Video: Tom Isted's Record-Breaking 120ft Backflip at Darkfest

Apr 20, 2023
by Ed Spratt  
Tom Isted's 120ft Backflip

by edspratt
Views: 22,381    Faves: 22    Comments: 4

Video source: eyesprint

The new massive 110ft jump at Darkfest has already broken records as Tom Isted has landed the longest mountain bike dirt-to-dirt backflip. Measuring an unbelievable 120ft or 37 meters the huge send from Tom is not only the longest backflip on dirt but it could also be the longest mountain bike dirt jump recorded.

bigquotesI couldn’t be any happier right now! It was windy, but luckily I timed it perfectly so I had a tailwind off the jump and managed to travel 120 feet, absolutely smashing the old record set by Cam Zink of 100 feet!— Tom Isted

Amazingly this isn't Tom's first time sending a massive flip this week at Darkfest as previously alongside Sam Hodgson they both landed backflips of 106 and 104ft respectively breaking the previous 100ft dirt-to-dirt record of Cam Zink.

Clarification: We have updated this article since it was posted as previously it reported Cam Zink’s record measuring 100ft. It is worth adding that Cam Zink previously set a record of a 110ft backflip in 2021, but the 100ft record Tom said in his quote is in reference to Cam’s record of 100ft for a dirt-to-dirt flip. As Tom achieved his record going dirt-to-dirt he has smashed both records.

bigquotesIt was the end of the session and the light was fading. We were the last ones, the conditions were perfect so we dropped in one behind the other, both breaking the previous record!— Tom Isted

