Introduce Yourself

Yo! I'm Patrick (aka "P-Male") and I work for Vital doing ad sales (aka "pixel-pusher"). It's a sweet gig and awesome to work with such a passionate crew of riders and all-around good dudes.

I lost my leg to cancer when I was 10, and actually got into bikes as a result. I couldn't play stick-and-ball sports anymore, so I jumped on my bike as a way to stay active. I was instantly addicted - I had found my physical outlet.

I started racing BMX at 11, and I SUCKED when I started. This was pre-SPDs, so I used a plastic toe-clip. My dad would wrench it down as hard as he could while I balanced on the gate, and then be like, "alright, it's tight, you're not getting out so try not to crash". Ha. I actually crashed THREE times in my first race. I'm a pretty stubborn dude, so that just pissed me off and made me determined to practice like a mad man and figure it out. Fast-forward 20+ years later, and I'm still trying to figure it out...

I raced BMX pretty seriously for about 10 years, going to most of the nationals with a bike shop team called "Herda's Hotshots". Here's a grom race photo:


I really didn't discover mountain bikes until I went to Santa Barbara for college in 2001. Started the transition from BMX to MTB with a hardtail DJ, and then got into bigger bikes from there. These days, I mostly ride bike parks and local DH stuff I can shuttle, but I'll pedal the trail bike around when I have to, and I still knock the dust off my DJ from time to time...


In conclusion, shaka.

Hey everyone, I'm John. I'm 45 as of yesterday, and I've been biking since I was ...much younger. Had a Redline BMX bike in my teens, rode that until someone stole it and I discovered mountain biking. My Specialized HardRock Sport is almost old enough to drink but she's carried me thousands of miles over the river and through the woods. I do mostly road riding now, but I do get off into the trails here in Texas every chance I get. At the beginning of this riding season (which, for me was about April), I thought I'd see how many miles I'd get in before the end of the year. My odometer is at 1,057 miles and there's still a month and a half to go. I'm really eager to get back out there, too.
I'm a paramedic here in Texas, and get outdoors every chance I get. Yesterday was my bday and I got a sweet new T3 full face helmet and I really want to get back on my bike and check it out. My wife thinks I'm crazy because I've been wearing it around the house for the past two days just to make sure it fits okay. But my experiences riding motorcycles for over 250K miles tell me that I need to make sure the helmet fits or the ride will be miserable at best.

Hey Vital,

I'm Kelly. I live in Utah and I am trying to get stoked on winters arrival but there isn't quite enough snow for the snowboarding to be good but too much snow to ride bikes unless you travel 3 hours south. I'm 37 and I've been on a bike since I was just a little guy like most of us here. I started mountain biking in 7th grade on my Giant Iguana I bought at Gorilla bike shop. Riding bikes is still just as fun as it ever was and I hope riding will keep me young. I have 3 boys that are riding with me now and a baby girl that we will get out there soon enough.

Hey Ya all, I'm Big Bird a.k.a. Josh Walters. Born in '71 in Pasadena, CA.

I've grown to be 6'7" and used to get a lot of air, thus the nick name Big Bird. I've also been known as Waltiballs in the past. Before I was 6'7", my first bike was a Schwinn Stingray which I eventually converted into one of those new BMX bikes that all the cool kids had and started doing curb jumps.

Then the dark days of Breaking Away came and I got a road bike. That was thankfully stolen and replaced with a Schwinn Sidewinder that was basically a factory clunker; a straight tubed beach cruiser with two brakes and five forward gears. At the time I was also doing OG freestyle skateboarding, so I spent a lot of time riding what would eventually become flatland BMX moves on that just trying to copy my skateboard tricks. I also learned to really jump on that bike. Sadly that frame cracked setting down a wheelie.

