Drew Bezanson's Learning Curve - Episode 2

Jul 18, 2016 at 13:42
by Red Bull Bike  



This week, Drew gets a new toy as he unwraps his all new Trek Ticket S and test drives it at his home park Joyride 150 in Toronto. But he’s quick to realize that there is plenty different about the new setup beyond just the wheel size…

“A BMX bike is rigid, it’s pretty straight forward. But with a mountain bike, there’s so much more that goes into it. The biggest part was like how much PSI do you put in your front and back suspension?” - Drew Bezanson

A trip to New Zealand for Crankworx Rotorua gives Drew his first taste of the contest scene as he gets some tips from the big dogs on tour including Sam Pilgrim, Thomas Genon and Nicholi Rogatkin.

“I want to do this the legit way and qualify, so at the end of the day no-one can be like ‘Oh, he was just able to ride these contests because he rides for Red Bull’… I want them to respect the path I took to riding with these guys” - Drew Bezanson

The Learning Curve is a six-part series released every Monday that captures the high-fives, tumbling lows and humbling experience of Drew Bezanson’s first season on the FMB World Tour of slopestyle mountain biking as he attempts to earn a spot at Red Bull Joyride on Sunday, August 21st.

Tune into Red Bull Joyride live on Red Bull TV on August 21st to see the conclusion of Drew Bezanson’s journey.

MENTIONS: @RedBullCanada


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47 Comments
  • 57 0
 such a creative edit.. so different. love it
  • 12 0
 Yup. The cinematography, editing and overall production values on these videos are fantastic. Definitely cool to see in amidst the throngs of "raw" edits at DH parks (not that those videos aren't sick, they're just the norm).
  • 45 11
 Nowhere near enough riding in these videos
  • 12 0
 drew, it is funny seeing you do this learning curve series & being so humble. none of the slopestyle riders could do this process in reverse and compete in bmx park, your 20" bangers are other worldly and would never be matched. your transition to slope however, is a no brainer and i'm sure you will stack up with the best. you have nothing but respect from all of the riders on your abilities and skill. i'm glad you are going to try and bring it to the table. much props!
  • 1 2
 You're a dumbass. Rogatkin has beaten Casey in contests before. Yeah he started on BMX but he's an FMB guy now. The tricks he does are beast mode in BMX. Years ago, Kyle Strait entered the KoD on his 26"! Yeah, on his fvckin' MTB & did well. If you think a steezed out rider like Sem' or Soder' couldn't cut it in BMX then you don't know this sport. Sem' is a killer on his BMX just like he is on MTB. The slope guys now are some of what BMX wishes it had. Many of them would be some of the best in BMX now if MTB hadn't evolved to the point where it's now capturing the attention of those kids that would've turned to BMX 15 years ago. BMX has never really been popular, but it's running pretty deep down the path to extinction now & FMB is doing a lot of the killing. Lots of "poaching" maybe, but it is what it is. Natural selection bitches.

On top of that, the Bez has had a piss poor showing so far. Even RyNy is doing better & he's almost 40. LOL one time RyNy was in a Don Hampton video almost killing himself trying to dead sailor an MTB on a little baby BMX jump. Haha, boy's come a long way. I hope the Bez can step up his game but he's got a looong way to go. I feel doubtful about him takin' out guys like Rogue, Sem', Rheeder, & newer guys like Fred & Torque. Those m'fvckas, they lay out the real shit.

Gonna need a lot more than flips & 3s Drew, just ask Zink. Wink
  • 1 0
 @Trials-FTW: thanks for your input. i appreciate that. you do not even know my long history in bmx, so i'd appreciate a little more compassion in your writing, and i'm not sure you fully interpreted my words correctly.
so i'll put it a different way : "bmx dudes who flow transfer lines at the top level in skatepark will most likely do better on a slope course than top slope dudes trying to flow a skatepark."
  • 13 1
 That trek ticket bmx tho...
  • 11 0
 Cool series - good luck to Drew
  • 19 12
 Noticed he said "ticking them off the list".....which is what an elite BMXer is gonna do on a MTB....just go down the trick list and nail all of them after a couple tries. He's just being humble, but I bet his bag of landed tricks is already bigger than the best in the MTB game right now....
  • 14 22
flag Theeeeo (Jul 18, 2016 at 18:54) (Below Threshold)
 I think that's a massive over assumption, there's nothing really like slope style in the bmx, you've got dirt jumping or park, slope style is kind of like a weird hybrid, no doubt Drew will place highly if everything goes right on the 21st, but if you plan on making grand sweeping statements already I hope you also planned for looking like a bit of a dick Wink
PS, not gonna lie buddy, I meant to give you neg props but I accidentally hit the wrong button ;P
  • 5 14
flag Kramz (Jul 18, 2016 at 19:13) (Below Threshold)
 Yeah, but is it really about landing tricks? You can spin and flip as much as you want, and still be way worse than Josh Bender.
  • 10 7
 @Kramz: I would kindly like to ask you to shut up about Josh. That dude is a legend and pushed the limits of mountainbiking so much more than you could ever dream of. Just because you don't like the riding style that pros did 15 years ago doesn't give you the rights to act like a dick.
  • 6 1
 @Mattin : I think you misunderstood @Kramz here very badly. Big Grin
  • 2 2
 @ghostrider95: could be, if that's the case then I apologize. The reason I read like he was being negative about Josh was the word 'worse', which implies Josh is already bad (instead of the word choice 'still not as good as', where it would imply Josh is good).
  • 4 1
 @Theeeeo:

@Theeeeo: because naaahh...Drew Bezanson is like every other BMXer and only does big tricks over stairs.....he isn't isn't used to doing big air tricks off ramps at all...see RedBull video Uncontainable.

