Is MX / SX more of a fitness or talent sport?

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Edited Date/Time 7/10/2015 1:00pm
I always wondered how good of a rider I could of been if I could actually go the whole race at the speed I did the 1st lap. Problem is my body would never let me. Even when I was 16 and in good shape about lap 4 at a local race started to fade. As I got older it was even worse.

I think that is why you see with the top riders in the sport at the professional level they know that in order to succeed in this sport your fitness has to be top notch.

You are literally trying to edge out your competitor with not talent and speed necessarily but by being more fit than them.

Those of us that have ridden or raced know how extremely difficult it is to hang on to the bike and ride at the speed you know you are capable of but your body won't let you. It really takes the fun out of riding because your body is going down hill after 10 minutes. Most of us don't have the fitness to ride at a professional level with those maxed out heart rates and that dreaded arm pump.

So again, the question is-at the professional level is it more about talent or more about fitness?
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731chopper
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731chopper 7/9/2015 7:48pm
7/9/2015 7:48pm
It can't be an either or question because the answer is both. It takes talent to run the pro pace for 1 lap. It takes fitness to run that pace for 35 minutes twice within a few hours. It takes both to win.
jeffro503
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jeffro503 7/9/2015 7:51pm
7/9/2015 7:51pm
Both! Most definitely both! .....But leaning towards " talent ".

A fit triathlon that sucks on a bike , is still going to suck on a bike. A super talented dude that's out of shape , will still wipe the floor with the Triathlon guy. He'll be able to coast to the finish line why the ripped dude is pulling his bike out of the fence.
dazzlindino 7/9/2015 7:53pm
7/9/2015 7:53pm
level wrote:
I always wondered how good of a rider I could of been if I could actually go the whole race at the speed I did the...
I always wondered how good of a rider I could of been if I could actually go the whole race at the speed I did the 1st lap. Problem is my body would never let me. Even when I was 16 and in good shape about lap 4 at a local race started to fade. As I got older it was even worse.

I think that is why you see with the top riders in the sport at the professional level they know that in order to succeed in this sport your fitness has to be top notch.

You are literally trying to edge out your competitor with not talent and speed necessarily but by being more fit than them.

Those of us that have ridden or raced know how extremely difficult it is to hang on to the bike and ride at the speed you know you are capable of but your body won't let you. It really takes the fun out of riding because your body is going down hill after 10 minutes. Most of us don't have the fitness to ride at a professional level with those maxed out heart rates and that dreaded arm pump.

So again, the question is-at the professional level is it more about talent or more about fitness?
..you can't maintain that pace because you are going all out sprint mode....
..the top guys ride at a pace they can maintain for the duration...
..they are not sprinting...
jeffro503
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jeffro503 7/9/2015 7:59pm
7/9/2015 7:59pm
level wrote:
I always wondered how good of a rider I could of been if I could actually go the whole race at the speed I did the...
I always wondered how good of a rider I could of been if I could actually go the whole race at the speed I did the 1st lap. Problem is my body would never let me. Even when I was 16 and in good shape about lap 4 at a local race started to fade. As I got older it was even worse.

I think that is why you see with the top riders in the sport at the professional level they know that in order to succeed in this sport your fitness has to be top notch.

You are literally trying to edge out your competitor with not talent and speed necessarily but by being more fit than them.

Those of us that have ridden or raced know how extremely difficult it is to hang on to the bike and ride at the speed you know you are capable of but your body won't let you. It really takes the fun out of riding because your body is going down hill after 10 minutes. Most of us don't have the fitness to ride at a professional level with those maxed out heart rates and that dreaded arm pump.

So again, the question is-at the professional level is it more about talent or more about fitness?
dazzlindino wrote:
..you can't maintain that pace because you are going all out sprint mode.... ..the top guys ride at a pace they can maintain for the duration...
..you can't maintain that pace because you are going all out sprint mode....
..the top guys ride at a pace they can maintain for the duration...
..they are not sprinting...
That depends on the race. There have been plenty of races where guys have stated that they are at 100% MHR after the first couple minutes and it stayed there the entire moto. I'm sure some of the epic battles we saw RC and James have , or RD and RV have...those guys were pushing it as hard as their heart would allow them to. It's not uncommon for an athlete to push beyond their 100% MHR either.

