48 www.mbaction.com
MBA FEATURE
Visitors can ride the lifts to more than
50 world-class trails in North America’s
most popular mountain bike park, then
pause to watch some of the world’s top
riders compete in spectacular events
that are actually worth watching. You can
take a break from riding, wolf down some
delicious food and watch the pros, or you
can keep tearing up the trails yourself. The
choice is yours. Some lifts run until 8 p.m.,
and the spectating is free.
There are also plenty of opportunities
to get your lucky jersey autographed by
mountain bike superstars.
It’s not uncommon to spend a week
or more at Crankworx, riding for hours
every day, meeting legends as well as
up-and-comers, and then watching one of
the gnarliest mountain bike events in the
world, the Red Bull Joyride. If you think
those jumps look big on TV, wait till you
see them in person!
This year we traversed the pits to see
what new products would grab our atten-
tion, but we didn’t want to merely walk
around the Village, so we hopped aboard a
helicopter with World Cup downhill
racers Troy Brosnan and Mark Wallace and
embarked on a journey to Rainbow Peak to
ride with them.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,
though. First, we’d like to show off those
cool new products we promised you, then
we’ll get to the other stuff. Here’s our inside
look into the pits at Crankworx Whistler.
Whistler, Canada, the final stop of the Crankworx World Tour, is often referred to as the
Super Bowl of mountain biking due to
the huge crowds that swarm to British
Columbia’s world-renowned bike park
every year. It’s a chance to take part
in the biggest free-ride mountain bike
festival on earth and see some of
the world’s most daring and talented
mountain bikers.
Crankworx, of course, wasn’t
created just so people could come,
sit around and watch other riders
compete. There is much more to do
than that. Vendors show off their latest
and greatest products to thousands of
mountain bikers in a huge expo area
that fills Whistler Village.
Flyin’ high: American freerider
Nicholi Rogatkin causally tailwhips
his Specialized dirt jumper during
practice for Red Bull Joyride.
Packed house: Crankworx is one of the biggest gravity events of the year, drawing large
crowds from around the world. This year the pits were packed shoulder to shoulder with
fans, riders, vendors and more.
Are these wide
enough? Race Face
took their flagship
carbon downhill bars
and made them even
wider. The new Sixc carbon bars measure 820
millimeters wide, come
in a few color options
and have a 35-millimeter
clamping surface.
