why arent dh racers wearing gay skin tight suits?

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

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

WTF! Did I need another reason to dislike the Athertons?

Better?

 

[dhd]

I thought part of it was also to level the playing field. Basically those that turned up donning the scuba suit were perceived to have an advantage over the guys that wore moto style gear. In a sport as fickle as DH where image is everything, the skin suit just isn't cool.
Personally I think it's been a good thing for the sport as we aren't all perceived as Lycra wearing loonies!

 

[frenchman]

I'm with NSM. Sure they look shite, but when the whole point of the race is too beat the clock I really can't see how it was ever a good decision. The sooner DH stops trying to be a derivative of mx the better.

It seems DH is 95% image.
Nothing is better than seeing a punter on an old bike in u19's school the rest of the pyjama wearing squids anyway.

 

[andy]

I never thought it was a good call at the top level. Rules like that are gheyer than skin suits. It's racing, do what you gotta do, leave image out of it IMO. UCI weren't that much to blame, most of the top riders protested and pretty much made them from memory. Skin suits do look totally retarded, and ghey, but other sports people aren't so worried about how they look. We may have more TV coverage etc if DHers didn't look so "hardcore", and looked more traditional(cycling style).
Same goes with helmet peaks, if you wanna go bowling ball style, then so be it. Form over fashion I say. But I'd never wear a skin suit, or have too, so I guess it might be easy for me to say.
Just saw that photo above again. Forget what I said, we're better off without skin suits.

Yep, If I remember at the time Peaty was the rider rep that helped push it through. Originally it was a gentlemans agreement??? But some countries still had their riders race the world champs in skinsuits.

 

[andy]

I'm with NSM. Sure they look shite, but when the whole point of the race is too beat the clock I really can't see how it was ever a good decision. The sooner DH stops trying to be a derivative of mx the better.

It seems DH is 95% image.
Nothing is better than seeing a punter on an old bike in u19's school the rest of the pyjama wearing squids anyway.

I remember the mountain man doing that to us when he was like 18. And there is a good chance we were in skin suits racing Castle hill.

 

[fatboyonabike]

i thought the whole thing came down to looking like a spazzo with lycra and full dianese predator body armour!..Lycra knicks and jersey with elbow/knee guards and neck brace and full face, now there's a challenge for any marketing department

 

[jjperko]

They only ever really came out at the worlds from what I remember. I think theres something to be said for sacrificing everything for speed. Watching Sam Hills run at the 2008 worlds was all the more crazy for the fact that he was wearing a skinsuit. WC riders need to be more comfortable with their sexuality, wearing tighter clothes in the pursuit of speed doesn't change your sexual preference (although I've never tried it so I don't actually know the effects).

 

[Ryan H]

"Fair enough to Tracy 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.

WTF! Did I need another reason to dislike the Athertons?

HAHAHAHAHA just read that bit in the article, I had to re-read it like 3 times to make sure what i was seeing was real!

Oh Ms Atherton, you are an idiot:hat:

 

[iridedh]

thanks whiteman. so why did they ban them?

Because they gay!!!!

 

[g3rg]

HAHAHAHAHA just read that bit in the article, I had to re-read it like 3 times to make sure what i was seeing was real!

Oh Ms Atherton, you are an idiot:hat:

Here's the accompanying image for it... the annotations aren't mine, just what I found on the net....

 

[pharmaboy]

HAHAHAHAHA just read that bit in the article, I had to re-read it like 3 times to make sure what i was seeing was real!

Oh Ms Atherton, you are an idiot:hat:

heh just checked her photo out - she sure has lost a lot of weight since she was on Little Britain!

 

[Mywifesirrational]

The argument that skin suits are gay is a pretty solid point, after all there's gay people all over the place wearing them...

I actually have the opposite view, I think the pajama wearing crowd look ridiculous and skin suits actually look more professional and are probably more functional.

People should be allowed to race in whatever they want, as long as it is safe to do so and decent - perhaps the people against skin suits can't help looking at the male groin area - Who is the gay one now?

Ms Atherton, what a sore loser, why didn't she wear one...

 

[faz]

The UCI also stipulate the minimum height of socks for roadies - that's how whacked the rules from the UCI are.

 

[aanon]

If Gwin, Smith, Gee, etc etc wore skin suits the local hills would be swarming in lycra'd up sheep.

 

[A.France]

i am pretty sure some rides wanted the ban because there wasn't enough down stairs

 

[Old C]

As a regular XC rider occasional racer, I wish they would ban skin suits in XC as well, they do show too much, even if you are trying to avoid eye to ball contact

 

[driftking]

Image id think a better argument would be that they offer a unfair advantage to those who choose not to use them.
personally I think good on it, they look terrible. if I wanted to see a man wear tights id go to the circus.

i never saw that podium with rach. her views are valid and that's all well and good but probably not the best time to display it just after a lose to a skin suit rider and so publicly at the event. It was fairly surprising to read that statement. I think you can say that but she did have the option to wear it, she should have just gone for the suit and evened the field. rach has run skin suits in the past for worlds.

 

[heavyp]

Because the idea of racing is to see who can get to the bottom of the hill the fastest and the UCI didnt want anybody to go any faster and have a chance of making up time to put them higher on the table

 

[theMerryPrankster]

"Fair enough to Tracy 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.

I have to agree with that being a completely stupid thing to go on record and say.

However, given that the Athertons now have a line of name-branded componentry and reality web series, she may have the last laugh on all of us.

 

[MARKL]

i never saw that podium with rach.

Canberra World Champs I think, if not the World Cup race a year before. Happy to see Rach and the girls in a skin suit.