And I could care less about "poz'd post bro".....I'm not looking for Pinkbike internet glory, lol.
  • 3 1
 @rupintart: Im guessing you rarely give BMX culture any of your time lol
  • 1 0
 @Theeeeo: I actually used to ride BMX....and started playing with Flatland.....so yeah....I gave it the better part of 10 years of my life....and still ride with friends who shred pretty hard in their late 20's early 30's....why you ask?
  • 1 0
 @rupintart: because he's wrong but wants to sound wise anyways. I've been a part of the bmx culture for 12 years and totally agree with you.
  • 1 0
 @rupintart Disagree... let's see what happens with Nyquist and Drew
  • 1 0
 @joaquinRDiert: nyquist is already ending up on podiums when he joins a mtb contest.
  • 1 0
 Bet it's not.
  • 1 0
 @Mattin: @Mattin: Bender is a shit rider. I got nothin' but praise & respec' for the egomaniacal little guy, with his severe & untreatable case of small man syndrome, but he absolutely sucks at bike riding. Having big balls to compensate for small legs is one thing, but that thing is not legendary bike skills. Dude doesn't get enough cred' for his contributions to the sport. It's always been about Wade & Schley & even Tippie & all those fvckers & Bender gets overlooked. Bender was the first one to really REALLY send it. He was the one that did it without knowing WTF would happen because, he didn't know WTF he was doing.

That undersized guy on his oversized bike (that was about as tall as he was wasn't it?) is fvckin' badass. Like Seth Enslow is badass. Not like Travis Pastrana is badass. There's a big difference.
  • 1 0
 @Trials-FTW: except for your obsession about his length, I totally agree the guy doesn't get enough credit. If there's one name who really pushed the limits of what is physically possible on a mountainbike, it's Bender. Trick and style wise, you are speaking of an era when a 360 was almost more impressive than a cash roll is right now. Can't compare the level of riding from 15 years ago to the current level of riding. Fact is that Bender played a huge role in freeride mountainbiking and has a huge part in the history of our sport. The guy earned a legend status for crushing limits and pushing the sport. Definitely much respect for him.
  • 5 0
 It's nice to see some top level BMX riders starting to show some appreciation for MTB. Hopefully Drew and Nyquist are able to influence more riders to try out big wheels, and possibly bring some more sponsors to FMB along the way.
  • 2 0
 Agreed, it's such an easy transition to go from bmx to mtb because you've already got the bike handling skills. I've recently gotten some bmx buddies to try DH and the first obstacle for them is getting used to the speed.
  • 4 0
 Drew is such a bad ass on a bike. Props to seeing him work for his spot in crankworx. Hope to see him at joyride as he has beyond enough skill and determination to make it there.
  • 4 1
 My friend rode a BMX for a while because he couldn't afford a mountain bike at the time I think, it probably helped some aspects of his riding, and gave him time to save and build a decent mountain bike.
  • 3 0
 yeah u learn not to case pretty fast
  • 5 1
 That ending (you do it long enough your probably going to get hurt).....foreshadowing ? Hope not.
  • 8 1
 He hurt himself training an couldn't make Swatch Rocket Air to get a wild card for Prime Line (which in the end he still got by other means). But as the series covers the past... Wink
  • 1 0
 Curious if the suspension is such a confusing component for him why not just do a hard tail and eliminate the most confusing part of suspension: the rear shock ?

He seems pretty at home doing similarly sized drops on a 20" rigid, and there's plenty of other riders who compete on hard tails: rogatkin, sometimes genon depending on the course, pilgrim used to I don't know if he permanently switched to a soda slope.
  • 1 0
 It's best to get used to it right away. If he starts riding a hardtail he still won't be able to properly (/safely) ride a fully when needed. He does indeed goes huge on his bmx, but don't forget that the skatepark-ish set ups he goes huge on are much smoother than a slopestyle course like Joyride.

Also a fully is much more forgiving on your body. Riding a fully all the time will probably give you a few years of extra competing before your body can't handle it anymore.
  • 2 0
 pilgrim stoped using soda slope look at let gets and roturua
  • 1 0
 Also Drew grew up racing moto, so I'm sure it's just a matter of dialing in the suspension for what he needs/is comfortable with. Shouldn't take him long to get it down.
  • 3 0
 @nyhc00: that explains why he goes so damn big on BMX. He's used to go huge with his Moto background.
  • 1 0
 There might always be some BMX guys who luv big jumps and come over to slopestyle scene. Bezanson is the one guy i was always thinkin about. The level rised in the last 10 years and is incedible high. He might not get on a top spot but who carres. It´s slopestyle and he definitely got some style.
  • 4 0
 Looking forward to watching the rest of these.
  • 1 0
 Me too. Nice to see and he is such a humble dude...
  • 2 0
 Is there really any doubt that Drew will do everything he's set out to do? And then some....? I for one am pulling for him, I really like this guy.
  • 1 0
 @boardnz making an appearance haha!

more riding please
  • 1 0
 so fresh! Drew's going to kill it!
  • 4 3
 All of the best MTB guys come from BMX.
  • 13 0
 Anyone landing big moves on 20" wheels with 100PSI, fully rigid, and brakeless... Well, just assume they are probably gonna do fine on a mtb dj
  • 5 2
 your right, aaron gwin did race bmx.
  • 1 0
 long story short: YES.
  • 1 0
 Great series.
  • 1 0
 This is awesome!







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