Mike Montgomery Road Bike Backflip - Behind the Scenes

May 31, 2012
by Scott Secco  
This is a brief behind the scenes look into the now famous SPY Tour of California cycling commercial featuring Matthew Bushe and Mike Montgomery.



Considered to be the most unique road bike action caught on film in recent memory, this short doco features unseen, crazy footage of Montgomery doing ridiculously sick stuff on a Specialized bike built for the road. He even manages to pull off a superman back flip - known to be the first time anyone has ever done one on that kind of bike. Under the creative direction of its CEO Michael Marckx, the California based eyewear brand SPY built this unique commercial to be a playful expression of its youthful, irreverent point of view by bringing an action sports mentality to road cycling, as well as sending a "Youth Against the Old Guard" message. The idea was this: Matthew Busche—Spy athlete and 2011 U.S. National Road Race Champion—trains a lot. To be the best requires tremendous focus and hard work—which equates to pain and monotony. To get through it, Busche says his mind drifts in and out of daydreams. Told through the prism of Busche's daydream, the :30 diversion takes viewers on a journey with him as he imagines himself hitting the alluring trails of California's coastal mountain ranges and doing some crazy stuff on a bike strictly built for pavement. SPY asked its mountain bike freestyle rider Mike Montgomery (Teams Specialized and Monster Energy) to stunt double for Busche's wildest fantasies of doing things on his road bike that no one else has done before. That is, until Montgomery did them for him. This spot was originally built to air mid-May in 2012 on NBC during the Tour of California (ToC) cycling race. Going into the event, Busche was set to play an important role in the ToC for Team Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek. To see this commercial on its own go to http://youtu.be/fPn4fDqL7f8 or to learn more about SPY please check out www.spyoptic.com/performance

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Member since Sep 18, 2009
1,029 articles

76 Comments
  • 178 3
 ok roadies- no more excuses!!
  • 7 130
flag bennorco121 (May 31, 2012 at 19:16) (Below Threshold)
 Mike Montgomery, the village idiot.
  • 66 1
 Why didnt they put the super flip in the commercial?
  • 13 1
 i was thinking the same thing but i figured he prob didnt land it as clean as they wanted for the commercial. or it took him a few times and he prob had to do the whole "run" for the commercial.
  • 11 1
 Probably because road bikers use clipless pedals, so it wouldn't make sense for him to do a trick in the commercial where his feet left the pedals
  • 7 1
 mike montgomery; the living ledgend
  • 6 24
flag bennorco121 (Jun 1, 2012 at 14:21) (Below Threshold)
 There is nothing legendary about it. Would you praise someone that could nail a board in with his head? No, because it still makes more sense to use a hammer.
  • 10 2
 no... but i would praise someone who could back flip a fucking road bike. only the village idiot would make that kind of silly comparison...
  • 3 15
flag bennorco121 (Jun 1, 2012 at 20:33) (Below Threshold)
 that's not a silly comparison. It would be a great feet to nail a board down with your head. You try it.
  • 2 1
 its very silly....
  • 2 4
 i would praise some one that could bang a nail in with his head! i once saw a guy at back yard jam 96 nail his nut sack to a log. then we could get someone to nail a nut sack to a log with his head
id pay to see that Smile
  • 70 1
 Not that it's super easy on a proper bike, but pulling that stuff on a road bike takes some serious mojo. Specialized should build a wheelbarrow for Mike Montgomery to carry his balls around in.
  • 19 3
 "Specialized should build a wheelbarrow for Mike Montgomery to carry his balls around in"......dude you had me straight up laughing for a while! One of the best comments I have ever read.
  • 2 2
 haha that was nice
  • 13 1
 When I first started reading this I thought you were going to say they should buy him a wheelbarrow so he could back flip that...
  • 73 3
 that is the sickest s*it iv ever seen on a roadbike....well the only s*it ive ever seen on a road bike
  • 28 3
 How about a 700c dirt jam on the FMB tour?
  • 16 2
 Although not on dirt, Martyn Ashton already did a road bike back flip. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z1fSpZNXhU ; at 4:19.
Not taking anything away from Montgomery though, so sick!
  • 10 2
 he also did a SUPERFLIP and Buttery 360, not to mention that was the most Steeze i have ever seen!!!!!
  • 11 1
 arron chase did one to resi a while ago, it was covered in decline a while back. not to diminsh this one though! in my opinion, the 3 and some of the whips and cornering are almost more impressive.
  • 14 2
 i can't believe how much these thin wheels could take
  • 5 3
 Thin doesn't necessarily mean weak.
  • 10 2
 I know saying road bike makes it sound cooler, but I'm going to nit-pick and call it a cyclo-cross bike. Still, that was badass. I love the shot of him railing the berm. There was an article years ago in Bike about a guy in Whistler who rode one of the jump parks on an old steel road bike, seems like a natural progression.
  • 13 1
 i wonder how many wheel sets were used in the making of this video
  • 11 1
 Respect to Mike for doing something outta the "box". Doesn't matter who done what "first". Mike made it cool. Straight respect buddy!
  • 9 1
 Super flip... What? Why didn't that make the commercial?
  • 9 2
 Because road cyclists use clipless pedals.
  • 6 1
 Ohhhh my god!! Hes holding on to the side grips doing a dump three on what? an 18 pound road bike? Insanely swag
  • 11 6
 This is how you film a professional video. Not on some shitty DSLR. Prop's to SPY for doing it right!
  • 8 1
 shitty dslr ? I mean there are not perfect videocameras but come on !
  • 2 1
 first off where do you get off saying shitty DSLR... 1080p and 30 frames is not shitty, i mean its not a RED for christs sake but its still quality. dont bash on peoples equipment just because they have a lower budget, it doesnt matter what you shoot with its the end product that matters.
  • 5 1
 That helicopter camera rig looks so cool. It really takes a lot of people to make a 30 second ad.
  • 2 1
 And that's not even really a large crew for a commercial shoot. They can get out of control sometimes. The 'copter rig is cool for sure.
  • 2 1
 No matter how time they spent, it was probaly so cool Big Grin
  • 4 1
 its nice so far that everyone has been so supportive, i was afraid when i saw this that there would be some roadie hatred all to evident.
  • 6 1
 Didn't know Mugatu ran spy.
  • 5 1
 I like that helicopter cam!
  • 3 1
 As the Big Air Bag has proven... You can flip anything if you really want to... Ya just gotta commit. Way to go Mike. Once again, awesome. Ken
  • 4 1
 So pretty much this is telling roadies to switch to MTB..
  • 4 2
 that not just a regular road bike, it is a CycloCross.
  • 3 3
 "footage of Montgomery doing ridiculously sick stuff on a Specialized bike built for the road"...

