£ Line choice is key ... other pros watch Danny rip through this rock section
And how would you describe your approach to racing ?
I often just ride a lot by myself . I don ’ t like to think about what other people are doing . I like to just concentrate on me . I know come Saturday or Sunday when we ’ re racing that that ’ ll be enough . I just do my own thing . Me and my girlfriend just travel around in my camper and we sleep in the camper when we race .
What was your mindset at the start of the year , coming into the season ?
Well , I wanted to carry on where I left off last year which was setting the bar quite high I guess . That would have meant just going into the first World Cup and winning because I ’ d won the previous four big World races . But , I never did that . It was a tough start to the season . I fought on through though and it ’ s coming good again now .
What was different at the start of 2017 ? Did you do anything differently ?
I guess my coaching staff changed . I had a few new sponsors after becoming World Champion . I got a new jersey . Other than that , the bike was the same . The team was the same people .
Any changes outside of racing ? No , no ! It ’ s been the same for years .
Sophia ( Danny ’ s girlfriend ): Still living in the same little house !
Yeah , still living in the same little house . We haven ’ t bought a massive house yet . No nothing changed really . I was training the same . Riding the same trails . We did take over a bike park and I now own Danny Hart ’ s Descent Bike Park in Hamsterley .
The World Cup started with Lourdes . That was a tough race for a lot of people . How did it go for you ?
Lourdes was going really well and everything was going in the right direction for me to carry on where I left off ... but then the weather s ** t itself on me . So that sharply put a halt to those proceedings .
Everything else was going well . I guess it was bad luck for everyone , but that doesn ’ t help me .
Danny Hart
And from that we went on to race in front of the home crowd at Fort William . That was another tough weekend for you , right ?
Yeah ... like I said , it was a tough start to the year , period . I won the British Downhill Series at Fort William and was riding well but just changed bikes and maybe jumped onto the 29 ’ er a bit quick . After riding my normal bike and working on it for three years to then jump on a full new bike with three weeks was maybe a bit of a silly move . You live and learn eh ?
Let ’ s talk about wheels then . You revealed a Mondraker downhill bike with 29 ” wheels at Fort William British Downhill Series but you ’ ve not stuck with that , have you ?
I was on 27.5 ” wheels and I went to 29 ”. Now I ’ m back on 27.5 ” again . We tried 29 ’ ers before the season out in Portugal and for me back then the gap in time wasn ’ t enough to change .
We got the 29 ” race bike in the week leading up to the BDS at Fort William and I got on it there and I loved it , it was great . I won the BDS , but I only just won it , so the bike wasn ’ t crazy faster but it felt much more comfortable .
I carried on with it and then after a few races things just weren ’ t going right . The bike wasn ’ t to blame , I just wanted to get back to what I knew . I ’ ll probably get on a 29 ’ er after World Champs with six months to ride before next season .
Which wheel size do you prefer ?
It ’ s difficult because the 29 ” should enable you to go faster with less effort and all we ever want to do is go faster . So that should be good . But then I love the fact that on smaller wheels you ’ re going as fast as on the 29 ’ er but it ’ s a bit more lively . It ’ s like taming a bit of a beast . I ’ m going to stay with 27.5 ” wheels now for the rest of the season . I won ’ t chop and change now .
Which is faster ?
When I tested them back to back after Leogang the 29 ’ er was faster but only a tiny bit . It wasn ’ t enough faster for me to say “ right I ’ m going with that ”. When you ’ re practicing and you ’ re not fully racing you can ’ t really tell . u
FreestyleXtreme . com | 97