Must Watch: Brandon Semenuk Shreds a Custom Japanese Track on his Downhill Bike in 'Lightspeed'

 hahaha that's interesting dudes! actually some of trails like that dirt!

 If so we will all be there...soon!

 The volcanic dirt here is something special. Hakuba Valley is an amazing place in this universe. Deep deep pow. Great dirt.

 I'd be pi$$ed if someone came and schralped such a perfectly built berm if I'd made that... but also kinda honoured if it was Semenuk

 @ctd07:
If you're riding behind someone and they roost a berm like that and cover you is that considered getting hit by schralpnel???

 this brandon kid can ride. his style could fit slopestyle and freeride easily.

 @vjunior21: On my way to the airport!

 As far as steez on a DH bike goes this is the benchmark. Insane

 @chyu: lol either your trolling hard or you been under a rock for the last 10 years or so

 @carbonbootprint: That got me too. A few seconds in I realized he was moving a dual crown beast around like it was DJ'er. Once again, Semi impresses.

 What have you started...

 He would probably do exactly the same, But it would be too watch for us mere mortal. Too unfair!

 He'd need to use binoculars for any nose bonks.

 Pinkbike should do a “hot lap” from the future and see how much faster pros could be on the grim donut vs the current enduro macines

 @brycepiwek: has that video been released yet of Mike actually riding that monster?? I fear it might not actually work....

 @brycepiwek: just get them on a new Spesh Enduro

 He'd make it look like a Session.

 @jaame: i hope you're being sarcastic
if not, you NEED to see all the other masterpeices

 @blowmyfuse: I agree, for me the video was actually pretty boring, nothing special in this one aswell, as usual a few sick bangers but I wouldn't call it a must watch

 I'm with you on this one. I couldn't help but wish there was less video editing going on and more just him riding without all the effects. Seems like all vids are populated by slow-mo and cut scenes nowadays. Not that it isn't cool to watch, but maybe a little too much of the same thing.

 @jaame: you know in Pinkbike land nobody can critique the almighty Brandon!!
But seriously he is a victim of his own success which is unfortunate because of how amazing a rider the guy is. Some of the setups in this vid are very similar to his backyard, just a different backdrop.

 @blowmyfuse: totally agree with you. It’s almost robotic. He has gobs off style but yet it doesn’t really seem that way

 @blowmyfuse: You articulated it very well. Exactly my thoughts. He makes everything too hard look too easy.

I know he is a totally sick rider, deserving of the shortlist for best rider ever. He is amazingly talented and dedicated. Unfortunately the videos look all the same to me. The two up one was cool but it still had too many cuts and swoopy moody artsy shots.

I think Semenuk's videos are for bike fans only. I am a bike fan, but I am also a fan of variety, personality and entertainment.

That's why Danny Mac is winning the game. He has had a couple of duds but mostly he's doing totally different stuff every time, crossing over into the real world with his concepts, and showing a good time and a lot of personality when he does it. Not just a moody, sultry teen-esque face and a bad haircut. Plus, his outtakes let you know he's human and he does a lot of the moves a lot of times before he nails them. I bet Semenuk gets them all first time, which is amazing but not a great way to engage with the average rider. Danny Mac's pommel horse flip thing, they shot it over 800 times. 800!

 @seismicninja: I feel it’s fair to say the video is certainly top drawer however the style is getting familiar. It’s not bad, far from it. I, and I suspect a lot of pure MTB viewers, don’t see the subtleties in the production to appreciate the work fully. Conversely The riding is so good it was feeling dulled, too easy, I started watching Brandon’s riding more closely To see the perfection and obvious work that goes into it. Dead straight wheels on landing, perfect foot position on tricks, nailing the pedals on landing... the difference between being top 99% and 99.9% is small but takes something most simply do not have and not everyone can actually appreciate.

 @robwhynot: There is a certain "what the f*ck is happening!?" with some riders like Rogatkin. I think I just answered it for myself. Semenuk is not exciting to watch because there is a sense of inevitable perfection.

