. it wasnt untill about 1995 that i started actually taking riding off road seriously, it was only then that my 'gang' would make a point of going up the woods to ride, rather than round the housing estates. not interested in racing, we just used to go up the woods for a bit of fun, and thats the thing, we still do. its just a bit of fun. i dont think downhill bikes and the image they carry is bad, its just an aspect of the sport.


mind you, having had a few of my non riding mates try a proper dh bike, on proper dh terrain, has opened a few eyes for them.....even enduro riders that didnt think a section would be rideable on a push bike, only to show them how fast you could ride through, then let them try! a few suprised faces.

evolution?

 

[P20]

In answer to the question posed in the title, its a no. As several have mentioned, the clunkers were effectively DHers.
Its an area which divides the sport, but thats a rider preference. I personally don't have the balls or believe i have the talent to do dh justice. I respect the technology and the riding ability, but its not my thing.
I might be labelled a 'sick puppy' because i enjoy 'cleaning' tricky or technical climbs, the same way if the slope is going downwards, but its my thing.
Modern XC and longer travel bikes like my 575 have learnt from the DH arena and the technology learnt has improved the sport for many people.

Cycling, any form of it is what you want it to be, the main thing is that you enjoy it.

 

[andrewl]

In my part of the world, grass roots XC racing number far exceed the numbers in DH, so no I don't think DH has ruined anything other than making XC less cool.

Many of the young DHrs I chat to see XC racing as too hard and intense for them which also adds an interesting perspective too.

In some rspects elite level XC competition shoots itself in the foot. UCI course people for example prefer XC courses which are as smooth as bike paths rather than technical and thus visually the events look rather crap, as well as penalising riders who do have great bike skills.

Anyway its a good discussion point.

 

[Anthony]

I think you’re raising two separate issues – DH has zapped XC as a spectator/TV sport because it’s more spectacular, it’s easier to televise, it’s over in a reasonable time, lots of advantages. We all know winning a three hour XC race is a huge achievement of stamina and skill, but if it’s dull to watch, so nobody wants to watch it, then it won’t happen. And incidentally since the makers of the winning XC bikes never get a mention, just the riders, why should makers invest lots of money in running a team? So XC racing is a dead duck in a number of ways - and I think it would be anyway, it’s not because of DH.

And then the other issue is what do ordinary riders want to do and there you’ve got to remember the nature of the countryside. Look on Steve Potts website and see his photo of the wide blue yonder inviting you for a multi-hour ride and you can see why he says he prefers the term cross-terrain biking to mountain biking. And obviously that kind of terrain is why the 29-er craze is concentrated in the US. But if you don’t have that kind of terrain available to you, which many people don’t (particularly in the UK as opposed to the USA), and what you do have is the local woods etc, then free-riding is the inevitable consequence. And then you don’t need a light bike built for speed, you need a heavy bike built for air time, drop-offs etc, so it’s all different.

But again I don’t think you can blame DH for the fact that a lot of people don’t have the opportunity (or the desire) to do XC, it’s just that technological advance has opened up a lot of other possibilities.

 

[Kestonian]

For me, DH changed mountain biking from being about riding a bike to remote places just for the sake of it and the scenery, to being about coming down a mountain fast and jumping into a lake.

That's when I stopped reading MBUK which, for me, was the barometer of mountain biking. I suppose it just became more mainstream, and people wanted TV friendly / marketing endorsed / less fitness XC geeky thrills and spills.

Me, I love riding bikes. Mainly, they're an escape from la vie quotidienne and a chance to disappear into the woods. Sometimes, they take you to places that have to be seen to be believed. I like going fast, slow, up or down hill. I think bikes are works of art (some I appreciate more than others - just like art) and the ones I like I can now collect.

Did downhilling ruin the sport? No, but it certainly changed a lot of the coverage away from my tastes. It helped others discover it and when others discover your little secret that can spoil the fun, but I've met more good guys than bad out on the trails, so I'm not complaining.

[No refunds available on my $0.02. This does not affect your statutory rights]

 

[Repack Rider]

As several have pointed out, the first type of competition for fat tires was downhill.

If you want to race cross country, no one will stop you from doing so and you will find plenty of competition.

The reason sponsors (that is, Red Bull) like DH, Slalom, 4X, dirtjump, etc. is that you can televise them. The only thing that makes the Tour de France possible on TV is the cameras on motorcycles, and you can't do that on a mountain bike XC course, so XC will never get much TV coverage. Face it, XC is for the RIDERS, and DH is for the riders AND sponsors.

Please define "kill[ing] the sport." If you go to the Sea Otter (okay, it' in California, so you probably won't) you will find 10,000 people, of which some 3000 will compete and they don't care whether or not they get on TV. Races have to be broken into many subcategories to keep the fields manageable, so if the sport is being "killed," it's taking a long time to die.

 

[ozpete]

The way I see it, all that has happened here is that it has given me (as a consumer) more choice. With all the extra 'disciplines', come a varied array of machinery for sale, all armed with a different skill-set.
I can still buy hardtail, like the old days, but if I choose to be daring, there are any number of capable machine available.
Think back to the choices that were available BITD, XC or DH sir?
Now I can buy bikes that can handle that, and a host of things in-betwen.
Biggest shame is now that I am forty & more than a little unfit, all I use my bikes for is 2-wheeled hiking throught the forest.
I so wish I could get me some big air......Why wasnt freeride invented in 1980's????

 

[messiah]

Many of the young DHrs I chat to see XC racing as too hard and intense for them which also adds an interesting perspective too.

In some rspects elite level XC competition shoots itself in the foot. UCI course people for example prefer XC courses which are as smooth as bike paths rather than technical and thus visually the events look rather crap, as well as penalising riders who do have great bike skills.

I agree with the above.

XC racing killed itself by becoming ultra competative and all about speed. In the early days of XC racing it was all about the challenge and anybody on any bike could turn up and actually do surprisingly well if they were reasonably fit and could handle a bike. Then there were all the FUN class in fancy dress etc. It was a great day out, but then the roady mentality moved in and courses became flat and fast. The bikes got to the point where a £300 bike could no longer cut it against a £3000 22lb racer. The XC races in Scotland are still dominated by the same names as 10 years ago when I used to race... it's a bit sad.

DH probably brings more folk into the sport that any other niche, they just don't tend to crossover into XC much.

Enduro style events and Singlespeed events are so popular because they hark back to the old XC event feel... it's the challange to self rather then the need to win, and they are a good day out.

DH did not kill the sport, it just lives on different street these days.