Slopestyle Added to X Games 2013

 i did mountain bike before it was cool

 About fucking time

 I know that hipster feel

 if you want mountain biking to have more monney and more facilities around the globe, this is a great start to expose it

 "I sort of like being part of a culture that isn't so mainstream."

And people call fixie riders hipster...

 I totally agree with diebel7 but it's really awesome to see that X-Games is expanding and trying something new. Props!

 Hurray!!!!!!!!!! Its not about being mainstream in terms of coolness. Its about not having a boatload of people in the woods trying to ride the same trail.

 I wouldn't doubt if the other BMXers at X Games grab a bike (or use their own) and take the top spots.

 @VTwintips More people into the sport = money into the sport = more trails. (Atleast in an ideal world anyway...)

 yep, cyrix. I ride 20cm wide bars, have a dirt stache and not one logo on my clothes. Caught me...damn it

 ignore post, don't know how to delete

 I guess I'm like a backcountry skier then. They will ride the trails designed by the mountain owners with the chair lift, but they would prefer to ride where there is almost no trail and no people, and just enough money for equipment. Is backcountry a genre of biking?

 I see people complaining about this, and all I can think is how stoked I am to watch this when it comes on!!

 I wasn't talking about me!

 I agree, mountain biking has so many types of riders(hipsters too), its not really a good x-game sport. I raced Dual, ride dirt jumps, get lost on 30 mile xc rides, and race DH. Slop style's a small part of mountain biking thats getting all the attention. I'm a biker who has done all of them and keep going back to riding trails. X-games can't capture the true nature of such a diverse sport but I look forward to seeing how scared the riders faces get on a course they had no say in building. Rock this X-games! PS a BMX rider will probably win.

 Anyone else see that huge berm near the top

 ohhh ratshit that sucks to hear f*ck exposure and "more money"..this sport is perfect and amazing just the way it is!

 Yes it's in the X games but lets not forget it takes a certain kind of person to be mountain biker it's not a hobby it's a life style and not that many people are committed enough to actually take up the sport.

 mac1999, mate......good call

 X-Games is big, but definitely not mainstream. They don't even show X-Games on the TV here or will you hear ever about it unless you go on the world wide web. Soccer and other anal sports like that are mainstream.

 YES I AM HIPSTER NOW

 Yes, this is great news! With RedBull and now the x-games exposing our great sport tot he general public is great, no matter what style it is. Slope style is getting the exposure because it only needs a short attention span to watch and is super exciting! Either way as an advocate for the sport and trail builder this is great the less I have to educate land managers about the sport the more time I can spend gaining access and building sweet trails and bike parks! I'm excited I don't see how it could be a negative for our sport!

 More mainstream, more parks! More parks, more trails! More trails, more fun!

 okay, and just to clear up what i have read. any terrain that is sister to and beside a resort with a chairlift is called, SIDE country. back country would be hiking to where you plan on skiing/boarding down. not on the same land that a resort owns... but.. in other news. stoked for 2013 xgames!! why not include MTB's. should have been in that shit since the early 2000's

 I couldn't agree more. And no offence to NBC, but some of that Ranpage coverage was hard to listen to. I don't like it when I know more than the interviewer. Or they are reporting with 'public' friendly terminology. 'they go off these large ramps at speeds exceeding 50km/h in an attempt to make it [cut to different clip of the reporter standing on the landing] all the way over here to the transition.'

 Chase your buddies on the trail, not dollar bills and exposure.

 Couldn't have said it any better Mike!

 I think that numbers off by a lot but it just amazes me that many riders names are known around the planet for representing certain brands which bring those companies in alot of dollars but they make next to nothing....

 ...and us average guys on pb can take brand whoring to a whole new level sometimes

 you guys might not need it because you are just having fun on your bike... there is other people who are still having fun on their bikes, but trying to make a living out of it too. just saying

 I couldn't agree more Mike. I do remember that joke, and I can't help but think this will be bad for the image if mountain biking on the whole. Of course, nothing will change what I ride or how I ride - but being painted with the same brush that slope will become under the xgames is not what I want people to think of when I talk about mountain biking.
The popularity of current mountain biking has already spawned a whole generation of racer wannabes and cafe posers who bought a $9K full susp sled as their first bike but barely know how to turn a pedal and think trail riding has nothing to teach them. I can hardly wait to see what the "sick gnarly radical" tricks that xgames will pump through whatever cheeseball announcer will do to benefit mountain biking on the whole.
That said, I also feel that FMB is not mountain biking but more like oversized BMX on dirt. Take the MB out of FMB and call it Slopestyle Dirt Jumping instead, SDJ.
Whatever you call it, it's undoubtedly a popular spectator sport, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.