 I'm glad they cut back a little bit on the artsy-fartsy this time, even if they couldn't do away with it completely.

 @blowmyfuse: Agree. I could barely make it all the way through. & I absolutely LOVE his RAW#2; I could watch that over & over.

He's definitely achieved his aim of blurring slopestyle & downhill; previous vids he couldn't make the dual-crown dance & slide nearly as easily.

But- I'm not stoked. Kinda like what's happened to Rampage: instead of burly freeride gnarly sh-- like Darkfest & Loosefest, where you instinctively go "WHOA"... now we have to know which side is "Oppo" in order to go "oh, I guess that's worth more points".

& Love Porter, but 1 more cutaway to 'arty' sh-- & I'm gonna scream. Shredding vids are about SPEED & GNAR; cutaways are for loading screens on an xbox

 Although the others who have replied to this comment make some good points - mostly suggesting that you could group all of Revel Co.'s videos into the same genre and they are now boring...I think that genre is still pretty unique to what most other riders/filmers are doing?

Yeah, maybe there isn't a world's first in every edit, or stunts that take 800 tries to land - but I don't think that's the point of these videos. I'm biased because I'm a huge fan of Revel Co, but I don't think it's accurate to expect these edits to be crammed with just "never before seen" riding and not have the creative visuals and cinematography.

 @mackdaddy55: yes however there could have been a few little things added to this vid such as bc there was heaps said about the trail being "custom made" it mightv been pretty cool to just add a few shots of the build or something like that

 @rockyj: I totally agree, some shots of the build would be pretty sick and give the builders a little extra credit as they kill it with these features!

 @jaame: Semenuk's vids are for more than the bike fan BECAUSE of what you call the "moody artsy" shots. If I show some raw riding footage to non-bikers they're mildly impressed. Showing them vids like this is much more engaging.

I don't know about Danny "winning the game," but he is epic. He's also filling a totally different niche. Danny is about the comedic, a down to earth guy doing extraordinary things. Semenuk is about the other worldly, a mysterious being that rides beyond us.

 Even the #loosedoglewis videos can get stale if the edit itself is too long. He will blow your mind in a parking lot or on a stump or maybe inside a restroom stall if you hand him a bike.
But too much in one serving wears thin with most anyone.

I also am biased because I remember the edit I enjoyed most from Semenuk was him and some others out shuttling some shin deep loamy DH run. And I remember liking it because it wasn't groomed, manicured stuff.

Still blows my mind what I saw him do my last day in Whistler. There were literally no pros there b/c it was the week of the last Vegas Interbike and pouring rain when we first arrived. Saturday the pros came out, him, Stevie Smith, etc. He boosted out of Canadian Open at the back of a train of huge jumpers, went what seemed like a deathly stupid height over their marks and landed out near flat ground and should have exploded bike and ankles but floated to the ground like a bird.

 This is pinkbike not some gay theater shit lmao watch him ride the bike @jaame:

 @tomasinbc: oh no! You said gay. Everyone, he said gay. Oh!

 Fuk r u on about @jaame:

 @enduroNZ: but it says "must watch"...

 His speed and style are always a pleasure no matter what.

 @kubaner: Too right. While watching I was thinking 'B-roll off point'.

 Yes, Cruz Fest in Santa Cruz

 Competed with him at the Teva Games a few years back. The flow on a non flow type dual freeride course was really really something to watch.

 Revel should do a Friday Fails Semenuk edition. Just to make him more human.

 it's like watching god create the universe

 @DaFreerider44: Or watching the Big Bang occur.

 I'd say the same if I didn't just leave your mother's house

 It's like watching a magic show. Everything looks like it defies logic and reality but we all know...it is real.

 @gumbytex: whew. Headed over there now. I was running early. That could have gotten awkward.