photo
Photo: Eric Palmer

photo
Photo: Syo Van Vliet

photo
Photo: Syo Van Vliet

photo
Photo: Syo Van Vliet


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124 Comments
  • 152 0
 The amount of skill, commitment, and outright guts it takes to pull something like this off is as impressive as anything in all of sports. Casual fans see these highlights and are momentarily impressed, but I think many people fail to understand the years of training, progression, and hard work that it takes to reach anything near this level. JUST AMAZING!
  • 91 8
 I'm most impressed by the builders. Everything is built to absolute perfection which allows numerous riders to send 100ft. backflips. Its unreal being able to calculate the run-in so well on an unprecedented feature.
  • 13 1
 Absolutely. Before I started jumping I was under the impression riders just fire themselves off a ramp and hope for the best. I was surprised to learn that its sooo sooo much more, the finesse and experience required to jump well is on parr with that of an iceskater performing a triple axel. Let alone the amount of mental fortitude it takes to overcome the fear. I think because we see riders in the dirt, scuffed up, sweaty, as opposed to the glammed up impression of other sports, people outside the sport miss understand quite how much skill is on display.
  • 3 0
 @Wabit: so that’s where I always went wrong in my youth
  • 3 0
 @CustardCountry: Yeah I think many of us did. It’s also where a lot of the adult ‘just send it’ crowd go wrong.
  • 16 2
 I would be totally ok if this was the last time "lets go" was ever screamed after landing a jump.
  • 1 0
 @Wabit: the feeling when we get it right though. Smooth like butter.
  • 8 7
 @scott-townes: You're more impressed by the building of these jumps than the guy doing a world record backflip off them? Ok mate.
  • 8 9
 @rbeach: Congrats! You can read!
  • 8 0
 @scott-townes: You don't know that, someone might've read it aloud to me.
  • 5 8
 @rbeach: Stand back, I'm an internet hardass
  • 3 7
flag scott-townes FL (Apr 21, 2023 at 10:02) (Below Threshold)
 @rbeach: Did you just waste your time creating a fake profile because you're insulted by who I'm impressed more by? LOL go boof some tea, mate.
  • 1 0
 @scott-townes: epic physics!
  • 2 0
 @rbeach: pay no mind to scott-townes. His pompous attitude has been rubbing people wrong since he joined in 2003
  • 68 2
 awesome...and we didn't even have to watch a 59 minute long lead up for the 5 second airtime.
  • 5 0
 @sionr644: and 45min of that is usually moody shots of the landscape
  • 18 1
 @Benjisimpson: Alarm clock. Fingers fumbling. Coffee being ground, tamped, brewed, poured.
Shoelaces.
Bikes being put on a truck.
Face shots (four angles).
Bikes being dropped. Slight suspension movement.
Helmets on.
Goggles on.
Gloves on.
More head shots (six angles this time).
Talking. Talking about the jump.
Cocktease shots of 14 run ins.
More run ins.
More talking.
The send in slow mo.
And again.
And again.
Can we please just see the four seconds of footage we came to see?
  • 5 1
 @jaame: That is a perfect recipe for a bike "edit".
  • 66 0
 The picture of all those blokes in red doing it together is unreal, awesome timing.
  • 3 1
 Comment of the Day @watchtower thanks. (well, apart from Cable Tourism...)
  • 61 3
 Yowza, this is a dangerous record to chase. I will stick with trying to break the most Doritos in a minute world record.
  • 62 0
 That seems more dangerous to me. Too many sharp points
  • 52 0
 thats... nacho record to break
  • 2 3
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: yes!!! Comment good!
  • 2 6
flag foes05 (Apr 21, 2023 at 6:49) (Below Threshold)
 @SnowshoeRider4Life: nacho (not your) record THAT'S HILARIOUS !!!
  • 4 1
 @foes05: That's the joke yes.
  • 1 0
 @foes05: i like it when people explain jokes for me
  • 4 0
 @themouse77: Especially when they're cheesy...
  • 50 0
 On a $373 frame from ebay, somebody's gotta sponsor this guy.
  • 43 3
 Sponsor this man!!!! Stop giving influencers free frames, and back someone on the sharp end of progression
  • 2 0
 Serious?
  • 13 0
 @mkul7r4: Check out the dude’s YT. It’s a 2016 Giant Glory bought from eBay.
  • 3 13
flag ShredDoggg FL (Apr 20, 2023 at 13:39) (Below Threshold)
 @devin-m: he is sponsored by GT. www.pinkbike.com/news/bike-check-tom-isteds-gt-el-bomba.html
is he still?
  • 2 0
 @ShredDoggg: nope, got dropped just as his profile started to rise
  • 1 0
 @devin-m: Never a truer word spoken!! I mean, what else has Tom got to do! Aside from getting his norks out on the gram!!
  • 4 4
 @mkul7r4: have wondered about this. Dude seemed like a nice guy when chatting to him at Crankworx - and he’s throwing down hard as f*ck.

Maybe he’s a dick or doing something to make him unworthy of sponsorship?
  • 2 2
 @MrRight: you have to wonder ay
  • 35 0
 Tom's got to be one of the most under rated riders in all of mountain biking? Absolute legend.
  • 5 0
 Barely heard of him before this dark fest and now he’s the guy running first into the big jumps with some of the best riders in the world
  • 5 0
 Lesser known, but I don't think under-rated. He has just started to put together consistent contest runs with really big tricks; previously he had trouble getting a full pull. He doesn't have the same high profile of others... yet.
  • 7 0
 Probably because he isn't much of an actor/entertainer off the bike, which is irrelevant in my opinion. He's well set for legend status I agree.
  • 19 4
 I probably don't mountain bike anymore, or maybe he doesn't. Either way, we are not participating in the same sport.
  • 14 24
flag luckynugget (Apr 20, 2023 at 8:54) (Below Threshold)
 This is mountain biking and so is the lame shit you do. Freeriding is alive and well despite what the dorks in PB comments make it seem like.
  • 7 0
 You rode down a mountain. He jumped the whole thing.
  • 1 0
 @learningcycles: LOL, My little leggies get tired from pedaling the distance he covers in the air.
  • 13 0
 His pull off the lip that you can see in the sequence shot looks like how some people were jumping it straight
  • 2 1
 I’m not a flippy/spinny guy. Can you explain this to me like I’ve never ridden a bike before?
  • 18 1
 @pmhobson: he rotates so slowly to flip a jump this big, he basically pulls off the lip the same as someone who isn't backflipping the jump. Just slowly looks back once he's in the air.

