Categories Announced: Pinkbike's 2014 MTB Awards

Oct 14, 2014 at 13:10
by Pinkbike Staff  
Pinkbike MTB Awards logo

The corks have been popped on the last of the World Cup champagne bottles, the annual trade shows have come and gone, and the Northern Hemisphere is about to make the transition from fall to winter, which means that the 2014 mountain bike season is nearing its end. It's been a whirlwhind of a year, and we've been lucky enough to witness some of the most exciting DH World Cup racing the sport has ever seen, a hotly contested battle to become the Enduro World Series champion, along with the mind-blowing progression of mountain biking's top slopestyle and freeride athletes. Bike technology has continued to advance at a rapid pace as well, with the introduction of a bumper crop of must-have rides, and advances in suspension and wheel technology.

The Pinkbike MTB Awards will once again recognize the year's most outstanding performances, featuring categories that include everything from Bike of the Year to Male and Female Athlete of the Year. And while Pinkbike's editors will be making their own selections, other categories will be chosen by the Pinkbike audience. Nominations will be announced in the next few weeks.

(Last year's winners in brackets)

Racing/Events
Female Gravity Athlete of the Year (2013 - Rachel Atherton)
Male Gravity Athlete of the Year (2013 - Steve Smith)
Slopestyle / Freeride Athlete of the Year (2013 - Brandon Semenuk)
DH Race of the Year (2013 - UCI World Cup #3, Vallnord, Andorra)
Enduro Race of the Year (2013 - Enduro World Series #7/Superenduro #6, Finale Ligure)
Best FMB Event (2013 - Red Bull Joyride at Crankworx Whistler)
Best Trick (2013 - Cam Zink's Backflip off of the Oakley Icon Sender at the 2013 Red Bull Rampage)
Highlight of the Year (New for 2014)

Tech/Product Related
DH Bike of the Year (2013 - GT Fury)
Trail Bike of the Year (2013 - Specialized Enduro 29)
Best Suspension Product (2013 - RockShox Pike)
Component of the Year (2013 - SRAM XD Driver Body)
Best Innovation (2013 - SRAM X-Sync Narrow-Wide Chainring)
Best Value Product (New for 2014)

Company Related
Most Improved Brand (2013 - Kona Bikes)


Media
Photo of the Year (2013 - Sterling Lorence and Thomas Vanderham)
Video of the Year (2012 - Silvia Films)
Outside-the-Box Award (New for 2014)


General
Game Changing Idea of the Year (2013 - EMBA's Enduro World Series)
Comeback of The Year (2013 - SR Suntour)
Advocacy Award (2013 - People For Bikes)


Author Info:
pinkbikeaudience avatar

Member since Jul 22, 2013
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74 Comments
  • 196 2
 What about Pinkbike Comment of the Year??
  • 70 2
 That would give waki, penutbutter and protour the chance to compete on a world stage against the very best in the business. Waki for most improved!
  • 9 3
 yeah which one has the most props
  • 45 0
 Peanutbutter for most neg props on the cancer thing...
  • 5 1
 barneyisyourhero gets the prize for the most props... 801
  • 12 0
 www.pinkbike.com/news/mountain-bike-stolen-at-gunpoint-2014.html
  • 42 1
 Seriously though, for having such an active comment community, pb should totally have a top ten comments of the year or top comment award. For me, half the enjoyment of each post is reading the comments, so being able to reread all the best and funniest at the end of the year would be brilliant
  • 6 2
 usually if its a post about yet another enduro bike i will never ever buy, the comments are the only thing i look at Wink
  • 4 0
 Nonono the guy who won the dartmoor on name the dartmoor dh bike won with over 1000
  • 1 0
 haha your right
  • 1 0
 That was in 2013 though
  • 3 0
 This top comment would be at least top 3 m.pinkbike.com/news/grizzly-bear-charges-mountain-biker-2014.html
  • 1 0
 haha yeah¨¨
  • 2 1
 Comment of the year = pun of the year... because that seems to be the trendiest crap on this site... pft. Race of the year, definitely has to be the Hafjell world champs. That was crazy.
  • 1 0
 check that.. 833 props now..
  • 28 2
 DH Race of the Year:
I'd have to go for worlds, so much drama between Neko's epic run, Hill's crash and that massive overshoot
Male Gravity Athlete:
The Rat was amazing, but who doesn't love some Sam Hill magic?
Female Gravity Athlete: Manon duh

