Podcast: Brandon Semenuk Discusses His Progression on Unclicked

May 10, 2021 at 12:48
by Alicia Leggett  

The podcast Unclicked is created by pro BMX rider Dennis Enarson and Our BMX. The most recent Unclicked guest is Brandon Semenuk, who spends two hours reflecting on his progression, from his early roots to becoming one of slopestyle's top riders.

bigquotesBrandon Semenuk is an absolutely amazing rider, arguably one of the best riders in the world—on any bike. Brandon's roots in BMX were not as deep as I assumed they were, but his love for it is pretty easy to see. So sit back and enjoy two hours of insight into the other side of the freestyle bicycle riding...—Our BMX


Author Info:
alicialeggett avatar

Member since Jun 19, 2015
745 articles
Must Read This Week
Pole Bicycles Has Filed for Bankruptcy
63468 views
Kona Bicycles' Parent Company Appoints New CFO, Intends to Sell Brand
63438 views
Randoms Round 3: Dario's Treasures
43079 views
Downhill Bikes of Sea Otter - Part 1
42835 views
Brian's Randoms from Sea Otter 2024
40669 views
Pinkbike's DH Fantasy League: Get Your Team On The Line - Fort William is in TWO WEEKS!
37807 views
[UPDATED] Final Elite XC Results & Overall Standings from the Araxá XC World Cup 2024
37562 views
Randoms Round 1 - Sea Otter 2024
37369 views
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup

49 Comments
  • 64 3
 Nice to see this finally made it over to PB.
  • 57 3
 Cool to see a rally car driver that rides bmx. Maybe someday he’ll try a mountain bike. I bet he’d be ok.
  • 9 1
 Does this joke ever end?
  • 5 1
 @nickgarrison: no
  • 2 0
 @nickgarrison: no
  • 2 0
 @nickgarrison: no
  • 1 0
 @nickgarrison: no
  • 6 1
 I heard he actually did get a mountain bike and that it looks like a session!!
  • 48 0
 Pinkbike sat on this for a week because they're mad he isn't a Pinker.
  • 3 0
 whats that
  • 43 0
 This was pretty interesting. I feel like a lot of riders are vocal about their history or it is well documented, but Semenuk has always come across as a bit elusive (hasn't done many interviews that I am aware of). Appreciate the mutual respect growing between BMX and MTB as well.
  • 32 1
 Best part of it, he doesn´t go to pinkbike that often lol.
  • 23 0
 Never heard him talk more the 15 seconds. Funny thats its on a BMX podcast.
  • 9 0
 I was pretty surprised to hear the stories about him "investing" his own money for some of the edits he put together. He also seems to be living a pretty humble life. It sounds like even the mtb god should be making more money in this industry. Let's get an edit of Dennis and Brandon riding together....
  • 8 1
 Does he finally reveal which team of geniuses programed him? Yes, that was a robot joke. Lame jokes aside, he's truly an amazing rider. It's so cool to see him do well in rally too.
  • 6 13
flag IF-OBA-WILLS-IT (May 10, 2021 at 14:45) (Below Threshold)
 Yea, the team is called "Being Born on Whistler and Having Access to Professional Slopestyle Courses (Free of Charge) Since Age 11"

Not the most concise title but ay, can't fault their craftsmanship.
  • 7 0
 One of my favorite riders since he first came onto the scene 10+ years ago. Solid personality, humble and always looking ahead to push the boundaries of MTB with some of the most creative (and smooth) looking content around.
  • 5 0
 He won Rampage in '08, insane to think how long he's been at the top of the sport for
  • 5 0
 Pretty cool to hear him tell his story. I do have to make one correction though: there are plenty of rider-owned mtb frame companies.
  • 3 0
 There definitely are. I think it is interesting hearing him talk about how not "core" mtb is but he rides for trek. There are a ton of small manufacturers who are making their frames in house and they totally rip.
  • 3 0
 This is a great deep dive. His comments echo a lot of what I have heard in murmurs, but never spoken loudly. Espceially on early MTB bikes being scary to ride... is so on the nose. I think he either isn't afraid to say what many think. Or, he's saying something truthful that many others hadn't actually realized. Anyhow, that mirrors my experiences exactly-- MTB in the early 2000s was not exactly attracting talent, because would-be expert riders were sketched out by the bike capability. The bikes are awesome now, though!
  • 21 17
 The moment you realize the GOAT of mountain biking doesn't really care about mountain bike
  • 37 0
 Oh come on! It's his main Jam. As a creator of MTB content, (not a consumer), obviously he's going to look into other areas like BMX, skate whatever for inspiration. He's not here for that boost debate!!!
  • 16 27
flag nozes (May 10, 2021 at 14:33) (Below Threshold)
 The man IS the best of what he does,but he's not "the GOAT of mountain biking".
  • 16 2
 @nozes: Funny, because what he does is mountain bike, and therefore, is the GOAT. As far as well-rounded riders (high level across all disciplines), he is at the top. Obviously, he is the king of Slopestyle and Rampage (arguably the most "mountain bike" event in mountain biking). He kills it on a BMX (in the podcast, Dennis mentions Brandon landed some tricks/ lines before the other pro BMXers did...) and he is very fast on a DH bike.
  • 5 13
flag nozes (May 10, 2021 at 17:16) (Below Threshold)
 @leon-forfar: I see MTB on a broader sense than freeride and slopestyle.
Was not expecting nothing but downvotes from my unpopular opinion.
  • 12 1
 @nozes: That's the thing, he rides everything very very well. Brandon raced XC as a kid, and grew up riding in Whistler. He's very fast on DH/ trail bikes. He truly can do it all at a high level. I would love to see him race a DH race. Rheeder managed to beat Mark Wallace, and others at the Silverstar DH race. Brandon is at least on the same level as him on a big bike. I bet if he put his mind to it, he would be qualifying and racing world cups within a couple of seasons.
  • 5 11
flag Blackhat (May 10, 2021 at 19:46) (Below Threshold)
 @leon-forfar: @leon-forfar: But to be declared the GOAT of a broad category like MTB, you have to actually be known for and have a record of broader accomplishments. I'm betting a lot of XC guys could be qualifying and racing DH world cups in a couple seasons.