Obviously he does set a backflip off the lip, it's just very subtle because of the slow rotation.
  • 8 0
 @luckynugget @pmhobson It's all about generating the momentum off of the takeoff. Because there is so much air time the rotation doesn't need to come around quickly. So he just makes a slight momentum shift off the takeoff. You can play around with this by flipping a water bottle. To complete a flip you need a certain amount of rotational speed compared to air time. If your goal is to flip as slow as possible you need to throw the bottle really high. Similar concept here
  • 1 0
 @BMXJJ327, @luckynugget Ahh got it. Thanks for explaining that.
  • 12 0
 Crazy shit! Congrats! Also, give that lad a frame sponsor! He deserves it more than most!
  • 13 2
 Will Zink brag about how in his time he jumped bigger?? Such a pity move
Congrats to Tom and all the boys at darkfest pushing the limits !!
  • 4 1
 Zinc was just fact checking Sam Reynolds if I remember correctly, Sam claimed biggest dirt to dirt jump when it wasn't as big as what Zinc jumped, now that people are going further down the landing that fact has changed
  • 8 1
 Check out Zink’s newest instagram post
  • 10 1
 @sionr644: low class calling out for lack of class.. what a clown. Sorry, entitlement of some people is annoying these days. Being humble does not take anything away from them yet they act like 14yo kids..
  • 17 2
 Zink's already made a mega salty IG post AND a classless comment on Tom's own post Big Grin

He's a freeride legend but also a narcissist who can't cope with ageing. Bro really thought he was going to be the best freerider on Earth forever and no progession was happening in the sport.
  • 11 4
 @bananowy: wow just checked Zink... sorry... Zinc's insta post, very classless and bitter, so unnecessary
  • 4 4
 @bananowy: Narcissist? Please save that term for people it accurately describes. There's more than enough hyperbole in the world already.
  • 11 0
 Holy crap...and he landed it deep!
  • 10 0
 yet so smoooth
  • 10 1
 This has inspired me to do the 6' gap jump I always ride around at the bikepark tomorrow.
  • 4 0
 Did you send it?
  • 4 0
 noooooo man don't do it or f==k do it and let as know on Friday fails !
  • 8 0
 Life is a video game. Damn!
  • 6 0
 Tom's inspired me to hit that 120cm jump I've been eyeing off.
  • 3 0
 Go Tom!! So pumped for you!! Your first crankworx podium at Rotorua and now the world record holder for longest backflip on a bike! Any recognition you receive is so well earned. We’re cheering you on!
  • 4 0
 This is the only time you are allowed to claim "That's MASSIVE!" to yourself right as soon as you land.
  • 1 0
 I usually judt scream like a mad man after the jump has more airtime than expected
  • 1 0
 several guys are doing backflips on that hit now... He went WAAAAAAY too deep on that one. Lucky to have ridden that out. I'd think that trying to land in the flats wouldn't be a high priority for these guys. LOL!

Huge props. That was a beast of a flip and a beast of a ride out. Dudes stronger than he looks.

Didn't Zink do that flip 10 years ago? I'd hope that someone could break it by now... the advancement in big jumps and big bikes over the last 10 years has been insane... didn't have jam session events with 90-110 foot jump in them 10 years ago.

