Video: This 18 Year Old Phenom Will Turn Some Heads

Aug 8, 2014 at 8:02
by Karl Burkat  


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Member since Jan 1, 2000
600 articles

166 Comments
  • 235 6
 His riding is insane, but did they really need to speed up the DH shots? It's so obvious it's painful.
  • 15 3
 agreed Wink
  • 12 13
 that demo is far too short for him he doesn't look right
  • 65 3
 i feel bad for the kid with how it was edited... but the shot of him tucking across the bridge at 4:13 had me cracking up
  • 15 15
 I think it's because we're so used to watching slow mo downhill videos
  • 34 6
 He doesn't look very comfortable on a bike but I guess he can land those tricks so yeah
  • 33 2
 How dare he skid in a berm )
  • 15 2
 Nice to see the sick riding in my local area at the highland slopestyle! But they should've just left out the DH stuff.. couple drops on bonesaw and the first drop in into hellion in fast forward... snooze....
  • 11 27
flag JoshJeffrey (Aug 8, 2014 at 11:05) (Below Threshold)
 The fast forward was horrible. And to be honest, I didn't see anything phenomenal I this.
  • 25 2
 all that i see is a turtle
  • 15 2
 Did the turtle just do a cork 7? :o
  • 6 1
 A Star of today and a star of tomorrow.
  • 19 3
 It must suck being rich and having your parents pay to build a skate park in your yard with foam pits. I hate this kid with every jealous bone on my body. Good riding.
  • 6 2
 I think I was taken out of context. All I meant was nothing that I would say puts him at phenom status. Semenuk, zink, messere on his day, andreu. He wasn't doing anything more spectacular than them or the rest. My own opinion. He is good. messere had a phenomenal run at his first crankworx. He didn't compete in it. I think a "phenom" would be in those competitions.
  • 11 0
 put a visor on your helmet
  • 6 0
 the slope style shots were good but just tell him to sell his dh.
  • 8 3
 Hahaha, DH section was soooooo fuckin' lame!! Btw, I'm never going to like his style, not until he uses his visor!
  • 154 17
 Am i the only one who thing he has a giant bag of tricks but he has no style?
He can land perfectly cashroll,Triple whip or flip double whip but without style...
Semenuk,Soderstrom,Rheeder,Lacondeguy or Mc Caul's brothers can only do straight air on a jump and have more style than Rogatkin doing cashroll...
I just give my view,not an absolute truth!Don't hit me!
  • 56 10
 I ithink you are right but at this tricklevel there is no style. Söderström never looked stylish while doing a triple whip. I want to see a rider at the contests giving his best and pushing the limit. Rogadkin is progressing hard, most of the other do the same tricks (or even runs) for the last 4 years.
  • 93 4
 Could be the squid lid
  • 35 7
 He starts with no style eihter with that visorless helmet! How come Kali stands that..Looks so ugly...
  • 5 3
 Anyway... i like seeing those super sick jumps and just a minor but stylish trick.. and just like ManuGi said... at a level with such a load of trick within the airtime of one jump it´s even hard to see the style while those riders are just swirling through the air
  • 21 1
 I would partially disagree about the style part, there are jumps with timing and setup that leave ample opportunity for style example the de-laid fronty that he pulled at the Colorado Fest. Then compare that with the stuff in City8 nothing fluid or smooth, course is part of the reason, I would think with time and experience he will start getting better at style with knowledge of his tricks, timing, and course features. That's the difference between riders you are naming and a kid that just shows up. Lets just hope he doesn't get hurt before he can build that style and knowledge, that seems to knock out so much young talent.
  • 22 3
 soderstrom is king of style. we shall leave it at that...
  • 13 2
 I agree, he has no style, but he has skill, I thought he didn't look as comfortable on a DH bike as some of the other top FMB riders.
  • 10 9
 Why does he even ride without the visor? When I'm wearing my helmet I can't even see mine in my peripheral. Does kali make super shitty hemets with bad enough visibility that he has to take it of?! And on top of that it just reminds me of a mom and her kids riding the green trails with brakes on the whole way with their visor less helmets. Come on mannnnn
  • 9 2
 @pm148.

