I agree, I think he is a very good rider It would be awesome to see him ride trail in a video that is ripping rather than have one or two huge stunts.Darryl said:
Bender RAMPAGE
- Thread starter Motionboy2
- Start date
I completely disagree with that. And not just in reference to Bender... it's in reference to anyone that is trying to be the top dog. If you do not go big and push the limits someone else will... and that is who is going to be in the video and the magazines.Motionboy2 said:
Face it, the film/magazine industry is not going to stick around and film guys who are not going huge. In order to be a 'super star' (or rock star... whatever the announcer was saying at the rampage) you have to go huge or go home. And when you want to make money off of a sport, it's all about exposure...
I have not seen too many photos and videos out there of the curb dropping crowd.
Bender is Bender, no matter what someone says, he trys gaps/hits that we aren't going to try. He has come acustom to this. This is his deal in the sport. Others race, some dirt jump, some huck. He is one of those that just Hucks.
It's true. Without "test dummies" like Bender and the other hard core freeriders we wouldn't have what we have now. Bikes that had 4" of travel he was hucking on, progressing technology to put forth the 8"+ travel bikes of today. Not just racers evolve the sport, if anything the DH/FR crowd is doing it. You need progression, in any form to build a sport. Hell look at other sports, baseball and football is untouched, but with the progression of the AND1 tapes for basketball, it's bringing their game to another level. Sports need this, this is how they stay in the game and come ahead.
I'm sure there's others out there like Bender who push it. Bender gets noticed because he tries the biggest stunts. He's like a one hit wonder. But his one hit will get all the "wow's" then others multi-small hits. Personal prefrence is to watch riders flow, but I've seen enough videos with Bender in them to watch and just wonder how he sticks them. You won't see Bender do a backflip or a table top like the other riders, he'll just pick something that I'd call "stupid" and either stick it or go home and ride another day.
As another note it's good to see pro's helping out where they go, with clinics or trail maintence. Plus being able to ride with him would be sweet. You'll only get better riding with someone like that. But he knows his limits. He's fallen enough times to know when to say "nah I'll pass". Me or other riders on the other hand don't have that experience.
He seems and sounds like a chill guy. He's always done a good job from the sounds of it with people and can mingle with different groups fine. It's all an opinion on weather he's considered a talented rider or just a lucky one. He's got both on his hands, and he knows as we all do that sometimes your luck runs out. It happens to the best of us, except he chooses to get back up and ride when some call it quits.
BTW that photo sequence is nasty. It was wrong from the start, but atleast he pulled off instead of watching him try and land it and getting tossed like a doll even more than he did
It's true. Without "test dummies" like Bender and the other hard core freeriders we wouldn't have what we have now. Bikes that had 4" of travel he was hucking on, progressing technology to put forth the 8"+ travel bikes of today. Not just racers evolve the sport, if anything the DH/FR crowd is doing it. You need progression, in any form to build a sport. Hell look at other sports, baseball and football is untouched, but with the progression of the AND1 tapes for basketball, it's bringing their game to another level. Sports need this, this is how they stay in the game and come ahead.
I'm sure there's others out there like Bender who push it. Bender gets noticed because he tries the biggest stunts. He's like a one hit wonder. But his one hit will get all the "wow's" then others multi-small hits. Personal prefrence is to watch riders flow, but I've seen enough videos with Bender in them to watch and just wonder how he sticks them. You won't see Bender do a backflip or a table top like the other riders, he'll just pick something that I'd call "stupid" and either stick it or go home and ride another day.
As another note it's good to see pro's helping out where they go, with clinics or trail maintence. Plus being able to ride with him would be sweet. You'll only get better riding with someone like that. But he knows his limits. He's fallen enough times to know when to say "nah I'll pass". Me or other riders on the other hand don't have that experience.
