Video: 5 Minutes of Raw Enduro Racing at the Toa Enduro - Crankworx Rotorua 2020

Mar 1, 2020
by Pinkbike Originals  

Crankworx Rotorua 2020 started off with a bang featuring the Giant Toa Enduro presented by Camelbak. Despite taking place on trails similar to last year, the conditions were anything but the same. Riders faced loose and dusty conditions which made the racing all the more interesting.




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98 Comments
  • 54 10
 So, is riding knee pad-less the next big thing?
  • 23 2
 No pads no problems
  • 47 42
 Mate! Some PC bloke brings this up everytime there's a picture or video of riding in Rotorua. Most riders don't wear knee pads here. They turn up, look at the conditions, and make a call as to what protection they think they need. Most riders that don't wear knee pads here do when they ride in a spot which requires that level of protection (nelson, queenstown, etc).
  • 86 5
 @willbam: but what if they hit their knees on something?
  • 45 3
 @willbam: Those guys must not be very good at reading conditions then, the knee pad-less dude ate shit pretty good in that corner. Good thing he was comfortable before doing so?
  • 50 2
 Shattered kneecap is not worth the style points. I'm 10 years in on rehab personally...
  • 28 6
 @willbam: PC? Wtf dude
Where in my comment did you read me advocating for or against knee pad usage?

I just find it interesting that there is more or less a stable "accepted" attire, and then all of a sudden theres a race were a third of the guys show up without knee pads.

Are you that insecure about your gear choices that you jump over anyone who (in a neutral way) comments on it?
  • 37 2
 This is the country that saw American football and thought "Whaddya need all those pads for m8?"
  • 11 31
flag RoadStain (Mar 1, 2020 at 12:18) (Below Threshold)
 @Arierep: it's the new rage. I can't stand the trail helmet nazis. Simply, personal choice. Folks need to SHUT UP and mind themselves. Kneepads? Please.
  • 12 0
 There's pretty much no rocks at all in rotorua I guess
  • 27 4
 @willbam:

> They turn up, look at the conditions, and make a call as to what protection they think they need.

That’s exactly what I tell people when they ask me about me not wearing seatbelts.
  • 16 1
 @camerondodd98: Fair point. But at the speeds these guys are going, hitting a root or tree might be just as bad as hitting a rock.
  • 39 6
 So much anger in the PB comments section.... At least everyone in Rotorua seemed to be having a bloody good time.
  • 11 0
 @50percentsure: I like your personal touch but I can only take you half serious.
  • 4 1
 #kneeReconstruction&brainTransplant!!!
  • 11 0
 @Aleven: nah it's the country that realizes that bashing you head into someone elses with or without wearing helmets is stupid as f*ck, and that by removing the pads the game is safer
  • 6 0
 I forgot what a dry dusty track looks like.
  • 2 0
 @jimbothekid: apparently the research shows that without pads rugby players tend to be less careless about shock damage. Same with mma where smaller gloves result in less long term trauma for fighters than big boxing gloves.

