phil-mclean

You know that's one of the most fun ways to ride a bike right? Being stuck to the ground is fun and all but why limit yourself by not learning to jump?

The additional stops could have been branded under a different umbrella to leave Whistler Crankworx as the pinnacle mountain bike festival and it might have allowed it to still thrive as a must visit to celebrate MTB, while also bringing epic bike events to other destinations. Branding the Summer Series with Crankworx also confused a lot of uneducated locals thinking they were getting a big thing like Whistler and hyping it up only to feel a bit conned. Regardless, Whistler should have always been the final stop to any "World Champs" considering it's where it all originated...

Good thing it wasn't a Joyride then... Redbull shifting funding into Hardline meant a small budget that probably could have been saved by Crankworx not doing Mont St Anne and focussing on Whistler being the pinnacle event it was always meant to be.

Adolf knew the risks and went for it on his own free will. He's the last person calling for the event to be cancelled..

@chrismac70: The event crew actually does go around pulling sandbags out after the contest as part of the agreement with hosting the event out there.

This subject comes up every time a big freeride or slopestyle event happens and it just shows that a huge majority of mountain bikers are content with being average and don't ride to improve their skillset or chase any goals of perfection. So many people would benefit from stepping back and reflecting on what they can improve to be safer in the air, then unlock a new level of ability and maybe start relating to why people at the top of the sport continue to chase progression, rather than just being content with the fact they stiffly got over a jump so now they can say they did it. Progressing skills, improving speed and flow through a tech section of trail are the things that keep MTB fun and exciting.

Original, classic Pinkbike in the 2000s through to 2012ish was majority freeride/dirt jump content and where we would come to see the cool shit going on around the world. It's the stuff that definitely got me hooked on mountain biking. Dreaming of doing the tricks and the jumps/ drops etc, it was cool as fuck. Sure it's not relatable to everyone, but some of us are totally inspired by the potential of what you can do, rather than only being interested in a scenic pedal. MTB has a lot of people nowadays who only want content that's relatable, ignoring the fact that other elite sports at the top level are also completely unrelatable if you look at them the same way, yet people flock to watch them and aren't complaining. F1 for example, only thing you can relate to it is the fact that you've driven a car. People appreciate things being done at a higher level than they will reach themselves, so why are bikes any different?

The only person on 24" wheels here is Lisa who happens to be really short and petite so it makes sense for her. 24" wheels are much less stable in the air, especially at speed and on the scale of most slopestyle ramps compared to regular dirt jumps. Might be a tiny bit easier to trick, but being comfortable and predictable in the air overall is more important when the wheels aren't limiting abilities.

@samchuk: Get over it dude you comment this on every article about Crankworx. It's been years since the strike and that was certainly not the reason the event turnout is diminishing. It's oversaturated with the Summer Series and multiple stops all under the same branding umbrella, and lost the excitement of being THE bike festival at the biggest bike park every year.. The team behind bringing the world cup to Whistler should have come together with Crankworx to create the ultimate week celebrating mountain biking and shared the benefits each could bring to the table, rather than stepping on toes and fighting for brands to decide which week to throw the money into. Then maybe both events could thrive together as the week not to be missed...

The best part about mountain bikes is they come in all shapes sizes and styles and are capable of more than 1 thing. Just because you can't ride a dirt jump bike doesn't make it not MTB.