Brage Vestavik Joins Red Bull

 lol, this ^^

...who is down voting this?

 @SATN-XC: Red Bull employees?

 @SATN-XC: WAKI???
@CalmWaki

 @SATN-XC: Max Verstappen

 @SATN-XC: fat fingers homer simpson scene

 Brage's centrifugal force is so massive that when he rides a drop, he actually pushes the globe beneath and behind him!

 @lehott: Chuck Norris is Brage's body guard. Not that he needs one, just because.

 @lehott: I'm still in awe of that Rampage drop in the last photo, he's so small in the picture yet the launch point and landing are still barely in the frame. ...just...insane. [...any word on his recovery?]

 @jaznomore: I heard the safety car driver got a RedBull sponsorship too

 mine was the 666th upvote

 Dude finallyyy.

 ...yes. Does the brand make the rider? Or do the riders make the brand? 'Cause, no matter how much red bull I slam, I'll never go that big.

 you wanted the best, you got the best!!

 A viking associated to red bull... pffff.... if at least he drinks "that" in a horn or in a skull...

 @SATN-XC: He's back on the bike and recovery is going good. Still a way to go before sending it.

 Ha ha I just scrolled down to the page to write down the same comment

 Was gonna say the same! Red Bull must be stoked to be signed by Vestavik.

 @lehott: His injury didn't sound very humerus to me....

 To be fair, that is actually when I noticed him for the first time. I don't think its wrong to say this is why he got wide spread attention.

 It's not that he's not been killing it. It's that spotlight that garners attention from endorsements. I discovered him through Fest stuff, but even fest stuff is like mid range promotion for endorsements. It's X Games and Rampage that gets big brands licking their lips.

There are plenty of shredders out there. But especially when they're so young it's hard to tell how far shredders are gonna go. Some people change drastically post high school/college. And either stop riding or just slow down, for personal reasons.

Brage ain't one of em... lol

 Many winters ago a kid turned up at the local CruxJam, and dominated the veterans. Those of us who hadn't yet seen him in action were gobsmacked. Didn't take long after that before he had SoMe by the balls. I used his account as an example to (try) and train a new XC MTB team in how Insta could be used. Even back then his reach was waaay outside the national pros, and he was just getting started.

So, not only is he The Riding Ace, he's also quite brilliant at picking good allies, the right deals, and to promote himself to the point of becoming a major brand. Wishing him and his team of wizards all possible success!

 True dat. His edits have been fire for many years! He was just low key until RMTB

 Brage has always been a racing talent.
Back in 2016 he signed as a junior for Devinci Global Racing, teaming up with Mark Wallace and Steve Smith. Unfortunately Stevie passed away a couple of months later and Devinci pulled out of WC racing. Team Manager Gabe Fox and Mark Wallace were able to make the move to Canyon, but Brage unfortunately had nowhere to go.

The next couple of years he was struggling with sponsors and consistency, not having the support to go to all the races. After his time with Mondraker it seems like he was able to carve out his own freeride path. Going back to his roots, digging trails and making memorable freeride videos in the flattest part of Norway, Mysen.

His 2021 Redbull Hardline run does show that he still has the race speed. He was up in the first couple of splits and I think he would easily be top 3 if he still had his race stamina.. -and tighter fitting pants ;-)

Here's a cool throwback:
youtu.be/m5FScwOwM0U

 @NorwegianBackcountry: His recent Hardline run is just everything I want to see from a mountain bike rider. Fast, hard hitting, sends the jumps, right on the bleeding edge between recklessness and skill.

Love his free ride stuff but hope he doesn't sleep on just good ol berm slappin quick cuts with his sponsors. We need that Red Bull Sound of Speed episode before the year is out.

 He’s in another league that Kyle was

 @freeridejerk888: He's also currently 21-22. Let's go over more objective facts about what year it is etc. lol

 @lepigpen: he said was. He is also accurate

 @freeridejerk888: All the top athletes in any action sport are "in another league" than what was being done 20 years ago.

