Tom Bradshaw and Matt Beer throw caution to the wind and head out into the Whistler Bike Park to answer the question no one asked: Can you ride A-Line without touching your brakes?
I watched so many videos from A-Line that I can ride it with my eles closed and at night without lights. Soo sad, Ilive only one continent too far, but some day…who knows…
@UncleSpec: I managed to change job and wrangle a trip, then another year left booking an Alps trip so late it was the same price to head back to Whistler!
Pro tip- if your wife says its fine, book it non refundable so when she then says that fine did not mean fine, it's too late to cancel.
@jmusuperman if we keep these challenges coming that's the way we're heading...... and yes @danielfloyd we should've called this "Can You Ride A Line Without Braking On a DH Bike ON A HARDTAIL!!!" - much better ring to it
@Tombrad: part of me is worried for how much you're going to have to endure in the next few months. Most of me is excited for the content I'm going to consume. We all make sacrifices.
stakes are not high enough... MUST: remove brakes and chain and duct tape feet to pedals/hands to bars. Then - and only then - will the coliseum audience be satisfied.
@Lookinforit good call - but good luck to any close caption machine that can figure out my accent - the @thedirtyburritto has done an excellent job in the past
Remeber when the first 27.5 DH bike was released, someone got seriously butthurt in the comments saying their should be different race categories for different wheels it was going to be the end of the sport etc; and then started arguing with people which culminated in him challenging people to settle their dispute with a race down A-line. Did anyone take him up on the offer, and if so, who won?
@danielfloyd: i remember the first year they dulled all the lips on Aline because everyone was on bigger wheels. It's crazy how much jumps have had to change to be dull enough for jerrys on 29ers to not complain about getting bucked off everything.
@milanboez: not really, with bikes getting longer with bigger wheels you need to change the transitions to suit. Nothing worse than hitting a kicker at speed and your front wheels left the transition before your back wheels even hit it.
@thenotoriousmic: technique goes a long way, and is lacking amongst too many riders. When features are made 'safer' they are often less fun (mellow lips = less poppy) for those who can ride them. There's a big difference between a steep lip and a bucky lip. For big bikes steep lips just need to be longer and higher with a smooth transition.
@milanboez: I agree but it’s a bike park so it has to cater for the masses and cover their asses from claims so they’re going to have big long mellow take off’s into big long landings just to keep casualties down. Takes a lot of skill to be able to tackle a legit kicker at speed which most people don’t have.
"Ride in control and within your ability level at all times. You must be able to stop" is literally written in the T&Cs of the bike park pass haha, I'm sure some fun police will come along in the comments.
That's probably why they didn't do an actual brakeless run (as in no brakes installed at all). Not using your brakes because you didn't need to is very different from not being able to stop because you don't have brakes or your brakes are broken/shitty.
@justinfoil: it was literally explained at the start of the video that they originally intended to take them off but they weren't allowed to because of the bike park rules.
I have doubts about making the turn at the end of the tech section, other than that it’s doable. But Aline from 10 years ago? Less so. They’ve added so many speed checks into the trail to keep Jerrys from dying that it runs a lot slower than it used ro
I was just wondering how they manage to go that slow without touching the brakes. In my memory you would go lightning fast in sections where they are barely rolling. But probably also because last time I was on A-Line it was bone dry.
A weight-weenie's dream: no brakes, no chain, no derailleur, shortest crankset you can buy! Heck, go one step further and have a carbon seat post that's cut short enough at your desired DH ride style and send it!
"throw caution to the wind"? Remove the brakes is throwing caution to the wind and the little picture preview on YouTube actually shows your fingers on the brake levers
105 Comments
Soo sad, Ilive only one continent too far, but some day…who knows…
Pro tip- if your wife says its fine, book it non refundable so when she then says that fine did not mean fine, it's too late to cancel.
Then - and only then - will the coliseum audience be satisfied.
The auto-generated ones are good, but they do struggle with accents.
Without prior knowledge of A-line, the phrase "moon Buddha" might confuse some people.
Did anyone take him up on the offer, and if so, who won?
Also Dirt Merchant is no joke, the videos and photos don’t do it any justice as to just how big and crazy those jumps and features are.
I would love to get back to Whistler to ride some more of its awesomeness.
But can it be done? Probably with exception to the s-turn after the rock drop and following straight jump.
And hair pin at the end of the tech section...