SCOTT athlete Cody Cooper took the overall MX1 win at Conondale. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

SCOTT riders claimed a stellar podium sweep at Conondale’s fifth round of the Monster Energy MX Nationals, during the lone round of the series that roll-off systems are enforced.

Cody Cooper, Matt Moss and Billy Mackenzie made it a 1-2-3 SCOTT sweep on the MX1 podium in conditions that tested the limits of the brand’s Works Film Systems throughout the day.

The SCOTT Works Film System features an innovative non-stick film and a mudflap system to block debris from finding it’s way between the film and goggle lens.

C&R Imports’ Bernie Ryan is a supporter of tracks enforcing the roll-off rule and believes that this movement to minimise tear-off use is inevitable in our sport.

“It’s inevitable that this happens, there are a number of tracks around Australia now banning the use of tear-offs because of the perceived environmental issue,” said Ryan. “One solution is to ban them, but that’s not ideal.

“As we saw on the weekend, not everybody can use roll-offs and not everybody is up to speed with using roll-offs. But it is inevitable, for sure.

“We’re out there polluting the air and ruining the bush, so anyone that doesn’t like motorcycles thinks that anything we do is polluting and ruining the environment anyhow – we’re sort of up against it there.

“We have to be mindful that this is an issue, I know how many plastics pieces we throw out per year because I know what we sell. We can go to a track and be looking at tear-offs that are there from five or six years ago.”

The roll-off system, known to be much more temperamental than the traditional tear-off, proved to cause problems for some riders at Conondale. It’s a factor that could prove a major challenge for goggle manufacturers in the future.

“Most of the top riders were fitted up with their various sponsor’s roll-offs and most people got by,” Ryan explained. “There were a few occasions where guys ended up with no goggles on because their roll-offs were rendered useless, and this is the challenge for manufacturers.

“The unit itself only needs to be hit by a rock and you’ve got the film trailing behind you in the wind, but these things can happen with goggles and tear-offs anyhow – nothing is fool-proof in this sport.”

With the obvious environmental issue at the forefront of the recent roll-off movement, companies such as SCOTT have been searching for a bio-degradable tear-off solution for quite some time according to Ryan.

Cooper, Moss and Mackenzie were fitted with the SCOTT Works Film System for Conondale’s round.

“SCOTT has been looking at bio-degradable materials with their various material suppliers for over 10 years that I know of, and there is nothing appropriate at this point. Other manufactuers may claim the case.

“But there are two major factors, one is that they are very distorted to look through. So if you stack more than a couple on, you can virtually not see through them. The material is generally very weak and it’s very hard to stop them tearing in use.

“They don’t break down like a bio-degradable paint ball or oil, where it can almost degrade in front of your eyes. These things are still going to sit around for weeks or months, if not years.

“Long-term it is better because they will eventually break down, but the immediate effect is not going to be as great as people think.

“Another issue is they are expensive and they can very much have a shorter shelf life. So if it sits around out on the dealers floor, they can break down and then they’re even more useless when you go to use them.

“It’s not a great system at the moment, I’m not saying it will never happen, but at the moment the best system is the roll-off.”

Ryan also believes that a lack of rider education is playing a large role in the problem, with an improved knowledge base for riders the issue could be minimised greatly.

“I think a good part of the problem is lack of education,” he added. “Far to often I finish up at the race meeting and I see many of the riders will just pull off their tear-offs and just throw them on the ground at the end of the race.

“This just adds to the problem, there is no question that if you can get by with tear-offs on the track, you’ll throw them on the track and they’re end up in the mud or blow away in the wind.

“I see riders finish the race and go over the finish line then pull off a tear-off. So we have to be mindful that if he keep throwing these things off when it’s unnecessary, of course we’re going to get them banned.”