 Have you never seen Life Behind Bars? Semenuk doesn't look to be struggling. Just saying

 So what if it's 'oversized BMX'? What matters is the size of the wheels.

I ride street on my 26 inch NS Suburban. I know 24 inch or 20 inch wheels can make certain street moves much easier.

But I just stick with 26 inch because that's what I like.

 As long as riders dont sell out like Shaun White im kinda cool with it.

 mountainbikers are the biggest in-the-closet hipsters i swear

 i'm old and old school(haha)so backwoods not boardrooms to me. shovels make mtbers not shows. mlevy is right..be careful what ya wish for.


the flip side..sell out like White? like the Claw and deodorant or Zink and Strait and watches? these guys are just taking oppurtunities that come with the relatively short lifespan of an action-sports career.

 How does this negatively affect any of us? Who cares how the pros make their money, who cares if the kid down the streets parents spent $9000 on his first bike. Hopefully this opens up more avenues for people to make money doing something they love. Some of you are too concerned about how this changes peoples perception of themselves. Go out and ride your bike with your friends, do what you love to do on a bike whether it be DH (on a 6" or 8" bike), trials, slopestyle, or DJ.

 ^that's why i put the flip side of the equation. there are always preferences as well as a positive and negative / short-term & long-term to it all. RedBull Signature Series compared to XGames exposure.. we can all agree on the passion for our sport and that'll always progress the riding regardless of media exposure or not.

 I feel like only the people that either suck or have no ambition to push themselves or the sport bag on sponsored riders or riders that have made a career out of riding a bike... I say the ones actually risking their lives to show the rest of us whimps that chase buddies and not dollars deserve way more than what they're getting paid now. At the end of the day if you're too busy having fun on a bike, how in anyway does it bother you how mtbing is portrayed or done by people you will never know or meet? Complaining that you want this sport to be "your own" goes completely against riding your bike purely for the personal love and joy of it... Sometimes you people make absolutely no sense, haha.

 hey xgames mountain biking back then was better than the down hill shovel racing

 ^ Die... just die... there was nothing better than the shovel racing... it was easily the most entertaining and dangerous thing the X-Games has ever endorsed. Exhibit A: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT9nyBrI2o8

Again, go die!

 Gonna have to disagree. TV is sweet and our pro athletes are under paid for what they do. This will undoubtably help.

 X games snow racing was fun to watch, especially the year Palmer won when he went for the doubles. Forgot who won the other year....Shandro or Voreis?

Almost always good to see mtb on tv, even in the stupid commercials. "that's not pure enough, keep my sport off tv!" Listen to you.

 Hey i was just giving my opinion and all im saying is id hate to see rich doosh-bags wearing full leather outfits in mtb. Ya this is good for the sport money wise (more bike parks possibly?) but at the same time i think its gonna get alot more serious and i like mtb beacause its fun and relaxed and not as serious as most sports. I think where doin fine not beeing televised but most of you disagree and i respect your guys opinions so respect the opinions of those who think its not a good idea istead of calling us hipsters or saying we make no sense.

 ^ You don't make sense... you say that mtbing to you is fun and relaxed and yet you're worrying about who may potentially want to ride a bike in the future, what they wear riding and how others may perceive what you do.

If mtbing is really about you just having fun then you wouldn't give a shit. All you would do is be stoked that there is more exposure for the sport that you love and that it will open up the possibility for others to experience the same joy that you do.

Really though... why do you care so much? It won't affect how YOU ride a bike because you will love the sport regardless of what other people think, right? Riiiight?? Haha, man...

 yes fair enough and ill always ride my bike everyday and have fun with it and this isnt making me not stoked or anything, but as the sport grows i jus think its gonna get more competitive and kinda ruin it for those who wanna have fun but then again im jus giving my opinion and 2 cents. And i dont care, im jus simply trying to express myself but but you guys just dont seem to understand. like im not but hurt or anything its just you guys dont wanna except my opinion it seems. but anyways im done, lets go ride our bikes now or even better, build build trails.

