The World's Best Bike Videos #83
Hello from Japan! Dad cam is all the rage, the top three are all super stylish videos this week!
Let’s Ride
I’m typing this week’s newsletter from Osaka, Japan. I brought my bike, but the weather hasn’t been cooperating (story of my life! 🤣). You might not know this, but “Super Rider” was the name of a segment in a Japanese tv show - and it was always my dream to bring it back to life. Maybe some day…
Dad Cam Of The Year
Dad Cam is a stylistic choice of filming on a lower quality video setting to make it feel a certain way. I like all the stylistic choices in this video - most specifically Billy Spurway’s riding style. Everything about this video is rad.
The Frelsi
The Frelsi is an old Norse word expressing Viking independence and freedom, which is spot on for this video. All the vikings I know are absolute shredders, and Andy Mitas is no different - he takes his bike literally everywhere in this video, making it a diverse shredfest.
Vanderham + Aggy
Thomas Vanderham and Graham Aggasiz are two mountain bike freeride pioneers/legends - and in this video they take their talents to the Rockies.
Did You See This?
I had a laugh at this one! My wife is extremely patient, but I feel like maybe we’ve had (almost) every single one of these conversations:
Newsworthy
😳 What does it take to make a bike for Brandon Semenuk? Or more appropriately, how has his riding influenced the design of mountain bikes? This is a fascinating and detailed article all about it.
😅 Rocky Mountain bikes has been saved! It looked like the end of the line for Rocky a few months ago, but a group of four investors picked it up - with the intention of rebuilding the legendary bike brand.
👷🏻♂️ Would you wear this helmet? It’s officially banned in its home country, but that didn’t stop Seth Alvo and the Berm Peak crew from testing it out.
🙌 Casey Brown is officially part of the Outdoor Research team - here’s the announcement video! Is anyone else already counting the days until Rampage?
🇨🇦 Canada is getting a new bike park, and it looks seriously awesome. It opens up in June 21st. Check out all the information (including a bunch of videos they’ve put out) here.
👀 Transition Bikes takes employee morale seriously - check out the footage from their “company trip”. Incredible.
I Can’t Stop Thinking About
One thing that I believe to be true: bike riding is a universal language. Over the past few decades, I’ve had the opportunity to travel around the world meeting riders from so many different countries and backgrounds. To this day, some of my best friends live half a world away, but our bonds were forged on two wheels, and that turned out to be stronger than I could have ever expected.
This week I’m visiting one of those friends in Japan, Kenichi Iwasa. If you followed the Trials scene for a long time, he was the guy opening the door for a ton of riders from Japan - and he still does to this day. He runs a shop called Goldrush and supplies all the riders in Japan with trials bikes (and beyond).
So much of our focus lately seems to be on components, trails, and whatever nightmare scenario the UCI and Warner Bros seems to be cooking up next. But don’t forget, there’s something special about riding bikes that goes much, much deeper than that. Here’s to a lifetime of finding new friends on two wheels.
NEW: Tackle Tough Trails
Are you tired of getting off your bike and walking tough sections of trail? This skill will get you unstuck when you come up to tricky spots - it's an easy way to lift and reset the bike on the trail, or to completely hop over the section. While you may have learned a version of this skill as a stationary hop with both brakes locked up, I'm teaching a slightly different version of the skill in this video - one that will help you build some momentum as you move through the section.
“Turn Pro” or “Get A Job”? Maybe Both!
Episode 101 of our podcast, Second Nature, was one of my favorites so far. Yuri Hauswald has kept one foot in both worlds for the better part of two decades: working professional and professional athlete. As the Elite Athlete and Community Manager for GU Energy Labs, Yuri has the perspective for aspiring athletes, as well as athletes looking to make moves for the next stage in their career.
Thank You
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter - I hope you enjoyed the videos as much as I did! I’ll be back stateside next week, with or without a riding video from Japan (hopefully we get a window to ride). Worst case, I guess I’ll just have to come back and try to ride again!