..Actually its a cyclocross bike, built for the dirt.
  • 2 2
 I too find this irritating... I mentioned the same thing the first time this video cam about on pb...
  • 1 1
 still totally crazy. I would jump all those jumps and probably do the flip at the end. But NOT with whatever bicycle he is riding in this video. thats just INSAAANNE !
  • 2 4
 He doesn't ride on specialized, montgomery does. But that's another thing about this edit, it's not actually the roadie riding. Sick as hell still to see someone super-flipping the cx bike, but it's two different guys being advertised as one guy. cool ad though.
  • 1 0
 Still like the trials version better... At least he's in the drops... www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z1fSpZNXhU
  • 2 2
 Cool Video!! , Ironically after this video was done, Montgomery and Bushe got engaged to be married. Congrats everyone Smile
  • 2 3
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=plQvOwKUwxE

Backflip on a cyclocross bike done in Oct 2010... I think the self-promotion can settle down now.
  • 1 1
 what about that super flip? eh?
  • 1 0
 Mike Montgomery is still the village idiot...
  • 2 4
 Firstly: What a MASSIVE load of MARKETING HYPE and BULLSHIT!!!!! I've heard less pretentious things from the mouths of posh people wearing Abercrombie and Fitch!

Secondly: Damn, Mike Montgomery has balls and skill!
  • 1 1
 Freestyle road biking???? What will be next?
  • 7 1
 Tandem freestyle
  • 2 1
 I was talking about a tandenm bike...two seats, two handlebars, two superman seatgrabs...
  • 1 1
 That was so SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 2 2
 mike makes the roadie look like a total pussy lol
  • 1 1
 So sick, now do a cliffhanger flip on it!
  • 1 1
 super flip on road bike super sick!!!
  • 1 1
 I really don't think it's needed.
  • 1 1
 I can't believe that. So crazy!! Cant wait to tell my pops
  • 2 1
 Let's do it again!
  • 1 1
 that track looks sooo fun!
  • 1 1
 i really hope roadies don't start doing this sh*t now. Or fixie riders
  • 2 1
 Fixie riders already try to do this but fail epically because fixies are shit and pointless.
  • 1 1
 agree!
  • 1 1
 that opens so many doors!
  • 1 1
 mike should so go to a FMB bronze event on his road bike!
  • 1 1
 that was pretty awesome
  • 1 1
 BAMF=BadAssMoFo
  • 1 1
 haha! thats awesome!
  • 1 1
 Wowsers.
  • 1 2
 since when does he ride on specialized
  • 1 1
 That was the greatest!!







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