 @kyle-white how do you know what the pro athletes are being paid?

 I'll take back what I said, anyone who is going to be affected by X-games money probably makes more than what I'll make going through engineering school. There's alot of really hard working guys that are getting pushed around for multiple reasons that shold be earning more is all I meant. X games like crankworx can hopefully bring up some rising stars.

 kyle, how do you know how much they make or how hard they work? they're that good because of hard work, not because they woke up one day and were that good... and how does it make sense that riders that aren't the best deserve more money? might as well give 1st place to the dude doing lesser tricks because he's a good guy and works just as hard...

 Everyone should listen to this guy, he actually can form a respectable opinion because he has been on the X-games scene for a insanely long time. Get claw on the course and it will be epic.

 This^^ It can allow not only the top few in the sport to have a chance at making a decent living at something that requires just as much specialized skill as any other sport.

 Finally somebody talking sense. Non of this "oh now it's mainstream and crappy" garbage. You tell 'em Mr. Kagy.

 If my favorite character from Dave Mirra BMX says so, it is so.

 Nothing else to be said, Kagy nailed it.. Such a great opportunity!!

 The addition of slopestyle to X Games has potential to be amazing if it's done right. The organizing body for the mtb side of things has a lot of say on how things get done. I've been working with X Games for a lot of years and they listen to the sport organizers to make sure things are done as authentic as it can be in an X Games TV setting. Hopefully the right people are communicating with ESPN and the sport gets portrayed the right way. With the wrong people in charge it can make a real mess of things so I hope the right people are in charge. Fingers crossed it's done right. Claw would be a good person to have on the organization side of things, he would know who to talk to and how to present slopestyle so that it is done right the first time it's added to X Games.

 True that. We definitely need to take advantage of the opportunity and make sure of that

 The XGames are the Olympics of action sports!

 olympic rules would be awful! "jumps are not to exceed 2 feet in height" would probably be one of them

 I would cry

 true, because olympic bmx racing isn't hardcore as fuck at all..

 @finnrambo You'd be doing good to get as high on a bike as Olympic trampolinists do

 oh I know the olympics have some extreme sports, look at skeleton but figured I'd make fun of their ignorance in many sports (example: cycling road race only sent one canadian who had no chance of winning the TT or the race and the road race is a team sport)

 Ski and snowboarding slopestyle will be intresting to see how the olympics handle this type of event. why not have dh and ss in the olympics as well as xc

 Do not want to see Downhill in the olympics, imagine the shitty camera set ups, in experienced camera men and poor choice of course. It would make a mockery of DH racing... Keep it to the WC circuit

 dh on snow!

 +1 stryke.. if I could ride half as well as any of the olympic BMX'ers I would be ecstatic. And I think that the biggest problem for olympic DH would be finding venues close to the rest of the events. It was hard enough for the Olympic committee to put together an impressively unremarkable XC course this year. They would have a really, REALLY hard time finding a place with lift access and a manicured DH line.. That's my two cents at least.

 Wouldn't surprise me if they get Bestwick to commentate... And he knows his shit, but most likely will be asked to dumb it down still. But he'll still call all the tricks right and all that..

 Isn't ESPN owned by Disney? So there for it is already picked up by Disney...

 Like they used to with Palmer and Specialized?

bmxmuseum.com/forsale/palmer_1_blowup.jpg

 Yes exactly! That's a rad jersey

 I feel like they'll make it more big stuff, cause if it's just dirt jumps it'll look like clumsy and not as good BMXers. They'll make it distinguishable enough for sure.

 it's spelled 'excrement' ;-)

 hehehehhehe, icwutudidthur

 guy's gotta get his kicks somehow when he cant be riding (broken thumb/cast). Lurking gets boring so I post my phenomenal insight. Weather's been rreealy nice here for 'winter' riding too (Sonoma, NorCal).


This will be... 1. good for mtb industry 2. good for Xgames 3. good for me watching xgames on tv.

 Why on earth would you want that drunken foul mouth idiot Rob Warner commentating?

 Lol, well played, but we all know how classic ol' rob is. If phil liggett does it.... god help us all.

 sal isn't old.... although rather clueless(is it really his fault?)

 Sal quit!