Then there was another road period where I rode my dads bike all over Socal. Finally I got my first real MTB in '88, a Dorado Sherpa, and started riding on the dirt. With that bike I went off to college at UC Santa Cruz and really discovered what trails really were. I dropped out of college and went to culinary school in Portland where I broke my second Sherpa and bought my first REAL MTB at Fat Tire Farm; A GT Avalanche with a then brand new Rock Shox Judy. I was one of the lucky ones who got the original plastic damping cartridges that blew in the first week

. I went through a few of those frames and after moving back to Santa Cruz I got my first full suspension bike in the form of a 22" Heckler. My first DH build was that Heckler with a Marzocci Bomber and seven inch BMX cruiser bars. I went through quite a few of those frames over the next few years basically operating as an unpaid product tester. I got a job at Another Bike Shop which was just blocks away from Rock Shox at the time so I was able to get one of the first DHOs ever shipped to a non pro and have run through axles on all of my bikes since. I then got one of the first Super 8s to ship (Well, hand delivered really.) and eventually some new Boxxer forks. Broke a few Super 8s and plenty of Chameleon frames until all of my RnD riding finally paid off and the Santa Cruz frames stopped cracking.

I came oh so close to becoming a professional race mechanic, just barely missing out on jobs with Spec. when they hired Bearcloth and at Haro back when they had a DH team. I even got inside the tent/office of Martin Whitely when he was running Honda.

Somewhere in there I hooked up with Joey Hayes who ran Observed Trials Magazine that eventually turned into 180 Magazine. The OTM/180 crew built the trials courses at Sea Otter and then came up with the Ride Zone concept and built those for a few years. Those were good times and Waltiballs and Big Bird were bestowed upon me by the crew. Through Joey I got to go to the Telluride World Cup to do trials demos. I also got to race the World Cup track but could only bring one bike on the plane, so I did trials demos on my DH bike. I killed my third Super 8 doing stair hucks on campus and got a used Giant that served me well for years.

At some point I quit cooking and got a job at a small custom motorcycle shop where I learned to weld and I haven't bought a frame since. I've built twoDJ/trials hard tails, an OG Bullit swing arm based slope bike and my current newer Bullit swing arm based DH bike that's long, low and super slack and gets 9.5" of travel. Years of great riding passed.

Then one day I had an OTB and landed right on my head. I started having pain and numbness in my left arm and started going to the chiropractor figuring it was from the crash. Then I went to a neurologist and after 29 blood tests, an MRI and a spinal tap he told me that I have multiple sclerosis. Shitty. I basically quit riding at that point as I'm not supposed to get overheated. I tried to get back on that horse the other day and did some shuttles on the Juggs trail in Santa Cruz with my friend Eric who lives at the Freedom 40. That didn't go so well as my arms are so weak from the MS that I couldn't support my weight well enough and went chest to bars to crash in the first g-out. I had to ride straight armed down the rest of the trail. Not so much fun.

So that's me. My bikes are collecting dust in the chicken coup. I still love the sport and follow DH fanatically and do my best as a forum mod. here at VitalMTB.

My name is Rod and I like to party.

-One of those motocrossers turned downhiller turned mountain bike nerd.
-Was a bike mechanic, got an expensive paper, worked for Audi, now have a 9-5 at a company that does a lot of cool shit.
-I don't forum often but when I do I sound like an idiot.
-I picked a wheel size and liked it.
-Carbon nanotubes... google it.
-I wear shorts over my bibs.
-I hate Strava and the people that use it soooo much that I use it myself. Thanks
-The people I ride with don't hate me as much as I think they do... sometimes. Also thanks.

Hi,

I'm Jeremiah Dylan Dean.. & i go by Jeremiah,... or Dylan... or JDD,... or.... i don't know what other people call me (or at least that i will admit to).

- I don't know anything about the sport
- I don't ride bikes
- I don't know what i'm doing here
- Who is Aaron Gwin?

Ok, truth be told, i've been active in the sport since the mid 90's.

- as a racer,
- then photographer
- then marketing manager (SPY, Utopia, Nema),
- then started my own DH race news website (PinnedMTB.com)
- then custom helmet painter (AP Designs),
- then started my own helmet painting company (Dylan Dean Designs)
- then eyewear company owner (Dean Optics),
- then manager/owner of a MTB team (started as DRD, then became ARMA Energy MTB, then back to DRD)
- then created 2 national series (Pro GRT & MTBgp)
- ...I'm sure there's stuff i'm forgetting

I no longer deal with any of those & have settled down into 2 jobs - Secret Agent for the Wasserman Media Group & janitor for the Bike Vault bike Shop.

