Video: 3x Rampage Champion Kurt Sorge Joins Evil Bikes
After 5 years and 2 of his 3 Rampage titles, Kurt Sorge has today announced he is leaving Polygon Bikes and joining Evil bikes instead. The freerider from Nelson, BC, will join Evil's Black Collar program alongside Austin Warren, Paul Genovese and fellow Rampage competitors Kyle Norbraten and Graham Agassiz. The full release from Evil is below:
Press Release: Evil Bikes
Evil hearts hardworking freeride. That’s no secret. Strong hearts and quiet confidence. Get the job done while always putting joy on two wheels front and center. With the Black Collars, we’ve built a formidable team of riders born from the dirt and raised with grit. We don’t mean chasing Instagram likes or winning World Cups. We mean living and breathing bikes, building trails, party laps, crash-and-burn-and-get-back-up-again freeride spirit. With that in mind, we are proud to announce an addition to Evil’s Black Collars team of derelicts. An icon in mountain biking’s working class, the newest to join the union is an old name in freeride: Kurt Sorge.
“I first met Sorge on a snowboarding trip to Baldface up near Nelson B.C.” says Evil founder, Kevin Walsh. “He works hard at having fun and is the personification of down and dirty freeride and a perfect fit for the Black Collars.”
Sorge’s credentials are well known. In the history of Rampage—mountain biking’s preeminent freeriding competition—the Nelson, B.C. rider has gained more elevation on the podium than any other rider, owning three victories and a second-place finish, every one of them ridden at full tilt and punctuated with big, tricked-out airs at speed. But that’s just how Sorge rides…every day. “Hoff”, as he’s known to friends and fans alike, hails from deep in the Kootenays—Canada’s other, other freeride origin story. Homegrown from weed and forestry, the Koots have produced a mountain of freeriding’s biggest names, with Sorge still sitting on top of that hallowed peak. The relationship between Evil and Sorge has been a long time coming.
“Evil was always a brand I was interested in,” recalls Sorge from his home near Nelson, B.C. “When I first met Kevin, he was so passionate about Evil. After our snowboard trip, we went to the Cantina in Nelson, drank margs, and he told me how the bikes worked. We stayed in touch over the years, and eventually it clicked.”
At 32, Sorge is already an undisputed legend of the sport, and is still pioneering lines untouched by the hand of man alongside his brother-from-another-mother and fellow Black Collar, Graham Agassiz. With Aggy and the rest of the Black Collars, you can expect to meet Sorge on trails and tailgates throughout the Pacific Northwest. Sorge will be running multiple Evil whips, including the Wreckoning, and Calling.
“For most riders—who aren’t racers—what they should be on is a playful bike, a bike with some pop.” says Sorge. “And that’s what Evils are. Suspension designed for every kind of rider, from riders just getting into mountain biking to guys like Aggy and I. I’m just so stoked to be part of the team.”
Welcome to the first day on the job, Kurt. We know you’ll do good things.
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And to the point of this article, I'm really glad for Sorge!!! And Evil's trail bikes haha..
When did winning world cups mean people weren't down to earth and have any grit or live and breathe bikes? Kind of a weird statement... I just find it odd that a brand that started out in WC racing eschew's it so much now and doesn't even make a DH bike.
Walsh is not saying winning world cups is bad, he is saying they(Evil) don't intend chasing likes or WC wins (nowadays at least), then he says what they (evil & riders) like; "breathing bikes, building trails, party laps, crash-and-burn-and-get-back-up-again freeride spirit.".. And to be fair I get all the talk about freeride 'cause they've signed Norbs, Aggy, and now Sorge for gods sake haha! No racers.
Again, I do agree the choice of words and how it's written is off putting but common, it's best not to hate haha!
Marty: Oh, I see. And most bros go up to ten?
Nigel: Exactly.
Marty: Does that mean it’s radder? Is it any sicker?
Nigel: Well, it’s one radder, isn’t it? It’s not ten. You see, most bros, you know, will be shredding at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your Evil. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty: I don’t know.
Nigel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel: Eleven. Exactly. One radder.
When Evil’s Black Collar marketing campaign first launched and they made a point to highlight that all their athletes are ‘just normal dudes’ who all have other jobs/careers but are also really exceptional at bikes, they lost me.
It came across as we don’t actually support our athletes enough that they can focus on their craft full-time, but rather they have to work two jobs to make ends meet.
Just some food for thought that has been in my craw for a while now. It maybe just poor marketing and they provide as much support as other companies, but either way probably time to re-think the strategy.
Look at it from the brand’s side. Is Kurt going to sell enough bikes to offset that cost? No. Brutal truth is Pinkbike reviews will do more to influence someone’s decision process than Kurt would. Influencers are cheap. Flood the market with compensated reviews that are just people talking about the product that you as the company can write off for cost is a lot better deal. What is livable? If he wants to be in Vancouver or kamloops, that’s a big price difference on what is livable wage.
I would hazard to guess that if they really wanted to Evil could pay Kurt and Aggy enough to get most of the way to a live able wage. (Maybe they do now, and if so, good for them)