STATS: The Bikes of Red Bull Rampage 2022 by the Numbers

 #innertubesaintdead

 and clipless pedals

 26 in and tubes clearly a W combination

 2 mini mullets in our stable, both very fun bikes. One full mullet but not sold on the 29er front myself. It has great rollover but requires a lot of setting up for tight twisty berms which I feel can go wrong very quickly if get off line.

 HA!

 @bat-fastard: Agree on the 29 mullet ,love the confidence it gives on the steeps but for the twisties I opt to bump my fork 20mm and run a 27.5. It seems that all of the corners in the local trails have gotten wider in the last few years or so with the popularity of the 29er IMHO. Maybe the ebikes are contributing too.

 My coworkers have heard me laugh for sure!

 Pretty sure Remy Metallier rode rampage on clips a few years back

 i saw ropelato ride clipped in, he's probably not the only one

 Logan binggeli I believe rode clips one year.

 I think Remi used clips.

 Tons of riders rode clips the first few years. Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat, Greg Smith, Chris O'Driscoll, and I'm pretty sure Cedric Gracia won RAMPAGE!!! on clips in 2003.

 @TEAM-ROBOT: no doi dude it was because of all the loam back then

 Gee Atherton in 2010 ?

 @TEAM-ROBOT: the Cedric Gracia back flip was clipped in, yeah?

 @TEAM-ROBOT: because they didn’t have to do all the tricks to win back then. Same reason the “freeracers” are pretty much extinct at Rampage now too. (This is not a complaint, I don’t actually mind the evolution as much as some others do. But I’ll never forget how smooth and fast Gee rode the course back in the day.)

 @weebleswobbles: sorry for my darn twitchy fingers. I was trying to upvote you.

 @tomamitai: had completely forgotten this! Wish we could see it again, the last time he had an invite all the border stuff totally scuttled him, such a shame

 @TEAM-ROBOT: so true! Had forgotten this as well! You don't need flats to backflip Don't know how that iconic moment slipped my mind

 @lifeofloon: no worries!

 And pretty sure considering the first chart we saw more than 18 forks at rampage.

 @BiNARYBiKE: speed is underestimated and is really what puts aside runs in my opinion...

 @BiNARYBiKE: I think Jackson Goldstone would totally do it, but there's a fat chance the Syndicate allow him

 Japanese users may be amused

 @Venturebikes: Good call and I would so love to see it.

 @TEAM-ROBOT: "yah!, no doi dude" (no doi? what is owl-X a fart face and grody to the max?)

 @Venturebikes: They let him do Hardline

 @Venturebikes: I don't know if doing a single rampage is necessarily more or less dangerous than competing in a whole season of world cup DHs plus hardline. There are videos of him hitting 80 foot gaps as a 10 year old. I am sure with his talent he charts his own path.

 @ElDebarge ummmm you're from then too

 Or someone has two forks?!

 Russ Morell in 2003, according to google and PB

 Maybe somebody is using a Marin Titanium F.R.S. Frame?

 @Alturis: 18v17 doesn't sum up anymore then.

 @colincolin: google pics of that bike… early ones basically had a fork for seat stays, thus increasing the fork count by one.

 @nateb: I believe Semenuk has both a Zeb and Boxxer at the event to ride

 With at least 10 rampage, they were less than 2 bikes every year? These stats are broken

 urmom

 But then the sponsors would see their brands (Fox and Maxxis for example) aren't represented like they want to!

(No this was not serious)

 BwUt My ExCeL!

 Pie charts are business-school trash anyway.

 Of all the pinkbike memes, their inability to present data has to be the truest.

 @dirtyburger: sorted bar chart with brand written under bar

 @Glenngineer: Don't forget the race results and start lists.

 @dirtyburger: Outside business school they're fine, aren't they? As long as you stay clear from the fancy 3D perspective ones.

 probably running proper pressure for what hes doing so wont have an issue.

 Surprised to see so many i9 rims and no DT rim.

 God damn it.

 @brianpark: Love the edit

 #flatpedalswinmedals

 Pedals or tubes?

 Anyone who's done a few TPS reports knows that!

 And how is Fox not always assigned to orange?

 this

 Every time I hop on my 26" dj, I remember why I fell in love with biking in the first place.

 but normal people don't need freeride bikes

 I'll remember to buy a 27.5" just in case I get invited to Rampage

 @ILv2MTB: I'm sorry your local riding scene sucks

 "whats being pushed onto most consumers"**

 they need to run way higher pressures so they don't blow their tires off on spin landings.

 Is there a pressure limit on tubeless tyres? Kinda surprised that tubeless plus insert wouldn't be less likely to flat on a spin landing.