I don't posted often on forums these days... but i'm a stalker for sure!

the end.

My name is Brandon. I live in a RV, traveling from riding spot to riding spot with my amazing gal and our trail dog in training.



Several years ago, after high school let out from another day of class I walked outside I saw one of my friends on top of a bus stop on his bike. I watched in awe as he proceeded to wheelie drop off the edge, perfectly nailing the tiny grass landing. Seeing him do that inspired me to start mobbing around town with him on my dad's rusty old Stumpjumper hardtail, and I've been hooked ever since.



Many months of stair gaps, ledge rides, and countless hucks to flat later, I finally hit the dirt for the first time. Not long after I was lining up at the start line of DH, 4X, and slalom races at the Mountain States Cup Series, where I met many riders that I still call friends today.



I've always had an engineering mindset, taking apart pens as a little kid, tinkering with this or that, seeing how things work... combined with my love of bikes, it eventually led me to pursue mechanical engineering as a degree. In the back of my mind I always wanted to work for a bike company designing products that make bikes better. Four years, dozens of all-nighters, lots of good times, and a Collegiate Cycling Team Championship Title later, I found myself out of school and on the job hunt. Fun fact: Though I did graduate, I never actually went to the ceremony - I was too busy cheering on our road cycling team.



During this period I used my spare time to dig and ride as much as possible, and it was then that I think I was one of the best riders I'll ever be. I put many, many hours into a local riding spot, hosted dirt jump jams and races, managed a few teams, gave slopestyle a go, and went on several great road trips with lifelong friends.

I'd eventually pick up a job as a design engineer for a robotics company, where my team's task was to create a massive robot capable of dismantling a decommissioned nuclear reactor. Because it was a government job, I eventually grew tired of excessive paperwork requirements and started to look elsewhere.







Eventually I interviewed with Fox Racing Shox and Vital. Vital won out for several reasons, and though I left a possible career path behind, it has opened my life to some incredible experiences and I enjoy bringing a somewhat unique perspective to my work as one of Vital's Product Editors.





Today I'm lucky to travel around North America in search of the next best riding spot, hidden gems, and great beer. My gal and I enjoy living simply, experiencing places as a local (even if only temporarily), and visiting with friends around the country. We occasionally consider settling down, but after nearly four years of traveling non-stop we can't deny that we're hooked, possibly for life...



My current riding joys include pulling up hard and hucking test bikes into poor landings and techy sections with reckless abandon, then seeing how they react upon landing. Wyn Masters and Cody Kelley also have me pumped on getting as much back wheel action as possible. The many intricacies of suspension tuning and tweaking have me jazzed as well. No matter where or what I'm riding, I always find a way to hoot and holler as much as possible.



I welcome you guys to join me on instagram for a continued (although admittedly sporadic) look at how I live, where the trails are tacky, and what I'm up to in the world of bikes. It'd also be rad to join you all for a ride and a brew if/when we happen to be passing through your neck of the woods.

The community here on Vital continues to inspire me, and it's awesome reading about where we all got started and where we are now. Thanks so much for being part of it. YAY BIKES!

Irvine. What rad online MTB is head quartered there? Hum...let me check with PMale.

Will Scharninghausen, aka Scharney/@Scharney127

-Current Home Base: The Bay Area [Missing Colorado]

-Riding Style: Been riding for years and I still don't have any style.


-Accomplishments: I hit a road gap once or twice...



-Why I Ride: I ride for my best friend because he no longer can.



-Life Goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzDBgIAIZJ0

-Hobbies: Drumming, video production, finding random stuff on Google maps & ranting.

-I know that I have too many photos of me riding.

