I am watching the Olympic snowboard cross which is really cool but wondering why (and in snowboarding stuff in general) they wear baggy flapping clothes when 1/100ths of a second can make a gold medal difference.
Also 1/2 pipe. An extra bit of air and a turn can make a difference no?
Why not wear form fitting aero fabric?
Honest question. Even though I live in the NE now I am born and raised in Miami, FL and have never and never will do winter gravity stuff. Ice belongs in a glass.
because its ugly and snowboarding has always been anti-establishment even though they’re all sponsored by burton.
Not everything has to be aero…
Snowboarders do not wear the same gear as skiers.
But if time and / or drag is a factor in one’s sport and especially at that level shouldn’t every advantage matter?
The difference is gold or anonymity and lots of money .
As a snowboarder myself, I wouldn’t wear aero gear while cruising down a mountain. You will never see half pipe or any other event involving tricks wearing aero gear. It would look ridiculous.
As for racing against the clock, sure. But an event like Snowboard Cross is not really racing against the clock. You are just racing against 5 other people.
Not sure I follow. What is giant parallel slalom? And thank you, shalom to you too. Ha.
As a snowboarder myself, I wouldn’t wear aero gear while cruising down a mountain. You will never see half pipe or any other event involving tricks wearing aero gear. It would look ridiculous.
As for racing against the clock, sure. But an event like Snowboard Cross is not really racing against the clock. You are just racing against 5 other people.
Huh? That’s like saying people in the 100m sprint aren’t racing the clock they are racing 8 other people? Of course the clock matters, except in snowboarding where looks is more important?
Yes I know that’s a terrible analogy. What I meant was that it’s just the top 3 who cross the line instead of it being who has the lowest time. Racing with people near you, you know where you stand. Racing against the clock by yourself…you have no idea until everyone finishes.
Yeah…you could go faster with aero gear but once again…it would look stupid on snowboarders.
But racing you need to be faster than them so it does matter if its an advantage. Recreationally no matter.
LeMond and aero bars is how I think of it. Or Australia II in the America’s Cup. There comes a time when someone does something and you are forced to move on.
Although I have a soft spot for Fignon’s rig. Especially how he rocked the corrective 80s gold rimmed glasses.
Not if you all are wearing the same stuff.
It’s like the argument about disc brakes. If everyone has disc brakes then we are all even with our “aero loss”.
Snowboard culture is different. Not everything has to be “aero” regardless of what Slowtwitch people want you to believe.
I am watching the Olympic snowboard cross which is really cool but wondering why (and in snowboarding stuff in general) they wear baggy flapping clothes when 1/100ths of a second can make a gold medal difference.
Also 1/2 pipe. An extra bit of air and a turn can make a difference no?
Why not wear form fitting aero fabric?
Honest question. Even though I live in the NE now I am born and raised in Miami, FL and have never and never will do winter gravity stuff. Ice belongs in a glass.
Its not about going as fast as you can, its about controlling speed as well as you can so you don’t eat shit. It’s just like mountain biking, they don’t wear aero gear either.
Aero is more important when you are going in straight lines, but when you are riding very technical terrain, and have to manage speed as best as you can, it changes things a bit.
B/c it’s not really a sport, and the speeds are pathetically low anyways. It was only added to the Olympics so the IOC could pander to teens and grab adolescent eyeballs.
It’s in the rules:
“competition suits must be two piece – pants and separate top. Form fitting speed or downhill suites are not permitted.”
If you see skinsuits, then they are allowed for that event. Otherwise, regular kit.
I think it’s to keep aesthetic of the sport. Noone wants to look like a triathlon wanker.
I believe it is a gentleman’s agreement in boarder cross to wear bagging clothing, there is no formal rule, but it is enforced by the competitors. They know tight clothes would be faster, but they have decided as a whole to not go that direction.
There was controversy in Vancouver where the Canadian team wore tight pants and argued they were emo style.
I believe it is a gentleman’s agreement in boarder cross to wear bagging clothing, there is no formal rule, but it is enforced by the competitors. They know tight clothes would be faster, but they have decided as a whole to not go that direction.
There was controversy in Vancouver where the Canadian team wore tight pants and argued they were emo style.
It’s in the rules.
It is an image thing. Downhill mountain biking banned it for the same reason - some riders started wearing skinsuits (worth about 5 seconds on an exposed world cup course like Fort William) and they got a lot of criticism from their opponents because they didnt look cool enough and letting down the image of the sport. The UCI eventually bans them for that reason.
Downhill mtb and snowboarding are similar in this respect - like to have the perception of individuality, freedom and not conforming but the reality is somewhat different.
B/c it’s not really a sport, and the speeds are pathetically low anyways. It was only added to the Olympics so the IOC could pander to teens and grab adolescent eyeballs.
There are over double the number of snowboarders compared to triathletes in the US. I wouldn’t be too quick to go on the not a sport rant. A lot more entertaining than triathlons for that matter too.
B/c it’s not really a sport, and the speeds are pathetically low anyways. It was only added to the Olympics so the IOC could pander to teens and grab adolescent eyeballs.
There are over double the number of snowboarders compared to triathletes in the US. I wouldn’t be too quick to go on the not a sport rant. A lot more entertaining than triathlons for that matter too.
+1
Also requires a damn good amount of core and leg strength to be fast, more so than a few other sports
B/c it’s not really a sport, and the speeds are pathetically low anyways. It was only added to the Olympics so the IOC could pander to teens and grab adolescent eyeballs.
Kind of like how triathlon panders to older people who are mediocre at three sports, with their “pathetically low” individual swim/bike/run speeds.
B/c it’s not really a sport, and the speeds are pathetically low anyways. It was only added to the Olympics so the IOC could pander to teens and grab adolescent eyeballs.
umm…