Gravity Check
If only World Cup Downhill had pre-season just like Moto GP, we would have something fresh to talk about. The gap between the last race of 2019 and the first of 2020 feels like an eternity. As exciting as the last World Cup Season was, I can barely remember who did what and when. Maybe it’s because I’ve tried to supress most of it given the French were so dominant, even though their performances were that good they should be re-watched at least once a month for the next 10 years. Don’t worry, this isn’t me setting up to unload again on MTBA or Cycling Australia later in the piece.
Maybe my frustrations from a long off-season comes from the constant hit of social influencing, everyone is looking to cash in on the new wave of marketing sweeping social media. I don’t hold it against anyone trying to make a buck, but no-one cares about the daily routines of others, what people eat for breakfast, why yoga is the most important time of the day… So please anyone thinking of starting another Vlog, don’t. Imagine for a moment, there was a scenario where top riders were all gathered at a venue of some sort, there was a timing wand, riders would put it all on the line on a specific course, cash would be up for grabs and there would be television coverage. The content created from something like that, everyone would want to see… Oh wait, never mind, moving on.
So, what have we learnt from that last race of 2019? Well social media has actually told us quite a bit, there has been a lot more testing going down, with the level of professionalism required to compete at the top growing exponentially year on year. There was once a time when riders used to hang up the bike for a few months, now it’s take a breath and get back into it. Increased budgets are letting teams take up the slack that was normally left to the riders themselves and running camps throughout different parts of the world. Product development for the major brands is happening in response to riders’ requests, no longer is there a need to deliver a component to market for it to make its way onto a racer’s bike. The cycle is finally happening the right way, with development taking place inside the race team, then refined before it reaches the public’s hands.
If you happen to be in the right place at the right time, race parts being tested are no longer hidden from public view, although few of us are in the those right places, riders are testing parts everywhere from France to Colombia, and if you know where to look, right here in Australia. So, what are some of the trends to look out for? Wheel size may have shook up the category last year, similar to when Santa Cruz caught everyone off guard with their V10 29er in 2017, Specialized and GT got a run on everyone in 2019 with the mullet wheel size (29” front, 27.5” rear) but with the off-season allowing everyone to catch up, wheel size has become much more a rider setup preference just like individual suspension settings. Has a company produced a new fork or shock that will propel a rider towards the podium? Highly likely. Although it may be housed inside existing hardware which will make it easy to neither confirm nor deny its existence.
Will there be any new frame concepts that could shake things up? There are wild rumours circulating of a bike that dis-engages its drivetrain while not in use to free up the suspension, what does that mean? The forces produced by having a constantly engaged drivetrain means suspension design has to accommodate this, compromising its efficiency as it has to take into account variable pedalling and freewheeling forces acting on the bike, but what if you could design a frame for the best performance while freewheeling, because how often is there sustained pedalling in a DH race? Could it be a game changer, or is it purely a rumour? If only there was some sort of “event” we could watch to find out…