The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 11 - Are We Going Racing This Year?
Art by Taj Mihelich
Racing is on its way back! Last week saw Luca Shaw, Dakotah Norton, Neko Mullaly, and many others back between the tape for a downhill race at Tennessee's Windrock bike park. Social distancing was in effect, of course, and Norton and Frida Ronning took the wins in the pro class. We even had a few bike checks. Speaking of racing, the World Cup is returning for 2020, with the downhill series kicking off in early September in Lenzerheide and wrapping up in early November at Lousa, Portugal. Not only is the series much more condensed, the last two rounds are double-headers that will see racers tackle the course twice but with some variations - that should be interesting. The World Championships are on the calendar, too, running from October 5th to the 11th.
James Smurthwaite rang up Simon Burney, the UCI's off-road division manager to talk schedules, venues, double-headers, and what to expect from the 2020 World Cup race season.
With the heavily revised schedule running from late summer through early fall, will 2020 be known as the muddiest World Cup season ever? Will the condensed, all-European calendar throw up any unexpected curveballs?
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or wherever else you get your podcasts.
THE PINKBIKE PODCAST // EPISODE 11 - ARE WE GOING RACING THIS YEAR?
May 27th, 2020
Time to put your quarantine training plan to the test.
Hosted by Mike Levy and featuring a rotating cast of the editorial team and other guests, the Pinkbike Podcast is a weekly update on all the latest stories from around the world of mountain biking, as well as some frank discussion about tech, racing, and everything in between.
Previous Pinkbike Podcasts
Episode 1 - Why Are Bikes So Expensive?
Episode 2 - Where the Hell is the Grim Donut?
Episode 3 - Pond Beaver Tech
Episode 4 - Why is Every Bike a Trail Bike?
Episode 5 - Can You Trust Bike Reviews?
Episode 6 - Over Biked Or Under Biked?
Episode 7 - Wild Project Bikes
Episode 8 - Do We Need an Even Larger Wheel Size?
Episode 9 - Why Are We Doing a Cross-Country Field Test?
Episode 10 - Getting Nerdy About Bike Setup
Hit us in the comments with your suggestions: What do you want to hear us talk about? Would you be into watching a video version, or are our dulcet voices enough for you?
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C’mon Chappetta, lift your Levy’s Boss game, everyone’s doing it.
As an aside I've currently been running 2.6 SE5, 2.5 DHF Exo, 2.5 Assegai DH, 2.4 SE4, 2.4 XR4, 2.3 DHR2 Exo (F+R) and 2.3 aggressor Exo. All 29 and all on 29/30mm rims. I'm curious about narrower say 2.3 tyres that roll faster and are a bit more lively than 2.5s. I'm on a Murmur with 160f 140r and ride Surrey Hills so lots of transfers between trails.
I spent the last two years trying to make a Breezer Squal/Storm hardtail into a legit trail bike for Ohio but as cheaply as possible by upgrading everything I broke. I have had some success and have ridden some great trails in Ohio and Pennsylvania but overall the experiment was a failure. You simply can't change the fundamental nature of the bike. Fortunately this only cost about $600 since 2017, $300 for bike and $300 for upgrades/repairs, and I learned a lot.
Starting last November I assembled a budget full suspension. I have had my first two rides this week and what a world of difference. One area that I was not anticipating was the difference in steering. At low speed I am all over the place. I went from 71 degrees to 65 degrees over night. Not over the course of the last 20 years.
Any tips? I was nervous on 3 foot wide bridges on my last ride and was comfortable on 8 inch skinnies on my Breezer. Or do I just need more time?
Maybe change the "music" or whatever that's called. Please? I can't be the only one cringing everytime I hear it.
www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/06/12/876224115/coronavirus-second-wave-nope-were-still-stuck-in-the-first-one?utm_source=pocket-newtab
'Grim as it is, even this picture may be overly rosy'....
Thanks.
Plus 90 % of the cases he makes a big deal out of something and utterly comes back and agrees with whatever the others put on the table,because his arguments aren’t based on facts generally. So just let them do the show they can handle it