 @sino428: Today's Olympic athletes are just IN ANOTHER LEAGUE than the athletes in the 90s. Why did those scrubs even bother competing back then!?

lol. people acting like kyle wasn't the brage of 2005.

 You'd be able to hear a bike crying in pain, lol.

 just drinks mead from an ox horn.

 These days getting Red Bull helmet is synonymous with winning a gold medal in Olympics. It could effectively be more prestigious than that. Well deserved!

 @calmWAKI: definitely well deserved to get the helmet, I'm stoked for him. @ampb100 gets what I mean.

 @dfbland: im here for you.

 @ampb100: make one "crushes brews" joke, and you upped the anty to mead.

 @ampb100: Comment gold @mikelevy

 Red bull sponsership is well deserved but yeah F energy drinks. that shit is like cigarettes. Redbull and Monster do a ton for the sport but in the end it's a cancerous product. If you need energy, chomp down a granny smith apple that will sort you out.

 @luckynugget: heh no energy drinks are not like cigarettes. Not even close. In fact they are not any worse than regular sodas when it comes to the most harmful of their contents: sugar. You may say that they are overused in certain circles (like 15-25yr old teenagers) but I have never seen energy drinks being a problem in Europe. Beer is far more harmful on the whole and you know what Steve Peat said: Cheers!

 I pounded a Red Bull this morning then jumped into hours of back to back meetings. Crushing it.

 @WasatchEnduro: That made me laugh. Balance it out tomorrow bro. Microdose thursday. Time for relations.

 He drinks them a lot in his videos

 @luckynugget: I'm genuinely curious. Where is the data that supports your statement in regards to redbull or monster. I don't drink energy drinks, but I don't believe they are cancerous.
Highly addicting? Yes. Loaded with sugar which is the real drug epidemic? I'd say for monster for sure; redbulls serving size I believe is actually not outrageous.
Caffeine is also an effective and addictive drug, however when used in moderation, shows no significant signs of harm. Some studies show benefits, as others might point to some health issues.
All studies need to take into account of the health of the individuals.

 @jomacba: Just FYI: The normal black cans of Monster contain just under 12 gram sugar per hundred ml. So pretty similar to Red Bull and sodas like Cola (most are in in the 11-13 gram per 100ml range) What I do like about Monster is there huge range of zero sugar options. (and I agree with you, sugar is probably the part we should worry about most in these drinks)

 @Dogl0rd: haha, definitely not in Europe. Energy Drinks are NOTHING compared to beer.
Most supermarkets have a tiny section . We more of one sort of beans then energy Drinks as a whole.
Beer on the other hand can take 10% space of the whole supermarket. Get the booze and wine together and we have 15 to 25% reserved only for alcohol.

 @kusanagi72: Yup, I 100% cannot argue with that, but again going back to the serving size of 250ml (I understand that redbull also offers larger 355ml cans). Just from a sheer volume, the sugar content is lower (also offer a zero sugar option) and the caffeine content is extremely low at 12mg/100ml vs Monster at nearly 34mg/100ml.
But again, given the options of caffeine content and sugar free options (which is a discussion within itself) I do not see any particular ingredient that is corsinogenic. The only argument I can see people make is with aspartame.
It's likely because people who suffer from PKU don't realize it's a Phenylketonic, or likely suffer from Diabetes and PKU, but feel the need to drink a gallon of diet soda every day.
There may be an argument with sucralose given that it's chlorinated sucrose, however the body lacks the ability to metabolize sucralose and generally passes it.