I don't personally think there will be a GOAT of MTB for a very long time, and when it happens they will almost certainly have world class accomplishments in DH, XC or similar, and Slopestyle/freeride.
  • 7 1
 @leon-forfar: Semenuk is the GOAT of Slopestyle and the GOAT of Releasing Viral Banger Edits.
  • 7 0
 @Blackhat: John Tomac.
  • 9 0
 The dude obviously lives and breathes mountain biking and probably cares about it more than any of us can imagine given the amount of time and energy he’s devoted to his craft. This interview ought to dispel any assumptions that he’s just magically talented. He put in the hours. Just because he isn’t interested in geeking out about suspension platforms and component standards, which is what most of us do more often than riding, does not mean he doesn’t care about mountain bikes.
  • 2 6
flag SupraKZ (May 11, 2021 at 0:05) (Below Threshold)
 @leon-forfar: @leon-forfar: Come on. Do you think he'd make top 70 in any DH world cup? Semenuk is the freeride god, but racing is a different game.
  • 4 0
 @SupraKZ: it's a different skill set for sure. But that said, I can't imagine him not being able to if he put all his focus into it. Maybe not top 10 obviously but he could be in the mix I'm convinced
  • 4 0
 @SupraKZ: Yes, I absolutely do think he would make top 70 in a world cup if he put in the time to focus just on DH. The point I'm making is that he is THAT good on a DH bike too. People "write him off" as just a freerider (obviously that is what he is known for), but he is a very fast dh rider. He 100% has the bike control, and he is great with speed (currently tearing up the Rally scene). He knows how to spot lines and go fast. With his laser focus/ determination, he has to excel in what he's doing, there is no doubt in my mind he would make it into a world cup. I'm not saying he's going to be winning races, but he could definitely qualify.

@Blackhat: I agree, MTB is a very broad category, but Semenuk arguably has the broadest list of achievements and records and is certainly known for that. As the disciplines get more defined and the fields grow, people have to solely focus more so than ever before on their discipline to be competitive. The chances of a rider being able to be a threat in more than one genre shrink every year. Semenuk is the closest to meeting your own criteria.
  • 2 3
 @leon-forfar: At some point a field is too broad to have a GOAT. We don’t talk about the GOAT human, or the GOAT athlete. If MTB is too broad then so be it.

It’s clear from the downvotes that I’m in the minority, but it seems incredible that someone who has never podiumed (or even raced?) a World Cup would get passionate support for such an extreme claim. He might actually be that fast, but in these discussions you should have to earn it in competition. He has in slopestyle, and deserves the title there.
  • 2 0
 @Blackhat: why stop at humans? We should be talking about mammals, or the entire animal kingdom. Broadest field there is but no longer any confusion about the GOAT.
  • 4 0
 Did anyone else get trigged by the amount of times the interviewers interrupted him? I literally just turned it off.
  • 1 0
 Dennis is... Not my cup of tea
  • 4 1
 Awesome stuff. Especially where the 'standards' in MTB are adressed. MTB could learn a LOT from BMX.
  • 1 1
 Ya, totally. I heard some BMX dude is making this crazy new bike that has suspension!!! Maybe someday we’ll get a mountain bike with suspension, that would be super cool.
  • 2 0
 Definitely, that manual-to-backflip was sort of a pinnacle of Semenuk's incredibly talented career. The GOAT no freaking doubt about it.
  • 2 0
 give dan laceys unclicked podcast a whirl, some of his stories are hectic, beast rider
  • 1 0
 I would be cool to see OurBMX and Pinkbike collaborate on stuff in the future.
  • 1 0
 Great content- but damn these guys need to work on not talking over each other!! Super annoying.
  • 1 0
 Rad podcast.
  • 1 3
 The Rally Mam which win the XGAMES, Congrats y'all !
  • 2 5
 LoL !
Below threshold threads are hidden







Copyright © 2000 - 2024. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.033123
Mobile Version of Website