Replay: Pump Track World Championships 2022

 Yeah, I'm fine with that.

 just bmx

 These crashes are BRUTAL. Blows me away how this ends up more dangerous than DH in some ways...

 It seems that Red Bull wanted to tell the storyline of DJ vs BMX. So they either need to change the course to keep with this story line or just switch the storyline to the fastest pump track athletes period.

 @Sscottt: Yeah they mentioned it at the beginning so I was like 'oh they are aware and are maybe making decisions in those regards' then they pan out and show the TIGHTEST and STEEPEST pump track ever. So... It's good they know but f*cksake this track made it crystal clear you need to be on 20s/22s to win.

 I have been to a lot of pump tracks and i’ve never been on a paved pump track that didn’t suit a BMX bike better. Don’t take a nascar to a F1 race expecting to win.

 if its smooth , BMX will win. Tell me exactly what advantage front suspension brings to ANY pump track event ?

 @DGWW: longer sections with higher top speeds would benefit 26s over 20s. (although riders are gonna start riding 22s if they wanna win this most likely tbh).

and its nothing about suspension. it's actually about what people are accustomed to as well. if you take the best bmx rider and best DJer rider and put them on the tightest track possible... the BMXer bodies the the DJer. probably by over half a second, as we've seen.

but put both of the best guys on a more wide open track with longer sections and not as tight corners, and they will be close enough where it isn't a free dub to the 20/22 guy. that's what i want to see.

 @lepigpen: The bmx supercross tracks have plenty long sections & plenty high speeds. I still reckon BMX would win on those same tracks against 26" bikes with front forks. But lets zero in on exactly why there are suspension forks on any pump track race bikes. IMO its not about performance, its about appearances / sponsor obligations. Its a glaring flaw in this type of bike in my eyes. Even for dirt jumping, we see BMXers tricking massive trails without suspension, and yet somehow "dirt jump" mtb bikes need suspension ? makes no sense.

 @DGWW: Front suspension definitely makes landings more comfortable and you can go to nose wheelie landings for example, more easily. It's just more forgiving and ends up being a lot easier on your upper body over a long day of riding. It also lets you get away with less buffed jump trails, especially the in runs, though I don't thing anyone wants that. It's interesting that for street now, in the MacAskill era, we seem to have settled on 24" rigid bikes, but the tires are much bigger.
While I'm thinking about this, it's important to note that freestyle BMX is at this point very niche. It seems like it's really like 10x smaller that skateboarding, where they were much closer in scale 25 years ago. BMX freestyle, and to some degree even BMX racing, maybe actually be too hardcore for their own good. Look at what has happened to trials now that the bikes are barely recognizable as bicycles. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is exactly my point) I guess on the plus side, BMX is in the Olympics so can count on that sweet sports governance cash sustaining their administrations going forward.

 @DGWW: All bikes have front forks. No one is stopping mountain bikers running rigid forks if they want to. But suspension is no advantage. 20 years ago, ProForx was offering a 100$ bonus to any BMXer who won a pro race with their forks, so loads of pros rode them. They were all welded to be rigid.

This is not just about wheelsize though. I have both a 24" NS Holy dirt jump bike and a 24" GT Pro BMX cruiser. the chainstays on the GT are much longer, so I get far more pump on a pump track. The DJ on the other hand is really hard to keep on the ground. Also note that the BMX race bikes are incredibly stiff - as in painfully stiff, whereas the DJ bikes will be far more forgiving. And far more forgiving means slower.

 I thought the main "advantages" of bigger wheels are that they don't "sink" into soft ground and they interact less with the terrain. The first advantage obviously helps on softer ground, otherwise it is not relevant. The second advantage is an advantage if your terrain is very rough and you just want to steamroll it. But the property that you get less interaction with the terrain also implies that you can extract less speed from the terrain. If you've got smaller wheels you can use this interaction to your advantage. On a tarmac pumptrack like this, there is no soft soil to sink in nor are there small irregularities to iron out. Everything there is, you can use to your advantage. I've no experience with a tarmac pumptrack yet but even on a gravel pumptrack, it feels easy to go fast on the 20" wheeled BMX yet much harder to go as fast on the 26" wheeled hardtail mtb.

 @The-Foiling-Optimist: So, what you are getting at is : Front suspension is a crutch. Saves you when you make mistakes, makes riding all day easier , lets you get away with poorly built trails. Sounds about right.

I don't think BMX is truly a niche (like, say- RC boat racing) ; the industry is smaller than it was during the 'midschool' heyday , but its still plenty big. Lots of companies, stores, and a dedicated consumer base. Racing on its own is quite large as a discipline. I'd argue that BMX is still comparable to Freestyle mtb just based on accessibility alone ($$$).

I am familiar with the ugliness of Trials bikes , as well as how they roam the streets in colourful team pyjamas.

Administrations ? do you think administration is what makes a sport popular ? Just have a poke around midwest American youtube and you'll see that BMX racing is still very popular at the grass roots level. BMX is in the Olympics because a TON of people race bmx (and not just in NA).

 The tracks would have to have longer sections in between where the larger wheel's ability to maintain speed can be an advantage. But unless you are talking about no-pedal/chainless events a-la Crankworx, you are still going to get your behind handed to you by someone on a BMX race bike. Lighter, stiffer, instant pedal response.

I just finished a short 5 week BMX league for novice-intermediate riders, where you can run any bike. We have guys buying BMX race bikes after the first race after they try one out. It's easily worth 3-5 seconds, it's about 1/2 to 3/4 of a straightaway, over a 26" dj on a course that only takes us 40-45 seconds to complete.

 Not sure what it's worth that big wheels can maintain speed better as you're trying to develop speed on a pumptrack, not preserve it. The ability to preserve speed is what you're fighting when you try to develop speed. Bigger wheels, knobbies and suspension is what can help you when you're unable to sort a situation yourself, but it is going to cost you speed. My BMX had those street tires front and rear and on my local gravel pumptrack and it felt super quick, but it could also be scary. As when I didn't hit some pumps right through the middle, my wheels could wash out and leave my body slamming into that bump. Never had anything like that on the 26" hardtail. I now have a 20x2.35 Schwalbe Smart Sam in front and even though it feels safer, it is also slower. I also tried a 20x2.4" Minion DHF in the front and even though it felt much safer and slower, it was also constantly firing gravel at my face .

Either way, it seems to me that on those smooth asphalt pumptracks, you don't have any irregularities so you don't need big wheels, suspension or knobbies to solve anything for you there.

 @championpsychlist did you know that if you look up someone's competitive history in this context it's called a BMX Background Check?

 It's interesting to see what those who ride both choose each time.

 A BMXer who wears a helmet is a win as far as the UCI are concerned...

 Did you see any nudists competing?

 @onawalk: @olrustybones onawalk gets it! the underrepresentation is GLARINGLY obvious! #onawalkiswokepal #asglaringasmythighsonanuderide

 @carlwheezer69: this is what I was waiting for.

 Skip to the men at the end. It's insane.

 Did you watch?? One of the girls did that. Got f-ed up!! It was scary.

 @mybaben: yeah it was crazy! her visor exploded and she was out. Super scary then Clerte gets KO'd. So glad they were all wearing full face helmets.

 @dennyg1968: Yeah, it happened so fast it actually scared me! She hit so hard and fast and you could see she was out like a light as she rolled down the side of the berm.
For real on the full face. I had my front tire go over the back of a berm a few years ago too. I've worn a full face full time ever since.

 imagine how the BMXers feel when they want to watch a pump track contest, but BMX bikes aren't allowed to compete. This contest was open to your preferred wheel size, they are just the wrong tool for the job.