... And that's all I care about. Love trail riding but it's a but meh to watch and follow the standings imo
  • 2 7
flag enduro29er (Oct 25, 2014 at 9:16) (Below Threshold)
 I'm sure you meant Mosely, right?
  • 23 0
 I want to eradicate the phrase game-changing/game-changer from the face of the earth. We're still riding bikes up and down mountains. The frigging game hasn't changed folks.
  • 2 13
flag Togeone (Oct 24, 2014 at 17:15) (Below Threshold)
 Sadly, I think electric mountain bikes will be game changers.
  • 21 0
 Female Gravity Athlete of the Year: Manon
Male Gravity Athlete of the Year: Sir Rat

DH Race of the Year: Has to be World Champs surely?
  • 8 21
flag mightymole94 (Oct 24, 2014 at 9:44) (Below Threshold)
 I'm going to be that pillock and disagree. My vote is for Rachel. Getting a virus at the beginning of the season and still committing to racing? That's a racer's spirit.
  • 3 0
 world champs or meribel
  • 2 1
 Certainly not PMB
  • 1 1
 I give it to manon.

rachel
www.rootsandrain.com/rider747/rachel-atherton/results/?series=339
Manon
www.rootsandrain.com/rider425/manon-carpenter/results/?series=339

Manon was fastest in the elite women on 3 of the 7 occasions.
Rachel was fastest on 2 of the 7.
If we disregard fort William Rachel was more consistent (rachel was DQ)
www.rootsandrain.com/compare.html?i=425x747&series=339

But we cant discount fort willian and that plays a big roll in the decision, consistency wise they were both very close, although fort william is a big plus to manon. At the end of the day though manon won worlds and the worldcup that is huge and she also made a big jump in her performance. Rachel has been at the top for a while manon broke through this season. I like rach but the winner is manon for me.
  • 1 0
 Llangynog was so sick to watch... doesn't have to be a WC Wink
  • 18 0
 How about "best marketing bullshit of the year - for company that almost make you believe that it really was something that amazing that you need to change your bike and gear immediately"
  • 11 2
 Trek Formula one suspension bullshit stuff
  • 12 5
 Yeti. Every. Single. Year.
  • 6 5
 Yeti SB5C's Infinity Fox suspension definitly
  • 1 0
 To infinity and beyond!
  • 4 0
 Everything "enduro" branded and certified.....
  • 3 1
 X01 because you almost had to change your entire bike for it to be compatible... for no reason whatsoever.
  • 17 0
 highlight of the year....Chainless or Tyreless? its a close one..but my vote goes for tyreless
  • 1 0
 Yeah mate!
  • 2 0
 Chainless Wink
  • 11 0
 DH rider: DA RAT
Enduro RIder: fabien barel ( coming off a broken back and then winning the final stage of the EWS- bad ass)
Trail Bike; SC Nomad
  • 9 0
 Category suggestions:

Tech/Product Related
Wheels of the Year ;-)

Company Related
Best Service
Corporate Advocacy Award

Racing/Events
Break Out Biker/One to Watch (up & coming athlete who has broken onto the scene)
  • 2 0
 By best service do you mean call-in customer service or on-site tech service?

Agree on the break out/one to watch. That would be a fun one. Who would you select for that?
  • 1 0
 SRAM at crankworx should win best onsite customer service, it was amazing. One to watch Carson Storch or Tom Van Steenbergen! At least in the FMB
  • 9 1
 Game changing idea of the year should go to the Schwable/Syntace ProCore… It's not in production yet, but it's pretty close, and has been proven in the DH world cup series.
  • 2 0
 It's like the term "no compromise".
i.imgur.com/8mS65Uk.jpg
  • 3 0
 These awards should create benchmark products against which other products are reviewed next year. So instead of giving us general comments like: " A solid trail bike that can be raced at Enduro events" we can get verdicts like: " Not nearly as good as a SC V10 for the following reasons:....." or Just as good as the V10 for half the money....blah,blah..." All DH bikes for 2015 get "tested" or reviewed against the V10.