It does not work for knee pads tho. Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @keep-rollin: in mma, it's different.
Bigger gloves protect the hand and therefore allow one to continue delivering strikes. Gloves do not reduce the impact of the strike, i.e. the same force is transferred.
Without gloves, fighters with exceptionally dense carpals, meta-carpals and phalanges fair better overall due to fewer bone breaks in their hands and wrists.
  • 2 1
 @Ian713: Good point. I wasn't very precise. My point was that less protection (combined with other factors) results in less trauma in both these sports, but it does not work like that with MTB Big Grin
  • 3 0
 @jorgeposada: Ha. That was my thought too. Summer yet?
  • 3 1
 For what it's worth, I ride with an orthopedic trauma surgeon. He tells me knee and elbow injuries for mountain biking are rare beyond a few abrasions. The big injury? Collar bones. I'm not saying not to wear any protection you like, but those are the facts.
  • 1 0
 @metalvelo: Hahaha, I in the rain , snow, sleet mud slipping , shovel sticking mode. They need Iron chef copper non stick shovels. Can't wait to be coughing up dust.
  • 4 2
 Doing whatever you want to do because it's your life is the next big thing.
  • 1 1
 talking bout kneepads ahahahahaha
  • 31 2
 Pinkbike dads decree that kneepads must be mandatory but elbow pads are ghey cos mcgazza said so.
  • 4 0
 Elbow pads suck, always sliding down or so tight my forearms pump up. Knee pads seem to stay in place better, for me.
  • 25 6
 Am I the only one tho think that racing at this level & speed should need a full face helmet and knee pads ?
in the future, are DH racers going to get a open face helmet when the track is "not that rocky" so they look cool ?
  • 16 1
 back in 2006, when i started riding the coolest dudes were the ones wearing fullface helmets and real knee pads...
  • 16 2
 So like maybe you could just enjoy their fun vicariously and let those adult people choose for themselves .... truly, it’s not about you Wink
  • 10 0
 No, you're not. Many Enduro races here (Canadian Enduro Series) have a requirement for full face, so some people (myself included) use the modular ones.
Any other armour should be optional, IMHO.
  • 4 7
 @nurseben: By your logic, why even have people wear helmets? Let them choose for themselves, no?
  • 5 9
flag PeterT (Mar 1, 2020 at 22:13) (Below Threshold)
 The best bmx’ers in the world riding the biggest comps in the world dropping 20ft to flat with no suspension or brakes don’t have helmets on. I’m sure some mtbers riding some dusty trails will be ok if they skin a bit of their knees , they know what they’re doing
  • 2 0
 Didn't Giro already market that "Full face without the chin-bar" helmet? You know, the concept that is so mind-bogglingly stupid that even the bike media "wasn't convinced"?
  • 5 1
 @nurseben: Another point is in New Zealand if you hurt yourself you get fixed mostly for free. Even tourists. So maybe the taxpayer would like you to put a few more pads on.
That said, at their speeds I would think that a full face was, ahem, a no brainer.
  • 2 2
 And a lot of the crashers in this edit had their seat posts up on the steeps. Is that a trend there too? Maybe it was a blind stage, but damn, people.
  • 3 0
 Lol at people downvoting me for stating the truth
  • 3 0
 Imagine if a grown man scraped his knee... Just imagine it. Just........ Imagine. wow that was an adrenaline rush thank god everyone is ok
  • 21 6
 When do we get the grim donut tandem ?
  • 13 0
 Knee-ew Zealand
  • 12 2
 At 3:55 did that spectator (accidentally, I think) kick the rider's front wheel? That really sucks for that rider.
  • 3 3
 Absolutely. I went back to look again. Fairly certain the spectator erased any chance of pulling that wheel back
  • 2 0
 Well the wheel was not pointing in the good direction in the first place ^^ It didn't help, but there's chance the outcome would have still been the same !
  • 2 3
 That guy was gone. He hit the freaking tree and his wheels dropped in behind the rut at the same time he pulled his foot out and was trying to eject to get a run down the bank before the guy's leg even touched his wheel.

If any of you think that spectator removed even a shadow of a chance of him not eating it, you're nutter. Guy failed. On the YouTube, some guy is claiming to be the rider and saying he got in a fight over it after the race with the spectator. He deserves to get a punch in the sack if he blames someone else for him not being able to hang on (or maybe avoid a gigantic tree)
  • 8 0
 @blowmyfuse: I'm the rider who crashed. The guy I hit with my wheel is one of my best mates, I hit the tree with my bar. And I didn't not have a fight after the race ???? I was just cooked coming into that section and got slightly off line
  • 1 1
 @Condor94: good to hear.Glad you chimed in. youtube pretender sounded coocoo ! Wink

oh and congrats on making the reel, condolences on making it for the wrong reason!
  • 10 0
 So, so dry. Love the lost time countdown.
  • 3 0
 I thought so too, but I really loved watching the riders who did it smooth. So now I know what i (want to) look like!
  • 7 1
 Tandem Enduro rscing
FTW or WTF???
  • 8 0
 Yes
  • 1 0
 The climbing would suck arse unless your stoker is a powerhouse, getting down is hard, but doable. It’s not all that much fun, I much prefer solo riding.
  • 1 0
 @nurseben: it's tons of fun if you have the right bike and the right stoker.
  • 7 5
 Just makes me warm and tingly all over to see Eddie the Eagle on the top step. He's gotta be an amazing bike handler because you know his fitness can't be anywhere near the other top guys.
  • 4 0
 Love seeing dry dusty riding..... said NO one in the UK right now #winterisreal
  • 2 1
 Well, I loved this. People having fun (spectators included), great tracks etc. If people make the call to ride open face and/or without knee pads that's up to them. It makes me cringe when I see it but it's up to them. Well done Rae and Eddie and all the others.
  • 4 0
 "what's your conditioner?!"
raw calls from the cheap seats
  • 7 3
 Chill the f*ck out you knee pad police!
  • 1 0
 Lots of guys who didn’t make it in the corners had three feet of seatpost sticking out. Notice the guys flying by them had posts down.
  • 1 0
 That rooty bit is probably a LOT nastier than this video presents it. Those riders are so talented.