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loftyair
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loftyair 7/9/2015 7:59pm
7/9/2015 7:59pm
Sx is talent sided, not much fitness needed. Mx on the other hand, you gotta have more than just talent!
imoto34
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imoto34 7/9/2015 8:32pm
7/9/2015 8:32pm
You will never finish first with no conditioning
imoto34
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imoto34 7/9/2015 8:34pm
7/9/2015 8:34pm
loftyair wrote:
Sx is talent sided, not much fitness needed. Mx on the other hand, you gotta have more than just talent!
You are joking, right?
500guy
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500guy 7/9/2015 8:35pm
7/9/2015 8:35pm
loftyair wrote:
Sx is talent sided, not much fitness needed. Mx on the other hand, you gotta have more than just talent!
You obviously have never rode a Supercross Track if you think Fitness is not an issue.

Supercross may not be grueling like a rough outdoor National but it is harder because you never get a break and everything happens twice as fast.
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imoto34 7/9/2015 8:39pm
7/9/2015 8:39pm
loftyair wrote:
Sx is talent sided, not much fitness needed. Mx on the other hand, you gotta have more than just talent!
500guy wrote:
You obviously have never rode a Supercross Track if you think Fitness is not an issue. Supercross may not be grueling like a rough outdoor National...
You obviously have never rode a Supercross Track if you think Fitness is not an issue.

Supercross may not be grueling like a rough outdoor National but it is harder because you never get a break and everything happens twice as fast.
I know he hasent. Any one whohas knows bro
bd
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bd 7/9/2015 8:48pm
7/9/2015 8:48pm
Its moto intelligence, fitness and emotional intelligence. Add balls to the list too
KennyT
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KennyT 7/9/2015 9:13pm
7/9/2015 9:13pm Edited Date/Time 7/9/2015 9:14pm
I have to give talent the edge over fitness

A talented rider can go fast on any track for a period of time, although it may be short. Many riders through history have been hole shot artist yet would fade away as the Moto wore on. Yet they were still a professional.

The most fit person in the world, if he does not have the talent will kill himself on a bike.

No talent, cannot race even at the novice level.

No fitness, you can be a Pro. You will not win or finish well but your speed would get you on the line.

My vote = talent
racin mason
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racin mason 7/9/2015 9:19pm
7/9/2015 9:19pm
McGrath was more talented than he was fit.Carmichael was more fitness than talent.You need both to win ,if you look at the record books I think the fitness guys have a few more titles than the talent guys.
Stanton ,Ward ,Kiedrowski,were very talented racers ,but fitness was their strong suit.Windham,Pastrana ,Lechien,Bayle were fit ,but talent was there strong suit.
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jeffro503 7/9/2015 9:39pm
7/9/2015 9:39pm
racin mason wrote:
McGrath was more talented than he was fit.Carmichael was more fitness than talent.You need both to win ,if you look at the record books I think...
McGrath was more talented than he was fit.Carmichael was more fitness than talent.You need both to win ,if you look at the record books I think the fitness guys have a few more titles than the talent guys.
Stanton ,Ward ,Kiedrowski,were very talented racers ,but fitness was their strong suit.Windham,Pastrana ,Lechien,Bayle were fit ,but talent was there strong suit.
How about Stefan Everts? One of the most talented guys ever on a bike. Of course I think he was in great shape as well , so never mind answering that stupid question I just posted.
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JerseyFresh 7/9/2015 10:13pm
7/9/2015 10:13pm Edited Date/Time 7/9/2015 10:13pm
It's all about balls at the end of the day. You can always get more fit. You can't really make yourself gnarlier. Of course you can progress jumping, but people think it's a magical secret or something. Balls. The kids I knew that were sick fast were the kids growing up that would backflip off the diving board or whatever when we were 5. That dude that's just good at everything. "Oh what's this a dirtbike, let me try" and instantly fast. Ya got it or ya don't. Finesse, fitness, talent, all come into play, but it's just balls.
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Silliker269 7/9/2015 10:23pm
7/9/2015 10:23pm
loftyair wrote:
Sx is talent sided, not much fitness needed. Mx on the other hand, you gotta have more than just talent!
hahaha not much fitness needed , right , being able to be 100% focused on racing when your heart rate is 95% of max is easy right , for 20 minutes !!!
Silliker269
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Silliker269 7/9/2015 10:25pm
7/9/2015 10:25pm
Stew always had more talent then fitness and that's why he crashed so much imo , errors are easy to make when your tired and cant think clearly
wsc96
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wsc96 7/9/2015 11:02pm
7/9/2015 11:02pm
It's definitely not all of one and none of the other. Intensity and stamina are inversely proportional and the intensity at the top level is crazy so without fitness you'd be blown out within a lap (assuming you even had the speed to begin with). Then there is talent versus skill too... All reasons why moto is so much about the rider and less about the bike.