 @plustiresaintdead: Tell that to the 15 dudes running Tubes at Rampage...

 @wolftwenty1: Isn't this true of pinch flats on tubeless too? That's what the sealant is for right?

 @plustiresaintdead: Anyone except the 15 pros running tubes at Rampage?

 The riders use tubes because landing sideways will sometimes burp your tire.

 @onetrykid: this the right answer. At the high pressures they run they don't really get pinch flats either.

 My question: why are there 2 guys running tubeless?

 @mechatronicjf: they're probably sposored by a tubeless tire sealant?

 @L0rdTom: stans recommends 45psi max for mountain and 100 for road, not sure about other brands

 Tubes NEVER burp.... with the impacts an stresses these riders are putting into the wheels the last thing they want is to burp out all they air half way through a Rampage run simple

 Tubeless is great for lowering tire pressure to get more grip and smoothen out the ride, this kinda falls under the same logic of having bigger wheels, both makes sense and works great for typical offroading, but not for freeriding, especially Rampage. Generally with tubeless the chances of burping caused by sideway landing and hopping into a spin gets higher along with the increasement of tire pressure as there's nothing to actually "grab" the tire on the rim, while traditional inner tube and hooked rim design has proven to be working better in this scenario. And since riders need higher pressure for easier spins and protecting the rim from those insane landings at Rampage, and Rampage is barely anything about cornering speed and that 0.01 sec gain due to more grip anyways, it's logical to go with tubes.

 29er = death?

 There are three types of lies: 1. Lies. 2. Damned lies. 3. Statistics

 They say sixty-five percent of all statistics Are made up right there on the spot Eighty-two-point-four percent of people believe 'em Whether they're accurate statistics or not I don't know what you believe But I do know there's no doubt I need another double-shot of something ninety-proof I got too much to think about

 26 fo lifer an..... as much as it irks me to say it...... mini mullet is the future

 and no 29ers

 and no hardtails and no water bottle cages and no ebikes

 At least one cool looking set of DMRs in there.

 My bets on mostly Tubolitos like it was last year. Would have been nice to confirm though!

 I suck at graphs. That's fixed.

 @brianpark: did you just get an excel-basics course? :-P

 Thanks. I'm in!

 @thingswelike: pinkbike comment section freeride team

 @nowaybro: has to ride on the grim donut

 That would be awesome! Top five most shit talking commenters finally have a chance to walk the talk. Maybe get a funeral home on board as a sponsor or something

 @VtVolk: and doublecrownaddict should be harassed to ride a Yt bike

 Think only 1 dude is on Fox and it's Nell. Believe he and Bienve are the only 2 on Fox right now and it's not because of direct support from Fox. When Fox switched to Marzocchi they lost a few riders too. TVS. Zink. Rheeder. I'm curious how many of these guys don't have suspension sponsors. Few of them are running blacked out forks and I don't see any fork company being o.k. with that. Example being Sorge... he skirted the RS comments but talked about the Push insert... so I'd think Push is supporting him and RS is not.

 I can tell you that many of those choices were based on sponsorship. But it also tells you that if someone says one brand is night and day, or you have to have a coil to go big, etc. they are full o'crap.

 @ICKYBOD: less many, more most.

 @ICKYBOD: I feel that freeride athletes, at least at this level, choose their sponsors more than other top level mountain bikers. Racers tend to be on teams with a group of sponsors where the freeride guys are more of free agents. Not going to say that money and perks aren't a factor in that decision, but a lot of people rep the brands they like.

 @AddisonEverett: you think FR's actually choose a yeti??
(sarcasm lock on)

 @naptime: *joker voice* I do, and I'm tired of pretending that I don't

 @AddisonEverett: Either Suntour is waaaay more awesome than they get credit for, or you might have that backwards

 @ICKYBOD: I’m not talking about brand choice. I’m sure whatever brand provided their rider with a 12speed had a 7speed handy if the rider wanted it.

 Carson Storch is running FR541 rims?

 Tubes are the OG insert.

 They might not like the extra weight in the wheels. Alternatively I doubt they use inserts for day to day riding, so there is probably an element of sticking to what you're used to as well

 Enve wheels would instantly disintegrate at rampage

 Not a lot of carbon = doesn’t fit the Pink Bike agenda.

 I’m surprised to see so much i9 rims, haven’t really heard anything exceptional about them except the aluminum-spoke ones being ass

 ENVE wheels are like the E13 alloys lol.