On a side note, I see folks w/o knee pads and wish I had the confidence.
  • 2 0
 Dusty Nokneepadson took a digger! Ouch.
  • 1 0
 The lack of body armor is so obvious. No wonder so many injuries are occuring.
  • 1 5
flag KiwiEnduro128 (Mar 2, 2020 at 16:43) (Below Threshold)
 this is NZ live with it you wuss
  • 2 1
 Jesus Christ do any of these bloaks even know how to ride a bike?!?!
  • 2 2
 you clearly don't
  • 1 0
 These trails looks like so much fun!
  • 1 0
 The Ibis/POC boys were cookin, so smooth!
  • 1 1
 First time in weeks I’ve tried to watch a video on Pinkbike, and it doesn’t work!
  • 1 0
 Wet, goopy, tacky>dusty, dry, slippery
  • 2 5
 I’m really not getting the anti-body protection movement going on here. Every other day we read about the serious injuries that occur in this sport. Then we watch rider after rider on stage in an EWS not even wearing a FF helmet let alone knee pads??? WTF? The EWS organizers need to tighten up on this honestly. This is just dumb ass behavior.
  • 3 0
 Then don't watch
  • 2 3
 THIS ISN'T EWS you stupid stupid yank
  • 1 0
 I find that lacrosse shoulder/chest pads are perfect for enduro style mtb.
  • 1 1
 Cross country race tracks are gnarlier than these Enduro events! Where’s the fullface helmets?
  • 1 0
 What an awesome place and great fans!
  • 20 22
 Unbelievable - there are bozos racing enduro without kneepads - why not go all the way and race without helmets you cowards!
  • 6 8
 Might as well go without a helmet yeah, because an XC bucket doesn’t protect shit at these speeds.
Those guys are just dumb if you ask me... I thought pads and a full face were mandatory..?
Ah well.. Maybe it’s just me being 44yo.. Thinking back, I rode BMX dirt jumps for years and years on end without any protection in the nineties..... :-/
  • 10 1
 hahahaha I lold so hard imagining a really stern German man being angry about some professional athletes people across the the world and calling them cowards from behind his keyboard
  • 2 0
 @PeterT: that was irony...
  • 1 0
 @Mocope: I know , that’s why I laughed hard picturing it! Haha
  • 3 5
 I remember being forced to wear knee pads at Wairoa Gorge, thankfully I could be free and ride without them in Queenstown, Nelson and Rotorua. Knee pads suck.
  • 10 0
 Knee pads are totally useless. Until they're not.
  • 1 0
 That was awesome
  • 6 9
 CRY CRY CRY oh no they werent wearing knee pads get over it you 50 yr old sooks and shutup and go ride your dumb blue flow trails at 2km per hour.
  • 10 2
 those 50year old dudes wearing knee pads riding blue flow trails might be the surgeons who save your knee because you were too cool to wear some while sending 10metres drops....
  • 1 1
 @Mocope: can you link us to the video of you sending a 10 meter drop while wearing kneepads?
  • 2 1
 @thegoodflow: that's not a logical interpretation of what he wrote.
  • 1 0
 @Ian713: yeah, you're right, but it also wasn't logical for him to imply that there's no gray area between blue flow trails and 10 meter drops. There were no 10 meter drops in this Enduro race, or even a 3 meter drop. I really enjoy the content on this site, I just get so tired of all the whiny entitled comments. Who cares if some racers choose to go without kneepads? It's like some people here are legitimately offended by that choice- it's ridiculous.
  • 2 0
 @thegoodflow: we appear to agree more than we disagree.
  • 2 0
 @Ian713: right on! I hope you enjoy your next ride, with whatever padding feels right for you
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