The World's Best Bike Videos #79
Darkfest delivers...Sea Otter is a wrap, the season is officially underway!
Let’s Ride
Greetings from the land of sunshine, I’m typing this from California in a post-Sea Otter haze. Another year in the books, Sea Otter always feels like a homecoming with the bike industry, and an inflection point as the official start of the season. Let’s ride!
Darkfest Delivers!
It’s happening! Darkfest is finally here, and it was definitely worth the wait. The first of many videos that we’ll be blessed with over the next few weeks to recap the event.
Race Tapes: Fighting For His Future
The Race Tape series is the best race-related content in MTB right now, and this story with Martin Vidaurre is perfectly timed. He went from dominating the U23 class to an extremely rocky start in the Elite category. As of the first World Cup this year, he’s back on the podium - and watching this video gives you a fresh perspective on what it took to get back there.
NZ MTB Rally Looks Incredible
As if we needed another excuse to go ride New Zealand. 🤯
Did You See This?
Chelsea Kimball threw it down at Darkfest this year, winning the “Queen of Darkness” title. It’s easy to see why, when she’s doing stuff like this:
Newsworthy
🚀 My friends launched a company at Sea Otter that you should definitely check out: Formula 100. Their parent company does a aerospace stuff, so you know it’s legit. I’ve been testing their entire lineup for a while and it is seriously impressive.
🤘 Vaea Verbeeck was on Rocky Mountain for a decade, and now it’s time for a new chapter: Scott Bikes. She’s going to crush on these bikes - exciting times ahead!
😳 I was on a ride this weekend in Santa Cruz and got pulled up a hill at mach speed by someone on a Turbo Levo. Here’s a video of Asa and Neko ripping the same bikes…but downhill. Rowdy!
🤦🏻♂️ Can you believe that Nino was fined $944 for hopping on stage and making it a five-person podium at the first World Cup of the year? You’d think for all the extra money they’re charging the teams to participate, they’d want to help the riders and brands get as much exposure as possible. This three-person podium business is not helping anyone.
🕵🏻♂️ The PinkBike Patent Patrol is back! SRAM filed a patent for an e-bike dropper post that wires INTO the existing e-bike battery, saving weight (and extra cables running through your frame).
I Can’t Stop Thinking About
My biggest highlight from Sea Otter? How about these cards? I’ve been to the event many, many times - mostly as media or a member of the industry - but this was my first time as an athlete.
Sea Otter was an interesting one this year. Truthfully, I had extremely low expectations going into it. I figured I would only listen to conversations about tariffs and get a general sense of uncertainty about the year ahead. The bike industry was in a tight spot, and the last thing it needed was more financial pressure.
Thankfully it appears there will be some sort of pause on those tariffs, and that seemed to put most people in a pretty good mood at the event. There was more excitement than I expected, and although there weren’t that many “new” products on display at the show, it was still great to see everyone showing up and putting their best foot forward.
I had a chance to make some new friends, hug my existing ones, and even get some rides in. This was the first time I saw the sunshine in the past six months, so that was pretty great, too.
Even more exciting, my friends launched a brand that they’ve been diligently working on for the past few years. So…while it’s been a rough go the past year or so in the industry, it’s not all doom and gloom. There is sunshine on the horizon!
Behind The Business Of Sea Otter
This past week on the Second Nature podcast, we had Sarah Stutman from Life Time to talk about the business of the Life Time Grand Prix and Sea Otter Classic. It was a fascinating discussion behind the scenes of two iconic events in our industry. Also a good reminder to take a closer look at some of these emerging trail zones in the Southeast!
The Skill No One Practices (But They Should)
This is one of the easier skills to practice and it comes in handy anytime you want to ride your bike over an obstacle. No one wants to practice standing wheelies - but it’s the foundation of this skill. Check out the video, you’ll pick up this skill faster than you think!
Thank You
Next week will be the 80th edition of this newsletter, which feels crazy! I hope you’re enjoying the weekly blast of videos, news and more. If you’re stoked on it, please help the newsletter grow by forwarding it to another rider!