European vs American ridding styles

EriCS1991
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EriCS1991
New to the sport but I’ve been binge watching outdoors cause it’s a tad too cold to ride up here in the Northeast. Seems like some of the top European riders seem to ride with more of a finesse than Americans who just kinda power through some of the rough parts of these tracks. Take a look at Roczen whose super smooth and Musquin who strategically dances around the rough terrain. Now you have Tomac who just completely powers his way through everything and relies on stamina and strength, same with Barcia. Anybody else agree? I would like to take a look at Herlings and see his style.
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hamncheeze
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hamncheeze 1/7/2021 10:28am
1/7/2021 10:28am
EriCS1991 wrote:
New to the sport but I’ve been binge watching outdoors cause it’s a tad too cold to ride up here in the Northeast. Seems like some...
New to the sport but I’ve been binge watching outdoors cause it’s a tad too cold to ride up here in the Northeast. Seems like some of the top European riders seem to ride with more of a finesse than Americans who just kinda power through some of the rough parts of these tracks. Take a look at Roczen whose super smooth and Musquin who strategically dances around the rough terrain. Now you have Tomac who just completely powers his way through everything and relies on stamina and strength, same with Barcia. Anybody else agree? I would like to take a look at Herlings and see his style.
You need to watch Herlings 2018 to understand how a European rider can just bulldog his way around the track.

They are very different riders in many ways, but watch both Tomac and Herlings and you will see one thing in common: They both have incredible core/trunk strength and the ability to drive the rear wheel into the ground when going through fast, rough terrain.
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AH387
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AH387 1/7/2021 11:06am
1/7/2021 11:06am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2021 5:19am
I think it still comes down more to a individual thing, rather than a location. You are correct in the riders that you evaluated but I think there are some smooth American riders, like Sexton. Also, I think Webb who was somewhat on the aggressive side, has really turned into a smooth, technical rider on the 450. Anderson has a very odd combo of looking super smooth but also hanging off of the bike with a lot of cool-looking body english. A Euro guy now here, Ferandis is smooth but he also has a very hard-charging way of riding. I guess we will see how he looks on the 450. Just some other examples, but I just think most of it is all individual.
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gt80rider
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gt80rider 1/7/2021 11:12am
1/7/2021 11:12am
Used to be much different... today I can't tell a general difference
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jorgechavez 1/7/2021 1:43pm
1/7/2021 1:43pm
Baggett is someone who I think rides a little bit like the guys overseas do. He's very smooth and methodical with his lines, I believe he's attributed it to watching Pourcel.

I also think that while Tomac definitely does rely on strength and stamina, he is also very capable of finessing the bike as well as nearly anyone. 2018 outdoors he was a treat to watch IMO.
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Suzuki 627 1/7/2021 3:30pm
1/7/2021 3:30pm
Watch 2012 Benelux gp on YouTube to see herlings at his very best. You won’t be disappointed 👍🏻
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RMT
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RMT 1/7/2021 9:13pm
1/7/2021 9:13pm
Suzuki 627 wrote:
Watch 2012 Benelux gp on YouTube to see herlings at his very best. You won’t be disappointed 👍🏻
Just went back and watched it, Wow.
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OtotheB178
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OtotheB178 1/8/2021 1:23am
1/8/2021 1:23am
I feel Sleeter likes to live a bit TMZ-esque. He wanted to say something controversial so people listened to his podcast.

Especially when every import into the AMA has been touted as "crafty" or known for line choice and technique.
Pourcel, Musquin, Ferrandis, Roczen, Pichon, Bayle, Coldenhoff at the Des nations, Herlings.
It's not better or worse. it's different. We should just enjoy the difference of style and additional fuel for bench racing.
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Cortami79
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Cortami79 1/8/2021 5:17am
1/8/2021 5:17am
I absolutely love to watch Tonus or Hunter Lawrence riding. They have such an effortless riding style it's insane. The weird thing is that they tend to have more injuries than wilder riders though.
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downard254
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downard254 1/8/2021 5:19am
1/8/2021 5:19am
I've read numerous times that the Euro's run their suspension softer than US riders, and if that's being the case, I believe you'd need to have a smoother riding style to keep from blasting through the stoke so much. Any time in the past I'd send my suspension out for a revalve, I'd constantly tell them that my style would lend itself to hitting things a bit harder than others (I was around 190 lbs dressed), but they never really got it right. I would constantly bottom the forks which made my hands hands/wrists hurt. It became easier to just learn a smoother style working around the big slammers. Maybe the tuners knew something I didn't, but I do feel it made me a better rider having to find the smoother way around the track.
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Poppanator 1/8/2021 5:48am
1/8/2021 5:48am Edited Date/Time 1/8/2021 5:49am
I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s a continental difference, but if you compare f ex Prado, Cairoli, Coldenhoff (who I think has a very beautiful riding style) and Herlings, my gut-feeling is they stand up and keep their feet on the pegs more than the average rider.

Most prolific riders keep their feet on the pegs (Tomac rarely has his feet off the pegs), but not all of them stand up as much as the ones mentioned above (I feel).

And the epitome of standing up and never taking the feet off the pegs is of course Stefan Everts. If you haven’t, do your self a favor and watch the 2006 (I believe) MXdN from Matterly Basin. Holy Crap!
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UpTiTe
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UpTiTe 1/8/2021 6:31pm
1/8/2021 6:31pm
The biggest difference for sure is bike setup, the euros can hit stuff a bit harder than the Americans can. Corner technique, the Americans tend to create a hook in the middle of the turn because they square off turns while euros rail the turn and follow it as it pushes out.
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Johnny Depp
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Johnny Depp 1/8/2021 7:31pm
1/8/2021 7:31pm
American's run their forks SX stiff so the bike won't corner, and watch the Euro's disappear into the distance and wonder why?
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kage173
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kage173 1/9/2021 6:22am
1/9/2021 6:22am
Euros stand up a lot more. Generally they seem better at line selection but I dont know that's true.

Also Euros tend to be specialist in MX and usually arent very good at SX (with a few exceptions). Whereas American riders are more dynamic and excel at both. Its probably precision with the throttle and learning how to turn with stiff suspension.
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