Video: Pinkbike Academy Season 3 Ep 8: Content is King, Pt. 2

Dec 6, 2022 at 8:52
by Pinkbike Originals  

PINKBIKE ACADEMY


10 Riders. 1 Pro Contract.



Episode 8: Content is King, Pt. 2

For the second part of our content challenge, the athletes are tested on their ability to capture some *sick* footage for their sponsors. It’s time to create some viral highlights of their own, before two athletes are sent home and just four remain.






The rest of the season will drop weekly on Tuesdays at 10am PST.

Pinkbike Academy Season 3 is available for FREE on Outside Watch or the Pinkbike YouTube channel.





Huge thanks to the brands who made this show possible!
Orbea, Shimano, Fox Racing, Maxxis, Outside, Garmin, Big White, Stans, Insta360, MRP, Funn, Ride Concepts, SDG, North Shore Racks, ODI, Rimpact, and Squirt.


Must Read This Week
Review: 1,000 Miles on SRAM's New Eagle Transmission
210928 views
First Ride: TRP's New 12-Speed Mechanical Drivetrain
104775 views
Commencal Reveals 2023 Enduro Project Team Bikes
92310 views
SRAM Releases Stealth Brake Lineup
90690 views
Development Story: SRAM's New Eagle Transmission
87518 views
Specialized's New Epic Uncovered
69241 views
First Ride: 2023 Canyon Neuron
68687 views
First Look: Angeles' Spade Prototype Was Designed by a 19-Year-Old
67336 views

134 Comments

  • 125 6
 I really hope you all return to season 2 style if you do a season 4. Season 3 is just blah tbh. I know I have said it before but episodes are way to short and I just don't feel like it offers the personal feel you achieved in S2 shoot even S1 was better in that regard.
  • 104 3
 Things have gone downhill (in the bad way) since Outside took over.

No more Photo of the Year Competition, no more XC Fantasy League
and I bet there won't be a Comment of the Year feature this coming year either (probably because the majority of most up-voted comments were against head set cable routing)
  • 45 2
 @taprider: I fully agree, def missed the photo of the year.
  • 44 0
 I do miss photo of the year.

That said, I wouldn't do a straight copy of season 2's style. I really like the idea of having a point system, so the competitors get to participate all the way through.

We've seen a number of competitors eliminated early in various seasons, that would have performed well in later contests, and I think a "season" point total (ala EWS/World Cup racing), would work well (for the contest, as well as thematically).
  • 8 0
 @taprider: seems we lost Trail Karma month too which I think was appreciated by a lot of clubs.
  • 9 0
 @ocnlogan: I agree. Keep the contestants and have one winner at the end.
  • 17 0
 Fully agree. Season 3 seems to embrace the epitome of "short attention span theatre" and just glosses over everything way too quickly. It makes it difficult to be engaged or care enough in the process or outcome.
  • 7 0
 @taprider: I say we have our own Photo of the year. People submit photos from MTB that they like.
We slim it down to 20, have a public vote, linked on here. Then a showdown of the top 5. Winner gets to have a photo PB commenters like.
  • 4 0
 @agrohardtail: www.mtbr.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/www.mtbr.com/attachments/1652054063383-png.1982820

same for Comment of the Year
 "lol"
by blakestory (Feb 25, 2021 at 8:00) regarding www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-trek-e-caliber-2021-XC.html#cid2856498
1136 up votes
  • 8 0
 Photo of the Year, as well as POD and VOD, were among my favorite parts of Pinkbike back in the day. It certainly has changed a lot. Though to be fair, I believe POD and VOD were dropped before the Outside acquisition
  • 2 0
 @taprider: lol.
  • 1 0
 @ocnlogan: @Jvisscher: Agreed - I thought that on season 1 and 2 as well.
  • 9 0
 @mammal: Yup. Marketers (who often influence content creation strategy like this) have been told time and time again people have no attention span so make things short and quick.

Meanwhile , Netflix binging has shown us people have tremendous attention span…what they don’t have is patience for anything less than stellar content.