 Not gonna lie was slightly disappointing for me... not his best

 @lehott: Brah I was joking

 @DaFreerider44: the famous "sarcastic comment"........ whooshing over my head

 @lehott: I thought Canadian schools were good but maybe they forgot to teach you this stuff or maybe you’re retarded: www.k12reader.com/subject/figurative-language-worksheets/metaphor-worksheets

 @lehott: just because we as humans don't yet understand something doesn't mean we must assign it to the supernatural and sky fairies. Science has no limits, just lack of current understanding or knowledge.

 @DaFreerider44: "Throw a stick, and the servile dog wheezes and pants and stumbles to bring it to you, just as inferior people prefer the inferior animal which scampers excitedly because someone else is doing something"

 @rockyj: me too, that is a hard problem since he has raised the bar so high in the past.

 @wildedge586: I think he's pissed ;D

 @lehott: You’re boring. What are your thoughts on that?

 Yeah, he is just in front of a green screen. They add all the location video after. Looks so real.

 some really cool combos in there! So good.

 Who is dropping Mike?

 JUSTICE FOR MIKE

 @gumbytex: Mike got robbed

 Almost here...

 Was thinking this too. Would love to see his style on something like hardline or one of the harder WC courses. Not even competing, just riding.

 He would lose, World Cup downhillers have these tracks down to a science

 @mkotowski1: I think people just want to see him ride those trails. Not race WC’s.

 @nickgarrison: ah gotcha would be fun to watch

 Champery WC track is nowdays shaped like a highway, not natural...

 yeah indian air seat grab to can can flat-3 nac to can oppo flat-3 inside no hand no foot gap fastplant 3's combos that no one else can do. so played out. yuk.

 I take it you didn’t spot the skid mark on his batty then

 I don´t know what´s cleaner, the riding or his kit ...

 Honestly I’d love to see a B reel of him actually seeming like he enjoys riding, or just being crazy stoked to land a trick. I think part of the predictability is that he never seems nervous. Or scared. Or excited. Or like he’s having a blast.

 @DrPete: I know what your saying. I think he's got his race face on. Nothing wrong with that. You don't see the WC guys getting loose before a race. He's not Aggy.

 @DDoc: yeah, he definitely has a game face. Still amazing to watch.

 Very tough to find places to ride there. Not many trails. Only in the bike parks, some tours, or you have to know someone that can show you trails. Everything is underground if you are foreigner.

 Yes because mountain bikers have better knobs. Population problem solved.

 @kubaner: His kit? Yes. Riding is pretty darn good too!

 He never crashes so he never gets them dirty, but he does require a fresh one for every take regardless. So about 500.

 Pretty sure we scrambled to find 2 sets.

 @SHEESHKAH: he bails at 1:32

 You're a what??!

 yea all the city footage was distracting from Semenuk's style

 The Raw 100 series sets a good example of what good editing is like. (for showing relevant footage)

 Yup, don't evolve, don't innovate, don't push the boundaries, listen to the pinkbike mob.

 Man, it would be awesome to see him challenge the World Cups. He can certainly deal with competitive pressure and his bike skills are decent. What a spectacle that would be. Maybe too risky for his image/brand if he if he, say, didn’t qualify. WC DH is on another level these days. Nevertheless, I would pay to see him race.

 I don't think he could qualify for the finals of a WC let alone challenge. Why would he even try though, he has his thing, a bit like Danny Mac, there is an x-factor with both of them, so smooth and stylish that people can do bigger and harder tricks but they just dont have that crazy smooth style that these 2 have.

 good eye. 1:27 for any doubters.

 Hail Hydra!!!

 He is the Terminator of MTB

 Do you mean your parents? Awe!

 Exactly that ! Along with AWESOME !!!

 God bless pressfit BB's and Tapered Headtubes, Gigggityy giggityy gooo

 You have the link to the full video?

 Rally car racer

 I’m pretty sure I’ve already seen this video six times in the past year.

 @jaame: sad but true