I ain't no mega jump master but I used to wear a visor when I Kayaked all the time, then one day I took a pretty good spill off moderate sized waterfall and broke the visor off and it was crushed into my face and gave me a nice 4 inch gasher. Sometimes one little mishap is all it takes to make you not want a normal piece of gear everyone else swears is fine. I still paddle falls all the time with people wearing visors, they ask me why I took mine off and I tell them. I don't tell them to take theirs off and they don't make fun of mine. Just a personal choice, then again kayaking is much less of a fashion show then riding.
  • 9 25
flag jackharvey99 (Aug 8, 2014 at 9:49) (Below Threshold)
 You are so right. This kid is a BMXer who decided one day to try a mountain bike, and now competes in the FMB. The only reason he has been getting 2nd and 3rd places so far is because the FMB doesn't judge for style anymore. It's just how many tricks you can do, so its easy for this tool to win. Sad, but true.
  • 6 2
 @jackharvey99 now they'll knock points off for whipping a feature because the rider didn't "trick" it
  • 3 1
 @pbrider

Thanks for sharing. That's a totally legit reason to not wear one. It's just that in the video he says it's for visibility, so I was just curious since my helmet doesn't have that issue.
  • 3 14
flag jackharvey99 (Aug 8, 2014 at 9:54) (Below Threshold)
 @NWuntilirest I'm not saying that all they should do is whips. More stylish tricks would be nice instead of cash rolls. Those do not belong in Slope style, let alone biking, anywhere.
  • 8 0
 Making crazy tricks look effortless is stylish. Bmxers dont have style.. did anyone say that?
  • 26 8
 WTF, I don't understand why there is so much hate on this kid. Hes the only one throwing down some of the sickest tricks on a mtn bike, and people say he has no style. The hard tricks are stylee. Get the fuck over the no visor, that something teenage girl would fuss about. Rogatkin is the future of slopestyle, deal with it.
  • 10 4
 No,Hard tricks aren't stylee,they are just technical,style is apart of tricks.
Example:Bas Van Steenbergen or Flaircough can't land hard tricks but you can't say they have no style!
And i think style is more important than doing hard tricks!
  • 7 7
 @Theblackrider That is exactly what I mean. And @slayerdegnar if you think those are "sick tricks" and that is "the future of slopeSTYLE" than that is sad.
  • 10 0
 He explained in the video why he rides without the visor, he likes the visibility he gets from not riding with it when doing flip tricks, etc... Just personal preference. May look goofy, but the kid is killing it!
  • 9 1
 I guess im weird but I think the cashroll looks stylee and is probably my favorite trick to watch. Question is, how would YOU make that more stylish? Based on the history of progression of freeride and slopestyle, hard tricks are the future and always have been. Steezy whips dont win slopestyle contests. Am I wrong?
  • 8 0
 This kid is progressing the sport! He gets good finishes because he is taking risks and doing tricks no one else does. I'm sorry, but if you think watching every single rider doing the same 360s and tailwhips is fun, then you need to get out more often, I don't care how much "style" they have. Also, if you think this video was bland, maybe you should try flipping the Freebird jump.
  • 7 1
 He looks more comfortable with Cash Rolls than probably anybody else right now.
  • 8 0
 If your so worried about him looking good and his style at this technical level then stick to watching your Olympic ice skating...
The kid pulled off the most perfect cash roll landing I've ever seen and you can't call that style?
  • 8 1
 Please @jackharvey99 show us the future of slopestyle then.
Your such a pro ( apparently ) and yet you have not one video of your amazing skills.

Another internet pro bashing skills he doesn'tt have.
  • 9 1
 An 18 year old competing in the FMB doesn't have as much style as pros in their 20's that have been competing for years, what a surprise! Seriously why is everyone criticizing him so much? This kid can shred harder than 99% of the people on this website. Pinkbike users need to learn how to appreciate talent.
  • 5 6
 Here we just a have a conflict between 2 kind of people:
The first part,like me think freeride/slopestyle is near to an art sport like dance,martial arts or ice skating,where the style are so much important!
And we are against the second part, who see biking as only sport where we just need to push the limit to be good!!
That's all!