Greetings Vital MTB community,

My name is Terry Dixon a.k.a. Mad Max. I am currently 21 years old and a college student who is soon to graduate next Spring. Going BIG next year! I have been riding bikes every since I was little peanut smoking katz on my Schwinn. Yeah I was that one guy that had a Schwinn growing up and slayed it until the wheels came off. I was born in Chicago and raised in the suburbs most of my life. I currently reside in Grayslake, Illinois a.k.a the Rollins Savanna for being notoriously known for its 7 mile trail and recently extended.

I would say I became more of an MTB enthusiast after being discharged from the United States Navy last year in April. After being discharged I had ample amount of money to purchase my very first bike without mommy and daddy's help. I am a cheap guy and purchased a 2013 DiamondBack Sorrento. A sexy steed with agility of a cheetah and toned like a horse. I rode that bad bitch to the moon and back. Unfortunately she and I were in an accident last October and have missed her ever since. It would be exactly 391 days since I have touched two wheels after today.

Downhill and Enduro is my religion and has been my ever growing passion and plan on racing next year. The Black Stallion needs to be released from it's cage. I would like to take my passion and spread the hobby and sport of mountain biking across the world in changing lives, peace and good times.

Hobbies: Mountain biking and more biking, Extreme Sports, Off-Roading, Movies, Video-games, etc.
Dream bike: Trek Session 9.9
Dream sponsors: Azonic, DVO Suspension, Oakley, Race Face, Troy Lee Designs and Specialized
Dream park(s): Whistler and Hafdell. Trust me more are coming soon.
Favorite team: Giant Factory

Instagram: https://instagram.com/madmaxflexin/

"Once you find the thing you love doing the most. Nothing can stop you." - Terry Dixon

Hi I'm Alex,

I'm 18 and I'm from London, England. My local forest is only a few square miles across, and there's only one major hill and about 5 trails that last around 30 seconds, but I still love Mountain biking .

I've been riding Mountain bikes for around four years now, I also ride BMX, Cyclocross, and Track also. I started out with a Local cycling club who taught me how to "ride" a mountain bike. (Lean back on the steeps, use your rear brake more than your front, clip in to be a better rider) about a year later I started reading articles on coaching websites and watching videos and realised what actual riding looked like. Since then I've used almost exclusively flat pedals as well as making myself as good at this sport as I possibly can. I know I'm going to spend the rest of my life riding bikes so I might as well be good at it.

I'm a qualified swimming teacher and that combined with my love of Bikes mean I hope to one day be a Mountain bike coach. Whatever happens as long as I get the chance to ride bikes I'll be happy.

It's miserable outside at the moment so I might be spending more time in theses forums talking about riding. After riding it's the next best thing.

Hello, I am Brett and I work in sales at Carmax. I became addicted to the sport in college and have been riding for about 5 years now. I have wanted to pursue my passion and get into the mountain bike industry for several years, and I will not give up until I make it!

I enjoy DH and Trail riding the most. Like to throw down as many lap as I can. "You can tell everyone about your near death experience on the shuttle, get on and lets go again!" I only have time to ride 1-2 days per week and like trail rides 8-15 miles and ride year round.

I currently ride a YT Tues Pro, a Devinci Troy, and a Scott Voltage DJ.



I am lucky and have ridden with many great people and have made a lot of friends on the trails over the years. I look forward for my future on and off the trail.

I'm Dylan Stucki

The spawn of this guy:





Born XC and I know it:



All about #wheelies and #barhumps







And I crash a lot:





I was on the cover of a magazine once:



I got to participate in the 2015 Vital MTB Test Sessions and it was bad as fuck. Maybe I'll do it again someday...

This past summer my friends and I rode the Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango. Check out the slideshow.

Been playing the 'gram game since 2014 czech me out @dylan_stucki

I guess you could say it runs in the family...

What's up Vital? Love these message boards--more friendly and real than that other website--and I try to post on them whenever possible.

Anyhow...my name is Floyd but I'm a whiteboy, I've been riding mtb since I got my old Diamondback Topanga back in 1988. I also ride road, don't own a car, live on top of a big hill, and can hit the trails in 2 mins....

