Don’t get me wrong, when The Collective and Roam came out they were both incredibly inspirational. But seriously, how many corporate ‘man does jump’ or ‘man kicks up loam in slow-mo’ videos does the industry think we need? It’s becoming so staid that I deliberately won’t click on a ‘Specialized riders shred the brownpow in Canada’ or ‘Really Fast Rider rides fast on a never-ending hill, in slow-mo!’ These were once really good – a look at foreign riding paradises – but that was about 10 years ago.
That’s not to say that watching the Rampage isn’t inspiring as it obviously is, just in a very different way. It’s brilliantly insane to watch, but it doesn’t make me want to huck off a cliff. In my eyes the videos we see here on STW everday should inspire people to get out. They should make you want to get out early and ride your local trails, or seek out new ones. Hunt for new places and explore with friends.
One of the best videos I’ve seen recently was very arty, lots of mountain mist and all that stuff, but it was two mates riding their hardtails up an Austrian mountain and then back down. It was the classic, clichéd early morning start, the classic, clichéd coffee and the classic, clichéd beer afterwards, and it was corporate. But it was great. It made me want to ride my bike. I was in awe of the riding, but it was all do-able. It was inspiring, but also accessible.
Am I wrong? Are most new videos dull? Or am I becoming an old man who wants to hark back to the ‘good old days’, whereas I should be embracing reinforced manmade trails, 650b and formulaic videos?