@clouseau
Style is not just landing trick perfectly right,it's something else:the thing who explain why Semenuk,Aggy or Soderstrom is so beautiful to watch!
That the difference:Rogatkin's riding is impressive,Semenuk or Soderstrom's riding is beautiful!
  • 7 0
 For all those jealous people saying he has no style.. How about 'effortless' or 'immaculate', both words you could use to describe his style, the same way you would Aaron Gwins downhill riding. Style has many forms, and it seems Rogatkin is too busy doing mega trick combos to fit personal flair into a more basic trick, the guy is going to be a winning machine no doubt!
  • 4 3
 If a FMB rider need to speed up his DH shot...there is a big problem with him! I think the problem with this rider is that he comes from BMX,he just has big bag of trick but he can't do mountain biking well! He is more a gymnast on a bike than a rider! Still my view,not an absolute truth!
  • 5 3
 lol, it's speeded up but this kid would still absolutely destroy all of us on a DH trail.
  • 2 2
 @beeone72 How can you be yelling at me if you have no picture / video AT ALL. For all we know you could not even be able to ride a bike. I bet that is not the case, I bet you are a decent rider, but please do not criticize if you won't even post a single riding video / picture of yourself.

I'm done arguing with you.
  • 3 2
 @jackharvey99
How is someone YELLING at you online idiot ?
It's funny how you bash on this young rider - but if anyone bashes you , you just don't like that at all.

Maybe you should read the point your just made genius - you have NOT even 1 video of yourself , and your bashing on his video - which has some HUGE airs and some very cool tricks.
I quote "please do not criticize if you won't even post a single riding video / picture of yourself."

Now .......I'm done arguing with YOU !!!
  • 1 1
 do you enduro@ yer but that lid
  • 1 4
 @beeone72 YOU DON'T HAVE A VIDEO EITHER
  • 3 1
 I thought you said you were done with you whining @jackoffharvey !

Why are you breaking your own rules - you have no video posted but your criticizing other peoples videos !?
You make no sense.
  • 1 3
 @beeonementallychallenged I will make exceptions for idiots like you. YOU DO NOT HAVE A VIDEO OR PICTURE AT ALL OF YOURSELF RIDING, SO HOW CAN YOU CRITICIZE ME FOR NOT HAVING A VIDEO. I'M DOING BETTER ON THE PICTURE FRONT AS WELL Smile

Have a nice day loosing an argument to a 14 year old you "grown" man.
  • 2 1
 @jackoff 99
Again ......you make no sense kid. Your the one bashing / criticizing videos (when you don't have any videos).
You seem to be upset I don't have any videos to bash......... you mad bro ?

P.S. I guess claiming victory means you win. Lol. I really hope you failed the last grade you were in. You dumb.
  • 1 2
 I'm not the one that says "You dumb." Incorrect grammar Sir. And my point is that you can't bash me for having no videos when you don't have a video or photo of yourself at all.
  • 3 2
 What if ya'll go make a video and have a video contest?
  • 2 1
 Nice call one the grammar @jackoff99 but it was meant that way . It's even dumber than "you're dumb" ...dummy.
Lol. Contest. I'm in.
  • 41 4
 His helmet looks like a watermelon, amazing riding though so its okay..
  • 16 9
 You would think that for a video sponsored by a helmet company, they could at least have replaced his visor!
  • 20 3
 Did you watch the video or just go straight to the comment section? He explains that at 3:38.
  • 17 7
 My mistake. I never made it that far. I lost interest around the 2:45 mark.
  • 9 1
 As soon as I saw the rider name I knew the helmet comments were coming.
  • 16 4
 Wow, its apparent that most of the pb community is more focused on fasion trends than bike riding. I ride to have fun, not to look cool. You guys need to get your priorities straight.
  • 5 9
flag yannml (Aug 8, 2014 at 13:25) (Below Threshold)
 SlopeStyle is ALL about Style, thousands of kids are good at tailwhip or fliping, but only a few of them are nice to watch.