He seems and sounds like a chill guy. He's always done a good job from the sounds of it with people and can mingle with different groups fine. It's all an opinion on weather he's considered a talented rider or just a lucky one. He's got both on his hands, and he knows as we all do that sometimes your luck runs out. It happens to the best of us, except he chooses to get back up and ride when some call it quits.
BTW that photo sequence is nasty. It was wrong from the start, but atleast he pulled off instead of watching him try and land it and getting tossed like a doll even more than he did
i'd hit that drop without a bike any day, the landings there are basically sand. when i go to summer camp we go dune jumping, and it's basically a smaller version of that cliff, if you run as fast as you can, and huck it, it's possiable to drop 30-40 feet, the only thing that's stopping us from going further is that the dune stops, and you'd die if you landed on the flat. seriously, you don't realize how easy it is to just jump something that big.
I tend to agree with your logic here, but FYI, Bender almost pulled a backflip in the rampage day 1 and has been landing them, He also has a decent table top as witnessed in some recent vid (I can't remember, NWD 4?)Spunger said:
I really believe he was trying to convince himself to go for a backflip on that huge gap but second guessed himself last nanosecond and that's why he looped so bad.
But the gist of what you are saying I agree with more or less.
I think that alot of people under estimate the size of the sh!t bender hits I was at the course and that thing was huge. Go hit it get some pics and then post it. Until then just give the guy some respect. Bender rips.Geoff G. said:
How come Bender doesnt just go a little smaller and get some points on the board and try and win the Rampage? He has never even made it to finals in a competion invented by him in his backyard. The guy is a very good rider and just needs to take it down a notch so he can finish a run. That boy can ride... he just needs to relax a little and quite going so big.
Tell me when, I will bring the cell phone and the camera.Geoff G. said:
Hey look, its another picture!
And another one!
The rampage course has "soft spots" but is never anywhere near as soft as complete sand. And of course 80' is a lot bigger than 20 or even 30'.Geoff G. said:
Sorry to interrupt your story...where were we, oh yes you were saying
"So, this one time at band camp..."
or at least that's what I heard anyway
Ok, I am not really an authority on the subject but I have been published in both the magazine and the film industry. I know that in order to get into a magazine you don't have to go as big as bender does, I don't think I have had a picture in a magazine where the rider is more than 10-15ft off the ground.Slugman said:
Video..Well the last chunk of video I had out there had lots of street in it. This all took place about 1-5 ft off the ground and had lots of cool tech stuff.
I know a dead sailor curb drop is not gonna make it into a mag...though I may just try to get it into one now that I have the challenge. All I am saying is I think bender pushes his limits a bit more than he can handle because he feels like he has to for whatever video he is going to be in next. I don't think the video company calls him up and says. "Bender if you dont go bigger than you did last time we are not going to put you in."
I will ask him though if you would like, I maybe I am wrong.
OH by the way. I suck at smilies, I am sure there should be some in my posts so pretend they are there.
Ooooooooh Gully, so modest.Geoff G. said:
Oh he walked away. On his second run he crashed but then launched a huge drop right at the finish. I will have a pic of that among other things up as soon as I get them back.
Some guys I know, know him and said that he said he was thinking about a backflip and decided no to do it. Bad time to be indecisive. He walked away and rode again that day so he may be sore but overall ok.
Some guys I know, know him and said that he said he was thinking about a backflip and decided no to do it. Bad time to be indecisive. He walked away and rode again that day so he may be sore but overall ok.
I'd actually like to see that one!Motionboy2 said:
There are subtle ways to convince people to do things without saying it. If he shows up to a shot and they are talking about someone else who just did a XX long gap, he knows that he has to hit something bigger in order to keep their interest.Motionboy2 said:
I'm not saying that these guys are not pushing the limits on their own either... but for some of them, they know that if they do not push it further they will be left behind.
