Chris Akrigg - The Turning Point

 Good on ya Chris, looks like you're back to your usual self mate!

 i really want to know his secrets for brake set-up. those things stopped on a dime!

 His balls are bigger than those rocks.

 BOD for sure.. as Balls Of the Day. This guy has bigger nuts than Randy Marsh in Southparks Medicinal Fried Chicken.

 His vids are the best

 @rhys-the-rider: those brakes seem to be Hope Tech Evo V2

 That guy had some skills goin over the river!

 So when ever my snobbish riding buddy says mongooses is crap and will snap in half on the first ride I just show him Chris's vids.

 You know you've taken an unconventional line when you need a rope and a harness. Excellent riding as ever!

 technical much?

 add to my favourites,add to my favourites,ADD TO MY FAVOURITES !

 Haha conventional lines just dont do it for chris anymore, seriously some of the best biking ive seen, pure control

 Love the integration of trials elements. Very cool vid!

 Seems I have a British doppelganger. And he has very similar taste.

 hey i climb in my 5.10s once in a while, and my proper climbing shoes are 5.10s as well haha. that stealth rubber is grippier than shit man!

 arguably...

 another great vid, thanks

 Bike-trials and All-mountain biking had a baby and they named it Chris Akrigg. Undoubtedly one of the best bikers in the world when it comes to technicality.

 The closest thing I do, that compares to this, is using my pogostick in the driveway.

 "The closest thing I do, that compares to this, is using my pogostick in the driveway."

haha so true

 ^^

 I tried to lift your mother off my bed, she was pestering me.

 But seriously, no.

 t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTKGuaiFAD-dp4w8YGxAcW8V5IG9woaor0e19HTUTsY5x7RWgnEBQ

 Talent is a fact of life. Not a belief.

 @richVT, well said, but not sure were it came from.

 Think it was meant for another post

 Ah - come on Tomothy, lets get off mothers, cos I've just got of yours.....

 Wow you really are a twat huh?

 I was thinking the same I am attracted to Mongoose bike now since Chris introduced it again to the market...

 He has a 'one bike for everything' philosophy going on. MBUK ran an article on it a little while ago, he basically said he likes to peddle up the hill, have himself a trials session at the top of the hill, and blast back down the hill, without changing bikes.

 I have a copy of that June 2011 MBUK magazine and was so thrilled because I own that same bike that Chris uses for his All Around Riding. Superb all mountain handling and capability of the beefed up Mongoose Teocali, absolutely no pedal feedback; no chain growth and super efficient pedaling...FREEDRIVE really works Mongoose has the bikes for such a fascinating guy like Chris...CHEERS

 Waki, do you ever post helpful comments?

 Yes I thought, that it was a helpful comment... at least that was my intention. You can youtube Ayrton Senna and maybe you will find the interview where he talks about what he thought about "talent". He didn't like it that much to be called "talented" to make it easy for you... if you don't like what I write and want to "bury me" a bit, you might find another interview where he talks about the difference between knowing how to do something and actualy doing it.

At least if I motivate anyone to learn a bit about Senna or any other top dog, that comment might be helpful as well, but I'm not going to make a big deal out of it so... bye

 Seeya.

 I did a presentation at college the other other week on the virtue of Skill over Talent along the lines of the fact that we have a society based on and massively in need of skill (that which can be learnt and passed on to the benefit of society) and yet our pop culture obsesses over talent (that which one is born into and can only be nurtured to an individuals' advantage). Artist Robert Filiou had a thing or two to say about that as well (more specifically nurturing genius over talent). So I hear ya on this one WAKI.

And while we're here, great edit Chris! I'm sure you're so beyond hearing phrases like "Glad to hear you're on the mend," but your recovery story has been an inspiration (to work on my skills!) and it's been a pleasure to take part in it through your vids.

 jackclark89, that's a great perspective in that presentation you did. Current American culture promotes image over substance in cartoonish, absurd ways and it's reflected all across the culture -- we even see it in MTB journalism. I think Mike Judge's Idiocracy was too conservative in predicting how long it would take America to get there. As usual, great stuff from Chris Akrigg.