If you're dressed like shit, it's a bad start for having style.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7tKTsz-QAo

Lot of style without tricks :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAmmOntKJ8
  • 10 3
 The word slopestyle has nothing to do with the riders style, especially fashion! It refers to the style of the course which is on a slope. And anyways, not everyone has to wear skinny jeans and a d3 to ride stylishly. Its annoying how 90 percent of comments are about his fashion choices, especially since he even had a plausible reason for it.
  • 9 4
 Sorry, I thought slopestyle was about riding bikes, not dressing cool. Man you guys are turn mtn biking into zoolander scene.
  • 30 0
 I think he's going to grow into big bikes a lot in the next few years. He'll grow to learn the style/trick bags you see on the mountains and he'll only get better. And who gives a shit if he rides no visor. None of us shitty commenters can throw any of what he just threw down.
  • 31 1
 The kid kills it on slopestyle and djs where his bmx skills transfer well, but you can see his weakness on the big bike. I'm sure he's going to get better at it with talent like that.
  • 21 3
 For all of you concerned with style, he said it perfectly himself. "I'm not trying to be a fashion model. I'm riding a bike." Clearly a phenomenally talented up-and-coming rider who will progress his style in line with his tricks. Riding without the visor is a functional move on his part and obviously allows him more visibility. I can't believe how obsessed the forum can be with colors and look sometimes.
  • 8 0
 I agree with all this. The visor, yeah it looks tacky, but to each his own. I think his style has yet show. You can see with the tricks that he's pushing himself to stick them. That's his main concern at the moment. When you develop such a huge trick bag in a short time, you're not developing the style, you're just trying hard tricks and focusing on the landings.
  • 3 10
flag rokboy (Aug 8, 2014 at 10:24) (Below Threshold)
 I like the colour of his demo but I don't like the look of his lid..
  • 14 2
 Rclark, thank you for providing this comment shit show with a bit of logic. So many jealous haters talking about style and helmet visors, yet this kid is throwing caution to the wind and trying to build a set of tricks that 99.9% of the members of this forum would never EVER consider trying.
Good on you mr. Rogatkin, thanks for sharing this video. And never forget to thank your parents for turning their house into a bicycle jungle gym for you to progress your skills with.
  • 12 0
 "Nicholi is unlike other mountain bikers, he wears hockey pads under his jeans (legit, he wears Bauer or CCM leg pads), doesn’t run a visor, does crazy tricks, mad celly’s after runs, plays ice hockey every day, and doesn’t give a shit about what other people think.

At every contest, people always give him a hard time about not rocking a visor. Does it look ridiculous? Yes. Does he look like a character from Dave Mirra Pro BMX? Yes. But Nicholi doesn’t give a shit, and I respect that. I would much rather see someone stand up for themselves and their image than cave to peer pressure and in this case, not look like a squid.

So Nicholi, my squid, I mean my hat, goes off to you next time the lid is called out. Staying true to who you are and being yourself deserves a lot more respect than conforming to the trends, even if it is placing a 12 armed cephalopod on your head. Keep your stick on the ice Nicholi and good luck for the remainder of this year."

