Is there any good reason (other than advertising), that tuff blocks need to be lined along both sides of a SX / SMX track? It seems like they are more of a hazard to the riders than any safety benefit because whenever they land on one it seems to make for a worse crash, or the cause of a crash (ref. RJ Hampshire last weekend in Texas). The tuff blocks also make the track more narrow, so the riders have less room to move around. They don't use tuff blocks in outdoor MX, and I don't think we really see any crashes like the ones caused by the tuff block. Outdoor MX just uses the yellow track markers that look like plastic fork guards (also like they had for the split lane in Texas last weekend). At least make the tuff blocks triangular shaped as Josh Hill recommended when he was at the Charlotte SMX round.
Yes, although they might not be ideal, they separate the lanes and often help when a rider crashes...it's a double edged sword...love them and hate them until something better arrives.
I think a slightly triangular shape would help a bit, but also if they were solid foam with graphics painted on or whatever. The covers grab the bike much more than a solid foam block would.
Obviously this is a bit of an issue as it wouldnt be as easy to switch advertisers from race to race by just changing the covers.
Reading your post a little slower I see you mention riders landing on them and that they make the track narrower.
Bales don't make the track narrower. They are placed at the extreme limit of track design. If a rider runs a line close to them then that's on the rider.....you can make the track 20ft wider and someone will always fine a line right next to the bales. It is what is is.
If the better smooth, unworn line is right next to the bales then it's worth the risk. A bale does not stand up and jump out in front of a rider. The rider pushes the boundary and collects the bale.
It is what it is...
Boom theres still no reason to have them on the faces and transitions. Put them on the outside of the jump and transition and their normal places everywhere else. I haven't seen in almost 30 years a tough block save a rider on a jump face, landing or transition but I have seen many of them cause a rider to go down or get hurt. I get the track limits bit but still no point.
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Riders casing jumps and bailing off flying through the air and landing on top of the tuff blocks has saved tons of racers from injury all the time.
I forget if it was the World Supercross or the Aus-X Open this past off season but I remember the tuff blocks were different and whenever anyone hit them, the blocks just bounced out of the way instead of causing a crash 90% of the time. The new triangles have to be an improvement or at least headed in the right direction.
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