Downhill MTB as Retirement Career

I personally think downhill guys are crazier than us moto heads.  Some of the redbull rampage stuff is mind blowing.

DH racing isn’t easy. I’m moto so I’m fast doesn’t exactly work. 

Recreationally- sure, but on a professional level,  not happening. They can’t keep up and would be paid a fraction of their MX/SX earnings. 

Massive respect to all of them, but none of them are transitioning to this: https://youtu.be/-oiwsn6G8MQ?si=31_QTRlVEiGtdFLP

Mountain bikes scare me. Always feel like my center of gravity is eight feet in the air and every crash is ass over tea kettle. 

I personally didn't gel with it from a jumping anything standpoint, use it for cardio but that's it.

Hard no, not a chance its a viable path for any retired motocross rider, same with a retired DH rider succeeding at moto.

• Downhill isn't a retirement league. DH World Cup is not slower or easier than moto—reaction times, line choice, and risk tolerance are maxed out, and the younger field is gnarly.

• Roczen rides for fun. He looked stiff on the bike in that segment—he’s got skills, sure, but he’s nowhere near race pace. No shade to Kenny, he's an icon, but even he knows it’s apples and oranges.

• Gwin is the exception. He switched sports early, like age 20-ish, before his pro moto career ever got going. And he trained like an animal. That’s not replicable at age 30+ post-moto.

• Eli Tomac’s dad being John doesn’t mean anything. That’s like saying Tony Hawk’s kid should be good at BMX park.

• DH racing punishes you for even small mistakes. Moto guys used to big jumps and wide tracks get humbled fast on tight, steep, technical DH courses. It's not transferable without years of work.

Cool story, but this isn’t some career backup plan—it’s like saying ex-F1 drivers should go do World Rally. Totally different skillset, fitness demands, and mental game.

Rampage is way different than DH.

That said, I don't know why DH would be a good retirement sport, it's freaking brutal and stressful. Full send for a few minutes at a time. Enduro would actually be a great sport, it seems like older guys usually do really well with the more long-term fitness combined with downhill speed.

Retiring to something more dangerous than mx/sx?? Bold move cotton!!!

What you intended to say was "Pro utv racing as a retirement career?"

Average age of the top 5 guys in EDR right now is 27, so if that's 'older' were all fucked lol. Winner of 2 of the last 3, is 26-just turned.

Don’t kid yourself. I thought [true] downhill mountain biking would be a logical, albeit safer, transition away from moto.

Fat chance. That shit will kill you just as easy. 

Pedal uphill or stick to the blue square flow runs for your thrills.

My racing ‘career’ ended in 2007. With multiple dabbles at one off races. 

I bought a MTB ‘enduro’ bike. It scared the shit out of me! I couldn’t jump it. The body position whilst jumping is so important. And if you are nose-high and grab the rear brake….. nothing happens! 
A couple minutes of action downhill, then 15 minutes climbing back up didn’t appeal either.. 

No, not for me. 

I found far far more satisfaction after going XC MTB. 
I actually found that maybe, my passion might have always been burying myself, with physical effort. 
I definitely finish an XC MTB race with the same exhausted satisfaction as a MX race. 
 

So then I got in to road cycling… and introduced myself to a deeper level of exhaustion..

I love every minute of it!!

I dont know what it is but jumping mountain bikes and flying downhill always scared the shit out of me. I dont know why you seem to get more effed up if you crash a mountain bike off a small jump than a dirt bike but you do. Hit a 4’ tall jump on a pit bike and oj it and maybe a hand blows off the bars and you feet slip off the pegs. Do the same on a MB and over jump it and youll end up taking a steering stem to the sternum, pedals ripping your shins apart, leg in the chain and body parts tangled like a pretzel on the ground with the bike. 

Maybe because instead of having a big seat to land on you have a tiny seat and if you miss it your nuts hit a metal pole, the bars spin really easily and really far, you legs can pass through the frame, and the center of gravity is really high? 

Roczen today in Leogang MTB world cup on WYN TV: 

Do people not watch those crazy bastards! Hard No! 

John Tomac was a cross country racing legend. Mostly before downhill mtb racing was a thing.

His body couldn't handle those slams

Thank goodness for MTB's in general, otherwise we wouldn't have "Friday Fails" on the youtube.  As many as 50 crazy crashes every week, and they've been doing it for over 350 weeks.

If you are doing it to get hurt less. you clearly missed the point of the assignment. 

Stage racing in the mtb enduro category is likely the best play for a moto guy. Gnarly enough to require balls of steel and an extremely high level of bicycle fitness needed to be up front. Mammoth Mtn. 

For fun yes. More suited to Enduro I believe. They would have more fun too. 

Tomac wouldn’t even qualify for a World Cup. Watch the Leogang GoPro footage from this weekend. The field is way deeper than moto and it’s way more technical. Honestly guys like Billy Bolt would have a better chance than moto guys

Mani Lettenbichler talks of racing downhill after leaving extreme enduro. Still young enough, but the balls it takes… it’s a young mans sport. Wisdom and full send doesn’t mix 

"Hey babe. I'm getting older. You need me, the kids need me. I can't keep going triple triple and blitzing whoops. Think I'm going to jump off cliffs instead." 

the reflexes required and the margin for error are extremely acute. you can break yourself off way faster on a dh bike. with age comes a cage

There is no way they have a chance unless they change over when they are young.

My son was top 4 in U19 in Aus and had ridden DH, Enduro since 13. Raced Crankworks against Goldstone too.

It’s a totally different animal that you grow up racing.

I tend to agree with Aaron Gwin's take...

https://youtu.be/tFEQHUesVlk

Props to Kenny for putting it in perspective in terms of expectations but even just to qualify, at 31 years of age with a reconstructed forearm/wrist......😬 uhh yeah, as badass as Kenny is....I struggle to imagine it going well.

It sounds good on paper but there's no way they could transition to DH at the top pro level. But I am surprised more don't race local MTB races, whether it's DH, Enduro, or XC, at whatever level they can compete. Or even road bikes. Since most cross train on road and mtb. Something to keep the adrenaline rush and competitive juices going. Maybe they do and we just don't hear much about it. 

idk but Im a big dh fan and i have never heard of the monster energy us series. just found the full races here. what a blessing mate! tnx for casually mentioning the existence of this. the world championship went behind this terrible pay wall (and fired rob warner the goat). im only watching highlights, which is such a bummer. cheers for the unplaned recomendation!

I love Roczen but there is absolutely no chance, but id like to see him do some smaller nationals when he retires I think he would enjoy it. The guys fighting to qualify, which would take him years to get to even that level are scraping by just to get to the races so I don't see Roczen spending his savings to travel around the world trying to qualify for world cups. 

To put this into perspective, the top 20 qualify straight away and then 10 more are taken from a LCQ, look at the time gaps to 20th place from last weekends qualifier 2.5 seconds....

My worst crash of all time was DH MTB.  Broke ribs, bruised my lung, took 6 months to get better.