NOCHARGE4AWESOMENESS

I understand your perspective. And I don’t have anything to do with Orbea or Pinkbike. I’m just a random guy from Utah that loves riding mountain bikes. But hear me out on this. Regardless of who we wanted to win or who we were supporting on the show, isn’t it great that Outside/Pinkbike spent a ton of production money to showcase a bunch of riders and elevate them to a broader, global stage? When looking at Pinkbike Academy from that perspective, there are no losers here. Orbea got the content creator/rider they were looking for and Pinkbike showcased Tarmo for the insanely fast trail ripper that he is. For sure that guy got more exposure and notoriety from the show and will probably land a killer deal that was directly related to this show. Plus we got to meet and see Eric, Mia, Ares, Brody, and Brittany and the rest shred lines and show us their personalities. I bet a couple more riders will land some support from this. And then, if we all watch it a bunch and support the show (even if that feels a lot like drinking the KoolAid) it will pave the way for more mountain bike content that will build the sport. So even though Tarmo and Eric and Mia and Brittany and the others lost, they all kind of won anyway. Right?!

Best product update/launch video EVER! Started out like an angst ridden solo consumer biopic, morphed briefly into an 80’s stag film, and topped off with product spotlight and great riding shots. Thoroughly impressed. 10 out of 10 would watch again and will be purchasing to show my support. Thanks VHS!

@Svinyard: Best Mtn bike video I’ve seen this year. If all e-bike commercials were like this the whole world would buy one. The berm to berm transfers were awesome and so was the hood tap and bag smash.

@reagh, @sylvainvanier: I hope he’s right that the earth is flat. When he proves to be right it will make a great movie. Like the movie starring rowdy roddy piper where he has sunglasses that allow the wearer to see the aliens that no one else can see. https://youtu.be/cVAcRH9b44w

That slow motion shoulder, face grind, to scorpion at 1:43 is one of the best crashes I’ve seen all year. Slid for a while.

Mud will be slung not mid. Sorry for the mistake.

But Just1 is now stating that it was a hollow ruling and no damages were awarded. Ruling is under appeal and more mid will be slung: https://m.vitalmx.com/news/press-release/H-amp-H-JUST1-Responds-To-Incorrect-Release-Made-By-SpeedLab-100,21882

Had to do some digging on a popular moto forum site to find the reason for the patent infringement. It’s the shape of the goggle at the center top of the goggle lens. 100% goggles have a raised tab shape at the top middle of their lens that they patented as unique and distinctive. They also feel it has advantages on how it stays more securely in their frames. Just1 released a google with a similar raised tab profile on the top center of their goggle lens and 100% felt it was a patent infringement and proved it in court.

Fails for Christmas means we all win! I think 2020 fail videos proved without a doubt that backpack size is directly correlated to pending fail probability, trailside rocks have real gravitational pull, and evil trees actually move directly into the paths of oncoming riders like linebackers plugging a gap. For me, double tail whip to face plant guy wins the best of 2020 prize. Thanks for sending it and more importantly, thanks for filming all the good times and bad!

World Cup DH is the bleeding edge of technology and what it allows a rider to do. I think its awesome to see teams pushing the envelope and trying new things. If designing a totally different bike with a different wheelsize made you faster and gave you a better chance to win races, you'd do it. Who knows if 29" Downhill bikes are actually faster, but I think it's awesome when these teams allocate big resources to trying knew things in the search for speed. It's this kind of innovation that keeps the sport progressing and allowing more people to have more fun on bikes. I still have a 26" hardtail trek from 2001 that is a fun bike but there is no way I'm ripping that thing out of the garage with the illusion of hitting PR's on all the nearby Strava segments. Time will tell if these 29" wheels are faster. I know for me, I would be hesitant. At 215 lbs of smoothly sculpted beer belly, I tend to get a lot of wheel flex from even stout 29" wheels when I huck them into some real cobble or hit a berm just right. That might be the only downside I can think of, other than it might not feel as fun riding a 29er. They tend to mute the terrain a bit when you're looking to hop and pop.