FR1DE

Tx. Mod rocks. 2-step w Mi-Co already amazing. Now perrrfect. Turned low-speed up a couple clicks, high-speed down a click and tiny bit more air w better performance all round. Plush on small stuff but less brake dive. Couple mm less sag means more left for hits. Less bob thanks to extra low-spd & psi = no need for FG anyhow. Shaved 3.6g! YEAH! Lol. One obvious tip. Give your knarb-area a good clean before cracking the damper or knarb-dirt will foul your hole.

That Watts shot is great. Where is the CLAW?! IMO Claw deserves 2nd just for his Youtube vids! Lol. Never mind the fact his run was better than Gees! ;)

Before we run with the 'company x is great' thing. Back to the philosophical point. Div of labor is why we have Rampage and also why we have the bikes we have. Like anything, whilst it has pros it also has cons. One of the probs w div of labor is that if people are so busy making heads for pins during the day & riding/relaxing most of the rest of the time; they might appreciate a company providing an event they like (Rampage) but don't have time left to think about - for example - that energy drinks usually contain lots of sugar, too much of that can give people weight probs, diabetes... Or that producing more sugar often involves clearing tropical forests, draining Everglades, diverting river-water etc. And if no-one has time to think about that then you can end up with a world full of diabetics, sugar-plantations... Sound familiar? Yeah - there is the obvious benefit of the entertainment we watched. But there could be other sides to it - like the point made by powfiend (lol at name), about injuries. Or others that may or may not be obvious. To be great you have to look at the whole pic. One thing I love about the biking community is they are normally interested in the outdoors, it's wellbeing and therefore the wider world so everyone everywhere has the opportunity now and in future to enjoy what we enjoy. So pls think about the big picture. Yes Rampage is great to watch. Maybe it could be better if the energy drinks industry used its huge sugar-buying power and massive profits to drive ethics in plantation farming and provide opportunity for guys that work there, as well as providing opportunities for those that want to be the best FRider on the planet, giving us entertainment and a sweet way to down more vodka faster. Lol. Who'd a thunk it?! PB becomes law school, human rights watch, sustainable development centre... Who says biking is not a higher pleasure? LMAO!

If you wanna get really philosophical about it, the whole event is just a product of the division of labor - one of the foundations of civilization. These riders are super-specialists in biking gnar. So we put them in a special place to take it to the limit. This creates a market to see them doing what is almost impossible for any human and actually impossible for most of us - for one reason or another. To challenge whether it should happen, is to challenge whether div of labor has gone too far and indeed one of the cornerstones of market economics... And again, I am not advocating either way. But more on div of labor here if interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_labour

It's a tough one. At the end of the day, kids hurting themselves to sell anything is obviously crazy. But on the other hand, making a living doing what you love is cool. We already banned almost everything due to insurance. That can also go too far. I think that whilst the wrecks are spectacular, more people are stoked by the saves, successes and the effort put in rather than the crash. And people do learn from watching smashes. Maybe a few other kids try something they shouldn't after watching Rampage. On the other hand, maybe a few more avoid injury after watching Rampage crashes and thinking more about how they use their own bike. And a lot of sports need a lot of failures for every success. There are plenty of injuries in gymnastics too for example. Rampage is a once every year (at best) event and considering how many riders were there and for how long, there were not that many bad injuries. Somewhere there is a sweet spot where it is watchable but without many fatalities. Like motorsport, skiing, bobsleigh, hockey, rugby and other speed or impact sports. You can never eliminate the risk of death or major injury. If people putting their lives on the line is unacceptable, then there are a lot of professions that need to change. And I am not advocating either way. The riders decide themselves on the actual risk of their own line and what features and tricks they will pull. They match it to their own abilities. Like Gee deciding a 2nd run was too much for him to handle. ;) Lol.

Brad 'Jesse Ventura look/sound-alike' Ewen. Although I don't think Ewen was a navy seal like JV. I think JV was actually a frogman for a navy demo team in Nam as opposed to a SEAL. Here's JV. And check him in Predator too. Great movie. NOT Predator 2 - which SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS - imo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoqmH49VBC0