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shuggs 7/10/2015 12:43am
7/10/2015 12:43am
Talent will save you at sketchy moments, fitness is a must for prolonged effort

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bd
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bd 7/10/2015 12:49am
7/10/2015 12:49am
I always crack a smile when people belittle RC's talent. The fucking guy is one of the talented riders in the history of the sport.
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ChrisB10 7/10/2015 12:52am
7/10/2015 12:52am
The most fit athletes in the world would kill themselves trying to make it around a SX track so talent
Pound4Pound 7/10/2015 3:25am
7/10/2015 3:25am
bd wrote:
I always crack a smile when people belittle RC's talent. The fucking guy is one of the talented riders in the history of the sport.
I think they only belittle his talent when compared
To stewart. Which isnt really exactly fair.
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Zracer 7/10/2015 4:14am
7/10/2015 4:14am
Fitness sure seems to give you a longer career.
Premix
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Premix 7/10/2015 5:21am
7/10/2015 5:21am
talent could encompass a lot of things and I think our sport leans towards that. Fitness just takes it to a whole nother level. If you ain't got the skills, you aint paying the bills, no matter how fit you are.
racin mason
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racin mason 7/10/2015 6:42am
7/10/2015 6:42am
bd wrote:
I always crack a smile when people belittle RC's talent. The fucking guy is one of the talented riders in the history of the sport.
I wasnt knocking his talent at all,of course he was very talented racer.Do you think he would of been as dominate if he wasnt very serious about his fitness?
KennyT
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KennyT 7/10/2015 7:29am
7/10/2015 7:29am
bd wrote:
I always crack a smile when people belittle RC's talent. The fucking guy is one of the talented riders in the history of the sport.
He started out his career built like the pillsbury dough boy. His talent had him winning races from the start and his fitness turned him into the GOAT
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LoudLove 7/10/2015 8:54am
7/10/2015 8:54am
At anything other than the pro level, talent greatly supersedes fitness. That's not to say a steady diet of Krispy Kremes and couch-surfing won't affect your LL qualifier, but it does not take a superior level of fitness to rail corners and clear triples.
TDeath21
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TDeath21 7/10/2015 9:00am
7/10/2015 9:00am
It's definitely both. I think it is more fitness though, especially in MX and when you get to the higher levels. We've seen tons of riders who could battle with some top amateur guys for a couple laps, and then we've seen the guys who would win amateur races and never do well in the pros. Just look at some practice times. Even at the highest level of the sport against the best riders in the world, we will occasionally get an unknown name into the top 10, only to be back around 35th place during the moto.
Silliker269
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Silliker269 7/10/2015 9:16am
7/10/2015 9:16am
I think the other key ingredient is the will to win aka the hatred of losing that plays the biggest factor .. You can have all the talent in the world but your not going to get the fitness unless you do the work during the week
Mchenault499 7/10/2015 10:52am
7/10/2015 10:52am
You can score points in a pro race with elite talent and average fitness. You cant do that with average talent and elite fitness.
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brimx153 7/10/2015 10:59am
7/10/2015 10:59am
Talent ,Talent ,and more talent . i hate when people say say RC was nt that talented he just worked way harder than everyone. its bull , did he need to work on riding a bit more than a K dub .yes !! ,but it s just crap to think that he was nt that talent .his talent was riding on the edge without falling off . i honestly believe 99% of the world could get fit enough to to win , its just work .it s also stupid ton think the guy who win s is always the fittest guy , there could be a guy finshing in 30 th whos far fitter than dungey . !!! just does nt have the talent

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