Andy Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 If you saw the picture in TMX last week of Dougie Lampkin in a hospital bed, surrounded by British supporters, you will have seen that he looked pretty rough. You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubby Posted June 21, 2009 Report Share Posted June 21, 2009 Mike Just picking up on your point about Dougie and Graham not being able to beat Taddy, I think it is worth making the other comparison about Knighter. He was a good trials rider, still is, British Expert Champion at one point, but not really ever going to challenge at the top of the Championship class in the BTC let alone the WTC. But he has gone on to be the most successful and dominant Enduro rider in bothe Extreme Events and the WEC of the last few years. Obviously different skills at work, and rarely do you find someone able to be the very best at more than one discipline. Taddy comes close to be fair though. nad that goes for pretty much all sports, the exception in recent years that I can think of is that girl (Rebecca Romero?) who won medals at the last two Olympics in rowing and in track cycling. Without taking anything away from either achievement I would suggest that it was slightly easier to adapt to track cycling than between two very specific sports such as trials and enduros where machinery plays such a massive part. Cubby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalshell Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 my suspscion is that if all three were a simler age then the two brits would come out on top . jarvis has quietly been making quite a name for himself and must be a cert a one of the top three extreme riders today. dougie is without doubt a brilliant rider and if he had chosen the enduroroute i believe he would have been world champion at that. what often goes unnoticed is that a good number of english trials names are very fast riders. Mr cripps is one example of a more than capable trails rider he's got a real turn of speed across country as well ( this years Ilkley grand national time and observation trial he started at least 5 minutes late and still set std time..) as for the centenary trail it was probably the most enjoyable trail i've ridden in this year great ride round very ridable sections ( for all levels) and half decent weather.. as for mr rapleys efforts i enjoyed watching his 'off' on katies section so much i repeated it myself (twice) doh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asc Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 i also think that dougie and jarvis's 4 strokes maybe are'nt the best tool for extreme events ,i for one would'nt fancy lugging a big beta around sadly they don't make a light weight two stroke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 (edited) Need to remember also that Taddy has been on an enduro bike full time for a couple of years whereas Graham and Doug are part timers by comparison. Taddy will be practising regularly whereas the other two have limited time. Taking that into account, their results show how good they are naturally and if they spent as much time on the bikes as Taddy, we may be looking at different results. Edited June 22, 2009 by Woody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 i also think that dougie and jarvis's 4 strokes maybe are'nt the best tool for extreme events ,i for one would'nt fancy lugging a big beta around sadly they don't make a light weight two stroke Add 20kgs to taddys bike = dougs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Stefan Merriman is to me without pier in his achievemebts on a Trials bike and in his crossover to be the most dominant World champion for so many years on enduro bikes. He had the foresight to change from a very little recognised and patronised motorcycle disipline where only a handful of riders are at the top end challenging level. He entered a catagary where millions of riders throught the world are regular participants and literaly blew the then current worlds best out of contention. I bet his satisfaction level with his achievements would be something very few people in any sport could hold so dearly. Whos to say Tadi could not have moved up the ranking if he stuck with Trials. His desision like Merrimans should be recognised as the right move as his achievements have shown. If anyone wants to be the best and beat the best they have to do what Merriman and Tadi has done and put all their efforts into their new disipline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Stefan Merriman is to me without pier in his achievemebts on a Trials bike and in his crossover to be the most dominant World champion for so many years on enduro bikes. He had the foresight to change from a very little recognised and patronised motorcycle disipline where only a handful of riders are at the top end challenging level. He entered a catagary where millions of riders throught the world are regular participants and literaly blew the then current worlds best out of contention. I bet his satisfaction level with his achievements would be something very few people in any sport could hold so dearly.Whos to say Tadi could not have moved up the ranking if he stuck with Trials. His desision like Merrimans should be recognised as the right move as his achievements have shown. If anyone wants to be the best and beat the best they have to do what Merriman and Tadi has done and put all their efforts into their new disipline. So exactly what did merrimen do in Trials? How many world championships did merrimen win? Taddy said (to me) the decision to give up on Trials was a financial one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 So exactly what did merrimen do in Trials?How many world championships did merrimen win? Taddy said (to me) the decision to give up on Trials was a financial one. Google him and see, there are other riders in the world that you may not be aware of that arn't Brits that had high achievements. Merriman may also have changed because of the lack of backing, best ask him ! Merriman is spelt with a capital M, its called respect old mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony27 Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 World schoolboys trials champ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Google him and see, there are other riders in the world that you may not be aware of that arn't Brits that had high achievements.Merriman may also have changed because of the lack of backing, best ask him ! Merriman is spelt with a capital M, its called respect old mate. respect where its due. Don't really understand is there an overall championships? What is E1 the top class? 250 world champ is good but is it like junior wtc? I am aware of many champs that aren't brits, just can't find that many aussies? merrimen is NZ yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzralphy Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) Yes Stefan Merriman is a Kiwi, He defected to Aussi to race there and be on their team, He may now back in NZ (????) Stefan placed very highly on his first visit to SSDT..... some where around 4th comes to mind Further, he was wicked quick on a road race bike Edited June 23, 2009 by NZRalphy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickwren Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Taking into account all that has been said, Tady is younger, has a lighter bike etc, what really amazed me about Tady at Erzberg was not that he won but how much he won by, it was far more than I would ever have expected. As far as Steffan Merriman is concerned in my opinion he was pure class at enduro and a real pleasure to watch. His Trials background showed through, you could almost see him thinking his way through a hazzard, while those who came from a Moto X background just gave it a big handful and hoped. Steffan had the art of covering the ground very quickly ( this is actually different to just going fast ) Watching him do battle with the Aprillia was something else, that bike broke many lesser men. I was riding at the time Steffan came to the UK and despite what his Kiwi admirers might think he wasn't all that special as a trials rider, but respect where it's due he is some Enduro rider, and a great loss to the WEC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 World schoolboys trials champ was there ever such a thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cota kid Posted June 23, 2009 Report Share Posted June 23, 2009 Whilst Taddy was good enough to ride the WTC he has obvious found his niche on the KTM Enduro bike and the margin which he won Ezberg by was incredible. It seems that the lighter 250 - 300 bikes are the weapon of choice for these extreme events and I'm sure that Doug would be even more competetive, if that's possible, on such a machine and surely its only a matter of time before that happens. Lets not forget the two Hemmingway's, Ben and Dan, who both had outstanding rides at Ezberg. Lastly Doug's result at Italy was 'bloody' amazing, one week your being air lifted to hospital and the next week your knocking on the podium of the WTC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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