DH Nationals 2021 Trail Build

Ackland

chats d'élevage

moorey

call me Mia
Looks like the Dirt Art crew are just using the little digger for this one...

I hope they chuck some tech elements in and it's not just a bonehead sendy line...

I think it will be both. They put on a good show there. Wish we could have made it, but put all our eggs in the now postponed TransTas enduro.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
No rock gardens, no rooty sections, no tech at least until all the new fresh loam blows out. Is gunna be a flat out drag race. Who was the Aussie that got in the top 5 a few years back on their enduro rig?
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
No rock gardens, no rooty sections, no tech at least until all the new fresh loam blows out. Is gunna be a flat out drag race. Who was the Aussie that got in the top 5 a few years back on their enduro rig?
Lol. Bit of GoPro effect at play for sure but there’s loads of tech, roots, off camber and even rock in that. The guys who built it make riding it look easy.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt

Anyone who thinks this isn't a difficult course is kidding themselves.
It truly has everything

In typical Maydena fashion, there will be rain and snow and it won't be rideable.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
XC guys everywhere are saying the course looks easy, doesn't justify as a downhill course, trail bike will win, will suit guys who can pedal etc etc blah blah blah. That is laughable, this course looks legit and looks unreal.
Also advisable from a downhiller's perspective that if you just watch the race and don't actually ride downhill........you should get back in your box and not comment on the technicality of a course, it shits on the green graded trails you log and cheat on Strava.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
Lol. Bit of GoPro effect at play for sure but there’s loads of tech, roots, off camber and even rock in that. The guys who built it make riding it look easy.
which is exactly my problem. If the guys that ride it make it look easy then Australia's best are going to find it easy. Sure it has GoPro effect but just because a track is steep doesn't make it a nationals level DH race course.


XC guys everywhere are saying the course looks easy, doesn't justify as a downhill course, trail bike will win, will suit guys who can pedal etc etc blah blah blah. That is laughable, this course looks legit and looks unreal.
Also advisable from a downhiller's perspective that if you just watch the race and don't actually ride downhill........you should get back in your box and not comment on the technicality of a course, it shits on the green graded trails you log and cheat on Strava.
Guessing there's some harsh comments elsewhere? But whatever happened to technical downhill courses? One's where making it down the track without crashing was the deciding factor? this is just a bike park jumps track.

Anyone and everyone can comment but it will be the riders feedback that will ultimately decided whether this course will be liked or not.

Personally I wanted to go and see some gnarly DH riding, not a mini Freeride jumps session. It'll look cool though for sure.
 

leitch

Feelin' a bit rrranty
which is exactly my problem. If the guys that ride it make it look easy then Australia's best are going to find it easy. Sure it has GoPro effect but just because a track is steep doesn't make it a nationals level DH race course.
Dude, literally all three in the video linked have variously raced world cups/Crankworx etc and been podium finishers/winners in national enduro/DH races.

But yeah I'm sure you could teach them a thing or two.
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
which is exactly my problem. If the guys that ride it make it look easy then Australia's best are going to find it easy. Sure it has GoPro effect but just because a track is steep doesn't make it a nationals level DH race course.
The guys that are riding/building the course are very qualified, they have competed very highly at international and national level.

I don't particularly like the top section, but there is multiple lines as shown by the riders and jump/pump timing will be everything through there.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
which is exactly my problem. If the guys that ride it make it look easy then Australia's best are going to find it easy. Sure it has GoPro effect but just because a track is steep doesn't make it a nationals level DH race course.




Guessing there's some harsh comments elsewhere? But whatever happened to technical downhill courses? One's where making it down the track without crashing was the deciding factor? this is just a bike park jumps track.

Anyone and everyone can comment but it will be the riders feedback that will ultimately decided whether this course will be liked or not.

Personally I wanted to go and see some gnarly DH riding, not a mini Freeride jumps session. It'll look cool though for sure.
Go ride it and tell us mainlanders how it is.
 

beeb

Dr. Beebenson, PhD HA, ST, Offset (hons)
Also, don't most DH courses look pretty smooth on the opening runs because they generally get chopped up and become techy over the course of a couple of days?
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
Dude, literally all three in the video linked have variously raced world cups/Crankworx etc and been podium finishers/winners in national enduro/DH races.

