Barcia MTB... Next career?

Career as in racing? like Pro? Just watch a Nino Schurter XC race video or Amaury Pierron race DH and get back to us on that.

But hey, he loves bikes which is awesome and maybe some local elite racing is in order.

There is a video he did I think for SRAM, with a couple other gravel bike dudes, he was riding pretty awesome in that.

Found it:

The pro moto guys could transfer some of their skills over to MTB, but it's an entirely different beast. Their pros would beat our guys as badly as our guys would wax them at a motocross track. I bet Barcia could make the transition and not embarrass himself completely, though. 

Some guys can do both well. There was a British DH racer that was trying to do A1 a few years back but his license was revoked days before

Gwin is a one-off though, he also had raced BMX Nationals as a kid so he had a lot of racing seat time on a bicycle. Tyler Villopoto, a much better moto rider than Gwin, tried to make a career out of racing downhill a few years back and he had a tough time placing mid pack at regional races. As Coggl pointed out, World Cup DH racer Bernard Kerr tried to race A1 last year and had about the time you'd expect. Far better than 99% of riders could do, but extremely far off the bottom 5 of a night show

Not that dumpster fire of a thread again

There are quite a few pro moto guys that can easily race local pro bike stuff, road and Mtb. As well as pro bicycle guys that can race local pro moto. Not as many bicycle guys that could race SX, it’s to specialized. Maybe Bernard Kerr could, maybe he wouldn’t qualify but he could definitely ride SX. Just what I see being a fan of all that stuff.

Barcia and Brayton have done several races in the past when they were on jgr in think.   Jmart did one last year in the pro class, and blew up.   The pros are riding 20hrs a week.  im sure our moto guys ride about 6-8 hrs a week.

Barcia will cause so much drama there cleaning guys out, I can’t wait 

I’ve seen Barcia at some of the Over the Hump races in SoCal. Wil Hahn, Millsaps and some old school guys like Ward and O’Mara. Pretty cool. But like someone said, the pro MTB guys are next level.

It's always frustrated me how I can't translate MX skills evenly over to a bicycle. Finally got to where I was feeling somewhat comfortable, felt like I was pushing in corners and had a feel for the bike. Then I tried a tiny little knee high double, cased it, did a front flip and broke my collarbone. Never broken a bone before in moto.

I’ve always thought this about guys like Kenny. He rips on a Mtb. And the fitness would do so well in enduro.
 

The money doesn’t compare but damn the lifestyle. Those guys love and get away with the fun carefree life, while still being professional athletes. I.e. Eddie Masters and the Zoo. YouTube it. So good. 

Charlie Mullins has transferred over and done quite well in different cycling events (not just EMTB at GNCC.) I don't think it would be common that MX guys make a career in MTB or anything like that after their dirt bike career but some guys might be able to. 

Unless you are really into MTB I don't think most people realize how absolutely insane the speed and commitment needed to go that fast at a World Cup level DH is. World Cup XC is equally gnarly but in a different way, no way a pro in any other sport is coming and qualifying for a world Cup final without commitment to only that. Moto pros would do good at a local XC race though. 

Downhill racing is probably 20 years behind moto as far as evolution and is now extremely competitive and specialized. Think of like the McGrath era compared to now. John Tomac (his son is pretty good on a dirtbike) is a legend and did XC, Downhill and a few other disciplines and dominated but that would never happen in todays World Cup. 

Anyways there is the MTB lesson for today here is a video that illustrates the speed pretty well. 

Man he must have hit like 30mph there. Insane speed. 

Yeah I think on a few tracks they are close to 40 in sections, some tracks are more rocky and rooty than others 

Didn't Johnny O go win some championships in Mountain Biking? Maybe it wasn't professional, but I swear he rode for factory Yeti or whatever they call it in that world, that I know nothing about.

A pro mx rider who loves mtb would definitely have an extremely good chance at becoming a top competitor in that sport. I don’t know how that’s not abundantly obvious. they would crush it, but that’s if they still have the drive after completing a lifelong career in MX. 

Johnny O’Mara did this well, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tomac race mtb after retiring. Why wouldn’t he, he’s John Tomac’s son.

Wasn't Gwin moto-focused until his 20's? He basically was winning regional pro races his first year. World Cup podiums and wins very shortly after. However that was some time ago and he was a freak. Just saying that it is possible. 

Pro DHer Dakota Norton has been riding some Moto enduro and MX in the off season and does pretty good. I think in DH, the top MX pro's could do pretty well with some training time.

Agreed. Barcia could be really, really good, but you have to be an alien to compete against those guys in World Cup XC/DH. Working toward it your whole life. Much like you have to be an alien to make it to the level Barcia is racing dirtbikes. Different types of aliens, however.. 

For DH/Enduro, I'd say the pro SX/MX guys would be as good at it as the DH/Enduro guys would be at SX/MX. That's to say that they would definitely be better than average but not able to compete anywhere near the highest level.

As for the xc/road endurance side, well this is fairly easy to determine based on their power numbers and weight. Power being the amount of watts they can output on the bicycle for  a fixed amount of time. This is all very easy to measure now. 

I heard Aldon once say that Dungey had the power numbers to do well in pro cycling (he'd have to lose some weight). I've also heard the same about J-Mart. This is largely a genetic thing and it's not a surprise that many pro moto guys have good numbers (genetics). 

I would argue they are extremely similar types of aliens. MX pro level racers are absolutely fit enough and maybe more so than mtb pros. they would fit right in and quickly if they wanted to.

Let's not forget Johhny O'.  There are some others that crossed over well.

I still follow Bernard Kerr after his vlog trying to ride SX as a pro mntn biker. Seems like a good fellow 

Can't have a MX/MTB thread without mentioning Shaun Palmer. DH champion and qualified for an SX in 1998 if I'm not mistaken. Include his snowboard exploits and the dude is without a doubt an alien. 

Right, well, you're wrong RE: fitness. It's a completely different kind of "fitness".

I'm in the camp that MX riders are arguably some of the fittest athletes in the world. I'll start off with that. And i do agree they are similar types of aliens in the two wheel skill sense. But i feel like the difference is MX racers are an insane mix of strength and cardio, for bike management and endurance through moto's. That's what makes them incredible athletes is that they can balance strength and cardio at such insane levels. 

When it comes to world Cup XC racers, much like the Tour de France guys, it's all about how many watts you can push through the bike and how quickly your body can get rid of lactic acid. These guys have to be born with an elite level motor to do what they do and compete at that level.. and it's not really a deficit you can overcome with skill either.. you either have it or you don't.

Forgot about Palmer. Legend