Do you really think he'll give you an honest answer? Or if he does and you are wrong, how wise would it be to publish it... He's been smart and savvy enough to stay in the limelight this long, I doubt he's going to F' it up by saying something like that.Motionboy2 said:
I'm not trying to bash anyone here. I love watching the videos and reading the mags too. I eat that Sh*t up just as much as anyone else. I fully enjoy seeing guys push the limits, and I am in total awe of these riders and their abilities. It's just how fame works - you have to be doing something to keep yourself in the spotlight, and with this sport that means literally putting yourself in harms way... look at all the big name athletes who are hurt after the Rampage. I doubt any of them would decline an invite next year...
He never had any intentions of backflipping that drop. That's straight from the mans mouth. He was squirrelly before he even lifted off.
The landings this year were harder than they ever have been due to all the rain, this stuff is clay (someone mentioned sand??, crack??) and packs hard. But it afforded them the ability to make big runway style landings and take-offs.
The landings this year were harder than they ever have been due to all the rain, this stuff is clay (someone mentioned sand??, crack??) and packs hard. But it afforded them the ability to make big runway style landings and take-offs.
haha this is funny.
there are three topics that will always lead to multiple page arguments/thread/topics... Bender, Palmer and boxxers...
there are three topics that will always lead to multiple page arguments/thread/topics... Bender, Palmer and boxxers...
That's because Palmer is arguably the best thing that ever happened to downhill racing. Ever.
Hehehehe.
Hehehehe.
I had the chance to spend a considerable amount of time with Bender and some of his local friends this weekend. Here are my thoughts on Josh.
Josh smokes way too much pot to ever be motivated to do or learn much more than he does / knows now. When I asked him what he plans to do in the future, he looked at me and said, "this....when I'm 40, when I'm 60, when I'm 80." Granted, he was drunk just like the rest of us, but I don't think his answer would change at all when sober, unless when sober he realizes that he'll likely be dead long before that. (so will I, but I'm pretty sure he's closer to it than I am)
When he started doing the big drop thing, he was groundbreaking, and not just with his head. Bender brought the world big mountain air. He showed people like Super T that it is possible to go huge on a mountain bike. He showed us that it is possible to walk away from the worst of the worst crashes. He's still trying to go the biggest of anyone out there, but unfortunately, he's not as well-rounded as some of the racers, who in my opinion are the best free-riders out there. I don't doubt that he can stomp big stuff, or that he's willing to try bigger stuff than anyone out there. Bender has tried to go bigger than anyone, but has not landed bigger than anyone. Did anyone see how big Gee Atherton went on the Super T drop? Good god, the man didn't even practice it, and then hit it with a good bit of speed on his last run, nailing the landing a long long ways down from where anyone else who tried it had landed....and then he carved a couple turns, threw down a SICK drop to razor's edge turn to gap jump to wall ride turn-down... I don't have those skills. You don't have those skills. Bender doesn't have those skills.
Bender is a really nice guy who broke new ground a few years ago, and is now being trumped by a younger, more skilled and more self-motivated group of riders. Would I like to ride with Josh? Yeah, of course. In fact, we were supposed to ride Sunday morning, but Josh was absent... a bit sore from the mishap the day prior.
That gap, while huge, is nowhere near the 80ft he claimed, and the 65ft measured is the hypotenuse of the triangle, thus when calculated against the height of the drop, (around 25ft or so) that makes the actual linear distance 60ft. Yes that's huge...not as big as he claimed, but it's big. Yes he had a mechanical. Yes other people not only did it, but styled it. Yes he should have taken a different line and saved it for the second run...but Josh doesn't think smart or think like a guy who has the ability to make the finals. Josh thinks like a one-trick pony, and therefore that's what he is. Bender has some talent and huge cajones, but is a victim of his own poor judgment, lack of motivation, and lack of foresight.
