Who is Better? Tomac, JS7, RD5 or RV2?

Tomac

Stew

RV

RD

They were all top level athletes in their prime.  I'm not convinced anyone could beat James on a 125 in his prime, or that anyone on planet earth would have RV covered in his prime.  Dungey managed to hold Tomac off for titles until he retired, but Tomac has been hitting his prime the last couple of seasons.

IN short, I don't think the question can be reasonably answered.

If we're talking one race give me JS7 all day long.

If we're talking over the course of a season/career? RV2. IMO the guy was the perfect balance of speed, consistency, and mental toughness.

All were/are amazing, but in their prime I would take Tomac.  Second would be RV2.  Stew was incredible and did insane things on a dirtbike, but crashed too much IMHO to put him #1 of the bunch.  RD was awesome, tons of respect for him and while he was very fast, he changed the sport such that riders had to focus on consistency and podium rides over a season to win championships versus insane speed and crashing their brains out trying to do so.

Personally, I think Tomac, Stew, and Villo could all ride at the same level if they're on their respective games at 100%. What differentiates their success is how often they hit that 100% riding level.

Stew had a few years where he could hit 100% almost every weekend, but half of those races also resulted in crashes. Then, in the early-to-mid 2010s, it seemed like he could only hit that 100% on a select few rounds per season.

Villopoto from 2011-2014 seemed to be able to ride at that 100% literally every round that he was healthy, that's why I voted him - at his prime I believe he was truly unbeatable in the same way that Carmichael was.

Tomac has ridden at that 100% several times in his career, some times more often than others. For a few years, he was like James in that he could be at that crazy speed level almost every round, but instead of wrecks being his hiccups, he would randomly ride at the pace of a middle-pack dude. 

I really don't think I ever saw Dungey uncork the raw speed that I've seen the other three throw down. What made Dungey so good was he could ride at 98% literally every single round for an entire decade. He avoided the wrecks/weirdo rides that plagued Stewart & Tomac, and he experienced amazing longevity unlike Villopoto.

In order of best overall career:

Dungey, Villopoto, Tomac, Stewart

In order of best SX only career:

Villopoto, Dungey, Tomac, Stewart

JS7 is/was FMOTP , RV2 was just a beast, who didn't give his opponents even a little chance to win a championchip, and Tomac is a little bit of a mix of them

Jett

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The word "better" is too vague.  Fastest, most consistent, best endurance?  I assume you mean all around best.  That's a tough call, but I'll say this, I actually lean towards RD5 at the top step.

RV2 is literally goat junior. would take him all day. without injuries and burnout dude would have won even more than he did. 

They all had/have their own strengths, kind of silly to say who’s better. I think Reed deserves to be in that group too. They’re all GOATS

Does RV not have Dunge covered in total titles? 9-8….

If we're just talking skills...Stew hands down. He went a full summer never loosing a moto.

But he didn't escape the injuries... and he did burnout. 

Put enough 'what if' scenarios on any rider and you can make him whatever you want.

RC had the potential to wrap up another title or two if he kept going and for sure he would have had more wins.  But he didn't, he burned out, end of story.  So if 20 years from now someone beats his records we can't start saying, "but if he wouldn't have burned out his records would be greater"  It's over and done.

I see this a lot when people start talking about who is better.  The first thing they do is make their hero someone who they aren't (or weren't) and make excuses.  Just my little rant.  

Me dawg

RV has a MXGP win.

Would love to see Eli do what RV did and try the GP’s that was so fuckin badass.  🇺🇸 

I can't believe this is even a question.  Stew changed the game.  

People forget that Prime RV2 straight up smoked JS7. Something that no other rider ever did.

He wasn't the flashiest style - he mentally willed his way into the win more than any other rider I have ever seen.

I miss 250 RV2 hanging out the back of it, taking the outside line while standing WFO

I personally don’t care about 250 championships when talking about better careers. 
 

RD has 4 SX and 3 MX

RV has 4 SX and 2 MX

RD was always there, every single championship. He’s 99% of RV, with much better longevity and durability. RV destroyed himself and cut his career short to beat RD. That’s what you had to do. Slight edge to RD overall in my opinion. Really wish his chain hadn’t come off in 2011 or else this conversation might be entirely different. 

"People forget that Prime RV2 straight up smoked JS7. Something that no other rider ever did."

Ever hear of someone by the name of Ricky Carmichael? 

Unfortunately we didn’t get 2013 MX RV there. Not even remotely close. We got an I’m ready to retire RV. 

Tomac has two as well

Without looking it up, I believe RV was 25 when he left the AMA circuit and was essentially ready to retire. 26 during his GP season. Dungey was 27. 24 when RV left the AMA circuit then did 3 more years.

RC, RD, and RV all retired too early IMO.  Look at Tomac these last 2 years.  Last year RD was still on it 5 years after retiring.  You only get your 20s once.  They probably all left $$ on the table and wins/titles off the record books, but everyone gets to make that call for themselves and say when it’s enough.  I’m very glad Chad Reed went as long as he did.

As far as comparisons, they were all a different combination of skill, fitness, mental strength, and racecraft.  All were/are giants who could beat the world on a certain day and in fact did, usually more than once.  It’s like trying to compare an elite cadre of fighter pilots who all had 30 to 50+ kills and asking who would win a dogfight.  The answer is that it really depends on what plane they were in, what the sky was like that day, and did luck break their way or for their very comparable and extremely skilled adversary.

Personally I’m very grateful to have seen every one of them from the beginning of their careers to the end and been a witness to what has to be regarded as a golden age of the sport.