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Back in the day when Palmer and Gwin blew everyone's minds by crossing over from moto to DH and doing so well, it probably put a seed into the head of the best DH riders at the time: Do I HAVE to start getting good at motocross if I want to be as good as Gwin on a DH bike? Nowadays I see pretty much the whole top 20 DH world cup riders are all very good on their dirt bikes, maybe not "pro level" but good enough to risk their DH careers by hitting huge transfers, 60 ft gaps and gnarly whoop sections at high speeds in training. My question is, if you want to get into DH at a top level, do you NEED to also risk serious injury by getting really good at moto as well? I'm a sports medicine professional and I know you may be able to replicate the workout of a motocross session in the gym but there is soo much more to it that you can't replicate in any gym (crossfart or otherwise). Is it even possible to be a top level DH rider withOUT also being a really good moto rider these days?
Poll
here's this for fun too
That being said, i'm not sure "being above average at moto" is accurate for a bunch of the top DH guys including dudes beating Gwin, only a handful put in enough time as far as I can tell to actually have decent skills.
I know a lot of the mtb enduro frenchies don't really ride moto all that much, and many of them could get a top 20 in WC DH with some prep.
The sports effeminately have interchangeable benefits to each other.
I'd argue the new crop of riders who never rode moto but did spend "a few summers at Whistler/Morzine" or similar are just as well off. The bikes are good, the bike parks (often) good too. Handlebar time is easy to come by.
Back in the day, the bikes sucked and bike parks didn't really exist. It was tough to figure out how to translate XC bike handling to the DH bike. This is why all the best racers on the gravity side had moto and BMX skills driving their results. It was also tough to really get the handlebar time in where you are processing things fast, getting arm pump and learning how to corner a bike with a 63 deg HTA bla bla bla. Plus, even if you lived by angelfire or something, you'd better have a box van full of parts to keep your rig running for days on end. Wheels, suspension & even frames didn't hold up.
In the early 2000s, Outside a handful of resorts, nobody offered lift service and shuttlable trails tough to come by unless you were "in the know". In this era, you could literally draw a line on the results sheet. Above that line were the riders who rode moto or had the background in moto, below were the nerds like me who didn't.
Everyone here knows this, but ever since I picked up a moto in 2018 a lot has clicked with me, both physically on the bike and technologically; seeing where things are likely to go from a handling perspective.
I've ridden more moto than mtb this season. My local gravity "test track" just dried out yesterday. My first top to bottom lap was my fastest ever, by a good margin. At 36, i would have assumed my fastest laps are behind me but I'm still getting faster. Yes, bikes are better, but that hasn't changed for me since 2019. The only thing that has changed is my time on a motorized dirt scooter.
Considering how much money people spend on stupid shit for their bikes, buying an old YZ250/KTM 300XC (or similar) and learning to ride it is likely the best thing most mountain bikers could do. I know, most don't live in a place where riding is all that accessible. But if you do, don't be an idiot like me and put it off for years.
Having not ridden motocross, it's hard for me to say for sure, but it seems like the same principle applies - unless you live somewhere with a lift, or pedal up a lot of hills on your enduro bike, its going to be hard to log the hours necessary to develop top-level skills. Motocross, BMX, or riding a jump bike all provide a vehicle to develop different but transferable skills, as well as a lot of hours on a bike. It seems to me that that's a big part of it - logging the hours, especially at a young age.
From both a skills/mental side then those who only mtb’d. I think as time goes on cross training will
Still be utilized. But the top mtb guys will be on mtbs at a young age and you will see less “latecomers”.
That's the reason Gwinner took up pedal bikes in the first place...less injuries. Remember?
Gwin
Palmer
Reece Wilson
Elliot Heap
Josh Calson
Would be interesting to see a more filled out list to get an idea of how well those guys do though.
Post a reply to: Do you NEED to be a good moto rider to be a great DH rider?