[Closed] DH racing is a fashion event and not a real sport.

Yeah, but Cathro is right, who wants to see that lanky frame in Pvc lycra again....?

In a recent press release from Atherton Racing, they announced that they will be working in conjunction with Endura to develop race kits that will help with aerodynamics.

Oh, the ironing.

No need to get in such a flap.

Wow, some of that commentary is so sad. People obsessing about whether the clothing looks cool or not. Really deluded and quite sad.

youtube Rob Warner Kaprun 94

I thought the point of the no skinsuit rule was so that riders who wear armour were not disadvantaged ie its about basic safety and stopping there being pressure on the riders to not wear body armour.

Interesting article, read it earlier this morning. the difference in viewpoint from the clothing manufacturer getting rich from a sport and that  of Porter's team winning what they thought was a race is telling.

Stw and clickbait headlines shocker....

Yeah, but Cathro is right, who wants to see that lanky frame in Pvc lycra again….?

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">True... but what I disagree with is that Fort William is any sort of measure and that DH racing is about going as fast as possible.... (which is completely different to getting to the finish line as fast as possible)</span>

Others are welcome to have other opinions on this... I personally think the gnarlier races better than the let's all run a 29er races.

I suspect however that the sport will end up being hijacked into 29er and Lycra simply because mainly wide open courses provide better drone footage.

I suspect however that the sport will end up being hijacked into 29er and Lycra simply because mainly wide open courses provide better drone footage.

FFS put the wheel size grudge down for a second....

Croatia was a great track, short, gnarly and awesome to watch, the 29's seemed good there because they are good bikes ridden well.

Skinsuits are a bd thing in DH for the armour reason alone

Others are welcome to have other opinions on this… I personally think the gnarlier races better than the let’s all run a 29er races.

I suspect however that the sport will end up being hijacked into 29er and Lycra simply because mainly wide open courses provide better drone footage.

I agree. I want to be watching it, wondering how the hell they rode that, let alone at race pace.

The modern kits are so tight anyway, they’re not that far off Lycra anyway. Bullet helmets without peaks were and are criminal; they look gash.

I’d rather the UCI steeped in re concussions rather than worrying about image. Lucas is considering racing on Sunday despite the smash he had (apparently he couldn’t remember the minutes after).

Skinsuits are a bd thing in DH for the armour reason alone

Surely it it would make more sense to stipulate that certain amount of armour must be worn then?

Think the pyjama merchants are right, actually - What is the point of blanketly knocking 2 seconds off the entire field?

Not to say the rule isn't a joke like. Wonder whose influence that was to get the UCI to legislate on fashion.

I don't know where this notion of armour not fitting came from, IIRC plenty of people rode with armour and pads underneath the lycra.

The rule is a joke really, it's supposed to be a "technical" rule but the technical basis is lacking... Porter is right, it's down to fashion, it at least deserves a review, it was essentially based on what was considered to "look good" a decade ago, which in turn was taken from what was thought to "look good" another decade before.

Take a look at a set of modern DH pajamas:

They're a lot more "fitted" than they every were back in the 90s when palmer started wearing his MX kit for DH racing. Of course even he tucked his Jersey in, and then of course this happened at least once:

Open your eyes. This forum's content is almost entirely fashion based.

I don’t know where this notion of armour not fitting came from, IIRC plenty of people rode with armour and pads underneath the lycra.

It was discussed at the time but the pressure was to wear less armour with lycra. It then pushes down to the juniors who end up grabbing a skinsuit and hurting themselves

Looking at something like the TLD trousers they offer a lot of protection for the rider hitting the floor, lycra wont.

It was discussed at the time but the pressure was to wear less armour with lycra. It then pushes down to the juniors who end up grabbing a skinsuit and hurting themselves

I honestly can't remember hearing that argument at the time, most of the debates seemed to be framed as aero speed vs baggy style. And whether it was better to attract participants to a "cool" sport or allow every technical advantage for getting down the hill faster to be explored, the UCI listened to the sponsors and the pinkbike kidz and blocked skinsuits as I remember it...

If safety was the genuine concern more would have been made of that argument surely?

It's interesting reading the linked article and noting Cathro/Porter reckoned a skinsuits was able to save a second per minute, that's pretty significant really. Then you look at the likes of Vouilloz, a ten time world champ who was fine with skinsuits and aero-tucking, so there must have been something to it...

I don't disagree that skinsuits lack aesthetic appeal, but if looks are the primary reason for turning them down in a sport that claims to be the bleeding edge of technical innovation and is all about speed then something is wrong.

To my mind if you want to ensure people wear armour, write that into the bloody rules, don't make it an option, make it a prerequisite for entry, gimp suit or not, if you want to try and push lycra out of DH then think about other ways of using the technical rules, i.e. mandate that riders outer layer of clothing must provide a proven level of abrasion protection in certain key areas, lycra isn't so good with abrasion. Lastly, rather than mandating no lycra elastane, it could make sense to simply set a minimum weight for those outer layers, tight fitting lycra is pretty light weight, cordura with sewn in kevlar and rubber panels is heavier...

Like I said the rules are due for a review...

If safety was the genuine concern more would have been made of that argument surely?

I think it was at the time.

But simply it came down to one of those where the riders didn't want to wear them but nobody wanted to give up an advantage so they all decided not to wear them.

I really don't see them making a comeback.

"Fair enough to Tracey if she wants to do that to win, but for the sport and the longevity of the sport, to wear cool race kit and to make an image for yourself is more important than the odd win here and there," said Atherton.

It's all about protecting the general public.

The top level DH racers look perfectly fine in a skinsuit even with armour. They're elite athletes.

But think of the damage to your eyes if you had to look at the average fatboy rolling downhill encased in his skinsuit... 🙂

What is needed is more armour.

And if you want a road equivalent, look what happened to bike design once the mamils came in.

Instead of proper horizontal toptubes like god intended, toptubes got dropped to allow room for the floppy bellies - compact geometry is somewhat of a misnomer. 🙂

But think of the damage to your eyes if you had to look at the average fatboy rolling downhill encased in his skinsuit…

Exactly

I'll bet he's pretty aero... 😁

Its not unusual for the top ten in the men's to have less than 5secs separate them. Someone will do it.