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I’m almost certainly not qualified to give advice to racers or the UCI (a decidedly average results sheet tells me this) but I do have an opinion on the skinsuit issue and the image of downhill racing in general.  From what I can see of it the internet was made for spraying opinions about so thats what I’m going to do:

I’m sat in an airport writing this.  It’s not glam, I’m not in a 5 star lounge sipping cold champagne.  It’s a big tin shed with lots of british tourists heading off to Majorca or someplace cheap and sunny…. I don’t like airports or their inhabitants so an air of negativity may permeate this article, I’ll try and be objective but if it sounds narky its because I am.

There was a bit of controversy earlier in the year regarding skinsuits when the Mojo team elected to use them at Fort William World Cup and then later in the season  Tracy Moseley wore one at Canberra to take the win.  Once again the image of downhill was in question and it was all about style vs performance.

Then this weekend a UCI communication stated a raft of new rules and recommendations that riders and teams have to abide by next season, among them is a ban on ‘tight-fitting’ clothing and an insistence that riders wear a visor.

I’m not going to benefit from wearing a skinsuit.  Nor will 90% of the riders in the world.  But at a level when racers are putting so much effort into the preparation of their bikes it seems ridiculous that something as obvious as aerodynamics is ignored and now banned….

It should also be pointed out that what I’m talking about here is racing and at a high-level, not just riding for fun with your mates.  Fashion and style will sit happily with function when we’re dicking about in the woods but when hundreths of a second are important wearing gear purely for its looks seems a strange way to go.

Downhill racing is the most technologically advanced disciplines in cycling and also the most image concious.  The fact that virtually all serious racers will happily remove three of their rotor bolts to reduce the rolling weight of their wheels, cutting down number boards (see Steve Peat’s number board –right) and recut tyres yet will not even entertain taking their peak off illustrates this perfectly.

Don’t get me wrong, image is important, an image sells, especially to sponsors.  The question is do we have the right image and who are we selling it to?

When I was growing up and started taking a serious interest in mountainbiking  I  saw an image of Philippe Perakis in a magazine (probably MBi) and thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  I couldn’t find the exact picture (he was in a full tuck with lumo-yellow Dainese armour at the Kamikaze) but this image illustrates his style perfectly.   Dainese made their first mountainbike body armour for this guy, he was one of the first to race in a full-face lid and goggles. You could argue that he  influenced the image of downhill more than any other, more than Palmer & Hill?

When Palmer came onto the scene riders rejoiced, we finally had an image that set us apart from the xc guys and it looked cool. Kind of.  Cool enough to send downhill into the big time for a couple of years.  The biggest snowboarder in the world at that time had come downhill racing and everyone paid attention to what he was wearing and followed blindly.  Me included. Straight down the shop for a set of Axo moto trousers and a Fox jersey please…and can I get a big fat TLD peak for my helmet?

In hindsight the guys like Fabian Barel, Pascal etc were pretty much bullied into wearing the baggy stuff.  Barel for one got so much grief for taking off his peak after the ‘Gentlemens agreement’ to not use skinsuits and to keep peaks on.   Was it this that stopped downhill clothing evolving? Were riders suddenly scared to experiment with new things for fear of their peers slamming them?  I think there’s no doubt that Barels image and marketability as a double world champion (certainly in the UK & USA) suffered.  And is the reason no-ones been experimenting with skinsuits because of this?  The cliquey nature of the downhill community doesn’t do itself many favours sometimes.  Hop off the band-wagon and its a long walk back to acceptance.

The next big influence on the image of DH racing has to be Sam Hill.  He started getting massive results drifting sideways at stupid speeds wearing a t-shirt, no armour and super-wide bars.  Suddenly everyone has the excuse they need to ditch the sweaty body armour and parade their scabs around being hardcore as f*ck (I should say at this point that I don’t wear armour either, I’m right on that band-wagon too).  And now he is responsible for the current TLD ‘pajamas’ craze, which is still MX gear sold as downhill equipment. We’re no further on than 1998.

Is now the time to move on?  The MX companies have done us proud by investing in our sport and have no doubt done well off the back of it but is that really what DH is all about?DH racing is still marketed as an ‘extreme’ sport, thrown in with snowboarding, bmx, fruit-booting, skateboarding and all the rest.  It’s always sat a bit uncomfortably in this company, we’ve never really fitted in.  Should we really be hanging out in this corner of the playground with all these scruffy, snotty kids?  Or should DH racing be getting its homework in on time and hanging out with the more prestige performance driven sports?  Although, it’s interesting to see rallying in the X-Games etc.

Downhill has become pretty stagnant in terms of innovation in recent years.  The bikes are getting to the point where we’ve figured out a range of geometry, suspension and tyre variables that work well.  The weights are coming down and the reliablity is starting go up, this is refinement and fine-tuning and all good.  It’s time to start looking at other areas to evolve and clothing has to be one of them.

It would be nice to see some of the big companies develop some purpose made race suits that actually improve riders physical performance, protect them, shed mud and keep them cool.   It should be possible using the same technology in the new 661 Evo pads to integrate flexible protection in to a suit, the technology is here already.  That would be padding that doesn’t move around and a one layer less to wear.  Or how about a suit that actually enhances your power and awareness and delays fatigue? Sounds perfect for downhill,  been done here.

All this could still be done, the door is open so long as you hide it under something that isn’t ‘tight-fitting’…..a wolf in sheeps clothing or the emperors new clothes? Downhill should always be about innovation and the UCI has now introduced a couple of rules which will now restrict this.