But yeah I'm sure you could teach them a thing or two.
Point out exactly where I criticised the riders or said I could ride it better or at all, everyone's so quick to shit on someone else's opinion especially from the safety of their keyboard. The round desperately needs volunteers so if everyone's ejaculating over the track so hard then explain to me how you're justifying your excitement by describing how you're contributing? Me, well I'm trying to get up there and volunteer my time to marshall or similar. Most if not everyone else will just read the results on Facebook and hang shit on various riders.

From the video I personally think that the track does not have the technical features expected of a National level track. I'm not saying that from a professional riders perspective, I'm saying that from a spectators perspective. I just personally like big rock gardens, big drops and technical sections. I just think this track is another bike park/jump track and there's plenty of chat about that at WC level and riders tend to universally agree they like riding raw, classic DH tracks not the bike park stuff and again, that's what I like to watch.
 

Dozer

Heavy machinery.
Staff member
Guessing there's some harsh comments elsewhere? But whatever happened to technical downhill courses? One's where making it down the track without crashing was the deciding factor? this is just a bike park jumps track.
Anyone and everyone can comment but it will be the riders feedback that will ultimately decided whether this course will be liked or not.
Personally I wanted to go and see some gnarly DH riding, not a mini Freeride jumps session. It'll look cool though for sure.
Yep, I've read some stuff the last few days on social media that was really ridiculous, my comment wasn't aimed at you. ;)
I see your point from a spectating perspective but man, that high speed stuff is mega cool to watch and as said prior to this post; the course will evolve and those sections that are fresh will explode into landmines I reckon.
 

liam_hooper

Cannon Fodder
Nathan it’s getting real old watching you publicly find ANY opportunity to rip on anything Dirt Art does. If you’re trying to break into the industry with your clothing stuff you’d be better served being positive and not exposing yourself with stupid comments about a world class riders and a world standard DH trail. The trail will evolve like all things MTB.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
Yep, I've read some stuff the last few days on social media that was really ridiculous, my comment wasn't aimed at you. ;)
I see your point from a spectating perspective but man, that high speed stuff is mega cool to watch and as said prior to this post; the course will evolve and those sections that are fresh will explode into landmines I reckon.
That bottom section is epic and absolutely perfect for spectators granted and hopefully you're right, once it chews up it may become highly technical. Anyway worse case Jayne and I will lob down the bottom and she can watch the guys send it.


Nathan it’s getting real old watching you publicly find ANY opportunity to rip on anything Dirt Art does. If you’re trying to break into the industry with your clothing stuff you’d be better served being positive and not exposing yourself with stupid comments about a world class riders and a world standard DH trail. The trail will evolve like all things MTB.
Hi Liam, thanks for your feedback. Much like the owner of Dirt Art my personal opinions and that of my (proposed) company are independent of each other. I agree that I have been critical personally of the owner of Dirt Art previously however I am fully aware that Maydena and the builders of this track are very much independent of that. However what I said was
No rock gardens, no rooty sections, no tech at least until all the new fresh loam blows out. Is gunna be a flat out drag race. Who was the Aussie that got in the top 5 a few years back on their enduro rig?
How is that stupid? you can bet your ass if Troy Brosnan or similar make a similar comment I'll be straight back here suggesting you tell him he's stupid. I just personally think they could have build a lot more technical features into the track to make the racing more difficult and see a wider spread in the field. I would not be surprised if a few unknowns make it into top 10 purely because they send it nor the top 20 separated by just a second or two. This is probably a good thing to many. Again this is just my personal preference as to how I like to watch DH racing. I do believe you would not need a big DH bike to race it, but I could be proven wrong as it's just gopro footage. I remember watching the Cairns DH race and that course just wasn't as interesting as a spectator to most others and the outcry over Jared Graves at South Africa, though that's mostly down to him as a flat out brilliant rider.

I did not say the track wasn't well built, nor that it wont provide good racing, nor that people wont like it. I just would have like to have seen a really gnarly, hardcore DH track full of obstacles that challenges the best riders in Aus technically.
 
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