Huge respect to everyone at that event. They're all nuts. Chelsea is out there sending it!
  • 2 0
 Not sure the advancement in bikes matters much when he did it on a second hand 2016 glory.
  • 1 0
 @Mini-Pinner: Truth....
  • 1 0
 One camera angle at rider's left at the takeoff, and another at rider's right at the landing, both credited to the same photographer. What are the odds they hired two photogs with the same name?
  • 1 0
 He flipped it more than once
  • 2 0
 Circus tricks going large and can only get bigger until the inevitable horra crash, Huge respect hopefully Tom will get some of the credit he deserves.
  • 4 0
 Why not double it?
  • 4 0
 Silva is going too Big Grin
  • 8 0
 Double it and give it to the next person.
  • 3 0
 @phastlikedatnascar: Honestly it wouldn't be that bad, just a 240ft double backflip.
  • 3 0
 he waited so long to spot the landing! terrifying
  • 3 0
 Awesome! Gotta love the SR Suntour suspension!
  • 1 0
 Curious how many times he did it? There's clips and pictures with him doing it and no one around the jump, and then some with people down around the jump
  • 1 0
 It says twice, the second being lots longer
  • 3 0
 The scale of this is impossible to comprehend. Absolute madness.
  • 1 0
 Holy shit that’s amazing! I can’t even wrap my head around the size of those jumps and then they backflip it…DEEP! At a loss for words, just mind blowing!
  • 3 0
 maybe FINALLY someone can sign this guy ?!
  • 2 0
 It’s great to see something like this as realtime speed rather than only in slowmo like most videos.
  • 1 0
 Got to witness Cam's record breaker in Mammoth and it was something - but that shit shit off the cuff is effing bannanas. Hats off to that animal.
  • 3 0
 so Cam Zink need to step it up I think. :-)
  • 3 1
 backflipping and with more humbleness..
  • 1 0
 Stoked and like everyone else, incredibly impressed.
Tom riding the bike he would want to ride as he love the maestro linkage.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO75vAxtXms
  • 2 0
 "Could be the best 300 pounds I ever spent." Not bloody wrong, pal!
  • 2 0
 An absolutely legend beaten by another! Sad to see you being attacked on Instagram.
  • 1 0
 Uno Perfecto Por Favor ! Plus the sound on the third clip it's amazing... !
  • 2 0
 I want to buy whatever frame he's riding
  • 2 0
 GT Glory I think?
  • 4 0
 Giant Glory sorry
  • 5 0
 ...then jump on eBay. He's riding a 7 year old, beat up frame he bought for a few hundred quid on eBay!
  • 9 0
 @CamRivers: Impossible. Everyone knows the only way to get this good is to spend at least $10k on your bike.
  • 3 0
 Balls of steel.
  • 9 7
 Got to be fake, no way you could do that on a 2018 frame
  • 2 0
 maybe he's just that good.
  • 5 0
 Imagine what he could achieve on a frame with contemporary geometry and his gear cable and brake hose routed through the headset.
  • 2 0
 @dingus: yes, he seems to be held back by this bike.
  • 2 0
 Is is possible he made that look too smooth?
  • 1 0
 Wow. On par with TVS’s front flip on Wild West and that’s a huge compliment
  • 2 0
 that was the most buttery smooth landing ive ever seen
  • 1 0
 Absolute perfection. The way he looked at the landing in one of part of the traily photos made him look like a squirrel. lol
  • 1 0
 It’s so hard to watch other bike clips after watching all of these baffling Dark Fest clips….
  • 2 1
 Let's not forget about Sam Hogdson who also did it with a perfect non overshooted landing.
  • 1 0
 been watching TI videos, and he has rare skills on the bike and this feat shows it all.
  • 1 0
 Looking forward to finding out one day where Tom Isted actually want's to go.
  • 2 0
 Sum bleddy boy innum
  • 1 0
 DarkFest is pure madness…….and I absolutely love it!
  • 1 0
 If that’s a 110ft jump it looks like he went more like 140ft. Unreal
  • 1 0
 My god he landed that perfectly!
  • 1 0
 Wuh
  • 1 0
 Sick. Way to get after it Tom!
  • 1 0
 Absolutely insane. It's like watching a video game. Unreal.
  • 1 0
 I'm beyond impressed.
  • 1 0
 Holy Shit
  • 13 16
 SPELL OUR LAST NAME CORRECTLY! IT'S ZINK Congrats to Tom! Such a bad ass feat.
  • 6 5
 Put some respect on. Came here to say the same
  • 3 2
 Yea didn't Cam Zink do a 110ft flip too, Like a few years back in Virgin, Utah?
  • 3 2
 @lehott: He did, but was actually at his property in Reno. About 110'







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