Make a great story / series and people will sit through the ads.
  • 3 0
 @theflatlanders: "Short attention spans"...marketers willfully ignoring that short attention spans are a direct result of being served advertising (in whatever medium) 10,000 times a day for "x" number of years or that internet based marketing is inherently intrusive and necessitates an "opt-out" action...which further increases fatigue and decreases attentiveness.
  • 116 2
 Insta 360...... 360 is for the resolution !??
  • 94 25
 Save yourself the time, here's a quick summary:
-It's about contestants "crushing it" with video content.
-In entertainment value it sits somewhere between a speed talking competition and monkeys f*cking a football.
-Mia tries to be funny, but has zero comedic timing or wit.
-If you disagree, then it's one of those rare instances when an opinion is wrong.
-Ares makes like a tree, she's cool and genuine and we can only wonder how much cooler she is when using her first language.
  • 9 9
 horrible season
  • 108 2
 if I have to be a tree I would like to be a cherry tree. in the spring they have many flowers and in the summer the fruits are very good!
  • 14 0
 @aresmasip: My wife and I enjoyed your positive attitude and your sick riding!
  • 9 2
 Where can I see monkeys f**king a football?
  • 5 0
 @aresmasip: thanks for keeping it real. you inspire sharing the love for mtb in a genuine way. i certainly want to go out and ride my bike watching you. much respect!
  • 1 1
 Mia isn't funny but silly AF
  • 3 0
 @dtheio: thank you for your words! Smile
  • 3 0
 @aresmasip: You have a great career ahead of you as a brand ambassador, racer, and awesome ball of bubbly sunshine!
  • 1 0
 Yawn
  • 68 0
 Not a good advert for the insta 360.
  • 28 0
 I skipped to the end because my head was hurting watching those videos. No offense to any contestants, you did what you could with the equipment provided.
  • 10 0
 Exactly what I came here to say. Looked terrible and seemed hard to use.
  • 3 6
 FWIW they had the older X2 version, which had crappy single-lens resolution and looks pretty bad. The x3 version has 4k res in single-lens and looks a lot better...
  • 62 3
 Really wish they let Ares speak in her first language and put in subtitles for the interviews. Seems like a bit of a disservice.
  • 15 2
 Maybe she's proud of how far she's come with learning English and want's to use it. But for real they should do it Netflix style and let her speak in her first language and then use an emotionless English overdub so we can all look at our phones and still get an idea of what's happening.
  • 112 1
 @i-like-toytles @evanlitt: yes! I really liked the opportunity to learn English, but it was difficult for me to manage 24 hours living in another language. Apart from physical exhaustion, I also had mental exhaustion from having to think so much. but I'm very happy with this chance and experience! I would have liked to be able to explain myself better and tell more things. but it was part of the game! Smile
  • 9 0
 @aresmasip: My wife and I were rooting for you big time. Your smile and overall sweetness is contagious..... best of luck to you!!
  • 4 0
 @aresmasip: so sorry you got sent home. All the best with your career going forward.
  • 4 0
 @aresmasip: You have been my favorite female rider of PA since first episode, you definitely deserved to be in the final episode! good luck in the future Smile
  • 9 0
 Shameless plug: if anyone reading is considering applying for future years but is worried their English isn't good enough, let me know! I've been a keen mountain biker since the 1990s, I was born and raised in the UK and I've been teaching English as a foreign language for 15 years, online for the last 4 years. I'd be stoked to help a talented MTBer realize their potential!
  • 1 0
 @aresmasip: You are a gem!
  • 45 0
 Anyone else think Tarmos was actually the best video? Considering he said it wasn't his strong point.
  • 2 0
 I did too.
  • 13 0
 Imagine what he could do with a GoPro and some decent accessories, vs the duct tape and potatoe they gave him!
  • 8 5
 terrible music choice for a 30s vid imo
  • 2 1
 @sorris: Yep, old school music choice wasnt great
  • 6 0
 Tarmo's video was the only one that made med want to go riding.
  • 10 0
 i actually liked music selection. fits the riding.
  • 4 0
 he had a super unique angle (compared to the others) thanks to his own innovation.
  • 44 1
 I'll miss Ares. She was really a likeable person and a good rider!
  • 36 0
 thank you! Smile
  • 12 0
 @aresmasip: You're awesome Ares, Andorra should be proud of your wonderful spirit and your bright happy smile. Congratulations.
  • 20 0
 @DougalB: thank you for your words!!! want to come back to Canada, I’m in love with your country!
  • 9 0
 Yes, I enjoyed Ares too. Seems like she'd be super fun to ride bikes with.
  • 6 0
 Def my favourite as well. Best female rider (descender anyway). Come to Squamish!!
  • 4 0
 @paulwatt: I would love to come to Squamish! hopefully I can come next summer!!!
  • 3 0
 @aresmasip: Yeah, you were great, you seem like a really positive and genuine person, wish you all the best! It's a bummer that your riding is less important than ability to handle janky action camera on this show.
  • 2 0
 @paulig: thank you!!! Smile
  • 36 3
 Please stop autoplay :'(
  • 6 2
 AutoplayStopper on chrome, also stops bs autoplaying on other sites, win win
  • 5 1
 I only peruse PB from my pc, I have PB on my "no autoplay" setting in my browser. Yeah it sucks hitting the link and the stupid vid starts playing, when I only come here to laugh at the comments.
  • 5 0
 Firefox has a setting to turn off autoplay and audio:

settings => auto-play => default for all websites => block audio and video
  • 30 2
 I’d like to know how many people who were shitting on season 2 are back now wishing for it like it’s George W. Bush in the Trump years.
I’m happy for most free bike content, and I’ll watch this, but the past seasons, though cheesey were way better. RIP Jason
  • 39 9
 Katie Burrell may be great in the snow media industry but she is not relatable or entertaining around tires and sprockets
  • 21 3
 actually everyone is cringy this year....
  • 18 0
 @jaydawg69: I wonder if Cam gets any say in these survivor-esque moments. They are painful!
  • 6 0
 I’d never heard of Katie Burrell. Had to look her up. She’s a comedian? Huh, wow. Who knew?
  • 30 0
 insta 360p
  • 28 5
 Just love the camera quality from those insta 360s... Shaky low quality footage, just doesn't make a good edit, plus just starting the episode with the edits, no background info, nothing. Really PBA??
  • 23 1
 Horrible Format, worse sponsors and a judging format which won’t surprise me if they somehow mess up and vote Cam Mccaul out….
  • 13 2
 Haha! That would be amazing. "You're all safe. I'm out!"
  • 21 2
 Autoplay is website equivalent of headset cable routing. Not sure how anyone thought this was a good idea, but please remove it.
  • 1 8
flag i-like-toytles (Dec 6, 2022 at 11:14) (Below Threshold)
 Disagree. Headset cable routing is more work for something you like to look at. PBA autoplay is less work for something you don't like to look at.
  • 18 1
 Content is king??? Apart from in PB Academy
  • 14 2
 Max cringe level. At this point all they can do is accept and improve. This season failed as a product because all the igredients for a great academy are gone. Its basically a random 10 x 20min challanges show with no storyline. The old seasons however where pretty rad and had much more value in the sense that riders really where put to a test for ews and racing. I mean look at evan wall and flo now. From that perspective there can only be one winner this year. Tarmo's a beast and seems a pretty chill guy. With the right team around him he will only get better and maybee a bit more outgoing.
  • 14 0
 Lol the camera quality
  • 11 0
 It all makes sense now, people don't stop to say hello or to yield to other riders anymore because they are getting 'content' for their insta career.
  • 13 1
 so cringy
  • 6 1
 Agreed - I couldn’t even finish this shit….
  • 11 0
 And its insta360 basically burried them self with this episode. Lol
  • 8 1
 That 10 secs forward button had a hard job this time. Also Cam's questions was a bit biased. Asking Tarmo for weaknesses and then closed question for Britanny, then asking Max what he can bring to Orbea brand. Well it would looks completely different if you asked Max for his weakness and Tarmo for brand building.
  • 4 0
 Well we don't really know if he asked them more questions off camera. In any case I'm pretty sure they have already made a decision at that point and are just asking this questions to get some more footage.
  • 1 0
 @n734535: yes, no doubt about that
  • 11 1
 I thought riding mountain bikes was King. Huh. Guess I'm old fashioned.
  • 7 1
 Each episode I say, "it cannot be worst" but then you surprise me again hahaha! Literally WTF? There was nothing happening in this episode, you just show riders videos and jump straight into elimination, so basically 10% of the time was intro, 40% was riders just showing their videos and commenting a little bit and the other 50% were judges deliberation??...honestly I just skipped until the end. And the "to be continue .." end? so what..? OMG for real. This is a joke. If there would be a season 4, pls don't do this!!!!
  • 6 0
 Wasn't expecting Tarmo's video to be my favorite since it was said time and time again that content creation is not his strong side. I was rooting for him from the start. And yeah, wasn't surprised that he put a metal song in it hahahah
  • 1 0
 Does anyone know what song it was?
  • 3 0
 Yeah his strong side is riding, but he's so much stronger at riding than everyone else that his "not strong side" is still strong.
  • 1 0
 @motdrawde: No idea, try the Youtube comments
  • 7 1
 The voting people off at the end bit is awful. Just get straight to top rider and rider who's going. The episodes need more riding so we can see how good the riders are. Also there was barely anything of the filming process here. Standards have dropped.
  • 9 1
 From the beginning it was apparent that Ares wasn’t going to win but still sad to see her go.
  • 9 1
 Has outside buyout led to anything good? because this season is mediocre at best.
  • 16 0
 Pinkbike DH Race Team. Otherwise, I can't think of anything.
  • 8 0
 @stevemokan: 5,000 word article on rock skipping.