Someone said earlier, "He also gets paid to ride his bike, travel all over the place, influence technological development, and inspire people doing what he loves. That's sounds like success to me." Well, he's also living in a van down by the river, and he doesn't always get paid. When he was giving people directions to where he lives now, he gave us the location of a parking spot. That doesn't sound like a success to me. That sounds like a guy who needs to spend more time learning to promote himself and his other riding talents, and practicing some of the skills the Kyle Straits and Gracias and Athertons are developing. He should spend less time blowing up in competitions and talking about how big he's going to go next year.
Josh smokes way too much pot to ever be motivated to do or learn much more than he does / knows now. When I asked him what he plans to do in the future, he looked at me and said, "this....when I'm 40, when I'm 60, when I'm 80." Granted, he was drunk just like the rest of us, but I don't think his answer would change at all when sober, unless when sober he realizes that he'll likely be dead long before that. (so will I, but I'm pretty sure he's closer to it than I am)
When he started doing the big drop thing, he was groundbreaking, and not just with his head. Bender brought the world big mountain air. He showed people like Super T that it is possible to go huge on a mountain bike. He showed us that it is possible to walk away from the worst of the worst crashes. He's still trying to go the biggest of anyone out there, but unfortunately, he's not as well-rounded as some of the racers, who in my opinion are the best free-riders out there. I don't doubt that he can stomp big stuff, or that he's willing to try bigger stuff than anyone out there. Bender has tried to go bigger than anyone, but has not landed bigger than anyone. Did anyone see how big Gee Atherton went on the Super T drop? Good god, the man didn't even practice it, and then hit it with a good bit of speed on his last run, nailing the landing a long long ways down from where anyone else who tried it had landed....and then he carved a couple turns, threw down a SICK drop to razor's edge turn to gap jump to wall ride turn-down... I don't have those skills. You don't have those skills. Bender doesn't have those skills.
Bender is a really nice guy who broke new ground a few years ago, and is now being trumped by a younger, more skilled and more self-motivated group of riders. Would I like to ride with Josh? Yeah, of course. In fact, we were supposed to ride Sunday morning, but Josh was absent... a bit sore from the mishap the day prior.
That gap, while huge, is nowhere near the 80ft he claimed, and the 65ft measured is the hypotenuse of the triangle, thus when calculated against the height of the drop, (around 25ft or so) that makes the actual linear distance 60ft. Yes that's huge...not as big as he claimed, but it's big. Yes he had a mechanical. Yes other people not only did it, but styled it. Yes he should have taken a different line and saved it for the second run...but Josh doesn't think smart or think like a guy who has the ability to make the finals. Josh thinks like a one-trick pony, and therefore that's what he is. Bender has some talent and huge cajones, but is a victim of his own poor judgment, lack of motivation, and lack of foresight.
Someone said earlier, "He also gets paid to ride his bike, travel all over the place, influence technological development, and inspire people doing what he loves. That's sounds like success to me." Well, he's also living in a van down by the river, and he doesn't always get paid. When he was giving people directions to where he lives now, he gave us the location of a parking spot. That doesn't sound like a success to me. That sounds like a guy who needs to spend more time learning to promote himself and his other riding talents, and practicing some of the skills the Kyle Straits and Gracias and Athertons are developing. He should spend less time blowing up in competitions and talking about how big he's going to go next year.
Show us a pic of you doing it with or without a bike. Until then, STFU!!!Geoff G. said:
Damn I hate it when people without the nuts or the vision to do something extraordinary sit back after someone else does it and say, "ahh whatever I could do it."
Maybe you could. But you didn't, did you?
Break free from the cult of thinking that hucking your meat somehow makes you more of a man. Some people do insane stuff on bikes, some don't, but it's not the measure of your worth as a human, so stop saying crap that exposes you as a jealous punk.
Nice post Jefe,El Jefe said:
I pretty much agree but I feel that there is something serious to be said for the ground bender laid for modern day freeriding. There is a thread on NSMB right now about this same thing and this is what I had to say about it.