 Guys, I can't believe you're fuming over this issue, come on! If it helps at all I have a degree in psychology and am currently in graduate school on my way to a Ph.D. in said field, so I know a thing or two about innate ability versus learned abilities; you can't teach a potato to be a carrot, but you can make some delicious chips! We do come with innate traits that depending upon our neuro-psycho-social environment, and to a large extent our SES, determines what we become or do not become. Intelligence whether IQ, EQ, or I might add kinesthetic is found, and has been found to be a static, except that with detrimental environmental conditions it can be decreased but never increased beyond our native capacity. The evidence clearly shows that we come preprogrammed to a large degree and that depending what we do with these *gasp* talents we can work hard and become better or not, but to say that talent doesn't exist is to be highly misinformed or self deluded due to being not very talented. Oh and I love the unsolicited anti-USA irrelevancy some of you threw in there. Genius over talent? I'd love to hear the distinction, or maybe you have a incorrect concept of what genius is, because from what I understand genius is the application of intelligence in manner that produces incredible results.....this is fun. Oh, one more insight that refutes these ignorant, self serving claims is the fact that our species is incredibly diverse, so how does one explain the differences in human beings when all other factors are held constant, this is nothing more than the old nature versus nurture debate.....

This will make some of us feel sad and crush our ''dreams'' but if many had the same opportunity many of the current top pros and others in the upper echelons of their chosen sport, or field most of us would still not be able to achieve at the same levels.......hmmm, why is that

Rant over.

 And I love the unsolicited White Boy Patriotism from the Mormon "team sanchez" crew.

No. Seriously. I do really enjoy it.

Whatever your parchments (that's "degrees" in non-pretentious-speak) may cover, you don't hold the answer to nature vs nurture any better than anyone else in this thread, wasea04. It would be enough to say that both factors matter in the development of an athlete, and that each athlete draws from whatever he or she can in order to maximize performance.

Statistical analysis is not an end in itself; it's a nearly-useless tool used mainly in the pseudo-sciences. When your ability to pinpoint cause-and-effect relations is mostly guesswork, you use statistics to bolster the guess.

Even if you have a PhD. In fact, more so in that case.

 Haha, to whom do I owe the pleasure, I was a little upset and reacted as such, but my points still stand. PS- How do the "hard sciences" verify their results...perhaps with confidence limits, etc. Thank you Guinness!

 Oh, and I have no idea how you pulled the " White Boy Patriotism from the Mormon 'Team Sanchez' Crew" into any of part of this topic? I will say that I'm really enjoying this as since I've been out of school for the summer I haven't been able to participate in any discussions of this nature. Also, If you want to steer this towards the immaterial with your narcissistic denouncement of statistics, then how can we be certain of anything; epistemology is always fun to combat online. Furthermore, your response about athletes maximizing performance is nothing more than semantics to what I described, and in that case it becomes a redundant and plagiaristic remark. I anxiously await your next distortion

 My comments have been hot-headed and pompous, I truly apologize for becoming ugly. Jackclark89, you really do have some great points about skills being more important than native abilities, I still believe though that certain skills come easier to some than to others. And genius, at least as I believe you were implying it to be, requires a great deal of hardwork and effort. Nothing can substitute for effort, which on a related note, the book ''Outliers," is an interesting approach to this very idea. A very famous longitudinal study found that the extremely gifted, IQ above 160, didn't accomplish as much as those followed with IQ's around 115-140; hardwork made the difference it was determined, but then why the more gifted didn't do more becomes a question of volition and never ends....