Never felt at home any other place than on my bike.

Native Californian, I now live in Oakland and work as a teacher and copywriter--a great combo that gives me a lot of time to ride in the dirt and enough disposable income to buy bike stuff when I need it, all while holding down a rewarding job.

As you saw with Big Bird's post, you just never know what life is gonna hand ya. 6 months ago I was on a trail ride with my best friend.... when he suddenly pulled over and had a massive heart attack. I performed CPR and mouth to mouth for 10 minutes until the paramedics showed up (thank god for a random passerby)...but my best and oldest friend died anyway. Went cold in my arms. Never thought I'd make out with him. Changed my life and every ride I take reminds me of him.

So get out there while ya still can!

This is funny. I'm going to try to keep it going.

I started riding mountain bikes in the central Sierras around 1989.
After a few years of racing and working in bike shops I decided to go to school and learn how make things. For the last 15 years or so I have been engineering many things, most of them go up and down and hang off the front of your bike.



Lived in Colorado for 10 years and now I'm in Bend, OR. No longer making toys for a living and not really sure how I'm feeling about it.

Vital is the only MTB website I look at now that I'm not getting paid to do it.

I'm a line poaching, lazy shit who follows Ballr around so I can shred his disgustingly sick mtb trails. I also went to engineering school so I have poor grammar and can't spell for shite.

My wife has sweeter bikes than I do.

I have a fatbike and I like it.


My friends are assholes or nerds or both.

My account name is derived from a willingness to ride slow and die old (lack of skill in general).

Hi Guys,

I'm Tal, I run a skills coaching school and MTB tour guiding in Israel, and I try to visit as many other locations for riding, either while guiding or just for fun.
Have so far been to Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Holland, France and the Pyrenees, so the list is still long!

Have been on Vital as a reader for quite a while and also contributing some occasional photography for product reviews for which I usually get paid with a free lunch courtesy of Iceman2058

You're more than welcome to catch some of my videos which occasionally added online and visit our website or our facebook page .

Howdy,

Hittheshowers13 here. Good game out there, way to leave it all out on the field, hit the showers.

Always loved two wheels from the moment I ditched training wheels at 4. Worked two summers ages 11 and 12 mowing lawns in Cape Cod to buy my first full suspension bike, a Univega Dual Action with a Fox Alps 4 and a gold Rockshox Quadra 21 for $1200 cold hard cash. Had that Bell screamin' eagle helmet that I wish they would bring back.

Cape Cod sucked for riding bikes but my dreams came true shortly after I got my bike and we moved to San Diego. I don't even remember the mountains we drove to on the weekends but I rode real trails solo while my parents hiked. It was awesome. The summer before I went to boarding school in western MA I got to spend two weeks at Durango Mountain Bike camp. Best two weeks of my life at that point. Even made out with one of the girls there, Meagan. That was in 1997.

Brought the Univega to boarding school, it got stolen. Saved up the next summer and bought a green Specialized Stump Jumper hardtail. Rode that thing a ton around the hills in western MA until that got stolen. I was a bit too trusting back then, and an idiot. Luckily I got insurance on that bike and the following summer saved a bit more and got a yellow Cannondale Super V 900 with red Paul V-Brake levers and XTR V brakes, first XTR anything I ever owned. That was when NWD still had school bus drops and I wanted to ride like them, beat the shit out of that thing. Rode the Cannondale all the time for the next couple years in boarding school, including many missions deep into the woods to smoke the dope.

Freeriding and teeters and dirt jumps during the summers lead me to need a real freeride bike, enter the black and grey Stinky Dee-Lux with Marzocchi Shivvers. Hucked that thing like no tomorrow with limited skill. Rode it at Lynn Woods near Boston, that place was classic East Coast freeride. Moved to WA for Freshman year of college, then moved to NZ for the remaining 3 years of school. Brought the Stinky with me.

Ruptured my AC level 5 on the last jump of the last run of the day at the mini dreamtrack in Queenstown before it was as huge of a destination as it is today (2005). That put me off of attempting to go big for years. Sold the Kona after moving back to WA and bought a 2006 Specialized Enduro, changed how I looked at riding. Could rip all trails, fast up and down, and get back into jumps.