Obviously the rewards are never going to cover all items, but it would be awesome to start building a "benchmark list" for as much as possible. For example the TLD D3 can be the benchmark full face helmet until another product is so much better that it will be silly to still rate the D3 as the "benchmark". None of those pointless " 10 best" lists either. One item per category.

Not sure if I got my point across, but its worth trying.
  • 2 0
 i think they would be afraid of pissing off sponsors by doing that. word of mouth still holds more water than any OTY contest or review. always has. always will
  • 8 1
 No wheel size of the year?
  • 11 0
 Wheelsize of the year:
www.ebay.com/gds/LEGO-Tyre-Measurement-Guide-/10000000177732291/g.html

Wait...
  • 4 1
 Best trick will be an interesting one! Triple flip, double frontflip, double back nohand, frontflip flair, Zink's massive 3 drop and his 100 foot flip... lots of stuff went down this year!!!
  • 15 2
 I'm not the biggest fan of Semenuk, but the best trick was by far his cork 720 at Crankworx
  • 2 0
 That's a contender too, yeah. Although it should be the one in Rad Company then, as that one was the first on a step down.
  • 2 1
 Cliffhanger back flip fo sure
  • 1 0
 fabdemaere which one??
  • 2 0
 @Minibeast he's obviously talking about the one off the whale tail
  • 1 2
 Mike Mo's crazy combination from best trick at Whistler
  • 3 0
 @austinmc that was last year though
  • 2 0
 I'm picking CCDB Inline for best suspension product.
Best value - some sort of 40T adaptor
Innovation - schwalbe procore ? It's hard to think of much else that innovative this year
  • 1 0
 The Canyon Shapeshifter looks like a neat idea: A combo between Cannondale's DYAD idea and adjustable geometry. There's also the Di2 of shimano landing on MTB products, Switch Infinity from Yeti, the ION's kneeguards that "move" and a long list of etc.
  • 1 0
 You're right Shapeshifter is innovative. Di2 isn't its just a now well-established road product repurposed. Switch infinity again you are right I forgot about that
  • 5 0
 Highlight of the year:
Claudio's course previews
  • 5 2
 I'd honestly say most improved company is FOX. They rebounded (HA!) from the CTD fiasco in a big way
  • 4 0
 What about Rob Warner's comment of the year?
  • 3 0
 It wasnt Warner, but the second of silence followed by "He's up" when Neko Mulally went through the checkpoint on his chainless run was commentary moment of the year for me

1:22 ish into this video if there's anyone left in the world who hasn't seen it yet
m.youtube.com/watch?v=mdnZhvLTvMM
  • 1 0
 I'm looking forward to the results! It was a heck-of-a-year. You guys do a great job. Thank you all for giving us a place to watch videos and complain about things we don't like.
  • 2 0
 Jared Graves becomes the first male mountain biker to be world champ in multiple disciplines, and nobody suggests him for male athlete of the year?
  • 4 4
 trail bike of the year should go to YT for their capra!
component : dropper post

dh race of the year is hafjell-meribel was exiting af but hafjell had that edge that got me so into it...
  • 2 0
 So do get to actually vote on any categories this year?
  • 2 0
 Where is trail of the year??
  • 1 0
 Yes, sometimes there's great comments... Sometimes is the funniest part of the posts
  • 1 1
 Nice work making the logo look like the Kanasa City Royals logo. Your graphics guy must be a fan
  • 2 0
 best mtb site?
  • 1 0
 What about best beer of the year?
  • 1 0
 How about best Enduro racer of the year for male and female???
  • 2 0
 Belongs in gravity category I guess..
  • 1 1
 What about be PinkBike commenter?
  • 2 1
 Fatbike!
  • 4 6
 I nominate FEST series for all categories!







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