HARDLINE!

So is wales the OG location or is this a new one?
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That feature is nuts but not as crazy as the other pic
 
So is wales the OG location or is this a new one?
View attachment 239052That feature is nuts but not as crazy as the other pic
My understanding is it’s the same property but a new track. It definitely doesn’t look AS crazy in that photo, but they did some analysis form a couple years ago showing riders getting blown like fifteen feet left of their takeoff point on some of the big jump….imagine becoming a wind sail and totally missing this landing. This is rampage level…in a race run 😬
 
Bender is the reason we have this nonsense. It’s definitely still interesting to watch lol. It’s getting to the point of where snowboarding was years back when they had to dial back one of the Olympic courses because even an Olympic gold medal was not worth the risk.
 
Bender is the reason we have this nonsense. It’s definitely still interesting to watch lol. It’s getting to the point of where snowboarding was years back when they had to dial back one of the Olympic courses because even an Olympic gold medal was not worth the risk.

I’m not ever gonna do it but, anyone with a set of stones can ride at a big gap or drop and make it happen. I need some steez. Something I can’t actually do because it’s hard. Like manualing jumps and shit, that’s hard AF.
 
I like watching Matt's breakdown of it. He's very calculated and with him saying I'd rather hit that wall at 50mph vs falling off the lip at 1 and telling himself not to brake when dropping in shows how much is twirling around in his brain.

So when his first comment when Bernard does it is "lip's too tight" at 17:38 things should have been shut down right then. He's built and ridden so much you can tell he's freaked out more than normal on test firing it. The "bloody hell" comment once he lands and seeing his bike and body position shows it was a punchy take off. Thank goodness his suspension was dialed for this and the fact he rides so many variable jumps and could go with the lip like Bernard said.

I'm surprised in this day and age there isn't more technology used before the first rider hits it. Did they blueprint the whole ramp design and put into a model or maybe an RC car with the wheelbase and weight of one of their bikes see the exact speed that is needed and what it does when it hits the lip.

Hope Jim Monro is ok that looked like a brutal hit to the head.
 


I'm also going to say that drop could have been built better. I can see why he put a smoothed lip to have a visual for the take off but why flat and not down angled slightly to match with the landing transition. And the sweet spot for the landing was good but further down looked tight like a funnel and like he said was loose material.

Maybe the reason he took a bunch of run-ups was he knew something wasn't built right?
 
I’m not ever gonna do it but, anyone with a set of stones can ride at a big gap or drop and make it happen. I need some steez. Something I can’t actually do because it’s hard. Like manualing jumps and shit, that’s hard AF.

I think there is more steez in a lot of those gaps on this Hardline course than you give it credit. The lily pad before the 90 footers is pretty tech and they had to be dialed and centered going into that section.

And there is plenty of steez from Bernard and Matt Jones on that gap - that setup was wack and those dudes managed a decent jump and landing out of it. Those guys could out manual anyone of us on any given day.

My issue (besides it being sketching in ride quality) is the scalfolding looks like a fucking circus act (and maybe that's the point). Most of the other parts of the course blend in with the terrain nicely - that just looks choppy.
 
Part of me wonders if RedBull hired a crew that usually does free-ride and slopestyle jumps rather than race-course jumps. The lip design would be different as a jump designed for tricking off would have a steeper lip for more air time.

Adding a catch-net would probably reduce the "oh shit" factor quite a bit. This wouldn't be unprecedented even for a World Cup course as one of the tracks (Leogang) has a smaller canyon jump near the bottom with a catch-net. With a redesigned lip and the net, I can imagine that once the riders get over the initial nerves, the jump will become a non-issue. Looks insane, but not overly difficult.
 
Oh, and I'm betting Red Bull will add tarps and whatnot to hide the scaffolding to make the finished jump and landing look less "industrial".
 
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