Live and work in Silicon Valley, head over to Santa Cruz as much as possible on the weekends to rip my 2012 Nomad with locals who are way faster than I am. Just bought a 4x4 Sprinter to convert for adventures in all seasons, want a new bike, and about to have a baby. New bike not happening, at least that's what I keep telling my wife...

Love Vital, hound Spomer for stickers, and will ride mountain bikes for as long as I am physically able. Started to do some yoga these days to make sure that happens. Love drinking beers, music and snowboarding both in the front and backcountry. Collected BIKE mags since the early days, think Vital Slideshows are the best things on the internet with VitalRAWs coming in a close second, and used to think Team Robot was cool. Ridden a lot of places, hope to rip Europe and Iceland sometime in the next few years but not until I get to Utah. Cheers, and if you see the big bluegrey van with the vital sticker on the back at the trail head, hit me up for a beer, I always have cold ones in the fridge.

Owen. 15. Now to vital mtb, been on vital bmx for a year or so.

-Been mountain biking a year
-I don't follow mtb media, or what race is going on, or who is coming out with what bike
-First mtb was a specialized hardrock from last year
-Rode downyville on a rental and begged my dad for a new bike
-recently got a 2009 specialized enduro used
-I ride way more bmx
-I really like going downhill fast, and competing with people
-I love rock gardens
-I love Tahoe
-Saving for a downhill bike to be trendy. ButbI have literally no idea where to start
-I hate equestrians
-I climb up most everything I go down. Well. Hike-a-bike nowdays
-Joined to learn more about mountainbiking

OK, I'll play. I wandered over from Ridemonkey after witnessing the armchair experts run off all of the industry insiders..I'm hoping VItal is an improvement, although I just came across a "lets build the most expensive bike in the world" thread.

Anyways, I started there as Unicycle and quickly changed to Pegboy and now am reverting back to Unicycle. Why? 'cause like Patrick, I got one leg.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJasKGv90zM

I ride bikes (been DH'ing since '95)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sufISKY2Ioc

I ski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRIjVWKIBA0

I've lived, and ridden, in Colorado, So-Cal and now back in New Hampshire where I grew up.
I've slowed down a bit over the past few years as I am old like dirt now. I mostly ride with my 12 year old son, his crew and their dads at Highland Mountain bike park in NH. I'm extremely lucky to have a son who's into all of the stuff I enjoy doing. Life is good.
I make people's legs for a living. Proper term: Prosthetist..not to be confused with Prostitute..although everyone has their price.
My great grandfather rode motorcylcles in barrels, "the wall of death" kinda thing. That's him in my avatar picture. Genetically, I never stood a chance. Lost my leg at 18 going over 100mph on my MC. Hit a car head on. I'm still alive. I win.

I lurk more than I post. Most posts are completely sarcastic, which means I'm probably not adding much.
I know a lot of people on here through RM, through riding friends, or personally.
If you are ever at Highland and you see me, say hey...I kinda stick out.

Great idea for a thread, the internet can feel so anonymous sometimes, it's nice to hear people's stories. I usually lurk on these forums but rarely contribute.

I'm Andrew. I live in Collingwood, Ontario. I was born and raised in Redcar, UK.

I spent my early teens riding BMX at the local skate park. Some young lad called Danny used to show up now and then and kick our arse. Not sure whatever happened to him.

Stints with the Army and completing a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering lead to a hiatus from two wheeled fun, but also introduced me to my wife. It was her father who got me into mountain biking (one of his bikes got my BOD back in January, which made him smile with pride). My first proper bike was a Specialized Hardrock.

For a brief summer (as they always are in the North of England) I worked as a guide for British Cycling.

Moving to Canada in 2010, I work as a Ski Patroller, Ski Technician, Rock Climbing and Caving Guide, Bike Patroller and Bike Mechanic.