 So when my wife asks "Did you tidy up all your bike bits in the garage?" I can say "Sorry honey - I started, but I couldn't finish it because I'm too smart."

 wasea04 - I just want ot start with a bit of vaseline and say that since my wife also does a PhD at the very moment I do have respect for scientists, and I think we all should because the authority is being downgraded more and more in the mainstream, and I believe for a purpose... and if you don't believe in established authority like science and (sorry) religion, you can believe in any shit. But since I also learned that there is a lot of contaminated non-intependent science including psychology (Eddy Bernaise is my favourite) therefore I am very sceptical of ideas like being preprogrammed, talented, because for an every-day-life occupied mind it means "you are what you are - proceed while admiring chosen-ones. Talent is also a very unclear thing to me - when you read all those books about "how to get there" by either sportsmen or business pricks, you find many similarities, even if you read Brian Lopes "fill in the holes" you might find a paralell to things that Gwin, Senna, Alan Sugar or Armstrong say: being disciplined and organized, having a general objective but setting intermediate small goals and gaining motivation by achieving them - you might get an idea that these people could be successful in anything. So are they talented in specific discipline or they are talented in reaching their goals? Maybe Shaun Palmer is talented in being multitalented?

What gets notoriously shut down in the mainstream (for the great use of business and "seniors" of specific disciplines affraid of new blood, particularly visible in banking, law, design) is that you can learn anything and become very good at it at nearly any point of your life. Then you get confusing advices like: it takes enormous volume of hard work - sure but that doesn't mean anything. It takes smart planning and discipline, most of all in your mind - if you can't find time to be with your thoughts and focus, you won't get far - in the era of smartphones things gets harder than ever.

 I won few architectural competitions and lost many more, with 2 most frustrating second prizes - I avoid certain parts of my city because I can't look at sites being built according to someone elses project. I worked 12h a day 7d a week with many sleepless nights, sometimes for the length of few months - It did not get me far, because I can't put it together. I lack motivation and have big problem with concentration, but I was always told: you are born with architecture or you aren't - well I found a teacher that told me otherwise and gave me directions and against other f*ckers - I did achieve something and I did learn a lot of what I've been told is accessible only to the chosen ones.

 Waki,

I appreciate your insights, and I agree to a large extent; my dad always told me, tells me to work smart and not hard aka well organized with clear objectives, etc. However, it doesn't take any science at all to anecdotally notice that there is such a thing as aptitude. There is no one size fits all answer to this debate, except that if you're willing to work smart towards your chosen goal and are willing to pay a high enough price, devote yourself as you did to architecture, then MANY people would be able to be very successful at the margin. I like to play and follow tennis, and when I look at the guys at the top of that sport like Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer they all demonstrate being able to formulate and follow goals that allow them to be the best, but what about the other 99% of tennis pros who do the same and will never crack the top ten? What explanation(s) can be given to account for the success of a few when many do essentially the same thing? I hate to be a stick in the mud, but to disregard individual differences is to ignore basic observation as well as countless findings in support of the FACT that we are born with specific aptitudes, and also I might add specific susceptibilities and weaknesses. GENETIC INHERITANCE! My silly analogy is dead on; a potato, no matter how well he works at it, will never be a carrot. It seems funny to become analytical but your experiences have created a very easy to see bias due to your perception of being rejected by the "in crowd" of architecture, yet still finding success in the same. Of course there are people who will tell you that you're no good and not ''talented" enough to do things, especially when it something they excel at. Who here tells the girls they're courting that "I ride bikes, it's soooo easy." No, just the opposite, they'll tell others how hard what they do is and that they're very good at it, but that is more of an issue of identity than actually measuring individual differences.

 Not sure really, I'm not a psychologist, but it does make sense to me that all you are born with is certain physical preconditions that will shape you psychic to some extent, but isn't it the environment that shapes you most? I am 99% sure that I have motivation troubles because my parents were 1.doing everything for me, protecting me from the world as their only child 2.They are perfectionists trying do everything right from the start 3. They always discouraging me from doing any sport as they thought (and told me) I was weak and prone to infections. So, I have those super high ambitions making it very hard to set intermediate goals. Even if I try I just can't provide a satisfactory result, I can only do best I can. I have trouble with taking any, even slightly complicated action because of visualizing too many negative outcomes of any decision with high fear of failure - I just can't think of myself as a driver of a process unless I feel I am the best in the team to do so and I need a good margin of confidence.

 I sent you a message, but this I'll say on this forum: self efficacy, we assess a challenge and weigh our perceived abilities to judge if we'll be successful at whatever task it is we're contemplating, and depending on that evaluation we do, or do not attempt it.