-Reece Wallace
  • 16 3
 wtf why would you speed up the downhill part.
  • 7 1
 lol cuz he wants to be faster than u
  • 11 1
 He is fortunate to have a backyard like that! Amazing rider who really just came out of nowhere and started riding the FMB competitions!
  • 17 3
 It's pretty obvious that he comes from serious money. I think there would be a lot more "phenoms" out there if we all had private practice parks complete with safety matting and foam pits. He obviously has great work ethic, but his route to the FMB was paved with gold. He must be bummed that he has to drive the Mercedes to the bike park rather than the Porsche Cayenne Frown But really, after saying all this... I am just jealous.
  • 10 3
 You are just jealous, as is everyone else in this comment section. I wish I had the money to turn my house into this kind of setup as well, so I'm jealous too. In the end it's just rad that his parents are willing to turn their yard into this playground because there are tons of parents in the same financial bracket as this kids parents find themselves in, yet these rogatkins are willing to support their kid in this way whereas most families would not. It would kill the flower beds, or ruin the grass. Props to the family and the kid.
  • 1 2
 +1.
Jealous as hell. Wonder how that silver spoon tastes.
  • 3 0
 for some reason i think this particular spoon tastes like hard work. no one acquires those kinds of tricks without paying the price, and i fully believe that hard work, risk taking and success- which this kid has- is learned close to home.
  • 9 0
 Old Proverb. "Give a man a fish - and he will eat for a day.... Give a man a full skatepark setup with resi landings everywhere - and he will learn enough tricks to buy all the fish he'll ever need"
  • 5 0
 Wise words
  • 6 0
 That video was amazing for just giving perspective on how huge these guys go! And this kid was definitely going huge! Unfortunately there are a lot of haters on here. "He has no style."??? "He's only here because he can't win BMX comps."???? Give me a break! Great video, great perspective, highly entertaining.
  • 11 3
 triple whip, cash roll, front flip no hander,... is there anything he can't do?
  • 29 5
 win bmx comps... that's why hes here
  • 4 4
 I so agree Aiden Crocker
  • 7 4
 he cant do a freaking whip... i mean jesus
  • 1 0
 He has won a couple bmx comps but nothing to big. Best was the ASA triples contest
  • 1 0
 hear hear Aiden!!
  • 6 1
 Holy Sh**. Maybe I take offense because we have the same local park, but I can't believe all of the whiny bit*** on here! Poor you, no jumps in your back yard. No style? Show me how much style the cash roll that you can't even do has. This is a mtb website, who cares about the kids previous bmx career. If you're so concerned with his visor, maybe you should be on fashion runway's website or something. This kid is 18, has better tricks than you, has sponsors, and gets to ride every single day for a living. Instead of whining and down voting, just admit that you're jealous.
  • 8 1
 The audio on this edit was embarrassing!
Kid friggin rips though. I'd love to see him take down some "names".
  • 21 13
 f*cking squid lids :/
  • 5 2
 That kid is VERY talented. Great rider and he'll probably develop more style as he ages... BUT.......it is freaking hilarious that a HELMET company puts out a vid of the kid best known as '..that ripper kid with the squid lid..' !!!
  • 6 2
 I love the fact that he came from out of nowhere and is shaking up the podium and getting plenty of people annoyed. Seems like a decent kid from what I've seen. I wish him well. Move bmx transplants please.
  • 5 1
 this kid is good... who cares about the visorless helmet i think he needs a little more time on the big bike but he has a huge bag of tricks
  • 4 1
 HAHA speeding up the downhill part? He did even not look comfortabel on a bigbike!! just looked awkward!
and skip that helmet if you're not going to do flips on the DH bike..
  • 5 0
 My friend filmed this woohoo! living vicariously through other people!
  • 2 0
 Is that you booby? lol
  • 1 0
 You bet your buns hotstuff
  • 1 0
 In terms of the edit, a couple of those drone shots were pretty sweet, but they don't make up for that horrid sound during the interview sections. Jesus, monitor the audio you're recording and take a log off the fire when it's obviously blown to sh*t.