www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/water-activities/stone-skipping-kurt-steiner
  • 6 2
 As far as I’m concerned, before the Outside buyout there was nobody in the comments wishing each and every one of us to “be safe” or “be well”. I have been both since the buyout.
  • 3 0
 @ElDebarge: "But the thought of dating filled him with dread, so instead he indulged in wild sexual fantasies and wrote poetry encrypted in a shorthand only he could read."

What the actual hell is this garbage?
  • 2 0
 @pisgahgnar: my favorite part is "he throws rocks not simply because he wants to, but because he has no choice."

Seems legit.
  • 2 0
 @i-like-toytles: My favorite part might be the supermodel-esque photo is his worn out cargo shorts laying on a pile of rocks.
  • 3 0
 @pisgahgnar:I heard he throws e-rocks.
  • 1 0
 @stevemokan: That was happening anyway. Ben Cathro is responsible for that.
  • 1 0
 @ElDebarge: Could be a euphemism for smoking crack and that entire article would make a whole lot more sense.
  • 11 3
 Max has got it! Being able to push that brand in the sea to sky is HUGE. its mecca
  • 2 0
 Winning simply because you live in the most priviliged place for a biker to live lmao.
  • 9 0
 Influencer Academy
  • 16 11
 A whole bunch of haters here!!

I’m still glad to watch these episodes!!!

Thanks Pinkbike for this free content and entertainment
  • 6 2
 I’m enjoying the season. It’s a little more clear on judging and we get to see more riding. The hardest part for me is watching Cam so scripted and not on his bike!
  • 2 0
 There have been plenty of calls to return to previous seasons' longer episodes. But, given the quality of content (or lack thereof) this season, I am not sure I agree.

I am already becoming distracted every episode, looking for something else to do, or for the episode to finally end. Do I really want it drawn out into another 20 mins of the same inane drivel?

At this point, it would make more sense to move the whole thing over to Instagram, find someone who looks the part, and teach them to ride a bike. Product ambassador located.
  • 2 0
 Max is meant to be content king. His video was shite.