 @fewnofrwgijn: Not sure where you get your info - i9's ride great, look great, and are absolutely bombproof, especially the aluminum spokes. Some folks might say the aluminum spokes ride a bit harsh, but I doubt those people ride off cliffs and want the strongest wheelsets available.

 good spot, I missed something in my chart.

 Also the colours changed in charts 1 & 3 based on quantity as opposed to staying consistent.

 At this level it's "who will give me money, or flow me product?" The only ones mixing and matching are the ones not on bigger contracts.

 Don’t need ‘em

 nah, youll upset the shimano fanboys

 Yep maybe the brakes would be the only thing that would make sense on our bikes

 Marzocchi is their freeride branch.

 And Maxxis tires and DT rims and 29" and... etc. Overall, remarkable differences with regular brand popularity.

 @Mac1987: If you look at Carson Storch's Propain bike check, he is running DT swiss FR 541rims. Yet the pie chart doesn't list any DT rims.

 @Baciatutti: I wonder if someone got confused about hub brand vs rim brand. I'll update if I get confirmation either way.

 @Mac1987: Tires at the pro level are heavily dictated by sponsorship. The real issue with non-maxxis tires where I am is distribution. I can go into any local shop and get exactly the Maxxis tire I want, but try and find the Michelin exact specs is pretty hard.

 Fox pushed their freeride riders to Marzocchi a few years back. The fox rider (didn’t look it up) is likely under a different sponsorship (racing/ambassador) model or not beholden to a suspension brand.

 from what i’ve heard, fox is kinda more race suspension and marz is mainly freeride. Makes sense too, marz was always known as the more freeridey brand out of all of them

 @Mac1987: there are only two Maxxis-sponsored riders at Rampage this year. Semenuk and TMac.

 @brianpark: m.pinkbike.com/news/carson-storchs-propain-spindrift-cf-for-red-bull-rampage.html

 Waiting for the day I see a coffee sponsored rider at a Red Bull event

 @fewnofrwgijn: must be one at least with all the small life style coffee brands......?

 @fewnofrwgijn: Starbucks with their new Pumpkin Spice stanchion coating to reduce seal friction by 13%

 @TopherJones93: a nice dark roast reduces my morning seal friction way more than 13%

 @HeatedRotor: anti carbon clowns with low IQ's???
that's the funniest shit!!

 @HeatedRotor: eerrr whut?
:'D

 air ramps up, coils dont. coild really shines at small bump sensitivity and these dudes arent seeing many small bumps at rampage!

 its a cliplessless competition

 @cougar797: Gonna have to disagree. Basically everyone I know here in the AZ desert runs tubeless. The rocky terrain here constantly gives ya pinch flats when running tubes. Not to mention all of the vegetation here has pokey things. Tubes are worthless here, unless ya have ones with sealant and run at least 30PSI all the time. I ditched tubes 15 years ago with no plans of ever going back.

 @tmwjr777: Agreed. Weird that this is getting down voted.

 @tmwjr777: tubeless is great for racing and mortals. These dudes are not concerned with traction. Probably max psi to deal with side impacts without blowing the tire off the bead.

 @tmwjr777: talcum powder.. the tube riders secret weapon

 @naptime: i hear they put it on their feet, to help stop blisters on the long walk home.

 @tmwjr777: Yep your absolutely right. I mixed up tubed and tubeless while typing. We all run tubeless, inserts, and tons of sealant here too. Sorry all for being a dumbass.

 @stubs179: I think your right. I still don’t understand how they don’t pinch tubes on those landings though. They look so heavy. I can’t imagine rims aren’t finding ground even with high PSI.

 @stubs179: Right, I get that. Rampage is about absorbing huge impacts more than traction for cornering. But for the rest of us, tubeless makes WAY more sense in my opinion. I went from having like 8-10 flats a year to maybe once a year when I ditched tubes.

 @cougar797: Hahaha... It's all good man. No worries.

 Rotational mass... gyroscopic effect in the air.

 Because despite what marketing departments and your favorite YouTuber might say, there are definitely situations where a smaller wheel is better (stronger).

 If Semenuk can feel the weight difference between 2 mm rotors and 1.8 mm rotors in his spins just imagine what a 29" wheel would do.

 @onespeedbrian: he's running an EXO+ casing on the front to save weight too

 There are two factors. One is strength, the other is "how hard is it to rotate in the air." If you're trying to do tailwhips with your single crown DH rig, a 26er wheel is ideal.

By the way, that's the same reason people are running tubes. Less likely to explode when a spin is over-rotated. Turns out free ride is a different world.

 @WaterBear: Exactly man. Though entertaining to watch, Rampage, Fest series, etc. is on another level that 99% of us can't even relate to and some Pinkbikers don't want to admit it apparently.