 To all in this thread...we ride bikes. This is nothing to take with any degree of seriousness (unless your paycheck depends on it). What matters is enjoyment, which is to be had at any level. If that eludes you, find another sport. Now go ride.

 agreed gamblor, sorry...

 have a look at his older edits, he does big air also, in fact, he can do owt

 "RE: talent vs. skill. Chris is a really talented bloke. He's the kind of guy that infuriates people like me who with all the hard work and dedication will never get to 50% of his level. It's not just pushbikes, he can swing a leg over motorbikes, step into the rock boots, smack a squash ball, and swing a golf club like a champ. No shit, he has this amazing natural aptitude for sports of any kind. If he wanted to make it in any sport, he could have done it. You often hear stories of top sportsmen who could do that, like that Kiwi bloke who is an international in rugby and cricket. Cal Crutchlow from MotoGP was on the brink of a pro footy contract when he was a schoolboy. Jason McRoy was a regional level sprinter after one season when he was a teenager between his BMX and MTB days. Brock Lesnar was a WWF champ, pro in American football, then he won the UFC in the heavyweight division.

Chris is a bloke like that. Anyone who says there's no such thing as natural aptitude or talent is wrong. Chris has it by the bucketload and his hard work and eye for a line and an edit just enhance his marketability.

I remember back in '96 or something he jumped over the canal in Stratford. 5m down into the murky shit, would I have done it? Would you?

Good on you son! Now how about some Mr. Scarface? Can Welshy rap?"

well said

 Looks like just a standard ogio pack that he rigged some strap system to. Trying to figure it out for my own big mountain riding. Ill post something when I figure a solid system out

 Ehhhm... you do realize this vid is embedded from Vimeo?

 They no longer sell them in the US - Not really sure why, perhaps its a branding issue. They were being sold in low end cheap stores (ie Walmarts) and probably made them suffer sales in the higher end.

 Not sure on that one. He seems happy on Mongoose and he's absolutely awesome on the bike, so not sure what a bigger name sponsor would offer that he hasn't already got.

 I agree - I'm sure Mongoose takes care of him plenty well.

 Actually Mongoose is still sold in the US. The problem was when Mongoose was bought out and then sold at Wal-Marts the name got trashed, and within the last 8 years or so they created a higher end line of bikes, but because most people still associate mongoose with wal-mart prices/quality they've had a hard time getting dealers stateside.

 There a few in the PDX area. I have ridden a couple that belonged to friends. They all ride and corner very very well. Their AM, FR and DH bikes are sorely underrated for what they are. Its a shame they don't sell them in the US anymore.

 They must be left overs from previous years - there web site says they no longer sell in the US. True about the name/quality association - it happened to GT and unfortunately to Diamond back as well. I think as an effort to raise money for the companies in times of need , they opted for low end volume sales in the cheap stores and it unfortunately hurt them in the long run. Hopefully, Mongoose can return like GT.

 I ride a Mongoose Teocali Super 09, it's awesome, pedals so well and looks the nuts. Very under rated. You get so much bike for the money. I don't think it would matter what Akrigg rides, he can ride single speed city bikes like a trials bike, the mans a legend!

 yes. I've had a teocali and would love to get another at some point. I'f I get another DH bike, it'll probably be the boot'r; I've rented one at Angel fire and loved it. I'm fine with the mongoose name being lowly as I'll get a better deal on one.

 Well Diamondback actually has a really amazing line up as well. The last shop I worked at carried them, and the Scapegoat is a pretty gnarly build. Anyone who's got a dealership with them now, should hold onto them because in a few years when they release their DH rig, I suspect that they'll be another really sweet buy.

 I would guess Spain.

 As it can't yet be proved otherwise; let's go with Holland and their mighty hills.

 you could defiantly find terrain like this in Spain, and it wouldn't surprise me it it were in Spain

 Italy, Italy is famous for its Via Ferrata Climbing which is cliff faces with re bar ladders

 It was actually filmed inside a Kinder egg

 i wish thats what it was like inside a kinder egg id go buy a ton and just go riding inside a kinder egg everyday

 It was filmed in Málaga, Spain, the same place as last year's video.

 oh cool