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Was thinking about this watching Jett look just as smooth and efficient in an absolute downpour last night …..
Looking at the riders style evolution from the last 25 years … seeing the currently most bio mechanically clean riders ( Jett and Davies )
Why did it take the sport so long to figure this out ?
All the shit Hughes is talking about sounds guruish and esoteric but is actually just basic geometry and physics -
Riding correctly is all about respecting the center of gravity of the machine .
What are your thoughts on this guys ?
I think it all depends on how you were tought to ride. Phil said it a few times on Pulp, he can ride technically correct, but at like 80%, when he needs to go full speed, he kind of goes back to whatever habits he had growing up, he doesn't keep proper form.
I think Jett was taught to be technically correct from the beginning, and always rode that way, so it's his default.
This is most riders reality…including mine….I revert to goon mode when under pressure…sometimes it works, most of the time not
Counterpoint: AP
Suck it Rhino! 😂
Kidding but not. Was commenting during race on how AP was flying, tucked butt and all - just the opposite of Rhino's tech tips.
Everts had it figured out 30 years ago.
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Yup. Masterful in the mud
Same here, me my son and friend took a class yesterday. When I had ggod form I looked good but race on, looked like shit
Jett's effective style is really quite clear, staying a gear higher and maintaining momentum, a lot more standing than sitting in turns, very little off/on with the throttle or hard braking, very little throwing around the bike, a lot less roost being generated as he just doesn't slam a corner then crank on the gas the way most do... it almost looks as though he is trail riding and is often less exciting to watch until you remind yourself that he is generating some of the fastest lap times. Eli Tomac is the exact opposite.. while he certainly can flow, he uses a lot more energy to control the bike and he is on and off the throttle much harder than Jett and generates a lot more roost. He sits more and moves the bike under him a lot more. Tomac is much more exciting to watch. His style may be effective, but Jett is proving there is an easier and faster way around the track. I enjoy watching the contrasting styles more than I care about who wins. If everyone rode like Jett, it would probably be rather boring to watch.
There's been plenty of "Perfect' riders - going Warp Speed.
As there have been plenty of 'Bulldog'' riders - going Warp speed.
Many / some will remember RJ on a few videos / interviews talking about the comparisons between His, and David Baileys riding styles .
And, him saying when he tried it - smoothness and precision - it Didn't work for him. I think also, Bailey has said the same (when he tried the "Hang it all out" approach).
I love the Perfect riding styles - and that existed well before Jett came about - but I also appreciate the Bulldogs.
Whatever gets it done, for whatever rider, is my way to look at it.
The lap times of the 2nd moto show that Jett kept losing time to Eli for the beginning to middle of the shortened race. In the last 2 laps of the shortened moto, he finally closed about 2 seconds on the huge gap from the bad start.
So in reality, with Jett's "more graceful, balanced style" he was mostly losing time in the "mud moto" to Tomac. Unfortunately for the viewers, we barely saw the first lap of Eli, then a little bit of Hunter, and then the rest of the race was primarily focused on Jett.
So I never got to see much of Eli's mud racing style, because they never showed him after the first lap.
It’s just progression of the sport and bikes do have much to do with it. Training and practice is much more refined too.
Eli had a clear track and clear vision which would account for the vast majority of his gap and speed over Jett and I’m a Tomac fan lol
Watching Jett and Eli out there at the same time, as well as AP for that matter, has led me to something. How can three riders who look radically different on the bike all be fast? We've seen this over and over again through the years.
I think the answer does have to do with center of mass, but that mass consists of both the rider and the bike. I think most technique coaching tends to focus more on smaller details (elbows up, foot out or not out, "unlocking the hips", whatever else is the fad this year.) But what separates the fastest from the mortals really has to do with their ability to use their mass and the mass of the bike together - it's almost like they are floating over it and guiding it instead of holding on and responding to it like most of us are.
This theory may not make sense, but it made perfect sense to me at the late hour of night when I came up with it!
Just FYI
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