The lure of a decent wage without needing to work 3 jobs at once saw me enter an office in 2012, and I currently work as an Electrical Designer for a heavy equipment manufacturer. The standard of my bikes improved with the new job. From my trusty Hardrock and a Norco 4by, to a second hand V10 and Stumpjumper FSR, I now own a Santa Cruz Bronson and a Santa Cruz Chameleon.

I am a tinkerer and have been know to have flare ups of upgrade-itis, much to my wife's dismay. The engineer in me can't help but experiment with bike set ups.

I have dabbled in racing - mostly endurance XC races (24hr, 8hr etc); and some small local DH races. I will be attempting my first solo 8hr race this year.

Alan here. Just found this site. We run a MTB company running great biking holidays in Southern Spain. Check us out, maybe even get over here to try out our great singletrack. (with uplift) Sierra MTB

What’s up Vital land, we are YT-USA. Right now we’re 5 homies strong and this is who we are:

Cameron Zink - YT-USA's Mayflower Captain and President. Professional rider since whenever til whenever. Founder and President of Sensus since 2009, Sensus Rad Trails N.P.O, and proud papa since 2013. Sometimes he’ll answer the phone and people think we must have two Camerons in the office.




Howie Zink - YT-USA COO and Cam’s big brother. Accomplishments include bench pressing a Volkswagen, bunnyhopping Kevin Hart, and being the fastest off-the-couch ripper in the west. VP of Sensus and Sensus Rad Trails NPO. Video appearances include 2-Six Git Sum and Lemonade and Duct Tape Stuffs. Watch and learn kids.




Brad Howell - Good Times Ambassador, never-has-been DH racer turned trail-bro. Sensus street agent and Instant-o-gram poster and Sensus Rad Trails NPO Secretary. Brad runs the demo tour and answers your emails when not on the road. He’s typically found in the background of videos and lurking on the forums of other sites shaking his head.




Mark Sinnot - BeefCake. The young-buck dual-crown crusher joined us this fall and does it all. He’ll answer the phone, your emails and whether you should upgrade to this or that (you don’t.) Mark enjoys going as fast and big as he can on his bike and then going underground in Whistler until the wee hours.





Trevor Boldi - Intern. The Great Boldini is a top 10 Junior National Racer and pays for his cheetos and gas by cleaning demo bikes and keeping the shop looking sharp. Look for him to ditch us when he starts making money racing in a few years.

YT sounds like a family. I'm sure that Trevor will stay loyal. Unless he's the new Gwin. In which case, He'll remain loyal?

Hi I am Kevin I live in Glenwood, NY a rural suburb of Buffalo, NY. I have been riding and racing mountain bikes since 1993. Started out doing XC races and quickly grew in love with observed trials. I competed in trials and did demos all over the east coast until 2000 when I got burned out from it. That is when I bought my first DH/huck bike. It was a Karpiel Armageddon. Quickly after that I got a Yeti DH8 and fell in love with racing. Raced DH until 2010 when I had kids . Working full time and kids left me little time to race. Now I trail ride often and hope to get back into some gravity stuff when my kids are older.

Sup, Gnarnia420 here, aka: Otto. Dont let the lame nickname fool you, Im actually a pretty cool guy. The Gnarnia420 thing came from a buddy who used to make fun of my love of watching fantasy movies like Harry Potter and obviously The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe whilst my mind went on magical journeys. I changed Narnia to GNARnia because I'm a pretty good rider and get GNAR as much as possible.

Anyways, I live in Humboldt for the most part but often find myself going down to Santa Cruz for weeks at a time to shred there. My favorite parts about riding is taking safety meetings as often as possible and whenever I want because the po-po aint never going to be out there anyways. Its the 1 place I can go to escape the hustle and bustle of all the normies out there who just care about money and suits n shit.

I'm currently riding a 2005 BigShit w/ Zocchi Shivers. It's old and has high miles, but only one owner and she's treated me good since I bought her. I know theirs fancier and new bikes out there but Ill ride this bitch until I cant find anymore 24 inch tires.