 @jomacba: Yes there is no point in making it into a scapegoat to hide other dirty eating habits. It's just silly. #drinkwater is so delusional that it ramps up my pulse better than Monster can. Sugar content of RB or Monster per serving is pretty much no different than Coca Cola, Orange juice, snack bar or average fruit Yoghurt. When it comes to combining sugar with stimuants it is hard to beat Starbucks coffee that additionally puts fats on top of it. But just because it's normal sugar content doesn't mean it is low. Everyting is relative - sure, one can take some every now and then - sure. But it is still a good dose of sugar on top of other doses of sugar average human in developed world takes in daily. It stimulates cravings thus actual overeating. Big Sugar is a thing. Like their demonization of Artifical sweeteners. Yes they are not good for a certain groups of people but saying that Aspartame, Xylitol, Stivia, what have you are generally harmful is as mistaken as blaming Energy Drinks for obesity or cancer. It is safe to say that if balance of Sugar Free vs Sugar drinks were shifted with regular sugar being the minority, folks would be healthier. I drink max 20 cans of Red Bull per year, mostly when driving, and it is pretty much the only soda I drink. I still have a hard time keeping my weight where I want it. 200-500 caloric deficit to drop weight after I am done building muscle for lifting in the winter, is tough

 @calmWAKI: f*ck Starbucks anyway. I don't get why people want to drink milk instead of coffee.
Must be really bad when there is no coffee in your coffee.

 @Serpentras: RB and SB are going nowhere. It would be better if drama queens btchd on these corpos to use vendors who don't use slave labor. It would maybe make them want to check how their avocados and broccoli sprouts are grown and picked. Not to mention where that #drinkwater comes from and what's in it.

 He ain't 20, he is 22

 nah, Faxe is Danish.

 Woah that's crazy he's only 20. Long and Huck filled career ahead

 @fektor-b: Has got to be that Norwegian Viking look (i.e., the beard). Most 20 year olds I know couldn't pull that off (let alone his riding, obviously)

 \m/

 There's a decent chunk of change associated with it. About a decade ago a Red Bull athlete told me he had to keep at least 1 crate 'within reach' at all times, like in his car, his garage, his kitchen, etc. So if he saw someone drinking another energy drink he could swap it out for them, he always had one to offer, and had one on hand for everyone in photos, etc.

 In addition to proper salary, athletes gain access to all of RB's facilities and crew. Training, physicians, followup, media-pool/support/distribution network. Deals may vary athlete to athlete.

 It looks like a lot of pressure. Imagine every time showing up to a riding spot and people stop and get out of your way to watch.

 @alwaysOTB: I think Red Bull tends to pick athletes where that was going to happen already

 He was one of a crowd back then. He didn't really explode onto the main scene before his RealMTB-edit.

 @megatryn: so being among 22 handpicked riders on a Red Bull event is not “main scene”? High standards…

 @trigger: HardLine is still quite a small/niche event. It doesn't get much traction outside the gravity-based MTB scene. Most XC-guys I know haven't even heard of the event. Much less those not into MTB. X-Games and Rampage (and WCDH) is something that reach far outside the MTB-scene and for sponsors, this matters. On top of that, his SOME-game has always been super strong and his clout has exploded since his RealMTB edit.

So, yes. Compared to X-Games and Rampage, being 22 handpicked riders on HardLine, is not "the main scene".

To compare: If you are not a snowboarder, can you tell me who place 5th in this years Natural Selection in Jackson hole? (Which is arguably a bigger and has a more stacked field of competitors than HardLine)

I've been waiting for Brage to get his helmet for years, but he hasn't been big enough until the last year to get the notice, but it is very well deserved and I'm super stoked for him.

(Also, I checked your profile and absolutely LOVE your old FFF and Voss-photos! Those were the days! I still have that Marzocchi-calendar)

 What do you mean?

 yeah please expound, was wondering about that

 Andreu left because he has something that interferes with xgames. That’s what some article read. I don’t think they treated him poorly

 Everyone acts like they know something about how pro athletes were 'treated'. I suspect that in most cases, we dont know sh1t.

 @suspended-flesh: i agree

 Did Goldstone get robbed?