"Bender is invited (to the Rampage) because he more or less invented this niche genre of the sport. Virgin is his backyard and he was one of the few who put it on the map (Dave Watson included, RTTH "AK Mullet"). Bender is a crazy guy and it would be a shame to not have him out there as long as he wants to be out there. He is the figure head for the Rampage and will be long after his time is gone. He is still improving contrary to what most people might believe, he almost pulled a backflip in day 1 and I hear he can land them fairly well. Let's not forget that he was the only person crazy enough to even think about the "Jah Drop" let alone damn near pull it! Even before that he was launching 35-40'ers to practically flat on an FSR Extreme 4.5" travel bike!!! He may not have the best style but he sure can innovate in his own way...
If he had pulled it (Jah drop), which he came so close to doing, you would be saying otherwise.
Bender is not like other riders, hell Bender is not like other people. He is tough as nails, the Jah would be stupid for about 99.99999999999999999% of the world but that's what makes Bender so unique, his ability to attempt things like that to determine what is and isn't actually possible for the rest of us. That my friend is the definition of innovation, whether you like it or not."
I give him a lot of credit as an innovator if nothing else
man you take some great pictures! thanks for sharin 
punkassean said:I give him a lot of credit as an innovator if nothing else
Yeah, I don't want to downplay the fact that he put Utah and big drop riding on the map. He did, and is widely recognized by many who know nothing about mountaing biking...not that it's necessarily great to have Josh Bender as the only image many people have of mountain biking, but hey, it's something, right?
oh I must agree... You guys going to be in Greenville anytime soon, we were out at Piney a few days back.stoneysnake said:
Man if I had a nickel for every time a bunch of internet geeks talked smack about Bender when they have never seen anything of his riding outside of a few videos.
Do those same people think Elijah Wood is 4 feet tall?
Do those same people think Elijah Wood is 4 feet tall?
you know Bender is the George W Bush of mountainbikingMikeD said:
he divides the "Country"
PS: i am not comparing Bender to GWB on a personal level, just the effect they both have on their respective "communities"
here is an idea:
could everyone just stop being so damn cool and arguing over who has bigger brass balls? don't get me wrong,i LOOOOOOOVE hearing all of these freakin' idiots go ooooon and ooooon about something they are just e-speculating about,but give it a break!
that's all i needed to say.don't expect to see me around,i'll probably get banned.
MORE PICTURES PLEASE!!! GOOD GOD!!!
could everyone just stop being so damn cool and arguing over who has bigger brass balls? don't get me wrong,i LOOOOOOOVE hearing all of these freakin' idiots go ooooon and ooooon about something they are just e-speculating about,but give it a break!
that's all i needed to say.don't expect to see me around,i'll probably get banned.
MORE PICTURES PLEASE!!! GOOD GOD!!!
i have absolutely nothing to do with SEI.Curiouscaptian01 said:
That's not true, we made you and Kalan honorary members.stoneysnake said:
Kalan for his sweet unintentional klickers, and you for your ability
to knock a hole in the gas tank of a car on the interstate.
"Yeah Bender, That was a nice base jump out there today. Now pour me a beer."
-Carlinne Dunn
-Carlinne Dunn
Here is a better idea: Could everyone who feels the need to see something useless they typed end up posted on this board just skip it unless they actually have something to say?Racer-X said:
Racer X: Congrats on figuring out how to post. "Idiots" like me love to share opinions, beat dead horses, and generally e-speculate until our eyes bleed from staring at the screen too long. That's because I love bikes and can't get enough of talking about them and the people who ride them. Yep yep, that's me, admitted bike freak and e-speculating addict.
You can probably guess the rest, but just in case you can't: If you don't like it, don't read it! And more importantly, don't post here!
I know I was refering to the SEI guys.... but seems like you are, Jeremy you coming out to our new dirtjumps Friday? They should be in prime condition if it ever stops raining.stoneysnake said:
Yep, see you guys then.Curiouscaptian01 said:
what??? he's not???...DEcho said:
all this bitching is hella