Bikes are fn rad. I trip out just looking at all the gnarly stuff they can do and I like riding different bikes a lot. Yesterday I traded bikes with this dude who hada rigid Surly Ogre 9r that was pretty sick. It was green and the fork not moving kept the front of the bike super high which was rad.

I like the Vitals forum cuz everyone seems chill here.

Peace y'all, may your pipe always be full.

Hey everybody, I'm Pedro, 28 years old, Medical Doctor from Portugal but currently living and working in Spain. Some randoms about me in no particular order:
- Always loved riding bicycles
- Started riding more seriously around 2003 with a POS walmart bike, first real bike was a Mondraker DH bike in 2005.
- Broke the Mondraker frame in 2006.
- Won the second race I entered, a local urban DH.
- Never thought I would ride anything else other than a DH bike but am currently loving the enduro rides/races although my physical fitness is far from up to it.
- Love the Iron Horse Sunday (Sam Hill influence) and am on my second frame.
- Sam Hill fanboy.
- Vital Bike of the Day twice with each of my Sundays build.
- Hoping to get another Bike of the Day with my new Giant Reign.
- Part of an amateur local DH team.
- Don't ride nearly enough of what I would like but work takes a lot of time from me.
- Rode a quad for some years around 2005-2008 but sold it for bike parts.
- I think I am pretty picky about my bikes.
- Was a weight weeny with my DH bike, although I could only get my ex-Sunday to around 15.87kg (35lbs).
- Currently living in what I think is one of the flatest places in Spain when I always lived in a place surrounded by mountains.
- Hoping to enter more Enduro races this year and improve my fitness.
- Went to Andorra World Champs last year and was f'ing amazed.
- Want to try and go to Lourdes and Val di Sole this year.
- Wrote more than I thought I would in this topic...

I love bike.

I love my bike.

I love riding.



Seriously, though my name is James and I'm obsessed with mountain biking. Although I haven't been riding nearly as long as most people I have come a long ways. With only 4 years under my belt mountain biking I feel like I've been riding all my life. Trust me I'm obsessed.

Although I road bike to work every day I don't enjoy it. I prefer hitting the trails on my mtb bike. At least with the road bike it keeps me in shape for the weekend rides

My name is Wayne.

- I live in Kamloops, BC, home of jumps that are as big as a house, and fast and flowing trails.
- riding since '89ish, maybe earlier. Got into riding because it was all I could do after hurting myself from skateboarding. Got more into it around '95 to '97 when I moved to North Vancouver and realized what was in my backyard.
- raced DH for about 8-9 years, a few in the 'elite' class. I dare not say pro because I was no pro! Rode for Balfa Cycles for a little while.
- was the Bike Ranch manager/builder for a couple of years. Kinda fun getting paid to dig. Now I am still actively build trails, and have probably put more time in building than riding.
- used to help co-organize provincial and national dh, xc, and cx races.
- In 2003ish I wrote out an idea for a race series for some friends and I where we would all climb to the top and race each other down, and do that all day on different trails. I didn't call it enduro, I called it the nutcracker.
- I designed the Maxxis High Roller 2 out on paper, submitted it, and that exact image is what is on the market today. Had the idea for the DHR2 and the Shorty, but those weren't realized until long after I left. Now I'm testing with Vee Rubber.
- stopped riding for 3 years and opened an indoor skatepark and retail shop selling skateboards and bmx bikes. Faction skate & bmx inc. Closed it when a better opportunity came up and I felt like making money. Missed riding, got back into it when bikes got good and this enduro thing happened.
- I race the BC Enduro series when I can. Super fun. The racing I always dreamed of. Screw the haters.
- I am doing some promo work with Xprezo Cycles, Nobl Wheels, 77designz, and Rogue Hoes. Expect some slight spamming.

Now I am dreaming that Mr. Spomer will take me on board as a product tester/writer/crusty old man.

Hey everyone, my name is Nick. I'm trying to start a MTB page on Instagram and maybe someday turn it in to a community for mountain bikers all over! I could use all the followers I can get. You wont be disappointed! The account is MTB_bible. thanks for your support!