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Thanks for voicing your concern. Wheels are a really large initial investment when it comes to tooling, hitting MOQ's and first production numbers. Most of the larger brands you know have easer access to capital than a brand our size. Crowd funding was a way to test the market and raise capital without selling out to private equity or taking on huge amounts of debt. Now that the heavy lifting is done, keeping wheels turning is less of a hurdle (pun intended ha). We have planned for lots of stock incase things go awry for customers.

So you're saying we should be binning 8 year old bikes? Even though they are still perfectly functioning for modern day riding?

I think the media partner should have no say in how the sport is governed.

I hate that someone got paid lots of money for that, especially that Venn diagram.

It's not tennis. We should never put the pressure of having a minor take their life in their hands to win $3000 trying to beat a seasoned 10 year professional with an unlimited budget & depth of experience that simply can't be replicated. A 16 year old, well guided or not, would more often than not, risk getting paralyzed to get in finals. There will always be a Jackson or an Asa. But part of why they can put down a time that rivals the best of the Elite field is they're racing their peers. Teens. Removing Junior category leaves...

Sorry if my sarcasm was a little too thick in the last post, but cutting the junior class is a mindboggingly terrible idea for the sport, and can only be justified as a cost cutting measure for feeding the beast at WBD. It's baffling to read news like this and wonder how these ideas ever get approved. And then I remember, "oh yeah, it's not about the sport, or the athletes, or the fans, or for the sake of 'sport' in general. It's about wringing as much money out of the sponge as WBD can, even if they ruin the...

What if we chopped the injured riders into dog food during the season, to help cover expenses for the series? Or if we required donations of sperm and eggs from riders, which could be sold off to the highest bidder? Another idea: We could ask the riders to choose one of their parents, and if they don't make the cut for finals at least once during the season, we feed that selected parent to a pack of starving dogs. My main concern here is how we can make this race series more profitable. I believe we can do it, as...

I think the absence of juniors or a lites class whether age based or entry based is a mistake. These guys are making a huge effort to make the sport more like formula one but formula one has formula 2 and supercross has the 250 class. If most downhill series can pull off 100 pro racers plus a full set of amateur categories these guys should be able to figure it out. Only good thing these guys have brought to the table is broadcasting juniors and now it’s gone. Par for the course with wbd.

Two years ago, I would have called you crazy, but having had some prefrontal cortex development and a few MTB-related operations, it's terrifying to see a couple dozen incredible human beings (some of whom haven't even reached adulthood) put themselves at incredible risk for arguably not a lot of reward. I genuinely think we are reaching the limits of what the human body (and equipment) can do in many disciplines, and the recent injuries to these high-profile athletes are an unfortunate reminder of that. Something has to change, I don't know what that is, but I do know I won't...

I wrote this article 11 years ago about risks vs reward. Nothing much has changed, riders and medical costs have. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/risk-vs-reward-contest-insurance-2014.html

I think you have an irresponsible view of things. Firstly, these are high-performance athletes who depend on publicity. Rampage riders even more so than others. And that means they take a high risk. The comparison may be absurd, but it's like prostitutes having sex without a condom just because the camera is watching. Secondly, these riders wouldn't take the risk if their livelihood didn't depend on it. Sure, there are exceptions, but I think being professional also means earning money. Thirdly, all this talk about pushing boundaries is just nonsense anyway. Ultimately, they're building a huge skate park on the...

I think everyone can do what they want, but a battlefield like this, with 25% of participants physically disabled and therefore unable to earn a living, should not be called a sport. I have the utmost respect for the riding skills of these daredevils on two wheels. But the urge to mutilate oneself for fame and little money has nothing to do with sport anymore, but rather with some kind of pathology that needs to be treated. Now hate and downvote me as much as you want

I’m not a freerider or an event organizer, so I don’t have any special insight into what would improve matters. The mood in this thread seems to be that an event which severely injures a fourth of its participants is either no big deal or inevitable or both, so I’m out.

I said this after the event but it’s been buried with other discussion. But I think limiting the use of water on the hill would go along way in decreasing some of the amplitude. You can send massive drops without these packed in landings.

I’m not proposing anything. I’ve said what I felt like saying and it’s clear that it’s not welcome here, so I’m staying out of further discussion.

Based on the broadcast explanation of the judging, Rampage is similar (and presumably influenced) by judging from these freeride snow comps. However, I don’t think it’s as refined. Back in the day on the Freeskiing World Tour, your line choice was scored first (1-10 scale). Then the other categories were (fluidity, amplitude, control, technique if I remember correctly) were scored based on this line score. You could not score more than two points higher in any other category than your line. A perfect score was a 50 (all categories maxed out at 10). It was then always a balance to...

I think Vali Höll should star on Team RockShox United by RedBull Leogang Alliance. Different frame every week, the same as whomever’s in 2nd place. Continue roasting. That’d be sick. She could do it.

Redbull was less about being American.. and more about having the financial ability to support my dream. Ha.

Or, Norco. Team being managed by a legend that was the king of tinkering with frame adjustments until the day he retired. A team that has a F1 engineer. From and outsider perspective. I could see Norco being a good fit, logistically. - Team that supports outside of the box thinking for bike set up, and the money to do so. - Team that has $$ backing to support riders traveling abroad for long stints. -When Greg started managing Norco, he brought Cathy back in to help manage all the logistics and take care of the riders. Now, lets toss...