The kid can do some serious tricks, but to have to address the "helmet issue" every single time? Just work it out!
  • 6 0
 Good luck to the kid
  • 1 0
 Well I know I'm going to either get bashed or neg propped for this but this kid can pull some crazy tricks. Triple whips and cash rolls! This kid is going to push Brandon and the guys at crankworks! Having been to whistler and highland in the last year though the course at crankworks puts highland to shame so well see. I will say however he should have left his DH riding out. Not a strong point for the kid.
  • 5 2
 Good to see some awesome talent coming out of MA, I wonder if he rides over at Vietnam!
  • 4 0
 Rogadkin just won the unofficial Claymore Challenge 2014
  • 5 1
 poorly edited video for how massive the DJ riding is
  • 4 0
 Yeah, they kept the music going while he was talking at the end there, really hard to hear him speak. Regardless, impressive biking in it!!
  • 3 0
 I saw him up up at Highland earlier this year with what appeared to be maybe a little brother and, he seamed really nice!
  • 6 2
 This kid is nice. People are on crack.
  • 4 0
 Its like Benny Phillips and Dave Mirra had a baby, and this is it....
  • 1 0
 smooth patto.
  • 1 0
 legit
  • 3 0
 So to be cool here do I have to whine about his missing style and no visor?
  • 1 1
 Kali paid him to take off his visor- they knew we'd all be talking about it and give them more publicity than they've ever had before!! Ha ha. Seriously tho, why don't Kali make him a custom mini visor so he can get good visibility and not look like a plonker?
  • 6 4
 Awesome skills and will clearly go far! but 90s called, wants its bullethead back, peakless is unforgivable, just NO!
  • 6 4
 funny to see him riding a big bike, you can perfectly see how his style is when he doesn't do tricks! There is no style!
  • 5 2
 Who needs a visor when you have sick tricks like his. I like his riding.
  • 4 0
 dudes got skill
  • 1 0
 Makes you wish you'd ridden the slopestyle eh!
  • 7 3
 East Coast represent!
  • 3 0
 OUH HES GOOD, bet hes gonna kick ass soon
  • 5 3
 TRIPLE WHIPPPP???!!!?!?!? OMG!
  • 3 0
 Awesome love the vids !
  • 3 1
 That was one of the lamest DH sections I have ever seen. Sped up? Really?
  • 2 0
 Now your 18, specialized can rape you..
  • 2 0
 Ya Nicholi! Keep it up buddy!
  • 1 1
 Are squid lids a bmx thing? If so they can keep them, all I kept thinking about was the joey from I only ride park haha but, he cashrolls so ill forgive the helme.
  • 2 0
 this kids gunna win crankworx is he doesn't bail..
  • 3 0
 Oh to be 18 again......
  • 4 3
 The thing that struck me was his apparent ego, I had humility at 18...good rider for a punk though
  • 4 2
 Absolutely sick vid, keep at it man!
  • 1 1
 Definitely looked average at best on the DH bike. He seemed really awkward in the turns; funny considering what he can do off a jump on a little bike!
  • 1 0
 Trying to think of witty comment about riding without visor. Then..."Oh!" Put in my place by an 18 year old
  • 1 0
 Looks more like a Specialized promo video and not Kali's. Good riding and can't wait to see how he does in crankworx
  • 3 2
 Squid lid Joey not so much!!
  • 3 2
 Damn- He made Bonesaw look like child's play!
  • 3 5
 Hyped for his parents living their dreams through him. It's like a suburban cocktail party family brag-session trifecta! He's the next brand-whore Shaun White of Mountain Biking. Not a fan.
  • 2 2
 Communist Russia is backing him, just like in Rocky 3. That would explain no style and the precision in tricks
  • 2 0
 Radgodkin
  • 1 1
 Yeah, I remember having unlimited money from mommy and daddy at 18 too. Maybe if I can build a park in my backyard...
  • 4 3
 Nice edit. Whats that song?
  • 3 2
 Must land running by Stepdad. They're pretty rad.
  • 3 3
 Super sick, I see Nicholi giving Semenuk and Rheeder a serious challenge in upcoming seasons.
  • 1 0
 he should get a visor and just consider being human 4 abit
  • 3 3
 Style ? NO !! My eyes hurt !!!
  • 2 2
 the dh part was horrible but the slope part was ok
  • 2 2
 It's amazing what you can do with rich parents eh?
  • 1 1
 Time for the triple flip!!!!!!!!!! Step it up.
  • 1 1
 I guess you can't call someone without a visor a Joey. :p
  • 1 1
 Got alot of hate when he rode bmx as a kid to
  • 1 1
 Rebull squid lid
  • 1 2
 great riding but the downhilling was way to fast
  • 1 1
 Awkwardly dialed...
  • 1 3
 This is ridiculous!!!
Fake Videos on Pink Bike? Rogatkin you got dismissed !
  • 1 2
 Who the hell fast forwards their clips.. Really??
  • 1 2
 He defo should have stuck to bmx
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