Mia isn't funny, and she f*cked up the test.

Ares did pretty well, but apparently you get prejudiced if English isn't your mother tongue.... what country is Orbea from, what language do they speak...

Tarmo best video, even though apparently he is useless.

And that female host.... seriously, did someone say she is a comedian? People pay her money to make jokes??? WTAF

I watched the episode, what the hell is wrong with me? Need to give myself a punch in the face.
  • 5 0
 Suppose I’ll just skip this episode
  • 4 0
 I haven't been watching, the comments alone pretty much say it all.
  • 1 0
 Is this ever played with commercials? The constant graphics for commercial breaks is annoying AF.

If only PB had a large group of interested people to help with the voting on these content challenges.

Why eliminate people throughout the process? Are they saving on food for the people who get kicked out? Why not just make it points and keep everybody around till the end to see if their skills are just in later challenges?

Also add Mike & Mike to the mix and have the hosts participate in more of the challenges.
  • 1 0
 Season 3 is terrible! Get rid of Cam and that awkwardly un-funny sidekick he has and bring back the format and presentation of season 2. It's not even worth watching anymore where as season 1 and 2 actually kept you wanting more!
  • 3 1
 Very disappointed in this season. These condensed episodes honestly don't seem worth sitting down for. Bring back the format from season 1 and 2.
  • 4 0
 Video autostart is super annoying. Seriously.
  • 3 1
 My wife and I enjoy watching the academy, it's definitely a cool concept. I do, however, wish the episodes were longer. More thrashin'/less fashion
  • 4 3
 Maybe a bit cringe worthy at time but get over it - that comes with 'reality tv' and it's good for the growth of our sport. Lay off the hate!

Thanks for the free entertainment Pb & Outside
  • 10 11
 Am I the only one who doesn't understand why autoplay is a problem? The thumbnail takes up the same amount of space wether the video is playing or not and at least on my computer it doesn't play it with sound on so what the fudge is the big deal?
  • 13 0
 A lot of the complaints are from people who browse on their phones, and don't want the data usage of the video playing. It's also inconvenient for people who actually want to watch the video; if you want to hear what was said right at the beginning, you have to unmute and then rewind. A normal setup where you click the thumbnail to start the video at the beginning with volume fixes both of these problems.
  • 5 2
 @DPGriffin: Ah. Interesting. Neither of those apply to me but I can see that. I bet the amount of time those people have spent arguing about it in the comments section used more data than the video playing.
  • 1 0
 Using autoplay artificially increases the viewing count of the video. So basically even though this series is shithouse and few people are still watching it, because it's on autoplay they have a hit count for every person who had just navigated to the pinkbike homepage. Then pinkbike will tell us the ratings were great and this new format was a raging success!
  • 2 0
 As others have mentioned it probably to not eliminate riders just have a score board going on through out the whole contest.
  • 3 0
 Just skipped to the end…
  • 5 1
 wtf did I just watch...
  • 4 1
 That outside truck is pretentious as fuck haha
  • 2 0
 Everything about this season is bad. Just go back to what you did in seasons 1&2.
  • 3 0
 Disapppointing. Season 2
  • 1 0
 What happend to the advent give-away? Entered first 5 price days and then it disappeared!
  • 2 0
 i always use this: www.pinkbike.com/contest/advent
  • 1 0
 Thanks @RZV1984:
  • 2 1
 Does anyone actually watch this? I watched one episode of season 1 and found it to be interminable.
  • 1 0
 Nope, I saw the first episode and that was enough for me.
  • 3 2
 Mia isn't funny but silly AF!
  • 1 1
 Content is King...Autoplay is queen?
  • 6 7
 I'm just glad the singer from Greta Van Fleet can get back to making music
Below threshold threads are hidden





You must login to Pinkbike.
Don't have an account? Sign up

Join Pinkbike  Login
Copyright © 2000 - 2023. Pinkbike.com. All rights reserved.
dv42 0.034069
Mobile Version of Website